Phantom Buyers?

[peabody]

I was just wondering if any one else experiences what I will term as Phantom Buyers?

These are the people who contact you and say they really want the item you have for sale, but they want to think about it overnight, or they are waiting for their tax return (which will be there any day), or they need to check with their spouse, etc....and you never hear from them again. You try contacting them and they never respond back....they disappear like phantoms into the night. Then you realize they never had any intention of buying your item, they were just stringing you along because it gave them something to do.

I'm not talking about the obvious scams offers...the shipping agents, the cashier's checks from a different country, etc.. these are the people who you actually had several e-mail conversations with, and they seemed genuinely interested.

I admit these usually aren't TB'ers...although I'll occassionaly get that TB person who just registered the day before and now they want to buy my bass....and I never hear from them again.

Mostly these come from people responding to my e-mail from a craigslist ad or from talkbass.com. I was just wondering, are there people out there that take pleasure in getting someone's hopes up, only to have them pour gas on them and put a match to them so they can watch them burn?

I'm sorry, I was trying to buy my dream bass, and I was trying to sell a bass to buy it. I ended up losing out because I couldn't get mine sold in time....so I'm a little depressed.... and the phantom buyer phenomenon happened to me at least four times when I was trying to sell my bass.

I was just wondering, is it just me, or does this happen to other people?

[ggunn]

Originally Posted by peabody

I was just wondering if any one else experiences what I will term as Phantom Buyers?

These are the people who contact you and say they really want the item you have for sale, but they want to think about it overnight, or they are waiting for their tax return (which will be there any day), or they need to check with their spouse, etc....and you never hear from them again. You try contacting them and they never respond back....they disappear like phantoms into the night. Then you realize they never had any intention of buying your item, they were just stringing you along because it gave them something to do.

I'm not talking about the obvious scams offers...the shipping agents, the cashier's checks from a different country, etc.. these are the people who you actually had several e-mail conversations with, and they seemed genuinely interested.

I admit these usually aren't TB'ers...although I'll occassionaly get that TB person who just registered the day before and now they want to buy my bass....and I never hear from them again.

Mostly these come from people responding to my e-mail from a craigslist ad or from talkbass.com. I was just wondering, are there people out there that take pleasure in getting someone's hopes up, only to have them pour gas on them and put a match to them so they can watch them burn?

I'm sorry, I was trying to buy my dream bass, and I was trying to sell a bass to buy it. I ended up losing out because I couldn't get mine sold in time....so I'm a little depressed.... and the phantom buyer phenomenon happened to me at least four times when I was trying to sell my bass.

I was just wondering, is it just me, or does this happen to other people?

I don't think that it's malice. It's human nature to act on an impulse and then think better of it after the impulse is gone.

[bongomania]

Yep, happens to everyone. We want, want, want, and then a moment of common sense awareness (or our wife) slaps us and we realize we can't have everything we want, and then we're sometimes embarrassed to have made such a production out of wanting it and then having to admit we can't afford it.

[peabody]

I'm just wondering why they can't let me know they don't want it. A simple e-mail that lets me know they are no longer interested will suffice....or at least respond to the e-mail I sent them stating they aren't interested anymore. I'll understand...I'm a nice guy. It's okay to say "I changed my mind".

[pointbass]

I agree with ggunn, I don't think it's meant to be mean-spirited at all. People get caught up in the excitement until the reality hits that some money is going to change hands ...

I never consider a bass is sold until I get the money, and I never hold onto a piece of gear until the buyer figures out how to pay for it. With me, it's a "money talks" thing, whoever coughs it up first gets it ....

[thumpbass1]

Originally Posted by pointbass

I agree with ggunn, I don't think it's meant to be mean-spirited at all. People get caught up in the excitement until the reality hits that some money is going to change hands ...

I never consider a bass is sold until I get the money, and I never hold onto a piece of gear until the buyer figures out how to pay for it. With me, it's a "money talks" thing, whoever coughs it up first gets it ....

+1! I've sold stuff and have had some well intentioned folks do this sort of thing. Anymore I just have to say that the first person to come up with the money as I want the transaction to be conducted, gets the merchandise.

[D Rokk]

it works both ways.. ive had money and sellers never return my emails.. needless to say they didnt get teh sale.. i'm not pursuing you to give you money

[Gopherbassist]

I would say these people want the item, but for reasons outside of their control they can't buy them. They're dreaming out loud, not lying to you. The first step to success is setting goals. Just because you can't reach a goal doesn't mean you didn't really want it.