Buying and Selling

The thread "What do you think?" made me think a bit about buying and selling equipment. The few times I have sold things, I always tried to describe it correctly and completely and set a fair price. If the recipient didn't like it, the item could be returned for a full refund, but return shipping was the buyer's responsibility. I accepted the idea that if I bought something I didn't like, I'd pay to return it. It just seems like a reasonable way to do things, and, for most items, shipping is not a big expense.

One thing I always accepted was that there are folks out there just trying to make a few bucks, and some are not as responsible as I might expect in describing items. There are also buyers that seem to expect all items will look like they just came off the store shelf (an odd expectation, IMHO). You may eventually buy something you are not happy with, or have a buyer that expected more than he got.

Clear skies, Alan

I've been lucky I guess, but I do try to deal with members with high feedback, or a lot of community presence here on Astromart or in other forums like APUG.

I have never assumed any item I purchased on Astromart could be returned if I was unhappy. I assume everything here is "NON REFUNDABLE" and "SOLD AS IS".

The few times I've "knee-jerk reaction" and offered to buy something without fully questioning the cosmetic quality first (or determining some other minutia about the item), I've decided to stay with my word and buy the item, instead of coming back and saying "Well, tell me about the cosmetic quality first..." That irritates me when people commit to buy and then start asking questions.

My worst Astromart experiences have been with a buyer who was always posting ads looking for Zeiss APQ, and also was interested in super high quality AP or TMB stuff. He would commit to buy, tell me to NOT TO SELL without talking to him, and then he would fidget and question and discuss it and delay me for a few days or a weekend sometimes. The 3rd auction he wanted to do this on I told him, "sure.. take your time, but I'm selling to first bidder who offers my asked price." I started ignoring that members responses after that.

Honesty is the 5 star astromart policy. If you say you're buying, buy it. If you say it's in mint condition, it better not be chipped up!

Like i said my motto is, you dont like, return it.

Chas P.