Non Payer Alert

[topofthetotem]

But this "outing" is good for the boards kinda like a high colonic.

[DeeDee-migration]

i can't imagine posting a and then asking the guy to send the book

befor payment. he must be quite the salesman.

 

Many of us ship books before payment . . . it's not unusual at all . . . what's unusual is the non-payment

 

I don't know... it seems unusual to me. What I mean is, you can't ordinarily take possession of a product without paying for it. The LCS wouldn't let people simply walk off with books without paying, just like a grocery store wouldn't allow you to take your groceries home, have a couple of meals, and then pay at your convinience.

 

I wasn't asking for your opinion . . . the question goes to practice, not what you think about it

 

Sorry. I didn't mean to offend you. It's just my personal opinion.

[nik]

Its because you are a Seahawks fan

 

Seriously though, sorry to hear about your misfortunes here. I personally have yet to see/feel this way in the boards.

 

I only got burned once but that was more my ignorance then any other excuse.

[JiveTurkeyMoFo]

But this "outing" is good for the boards kinda like a high colonic.

 

Again, the reasons I was given for the delays or whatever probably were very legitimate. There is no sense in damaging someone's good name because you couldn't wait an extra week or two for a few books. Its not like I sent books out to someone, and then didn't get paid for them after the passing of several months (which seems to be some of the claims raised in this thread). That would deserve an "outing" in my book.

 

Its also not like I haven't had some stellar transactions in the last year with Forumites...I have.

 

But, from when I joined in 2003 to fall 2005, all my transactions were superlative (fast shipping when I bought, fast payment when I sold, etc.), and recently there have been a lot more "average or below average" deals and that's what's so disappointing.

[Anfield Fox]

Truth is there are a lot of bad fish in this pond and "outing" them is more likely to get everyone on your back then commending you for doing the community a service. Sad really.

[DeeDee-migration]

i can't imagine posting a and then asking the guy to send the book

befor payment. he must be quite the salesman.

 

Many of us ship books before payment . . . it's not unusual at all . . . what's unusual is the non-payment

 

I don't know... it seems unusual to me. What I mean is, you can't ordinarily take possession of a product without paying for it. The LCS wouldn't let people simply walk off with books without paying, just like a grocery store wouldn't allow you to take your groceries home, have a couple of meals, and then pay at your convinience.

The assumption here though is that there is a large level of trust that we have here on the boards. I recently sent around $500 worth of books to a fellow forumite because I knew without doubt nor reservation that I would be paid. There are many others here that I would do that too without question. Ive had people send me books before when I told them that I wouldnt be able to pay for them for a while. That comes from the trust that many of us have here. Many of us have seen, ate, dealt with each other for long periods of time and have built quality relationships. Those relationships are built on honor and therefore help bind us together as a community.

Arex

 

I understand what you're saying and that amount of trust is admirable. I guess my point was that I think its a little unnecessary. If you trust someone to pay, whats wrong with letting them pay first? Why the rush to ship off books?

[topofthetotem]

But this "outing" is good for the boards kinda like a high colonic.

 

Again, the reasons I was given for the delays or whatever probably were very legitimate. There is no sense in damaging someone's good name because you couldn't wait an extra week or two for a few books. Its not like I sent books out to someone, and then didn't get paid for them after the passing of several months (which seems to be some of the claims raised in this thread). That would deserve an "outing" in my book.

 

Its also not like I haven't had some stellar transactions in the last year with Forumites...I have.

 

But, from when I joined in 2003 to fall 2005, all my transactions were superlative (fast shipping when I bought, fast payment when I sold, etc.), and recently there have been a lot more "average or below average" deals and that's what's so disappointing.

I had nothing but good deals on the boards except twice (overgraded books) But now when the sellers offers anything I just lower my expectations or do not buy from them.

Slow shipping is a problem but I'm in canada so I've grown used to waiting.

[buttock]

Truth is there are a lot of bad fish in this pond and "outing" them is more likely to get everyone on your back then commending you for doing the community a service. Sad really.

 

It may seem that way, but I really appreciate knowing who to avoid.

