Seller backs out--what would you do?

[genius]

Hello group! Would appreciate any advice and insight here as I just had my first negative g/u experience (I know I've probably been lucky!). A dealer and forum member from Canada posted an awesome Pittsburgh jersey a couple of weeks back and asked for opinions. I replied with my email address, willing to offer thoughts and also thinking it might be for sale. I got an email from him asking for my thoughts, I say I think it's legit and ask if it's for sale, he asks for an offer and about an hour later we're on the phone hashing out a deal. Deal gets done and he's getting me wiring instructions overnight for two different bank accounts. Next morning I get an email asking for more money.

I immediately let my temper get the best of me and told him no way, because we had a deal. The deal was near $20K so it's not like I was trying to lowball the guy. But he sold it to someone else. I figured I had to just let it go because of the cross-border issue, I have no recourse. I pretty soon regretted though not agreeing to the higher amount. He did at least give me the opportunity to pay more for it. I could have come up with the extra money though obviously it was a ton of money to begin with. Could have borrowed from "the fund" and then sold some other items, etc. It was the one shirt I've been looking for.

At the same time, principle kicks in when someone backs out on deal. It's one thing when someone decides to keep an item but to agree on a high price and then renege on it for even more money makes it hard for me to want to do business. I wouldn't mind not being the highest bidder in an auction (happens to me all the time!!!) but this one really bothers me because we had a deal done. And the dealer seems like a nice guy, I'm not feeling angry or vindictive about it. It's just not sitting well.

What would you do in this situation and what do you think I can or should do? The dealer claims he contacted the buyer and asked if he would sell it, but won't put me in contact with him. I'd love to get in touch obviously and see if he's as "die hard" a Pittsburgh collector as me, and if not could we work something out? I could list in the Items Wanted section but what if he's not a forum member? How do you find him? I don't have the contacts in the collecting community that are probably needed to know who picked it up.

There are more important things in life obviously and I was definitely spared the scrutiny that would have come from you-know-who but again this one just isn't sitting well, both because a deal was broken and because I think I missed an opportunity by not agreeing to the higher amount. Is this just collecting as "sport" and simply tough luck for me? Have any of you been on the other end of this and obtained an item that was "under contract" without being lowballed but you still were able to convince the seller to back out of the deal and go with you? Would love to know if anyone had a similar situation work out for them. Thanks!

[yanks12025]

May I ask who the player was?

[legaleagle92481]

Hello group! Would appreciate any advice and insight here as I just had my first negative g/u experience (I know I've probably been lucky!). A dealer and forum member from Canada posted an awesome Pittsburgh jersey a couple of weeks back and asked for opinions. I replied with my email address, willing to offer thoughts and also thinking it might be for sale. I got an email from him asking for my thoughts, I say I think it's legit and ask if it's for sale, he asks for an offer and about an hour later we're on the phone hashing out a deal. Deal gets done and he's getting me wiring instructions overnight for two different bank accounts. Next morning I get an email asking for more money.

I immediately let my temper get the best of me and told him no way, because we had a deal. The deal was near $20K so it's not like I was trying to lowball the guy. But he sold it to someone else. I figured I had to just let it go because of the cross-border issue, I have no recourse. I pretty soon regretted though not agreeing to the higher amount. He did at least give me the opportunity to pay more for it. I could have come up with the extra money though obviously it was a ton of money to begin with. Could have borrowed from "the fund" and then sold some other items, etc. It was the one shirt I've been looking for.

At the same time, principle kicks in when someone backs out on deal. It's one thing when someone decides to keep an item but to agree on a high price and then renege on it for even more money makes it hard for me to want to do business. I wouldn't mind not being the highest bidder in an auction (happens to me all the time!!!) but this one really bothers me because we had a deal done. And the dealer seems like a nice guy, I'm not feeling angry or vindictive about it. It's just not sitting well.

What would you do in this situation and what do you think I can or should do? The dealer claims he contacted the buyer and asked if he would sell it, but won't put me in contact with him. I'd love to get in touch obviously and see if he's as "die hard" a Pittsburgh collector as me, and if not could we work something out? I could list in the Items Wanted section but what if he's not a forum member? How do you find him? I don't have the contacts in the collecting community that are probably needed to know who picked it up.

There are more important things in life obviously and I was definitely spared the scrutiny that would have come from you-know-who but again this one just isn't sitting well, both because a deal was broken and because I think I missed an opportunity by not agreeing to the higher amount. Is this just collecting as "sport" and simply tough luck for me? Have any of you been on the other end of this and obtained an item that was "under contract" without being lowballed but you still were able to convince the seller to back out of the deal and go with you? Would love to know if anyone had a similar situation work out for them. Thanks!

