Thank you all for your contributions to this difficult topic.
To the member who would laugh at me if I asked for the goods first, I ask why? Assuming you want to do a genuine deal with me is there NO case for you to send the item on approval? Why not? My posting history is there for you to see.
Yours is not. It is NOT a reflection on your character or intention but a balance of risk nothing more. Remember the bbs is a 'club' not a purely commercial venture.
To those who say 'drive half way' I say for many things I would and do. I do however have a limit to the amount of time I want to spend driving and this particular item isn't really worth the effort to me.
To those who say there is nothing written in stone that says the buyer must pay first. I agree entirely-it is by agreement. The comparison is with a well known auction site which does have a fairly sophisticated trade monitoring service and a payments system which does offer at least some come back in the event of fraud.
The Bones effect. This is an entirely valid point and highlights a frightening event-the good member gone bad. A total nightmare I admit it freely. However, don't take this too far. Even in this case you had some evidence on which to base a judgement. What about cases where the seller has NO evidence to offer. It is as I have written many times 'a balance of risk.'
Also just look at the actual experience of this. The number of times a good member turned bad compared with the number of times a new member has come on and 'let down' other members. I think the answer will be exactly as you expect.
What makes the particular incident that provoked my original thread so difficult is that the member concerned is not NEW -he just doesn't post very much and when he does it is almost always on the sales section. I really have nothing against him at all. Nevertheless on a balance of probabilities I believe that if he wants to sell his item to ME he will have to trust me a bit more. It is a lot of money to lose and I point out again that to me this is NOT a theoretical risk: it HAS happened to me once and I am not keen for it to happen again.
Last edited by Rapidnick; 30-07-2007 at 08:56 AM.
'It may be that your sole purpose in life is to serve as a warning to others'.