forward observer
Member
I was looking at a firearm with no bids that was ending within a few hours.
There was no reserve nor a "buy it now" price--just a starting opening bid which was about all I would have paid anyway.
There was a shipping fee of $30 and of course as many sellers do, they indicated that the winning bid price was a cash discount, so if one wanted to pay with a credit card it would cost 3.5% more.
I sent a message to the seller asking if he would accept X amount which would include both shipping and the credit card fee.
The offer amounted to only $10 less than if I bid and won the item at minimum and then paid shipping and the extra 3.5% to use my Discover card. (I always pay off Discover in the next cycle, so there's no interest plus I get a cash back reward)
I figured if he accepted, I would enter the bid and he would simply close out the auction early. Instead, I get an email that he will accept, he has the gun on hold for me, and to call him Monday morning to handle the payment and arrange FFL stuff.
I go check the auction and it is closed out. It appears that he is planning to conduct the sale outside the auction site and therefore not pay them their 3% brokerage fee.
I'm saving $10, but he is making up for that by stiffing the auction site for $30.
I sent him an Email back saying that I did not intend to take the transaction outside of the system and that I was uncomfortable with doing so. The seller has almost three thousand transactions with an A+ rating, so I'm sure he will ship the gun. That's not my concern.
However, this kind of stuff can get both the buyer and seller suspended if the site finds out.
They probably won't but the most important thing is that I simply don't feel right in doing it this way.
Am I overly moral here since I'm not the one actually shorting the auction site although I am complicit in the deal?
There was no reserve nor a "buy it now" price--just a starting opening bid which was about all I would have paid anyway.
There was a shipping fee of $30 and of course as many sellers do, they indicated that the winning bid price was a cash discount, so if one wanted to pay with a credit card it would cost 3.5% more.
I sent a message to the seller asking if he would accept X amount which would include both shipping and the credit card fee.
The offer amounted to only $10 less than if I bid and won the item at minimum and then paid shipping and the extra 3.5% to use my Discover card. (I always pay off Discover in the next cycle, so there's no interest plus I get a cash back reward)
I figured if he accepted, I would enter the bid and he would simply close out the auction early. Instead, I get an email that he will accept, he has the gun on hold for me, and to call him Monday morning to handle the payment and arrange FFL stuff.
I go check the auction and it is closed out. It appears that he is planning to conduct the sale outside the auction site and therefore not pay them their 3% brokerage fee.
I'm saving $10, but he is making up for that by stiffing the auction site for $30.
I sent him an Email back saying that I did not intend to take the transaction outside of the system and that I was uncomfortable with doing so. The seller has almost three thousand transactions with an A+ rating, so I'm sure he will ship the gun. That's not my concern.
However, this kind of stuff can get both the buyer and seller suspended if the site finds out.
They probably won't but the most important thing is that I simply don't feel right in doing it this way.
Am I overly moral here since I'm not the one actually shorting the auction site although I am complicit in the deal?