 

I guarantee you that I will never knowingly sell a book to h2g or comcasthawk based on events here.

[arexcrooke]

I understand what you're saying and that amount of trust is admirable. I guess my point was that I think its a little unnecessary. If you trust someone to pay, whats wrong with letting them pay first? Why the rush to ship off books?

Question right back to you is "why not rush to get them out"

Its a sign of goodwill, trust, and friendship. I guess to me its not so much about the money as it is about the relationships that are fostered here.

Arex

[BuckeyeChaos]

Truth is there are a lot of bad fish in this pond and "outing" them is more likely to get everyone on your back then commending you for doing the community a service. Sad really.

 

It may seem that way, but I really appreciate knowing who to avoid.

 

I guarantee you that I will never knowingly sell a book to h2g or comcasthawk based on events here.

 

Hey Buttock, what did I miss about comcasthawk?

[TiQuinn]

However, I'm getting to the point where buying here is no different then buying on ebay: complete with slow shippers, questionable graders, flaky buyers, you name it.

 

No doubt there's likely some bad apples in the bunch. But in comparison to EBay, the feedback "mechanism" here is more effective, IMO. I know who are good folks to buy from here because people respond favorably over and over and I know the standards people have when it comes to grading. Some of the dealers on EBay may have 5000+ feedback reputations, but there's so much retaliatory feedback it's nearly worthless.

[divad]

i can't imagine posting a and then asking the guy to send the book

befor payment. he must be quite the salesman.

 

Many of us ship books before payment . . . it's not unusual at all . . . what's unusual is the non-payment

 

I don't know... it seems unusual to me. What I mean is, you can't ordinarily take possession of a product without paying for it. The LCS wouldn't let people simply walk off with books without paying, just like a grocery store wouldn't allow you to take your groceries home, have a couple of meals, and then pay at your convinience.

 

I wasn't asking for your opinion . . . the question goes to practice, not what you think about it

 

Sorry. I didn't mean to offend you. It's just my personal opinion.

 

You didn't offend me, but I still don't think you understand

[DeeDee-migration]

I understand what you're saying and that amount of trust is admirable. I guess my point was that I think its a little unnecessary. If you trust someone to pay, whats wrong with letting them pay first? Why the rush to ship off books?

Question right back to you is "why not rush to get them out"

Its a sign of goodwill, trust, and friendship. I guess to me its not so much about the money as it is about the relationships that are fostered here.

Arex

 

I guess my answer to that question would be "why not pay immediately?" Isn't that also an expression of goodwill?

The problem I have with this practice is that I just don't think its polite to make someone wait for payment (unless there's some kind of payplan in place). Making allowances like this is asking for trouble. I know its a cliche' but familiarity does breed contempt. Trusting your friends is all good and nice, but these are serious business transactions. I wouldn't send an AF 15 8.0 to the most trustworthy person without receiving some kind of payment. Even nice, trustworthy people sometimes get in over their heads and agree to buy things they can't afford. I guess it all depends on how much of a risk you're willing to take.

[topofthetotem]

I understand what you're saying and that amount of trust is admirable. I guess my point was that I think its a little unnecessary. If you trust someone to pay, whats wrong with letting them pay first? Why the rush to ship off books?

Question right back to you is "why not rush to get them out"

Its a sign of goodwill, trust, and friendship. I guess to me its not so much about the money as it is about the relationships that are fostered here.

Arex

 

I guess my answer to that question would be "why not pay immediately?" Isn't that also an expression of goodwill?

The problem I have with this practice is that I just don't think its polite to make someone wait for payment (unless there's some kind of payplan in place). Making allowances like this is asking for trouble. I know its a cliche' but familiarity does breed contempt. Trusting your friends is all good and nice, but these are serious business transactions. I wouldn't send an AF 15 8.0 to the most trustworthy person without receiving some kind of payment. Even nice, trustworthy people sometimes get in over their heads and agree to buy things they can't afford. I guess it all depends on how much of a risk you're willing to take.

The way I see it these guys are "friends" If you cant trust your friends then whats the point.

[JiveTurkeyMoFo]

The way I see it these guys are "friends" If you cant trust your friends then whats the point.

