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keithhr said:
...I opted in on a buy of several of the same items, 4 days later I was told that other people had beaten me to it. I thought it sucked, wasn't fair and some people received preferential treatment, so i'm doing my best to be respectful of the way other people are treated in dealing with me.
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IMO if you are the first to post in a BST thread, "I'll take it" the item should be yours as long as you make timely communication and payment. If you post "PM sent" I feel the door is still open for the seller to make other arrangements. When you post an item for sale you're not looking for conversation, you're looking to sell. Anything short of "I'll take it" or "Paypal sent" is an invitation to lose.
IMO only when an offer has been made AND accepted is there any requirement to wait.
When the buyer or seller counter offers you have the center of a doughnut, nothing, zilch.
In your case the buyer didn't offer to buy it at your price and you didn't offer to sell it at his, no other courtesy should be expected other than you change your ad to "sold" as soon as you make a deal.
The "sold-out" buyer shouldn't have any hostility as they were given a chance to buy but chose to risk a counter offer.
I am not offering CPF policy, just my opinion and am probably more rigid than most.