It did not show up in the posted p.m. exchange...but according to quadman...the first p.m. sent was the sign.
After that...they were just ironing out the details and quadman simply asked if the seller was willing to used a mutually known third party as a middleman. quadman never said he would not take the book if one wasn't used...he was simply asking if it was ok to use one.
I'm just not really seeing much fault with the seller here. We are all supposing a lot about his intentions when taking Rick's unconditional takeit but it's entirely up to the seller to accept or reject extraneous after-the-fact conditions when he states his requirements in the very first post.
There were no after-the-fact "conditions" stated. The buyer simply asked a question.
"I was thinking with such a large purchase maybe we can use reputable board member as a middle man? Maybe Filter or GAtor?"
The seller did not want to use a third party and that was ok with the buyer...as was noted in his next p.m reply to the seller.
"I'll send a cheque straight up then "
I guess. It seems like the tenor of this whole conversation is leading towards demonizing the seller for choosing the deal he was most comfortable with. The "on hold" is a monkeywrench but the deal was never finalized.
It wasn't finalized because the seller chose, voluntarily, to ignore the "On Hold" that he offered and created himself, again voluntarily.
It's a monkeywrench because it created a duty. Once created, it gave Quadman an expectation that it would be respected and honored. It wasn't. That would be a problem in any business setting.
Do you think the seller should now be obligated to sell to quadman? And if he refuses, should the seller be placed on the probation list?