 

You know what they say about lending your friends money, right?

 

Same basic principle here. Don't let your disposition toward a person override sound financial judgement. Keep all transactions "at arm's length", even with people who you've dealt with before. I don't ask anyone to send me books "on spec", and I don't do it for others either. Not because I don't trust them, nor expect them to not make good, but because it makes for a much less complicated transaction in case things don't work out as planned.

 

It might also mean a few more "friendships" are saved because people didn't get the chance to damage them (intentionally or inadvertently).

[BuckeyeChaos]

I understand what you're saying and that amount of trust is admirable. I guess my point was that I think its a little unnecessary. If you trust someone to pay, whats wrong with letting them pay first? Why the rush to ship off books?

Question right back to you is "why not rush to get them out"

Its a sign of goodwill, trust, and friendship. I guess to me its not so much about the money as it is about the relationships that are fostered here.

Arex

 

I guess my answer to that question would be "why not pay immediately?" Isn't that also an expression of goodwill?

The problem I have with this practice is that I just don't think its polite to make someone wait for payment (unless there's some kind of payplan in place). Making allowances like this is asking for trouble. I know its a cliche' but familiarity does breed contempt. Trusting your friends is all good and nice, but these are serious business transactions. I wouldn't send an AF 15 8.0 to the most trustworthy person without receiving some kind of payment. Even nice, trustworthy people sometimes get in over their heads and agree to buy things they can't afford. I guess it all depends on how much of a risk you're willing to take.

The way I see it these guys are "friends" If you cant trust your friends then whats the point.

 

Well said.

 

I'm very glad to say that there are folks here that I feel perfectly comfortable sending books in advance of the funds.

[DeeDee-migration]

The way I see it these guys are "friends" If you cant trust your friends then whats the point.

 

You know what they say about lending your friends money, right?

 

Same basic principle here. Don't let your disposition toward a person override sound financial judgement. Keep all transactions "at arm's length", even with people who you've dealt with before. I don't ask anyone to send me books "on spec", and I don't do it for others either. Not because I don't trust them, nor expect them to not make good, but because it makes for a much less complicated transaction in case things don't work out as planned.

 

It might also mean a few more "friendships" are saved because people didn't get the chance to damage them (intentionally or inadvertently).

 

Exactly what I was trying to say. You're much more articulate

[topofthetotem]

I guess business should come before friendship but It's only "money"!

If a seller wants to shrink their customer base by messing up a deal with me then they lose me as a customer. Ask any seller here I've dealt with i am a customer who come back to shop.

[MutantKeys]

I guess business should come before friendship but It's only "money"!

If a seller wants to shrink their customer base by messing up a deal with me then they lose me as a customer. Ask any seller here I've dealt with i am a customer who come back to shop.

[lizards2]

i can't imagine posting a and then asking the guy to send the book

befor payment. he must be quite the salesman.

 

Many of us ship books before payment . . . it's not unusual at all . . . what's unusual is the non-payment

 

I don't know... it seems unusual to me. What I mean is, you can't ordinarily take possession of a product without paying for it. The LCS wouldn't let people simply walk off with books without paying, just like a grocery store wouldn't allow you to take your groceries home, have a couple of meals, and then pay at your convinience.

 

I guess a similar practice is/was pretty common in the stamp collecting field, according to my brother who collects those. You buy on approval - show me the goods, and I send you the money. I don't know if this is still the case, given the complexity of the times.

 

I used to buy from a guy in Tennessee who didn't know how to grade books - he would ship me a batch of books, I'd keep the one's I wanted and ship the rest back with payment for what I kept. It was a wonderful arrangement for the both of us. That was a simpler time, and I paid him NM guide for quite a few books that weren't.

 

Although I haven't made very many deals through these boards, there are certain people here that I've done alot of eBay deals with, and who I would have no problem shipping to first, as I know they are very honest and trustworthy.

 

When Mike Richardson (Dark Horse Comics) used to be "only" a comic shop dealer, he let me walk off with tons of stuff that I paid him for later. He eventually made the big time, and I'm glad he did - he's a great guy and a hard worker, and obviously has some faith in trust.