My Offer Was Accepted. Before I Pay, I Have LOTS of Questions [that the listing already addressed].

[mesodude]

Howdy folks! So my offer for a pricey item was auto accepted early this morning. I'm SO excited! I WON! Yay!  But before I pay, I NOW have questions about the listing that are already fully addressed in the listing I didn't read. LOTS of questions. BOY, do I have questions (and a few random opinions, too)! And I bet YOU have questions for me too. Like, you're wondering why on earth did I make an offer for an expensive item if I had questions about it, right? And you're also probably wondering why I have questions that are clearly answered (multiple times, in some cases) in the listing. Come to think of it, you're probably wondering why I didn't even read the listing, aren't you?

But seriously, are buyers now allowed to place "holds" on items (as if a winning bid or offer is the equivalent of a virtual shopping cart) by first making a winning bid/offer and then making payment contingent upon replies to questions the seller has already thoroughly addressed in the listing? Is this now a thing? This is the second time in less than a month that I've had a buyer making up his own arbitrary transaction rules. Incidentally, I gamely answered all the buyer's questions again several hours ago.

[myescape]

It is a binding agreement that is virtually unenforceable in any kind of practical sense

[mesodude]

Just did earlier today-- a few hours past the 72 hour mark (and after a polite reminder message to confirm the buyer was still planning to complete the purchase). 

[mesodude]

Update: The plot sickens...

So, after giving the buyer 72 hours and and then politely inquiring if he was still planning to pay for it, I opened a UPI this morning. This evening, the buyer (who went AWOL after telling me he would pay after I answered a bunch of questions that were already addressed in my listing)  finally messaged me to apologize, claimed that he "did not realize I placed a bid"  (he "was only asking questions" about the item), and asked me to please cancel. Ok well, I know what I'm going to do. But I'd like to hear what others would do in my shoes. I'd especially love to hear some creative devil's advocates explain how it's possible for someone to accidentally bid on an item.

[lovefindingtreasures2]

@turquoisetulips:
"I know of a perfect example of that . I had a friend who actually believed that disciplining children was abuse . She sounded proud of herself when she told me she would let her kids off being grounded as soon as their dad went to work . Guess where all of her three kids ended up spending a lot of their time when they got older ? Seems mom was wrong after all . They did need to abide by the rules . Tulips "

Sounds like we know the same Mom. No rules, no consequences, said she wanted to 'bundle her up in a cocoon of love" blah blah blah.

Daughter ended up a drug addict, 2 DUI's, pregnant and now lives at home with Mom, boyfriend and baby. Mom doesn't understand 'what happened'.

[a_c_green]

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@mesodude wrote:

This evening, the buyer (who went AWOL after telling me he would pay after I answered a bunch of questions that were already addressed in my listing)  finally messaged me to apologize, claimed that he "did not realize I placed a bid"  (he "was only asking questions" about the item), and asked me to please cancel. Ok well, I know what I'm going to do. But I'd like to hear what others would do in my shoes.

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Unless I was in a hurry to relist, I'd just tell the deadbeat (whose story is nonsense; bidding is not remotely like asking a question) that the case will time out by itself in [insert expiration date/time here], so he does not need to make a payment if he no longer wants it. Let the UPI end as expected, add him to your BBL, and he gets an Unpaid slap.

I suspect he's not going to protest that, since that would reveal that he really knows exactly what the process is. If he pays in order to avoid the UPI slap, you can send him a note expressing surprise and offering to cancel now if he still wants to. There's no need to respond to any further messages otherwise.

I know this seems kind of convoluted, but that claim that he didn't "realize" he was placing a bid is just so dumb that I would think my intelligence was being insulted.

[pjcdn2005]

Once an unpaid item claim is opened, I don't think that you can use the cancellation option so I would close the unpaid item claim after 4 days.

[mesodude]

"I suspect he's not going to protest that, since that would reveal that he really knows exactly what the process is. If he pays in order to avoid the UPI slap, you can send him a note expressing surprise and offering to cancel now if he still wants to. There's no need to respond to any further messages otherwise."

He won't be hearing from me. It's not clear to me what he knows. If I could be sure there was a way to let him back out of the deal without any dings on my record, I would have been open to it. But then he lied.