what is the right course of action here?
 

Seller made a mistake listing part for friend way below market. Should he honor his deal he made on ad and hose his friend out of money? or renege on the deal and hose the buyer out of a steal of a price?
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-used-parts-sale-wanted/906560-fs-valves-covers.html

Honor the deal

Deals a deal....kinda like making a bet...

Edit... agree with some of the posts below.... the parts flippers are like hawks.....

MattR

People do make mistakes, but if you put them out there and say that you have no idea what they are and here is the price, then I say you gotta sell them.

It takes next to nothing to research and if someone put them up here in Marketplace with a photo they would know in a day what they are worth and then could post accordingly. I guess it was lazy not to do this.

What are they worth? I have no idea. But it's smart to know what something is worth before you sell it and put a price on it. That was the sellers main problem here.

People make mistakes, and I've made mistakes, and I have posted stuff that was worth more, but I just sold it to get rid of it or to give it to someone who needed it. In this case unless it's hundred and hundreds of dollars I say sell.

We all gotta leave money on the table sometime.

I think it depends on the scope of the mistake.

A $100 part that was sold for $50? Take your lumps.

If those valve covers are worth $1000 and you listed them for $50? Especially when acting as an agent for a friend? I don't think it is dishonest to pull them and relist for a more equitable price to both parties. Give first right of refusal to the initial buyer.

If you know you are effectively stealing a part from someone who doesn't know its true value, can you legitimately get your nose out of joint because the seller "reneged" on the "deal" once he realized his mistake after a flood of PMs?

Isn't that the same thing (on a smaller scale) as lowballing the old widow out of her dead husband's speedster in the barn?

This is supposed to be a community, and integrity should run both ways.

If the valve covers are worth a huge amount of money, the first buyer should have alerted the seller, and then offered a more reasonable price. He probably still could have gotten a "deal" versus the true market value -- and everyone would have been happy.

BTW -- Note to self: if it has a 901 part number, you probably want to double check what it is!

I'm with Colb.

Something similar happened a few months back with Fred Meaney's 74 Carrera. It was ridiculously low priced. Seller was listing it as a favor to Fred based on Fred's number. I wanted the car but they were leaving more then $10k on the table. I told them as first buyer to step in.

Porsport eventually outbid me but Fred got everything he could out if his old car. I'd feel dirty doing it any other way. Community first. $50 is stealing those covers and everyone scrambling for them knew it.

I would say honor the deal. There is also an ethical dilemma that comes into play on something that is significantly underpriced, say a guy asking 100.00 for a 1000.00 part? ( I know, he should of done his research) sometimes it's hard to find a comparable. On a tad different note, I do get tired of seeing certain individuals buying up parts to just resell them at a profit. They are the flippers of parts. I'm all for capitalism, but, it kind of ruins it for us "normal" enthusiast. Tim

It is hard for me to feel pity for some who complains about not being able to steal from the ignorant and then claims "integrity"
Colb said it well "This is supposed to be a community, and integrity should run both ways."

Half the Porsche catalog is still 901 part numbers and most of the parts I bought still have 901 part numbers.

Here's my take. If they are listed and people indicate an intent to buy, but no commitment is made (email or follow up post from seller) and the seller then amends the price realizing the mistake, that's fair. If a commitment is made by the seller directly to one of the buyers at that price, then honor the deal.

You are talking about Ralph Meaneys car. Good you didnt end up getting it. It was miss advertised . Don ended up flipping it.

So, should the original buyer have told him? He is definitely in tune with the market.

MattR

Guys, seriously?

Remember that tan Carrera that came up around Christmas time from Utah that was around $27K and everyone thought it was a scam, and then it was purchased 'legally' at that price and then shipped to SoCal where the owner is now enjoying it? And then most gave high-fives to the buyer. The seller looked on Hagerty and that's the number they gave him, and he sold it at that price (way low). In today's market, he left at least $30K on the table. No one said the buyer stole it, ripped off the seller, called him immoral, or unethical.

Getting a good deal on some old valve covers now turns into a moral and ethical dilemma for the community? It was a good deal on valve covers. That's it.

Sorry, you guys are way over the top on this one. It was some old valve covers someone put up for a good deal and someone wanted them, and suddenly the buyer is Bernard Madoff in some of your minds. You've got to be kidding. And if someone puts up some H1s (which they were going to this last week) for a H4 price and you guys score them for that amount you're going to lose sleep and complain? You've got to be kidding. I never knew H1s were worth that by the way.

Start sending PMS to the legitimate buyer of that Carrera three months ago and to the guy in Utah who put it up $30K under market at least. Am I going to call that buyer a crook and an immoral member of the community? No. And neither would most if they got to that deal first.

Sorry, yes Ralph. Don't know why I wrote Fred.

Don's a dealer. Of course he bought the car to sell it. But the car was in pieces and needed quite a bit of assembly. And Don was willing to pay more for it than I was so I let it go even though they gave me FRR to match the highest offer. I specifically told them to accept offers for 24 hours and come back to me. I fairly got outbid.

It's just a theoretical discussion. The people posting in the actual valve cover thread are the ones passing judgment on the parties. We are just talking about the ideas behind it. That's what we do.

Yup.

I would allow and have allowed sellers to cancel a deal due to honest pricing mistakes.

Yes, Matt, that is what we do. But sometimes what we say is not what we do.

It wasn't more than a month ago that another seller posted a 964 in the For Sale section for a low number, took a deposit, then returned the deposit when he realized it was too low, then re-posted the car at a higher number, and then most people around here chimed in and called the guy a wanker for doing this, and then he removed the new post with the new number never to be seen again.

No one took that sellers side. I don't think anyone did on this forum. No one allowed him really any lee-way. We all thought he backed out because he became greedy.

Just saying this theoretical is becoming hypocritical. It's not directed at you because you know I respect you, but to me it's funny.

I know you weren't singling me out. And I do think you are right that some people have very situational morality and also find it very easy to become judge and jury. On that 964 if a flipper got the car there would have been just as much outcry. If a member buys it to keep it, he got a good deal. If a flipper gets there first he's scum. In neither instance does anyone really seem to care that the seller got hosed by being niave. It seems it's always ok for a seller to lose out, which I don't really agree with in a community.

I like to point out when people list a car or part for $x,000 OBO. Nobody seems to accept that the best offer may be higher than the asking price.

I did this a couple years ago with a blank aluminum case. Sold it for a friend who set the price. Then got a barrage of "I'd have paid double." Sorry, price published is price asked. This isn't an auction site.