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Time payments and deposits. Need input.

Started by Timmay,

194 posts in this topic

DR.X

DR.X

Posted
Posted

I would personally probably send him $300.00 back even though it was agreed upon that the $600.00 was non-refundable. Don't agree to anything you can't live up to though.

 

Sell the book on e-bay, then send him a refund, and then without any hesitation, OUT HIM.

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TSwift25

TSwift25

Posted
Posted

Just for the sake of argument;

 

The buyer didn't ask for a full refund of the deposit, correct?

 

If that's the case, it sucks for the seller for sure (especially if the book can't be easily resold for the same price) but the buyer is still willing to take a bit of a hit in the transaction.

 

I don't know what I would do if I were the seller, but I don't think it's fair to tar-and-feather the buyer, he seems to be trying, at least somewhat, to help the seller.

 

To apply a legal spin to this, the non-refundable deposit is, for all intents and purposes, the liquidated damages clause of the contract. For simplicity's sake, that's all the seller can seek, the liquidated damages.

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namisgr

namisgr

Posted
Posted

1. Agree with Gator that a 30% plus down payment is aggressive and perhaps excessive. Consequently, it may not be the decent thing for the seller to do to keep the entire sum, despite the buyer being a dooshnozzle.

a. Perhaps a partial refund of the down payment (roughly half) is appropriate in light of its magnitude.

 

2. Buyer should be outed in a Sales Discussion thread to make other sellers aware that this person is not trustworthy with time payments.

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miraclemet

miraclemet

Posted
Posted
Just for the sake of argument;

 

The buyer didn't ask for a full refund of the deposit, correct?

 

If that's the case, it sucks for the seller for sure (especially if the book can't be easily resold for the same price) but the buyer is still willing to take a bit of a hit in the transaction.

 

I don't know what I would do if I were the seller, but I don't think it's fair to tar-and-feather the buyer, he seems to be trying, at least somewhat, to help the seller.

 

To apply a legal spin to this, the non-refundable deposit is, for all intents and purposes, the liquidated damages clause of the contract. For simplicity's sake, that's all the seller can seek, the liquidated damages.

 

I get what you are saying but I think calling backing out of a deal and then asking for part of the non-refundable deposit back too is not "helping the seller"

 

finding another buyer of the book for the seller, mowing the guys lawn, that's "helping the seller"

 

And the buyer didn't ask for a full refund, but he did ask for a partial refund of the agreed to non-refundable deposit.

 

He also agreed if he could get back 1/2 of the non-refundable deposit he wouldn't "try to fight this in any way"

 

what is there to fight about?

 

Could he argue that he was being held to an excessive non-refundable deposit amount? Maybe, but that was what was agreed to, and maybe its not excessive (I dont do time payments so I dont know). Maybe the OP seller had a feeling about this buyer being problematic and upped the non-refundable amount to try and encourage the deal being fully paid off... I dont know. Regardless there's nothing to fight about. The buyer is backing out and shouldn't complain if the seller holds him to the terms of the agreement.

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Dr. Balls

Dr. Balls

Posted
Posted

On occasion, I buy books on the payment plan - and I would expect that if I couldn't hold up my end of the bargain, I wouldn't be seeing my non-refundable deposit back. That's what "non-refundable" means.

 

Before telling him that you don't intend to give the money back, I'd talk with Paypal and make sure you can keep the deposit. If not, give him $300 and be done with it, learning the lesson that time payments need to be made by personal check or billpay, so you can protect yourself from being backed out on.

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FlyingDonut

FlyingDonut

Posted
Posted
I'd refund the money and out the person. However, since he asked for $300, that is what I'd give him.

Still out him as a person who failed to live up to his promise.

 

+1,000,000,000

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Timmay

Timmay

Posted
  • Author
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In a situation like this, you aren't going to "teach" anyone anything. People find ways to rationalize their sh11y behaviour, and if you try to "teach them a lesson", it won't end well in most cases.

 

If the buyer has been polite the whole way through, I'd probably just keep half the deposit and be done with it. A $300 deposit for a $1600 book is reasonable enough. But if he's acting like a doosh, keep the full deposit.

 

 

 

The same day that seller calls off the deal and indicated he was considering a partial refund after the sale on Ebay, buyer tries to file a dispute with Paypal.

 

Then buyer proceeds to PM seller that he is a scammer and a jerk.

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chromium

chromium

Posted
Posted
A $300 deposit for a $1600 book is reasonable enough. But if he's acting like a doosh, keep the full deposit.

 

 

The same day that seller calls off the deal and indicated he was considering a partial refund after the sale on Ebay, buyer tries to file a dispute with Paypal.

 

Then buyer proceeds to PM seller that he is a scammer and a jerk.

 

 

This.

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MCMiles

MCMiles

Posted
Posted

Doesn't matter if the NON-REFUDABLE deposit was excessive, aggressive, greedy, or whatever. It was agreed upon.

 

Most of us on here are nice and generous and more than willing towork with others, so i get the idea that giving the buyer back $300 is a popular idea. However, the person was clearly irresponsible, not truthful, and even mildly insulting.

 

As COI said, keeping the money won't teach them responsibility...but giving it back will reinforce the chances of further irresponsibility.

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Conan_Aficionado

Conan_Aficionado

Posted
Posted

They buyer didn't get any goods and services, at the risk of losing the full deposit, I would think that it would be best to refund the bub $300 as he ask, make a solid agreement on the terms and hope that the spoon doesn't issues a chargeback.

 

Really, even if the agreement for the full deposit was upheld in small claims court, who is going to take the time to determine where to file the claim, which jurisdiction, which state. Imagine the cost, filing fees, hotels, transportation, etc. Really, keep the $300, refund him the $300 and be done with this fool.

 

I know that for a lot of you people, "THE PRINCIPLE OF THE MATTER" is what's at stake, making an example and all that *spoon*. Sometimes, you have to know when you cut your losses.

 

This is my standing on this matter.

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dscott

dscott

Posted
Posted

I had two time payments fall through in the last month. In both cases I sent the buyers emails telling them that they had an additional 10 days to complete the sale or they would forfeit the down-payment money and the book.

 

In one case I heard back and the buyer told me that he was at fault and I should relist the book and keep the cash. The 2nd buyer never responded I relisted both books here on the boards and sold them in 24 hours. If the buyer failed to complete the transaction and it was stated up front that the money was non refundable then the seller owes him nothing.

 

 

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