A deal is a deal. Honor it.
Guy Apple Sunnyvale CA USA
-----Original Message-----
>From: Charles Andrews <chasds@mindspring.com>
>Sent: May 27, 2007 1:58 PM
>To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
>Subject: [CR]re: new york condor
>
>Jerry Moos wrote:
>
> can appreciate Aaron's annoyance, but I'm not sure the sellers were
>really unethical. It sounds like they were selling a single bike they
>had owned for many years, perhaps the only bike they have ever sold.
>I'd agree that it would be unethical for a bike shop or a major
>collector to renege on a sale like this, but it is a major pain to have
>to wait for a check and then sort out the packing and shipping of a bike
>if you've never done it before and don't ever expect to do it again. In
>this situation, I can't blame the sellers too much for taking the easy
>way out and just selling it locally for cash. I don't think I would do
>that, but I don't blame them.
>
>*******
>
>I have to say, I disagree with Jerry on this. If you've agreed to sell
>a bike to someone, and agreed to take their check, you've sold the bike.
> You don't turn around and sell it to someone else without at least
>contacting your first buyer to give them a chance to meet any higher
>offer.
>
>If they didn't want to take Jerry's check, and take the bike to shop for
>packing and shipping (hardly a hassle), they never should have agreed to
>do that in the first place, yes?
>
>And it matters not a whit that this was an older couple, selling their
>only bike. They certainly had to know the rules of such a transaction.
>This kind of basic civility extends to all transactions.
>
>As for selling local, that's just bs. They could have taken the bike to
>any good shop, or given the bike to Aaron's agent, who would have paid
>them cash, had they asked. No hassle involved.
>
>The deal stinks as far as I'm concerned.
>
>I can't say anything about the person who ended up with the bike, other
>than if I were involved in a similar deal, I'd be a little wary of
>buying the bike. Although I might do it, I confess. It's not the
>buyer's concern to worry overmuch about another potential buyer.
>
>It's the sellers who did a bad thing here.
>
>And, Barry, for what it's worth the "person" in California who should
>have had that bike is Aaron Lipstadt, a long-time member of this list, a
>reputable collector and someone who is a good friend to a number of us
>out here. So acting as if the buyer who got ther first, and should have
>had the bike, is some kind of anonymous chump who somehow didn't deserve
>it, doesn't sit too well with some of us, if you know what I mean.
>
>Charles Andrews
>Los Angeles