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Selling etiquette and Protocol


al_abrams1

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As a seller in good faith on photo.net for over a year now, there

seems to be concept upon some buyers (and certainly not all that many)

that when

they send an "offer only" and you reply (clearly indicating you

have other offers also pending) and either accepting or countering

their offer, that you

are expected to wait on their reply rather then simply

acknowledging the first incoming email or phone acceptance and

confirmation for closure of a

sale. In fairness, I typically reply in the order the email comes

in and also insure i alert the buyer that other offers are also

pending so they know a

prompt reply is absolutely required. The first reply i get that

"sold and check is in the mail" seems fair to this process. I've had

some buyers ask to

hold the item 6-24 hrs and yet never responsed again....or others

that simply logged off and were late getting back to me...so i think

the first come,

first served rule seems fair in the selling process. Would like to

know from other sellers on their experiances and perspectives on this.

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Allan, I think if someone sends you an offer, and you reply that you are accepting it, you have a deal at that point, and you need to give the person a period of time to perform (that is, get back to you and subsequently pay).

 

I don't think it is ever fair or proper to accept more than one offer and conduct a race as to who gets back to you (or pays) first, any more than it would be fair to accept an offer and then accept a different offer that came in that was higher, or as a buyer to make multiple offers in parallel and wait to see which is lowest one that is accepted, pulling out of the other deals.

 

You can't expect that the buyers are going to sit at their computers waiting for you to accept their offers, so that they can get back to you as fast as you think reasonable.

 

However, when you have several offers that are acceptable or you anticipate that you will, it is certainly reasonable to state a time limit for the buyer to act. "I am accepting your offer conditioned upon your acknowledging this mail within XX hours and subsequently sending me payment within YY hours; otherwise I shall consider your offer withdrawn and may accept a different offer. If you don't meet these time limits, please contact me again before sending payment to ensure that the item is still available."

 

Of course, buyers can you use the same approach: "This offer is valid for XX hours, after which the offer should be considered withdrawn."

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