I think your missing out on something more important here. You say the seller is in Canada and you were going to wire him the money. For your own safety never wire money to Canada especially $20,000. Google how many scams are run with that as a basis. A Greene is such a rare jersey, how do you know he even had one? Pics? Anyone can find pics online and claim they are theirs. How do you know they were his? Do you even know this member? Ever dealt with him or talked to anyone who has? Just because someone is a member does not mean they are legit, last time I checked this site does not conduct background checks to join. Asking for more money is another red flag as is two bank accounts. How do you know he sold the "jersey" and did not just cold feet on scamming you? You say hes a dealer but that means nothing everyone and his brother is a dealer these days. Most of the members of this forum are dealers in the sense that they buy stuff to resell as a profit although they don't earn their living entirely from it. I would consider myself lucky I did not get scammed and forget about it.

[otismalibu]

Would someone really sell a Mean Joe Steelers jersey on a message board as opposed to a major auction house? I suppose it's possible.

As far as sellers backing out - it happens all the time. Last week a seller requested my email to send me a Paypal invoice, after we'd struck a deal. The next email said they sold the item to someone else. The deal is never done until the seller has the money and the buyer has the item.

[cohibasmoker]

Hello group! Would appreciate any advice and insight here as I just had my first negative g/u experience (I know I've probably been lucky!). A dealer and forum member from Canada posted an awesome Pittsburgh jersey a couple of weeks back and asked for opinions. I replied with my email address, willing to offer thoughts and also thinking it might be for sale. I got an email from him asking for my thoughts, I say I think it's legit and ask if it's for sale, he asks for an offer and about an hour later we're on the phone hashing out a deal. Deal gets done and he's getting me wiring instructions overnight for two different bank accounts. Next morning I get an email asking for more money.

I immediately let my temper get the best of me and told him no way, because we had a deal . The deal was near $20K so it's not like I was trying to lowball the guy. But he sold it to someone else. I figured I had to just let it go because of the cross-border issue, I have no recourse. I pretty soon regretted though not agreeing to the higher amount. He did at least give me the opportunity to pay more for it. I could have come up with the extra money though obviously it was a ton of money to begin with. Could have borrowed from "the fund" and then sold some other items, etc. It was the one shirt I've been looking for.

At the same time, principle kicks in when someone backs out on deal. It's one thing when someone decides to keep an item but to agree on a high price and then renege on it for even more money makes it hard for me to want to do business. I wouldn't mind not being the highest bidder in an auction (happens to me all the time!!!) but this one really bothers me because we had a deal done. And the dealer seems like a nice guy, I'm not feeling angry or vindictive about it. It's just not sitting well.

What would you do in this situation and what do you think I can or should do? The dealer claims he contacted the buyer and asked if he would sell it, but won't put me in contact with him. I'd love to get in touch obviously and see if he's as "die hard" a Pittsburgh collector as me, and if not could we work something out? I could list in the Items Wanted section but what if he's not a forum member? How do you find him? I don't have the contacts in the collecting community that are probably needed to know who picked it up.

There are more important things in life obviously and I was definitely spared the scrutiny that would have come from you-know-who but again this one just isn't sitting well, both because a deal was broken and because I think I missed an opportunity by not agreeing to the higher amount. Is this just collecting as "sport" and simply tough luck for me? Have any of you been on the other end of this and obtained an item that was "under contract" without being lowballed but you still were able to convince the seller to back out of the deal and go with you? Would love to know if anyone had a similar situation work out for them. Thanks!

Jeff, you may have lucked out. Best the guy backed out BEFORE you sent the money and not after - if the guy couldn't be trusted to follow through with the original deal, who's to say he could be trusted to either send the jersey and/or a refund after he got your money? Out of State payments are risky and out of Country even riskier.

Just an opinion,

Jim

[TNTtoys]

All,

This is very shady ground. Forgetting that attempting to sell a $20,000.00 jersey on a message board that has a limit of $500 isn't "mildly bending the rules," this user managed to stay below the radar until this particular transaction gone horribly wrong. He has maintained an ID here for a couple of years, opening an occasional thread with a high priced jersey that "he doesn't know what it is or could be" resulting in him taking offers on it. The forum has no idea who he is apart from the fact that he is from Canada. We have no knowledge whatsoever of the outcomes of any of his transactions.

Justin hit the nail on the head as to why this type of trade should be avoided. Wiring this amount of money out of the country to someone you don't know and that nobody here knows? Come on guys, you have to have more common sense than this.

[cliffjmp33]

Fully agree with the previous two statements from Jim an TNTtoys.

Quick questions for the mods though. Has the shady member been banned yet? Or, if someone sadly has been taken for, reported to any authorities?

I'd say outing him on here would help, but I don't want to start a storm of defamation and such as I know nothing more than what genius provided us with.

[TNTtoys]

Fully agree with the previous two statements from Jim an TNTtoys.

Quick questions for the mods though. Has the shady member been banned yet? Or, if someone sadly has been taken for, reported to any authorities?

I'd say outing him on here would help, but I don't want to start a storm of defamation and such as I know nothing more than what genius provided us with.

Jack -

yes, I did verify that the user has been banned.

and as I said earlier, I have no idea of the outcomes of any such transactions.

Nick

[slam]

Would anybody like to share the name of this individual so that others aren't taken.

[cliffjmp33]

Thanks for the quick response Nick. Glad to hear he was banned.

It's just sad that there are people out there looking to take advantage of a helpful community like this for their own sinister reasons.