I have been away with work for a while and on returning I pondered whether or not to bother
and if so how to respond to this post about the eBay sale of my Super Monaco GP on eBay.
And then it came to me.
Some of you are Pious Sanctimonious C**nts, I thought.
A new member signs up here specifically to try to “Call Out”
an existing member without giving you all the full story about the eBay sale.
The standard people hop up to be counted behind their keyboards,
in willing condemnation without knowing the full story or even thinking there might be one.
I tend not to comment in public about things, as I am unlikely to have the full story.
That looks like it’s not be the consensus these days.
But as I appear to be by many in the posts as the immoral party and as the author seems to want to get into it,
I will take part on this occasion.
I have bought and sold Cabs and parts from other known Members here without a problem.
I have both helped and been helped by some great guys here.
None of which have gone on to complain about anything here or anywhere else.
But they will have to keep there heads down,
rather than say anything and get shot at by a small handful of you that worry about these things.
You are possibly aware (and if not I am sure someone has filled you in)
the Cab was put up for sale on the UKVac Facebook page for £1750.
With many photos and a video of the fully working, original unmolested dedicated Sega Cab.
I was approached by a few members about it.
One saying he was very interested as he is a big Formula 1 fan as well as Arcade Cabs.
I invited him to go and try it out as he was nearby to where they are stored and if he wanted it after he viewed it,
it was his.
He arranged a visit later that week and we agreed on £1200 cash on collection,
if he was happy with the Cab at the viewing.
He said he really wanted it and he was keen not to lose it,
so I agreed to pull the advert without any deposit or payment until after he had seen it.
He contacted me a few days later and apologised that he was unable to raise the funds for it,
due to more important personal home matters.
I was already aware of his situation and we agreed to it was for the best.
I did not go shouting his name at anyone that would listen that he had broken deal,
or cost me anything by removing the advert and starting again with the sale.
But dignity as it would appear, is a bit outdated.
I had already decided as part of clearing out some Cabs at the unit to just stick it on eBay
and let it go.
It was listed it under one of eBays 80% off final price offers.
Now I get to the point where the person posting this thread comes in.
He had messaged early on in the auction asking if it were possible
for someone collect or possibly meet halfway between where the Cab is and him.
The listing clearly said it would be payment on collection only.
Most sellers wouldn’t travel round the country with expensive van and fuel costs,
for an unknown buyer from eBay.
I replied by saying that it was collection only, but could recommend a few guys. (Either Martins on the forum).
He then asked in the next eBay message and I quote,
“Would you consider a buy now, as in off eBay at all?”
There was the first eBay rule that was broken, by someone now moaning about those hallowed eBay rules being broken.
We all know it happens and many have taken advantage of it,
I would have only been seen to have pulled it early by everyone anyway,
including eBay had ended it at that point.
I replied saying I been asked that 5 times already and would not know where to start.
Did he ask to come and view it before bidding, that way helping his position to buy off of eBay?
No. He didn’t.
And before someone says it could be a long way to travel, it can be managed it when it suits.
Next received from him was a picture of a business card with his phone number on.
Another red flag that’s easily found by the eBay message system,
for them to use against me with later if the auction was ended early.
I ignored it.
Then a message from him asking “Do I have any other machines?”
I ignored it.
Next a message from him “I will pay £800 via the bank and pay for the collection.”.
Lucky there is no bank fraud on eBay, or this may have seemed odd.
I ignored it.
Then a message from him saying “I would pay £1000 delivered, but that’s my limit.”
I ignored it.
All these are on the eBay message system.
They are there if anyone feels like doing an audit to see who’s is telling the truth now.
He was very prepared to try to use the eBay system to screw others out of their
all important eBay bid and cut them out of the auction at that point.
But now he believes he has been wronged, you will all get to hear about it.
No mention of any of these messages in the original posts I see.
On the Monday there was an offer of £1800 over eBay messaging from someone who had very low and poor feedback
and would have been very unlikely ever to have paid and collected.
That was also ignored and their bids cancelled.
If a deal had been done off of eBay with them for £1800 ending the auction early
then I posted here crying that the eBay buyer didn’t arrive, you would have thought I was greedy and deserved all I got.
But I am a big boy, not someone sitting around crying about what might have been.
Unlike those checking to see when the last time someone logged in,
for something they had nothing to do with in the first place.
Or advising starting legal action over an eBay auction having lost no money at all!
FFS, some of you guys really need to get out more.
The day of the auction finishing, I got an email from the UKVac member.
He said he could get the money together next week, but was concerned he might get outbid on eBay.
Now let me see.
What would you guys do?
Think carefully now!
I know the clouds get pretty thick up on the moral high ground,
but I am sure you can see where I am heading.
Let the UKVac member have it and cancel the auction,
given that I was likely facing the usual eBay drama’s of non payment etc if it ran the course.
Or pull the plug on the auction and say it’s his?
As I am sure you know by now that as the morally bankrupt person I am,
I decided to go through with the deal I had entered into before even listing it on eBay
and let him go and have a look and pay then if he wanted it.
He is a nice guy and I trusted him way more than most eBay bidders.
I then find out that it is not possible to stop the auction on the last day.
It has to run the distance at that point.
Auction finishes at £680 that evening.
Even though the auction had been activated and started on the correct day and time.
They had applied full fees, not the agreed 80% off.
Now should I spend a day of my life arguing with eBay about who did what when?
Would you cancel the auction knowing you had a known collector coming,
rather than getting into an argument with eBay for an auction buyer that may never collect anyway
given the message history with them?
Of course you wouldn’t, it’s an important eBay contract and because you are moral people.
Would you have been concerned for me if he had picked it up for £680 and immediately relisted it for £1500 a week later?
No, you wouldn’t.
You would just excepted I sold it and “Flippers” do this stuff all the time
and that I deserved it for asking too much for it in the first place.
Perhaps the “Flipper” would have deserved these comments,
“Next time it goes up, make a huge bid, really drive up the price, then don’t pay”
which is one of the ways suggested to deal with things if I had dared to relisted it at some point.
After all the whining about it here, I was contacted by the UKVac member saying he didn’t
want to cause me any trouble and just let the guy have it and he will come and look at another Cab I have.
Unfortunately my low morals were Turbo Charged by seeing some of the dumb arsed keyboard comments on these posts.
So the eBay auction of it could get screwed.
I offered it to the author of this post (away from direct eBay messaging) for the £1000 (undelivered)
cash on collection, which he had offered in one of his eBay rule breaking messages.
If he had not bought it I offered it to the original guy for the same £1000 (not the £1200)
that we had already agreed, as he clearly deserved it more with £200 off.
The eBay buyer replied he still wanted it and would like to travel that very day to collect.
I explained that I was going away with work that day from where I live in a different part of the country,
but I could arrange for one of the guys that work for me to show him it.
If he wanted it come and look, play it and if your happy pay and take it away.
If not then leave it there for the other guy.
I quickly had to deal with what I really didn’t have time to do on the way to the airport,
for someone that was busy enough that day anyway to sort it out for him.
The Cab had to be pulled out and put it on the 7.5t and moved to where it was being viewed
due to other work going on.
All this without certain knowledge that he would even arrive, let alone actually buy it.
None the less it’s now been collected and off with it’s new owner, so just waiting for the moaning about something else,
even if there was a chance to see it before paying for it. (Unlike most eBay bids)
Now to the people in the threads that were not happy with how things went with someone else’s life.
Put your keyboards down for a moment and listen.
We have all been disappointed about the buying or selling of something in life.
Houses, Cars, bottles of Prime and yes, even Arcade Cabs.
But if you invested no time or money, other than a single click on a screen you have lost nothing!
Grow up, the world is a harsh place and you won’t always get what you feel that you are owed.
Your Mother’s should have told you that when you were young.
Get over it, you will survive, I promise.