Bait and Switch!?!?

[Jon Miller]

It first happend to me a couple of years ago when I went to Mustang Ranch in Santa Clara (car parts,not women). The guy offered to sell me an aluminum flywheel for $50, but I had to come back in a couple of days because he had to dig it out of the back of the shop. When I came back the price had gone up to $85 because it was in better shape than he remembered.........

Twice in the last week I have seen ads here in the parts for sale forum where the price has gone up after the original post....As far as I know this should only happen on Ebay, not in what amounts to a classified ad. Maybe the sellers had been drinking when they originally posted the items for sale, and after sobering up decided that their original prices were too low.

IMHO it seems that a seller should decide on a price for his items before posting, and not raise it afterward. The other option is to list the stuff on ebay and post a link to the auction here.

What do the rest of you think??

-Jon

[gary osborne]

First of all, "Bait and Switch" by definition is when a company advertises something for sale that they do not have and then when you arrive they attempt to switch you to another product. As for raising prices, a seller has every right to do so at any time and without notice. Had a buyer sent a check and THEN a second party offers the seller more, THEN you might argue (though you may not win) a breach of contract. Until then, there has been no "meeting of the minds" and the seller should change prices as often as he / she likes. After all, a sale happens when someone wants "stuff" more than the money it takes to buy it and the other party wants money more than the stuff. Everybody wins.

[Jon Miller]

My appologies for the title, just couldn't come up with anything better that would fit in the space allowed.

I'm not at all sure that what's happening is "wrong", and I know that it's not against the law, there is just some thing about it that does not seem exactly "right". In an auction format (ebay) we expect the price to go up over time . I don't expect that here.


-Jon

[Excaliber]

OK, it's not bait and switch (quack quack) and it is legal (but it stinks),,,,,,,,.

So it sounds like a duck and smells like a duck, but it's actually the classic "goose".

Ernie

[750hp]

Yeah, I recently had a guy seemingly change his mind about selling his BG Race Demon carb after I offered him his full asking price......

You'd kinda think that you'd have your price sorted out before you went to the trouble of posting the ad !

[Steve R]

I'm with Gary on this one. It might annoy you, So what. If it is too expensive move on. Maybe your just pissed because you
procrastinated and now your indecision is costing you. (been there) I've "out smarted myself" on a few opertunities. I just laugh at my self, shake my head, and move on.
Steven

[Bob Putnam]

As far as I'm concerned, if I offer something for sale for $50, that's what I should sell it for, to the person I promised it to. There sometimes may be some extenuating circumstances, but that doesn't sound like the case here.

If I made a mistake, I should take the hit, not someone who took the time to come to me to buy it. I don't care if it's legal to bump the price. It's someone not taking responsibility for their own error (or just being a ripoff artist).

[cobrashoch]

A few years ago I was selling a junk Pantera locally. I advertised for sale, 72 Pantera, basket case, rough and rusty but all parts there to make a complete car. $6500. Will deliver locally.
Several folks looked at it the first 2 days, most agreed it was priced about right, some offered trades, but no takers. Then this self proclaimed EXPERT shows up. He looks the car over to the tune of 3 hours of my time jotting down notes and boring me with his expertese. All the time while looking it over he bad mouthed the car that I tried my best not to mis-rep. Then he goes away. Later that night the same guys calls and wants a look-see again. After being 45 mins. late he looked the car over again for 2 hours with the same bad mouthing.
Then he offered me 4500$.
To that I said the price to you is now 7200$ !!! "You can't do that" he said. As I escorted him to the door. I was wrong, I said, The price for YOU is now 7500$, I never seen him again till a couple of years pasted by, thank goodness!

Bob- holding to your price of sale is a honorable thing and I commend you. But Garys right on this one. You see this guy was a tool thief, and was looking over my shop. I seen his picture in the paper later and he was on trial for home burglary!
cobrashock

[Excaliber]

What we have here is a double edged sword!

The examples sited above offer insight as to why the law is correct in that you are free to raise your price unless a contract has actually been entered into.

The double edged sword is:
Purchasers who will jerk your chain and waste your time.
Sellers who will jerk your chain and waste your time.

Doesn't change anything as far as the moral obligation to sell a part for what you said you would sell it for. As a buyer I'm free to offer you a lower price and your free to show me the door! But when I get there and you have RAISED the price, THATS playing dirty.

Bait and Switch by any other name, still stinks!

I can sure relate to Cobrashoch! There is a time to raise the price, lol.

Ernie

[Russ Dickey]

Jon Miller:
Did the seller's agree to the selling price via an email or phone call, and then raise it later?

Some of you Cobra-driving lawyers should probably pipe in here, but it was my understanding that if a seller and a buyer both agree to a price either orally or electronically, then the seller is legally bound to that price, whether or not consideration had been given.

However, if they decided to raise the price before you both agreed to the sale, then there's not much you can do.

That being said, it's probably not worth the headache to pursue it either way. Just shrug it off and keep looking for your part.

Russ

[Lowell W]

The honorable thing for the seller to do is to sell the item for the agreed-upon price, regardless of what's "legal".

Cobraschoch: That was an extenuating circumstance-apparently he had no intention of buying your car. The reasonable thing to do was to show the BS'er the door as soon as his motives became apparent/you became tired of listening to him.

[Jon Miller]

In one of the two CC cases, the items for sale were something that a friend at work was looking for. I just did a "print screen" and gave it to him. When he went to check the item he forund that the price had gone up . No real harm here, just made CC look a little flakey to an outsider....

Case number 2: I saw an item for sale on CC, at the seller's request I emailed him directly with a question rather than post a reply. He answered the question and I replied with my address asking for a total with shipping. In the responce that I got, the price had gone up by about 40%, but he said that he would cover the shipping..........I went back and rechecked the ad and found that he had edited it raising the price. It seemed to me that the price posted when I first inquired about the item should be THE price.

-Jon
p.s. I said nothing that would justify "Price subject to change with customer attitude".

[ENTDOC]

If an item is listed at a certain price and someone offers to buy it at that price it should be sold at that price period.You can argue about what is legal or the rights of the seller all you want but it comes down to honor, and ones honor or word is worth more than anything I have ever seen for sell on this forum. chuck

[pk]

This happen with the loft we bought a few years ago. Guy told us what he wanted for it. 24 hours later we told him we'd take it.
No d!icking over price -full asking price. He said I'm going out of town for a week I'll get back to you!!!!!!
My wife and I were WTF???.

We got it for that price but at the close he says "ya know I could have gotten alot more for it".

Some people don't get it Ask whatever you want, but when someone gives you the price you sell it to them!

I guess we were lucky he did the right thing in the end.

pk

[frankym]

in order for an agreement of sale to have any teeth, the seller promises to deliver said object at said price, which should be in writing for all practical purposes, and the buyer either hands the money over, or in most cases provides a small down payment or deposit. That deposit represents consideration, without consideration, the seller is not forced to sell at specified price. When consideration is granted, the buyer has a legal claim to that sale. I had negotiated with someone over the phone for a cobra and we agreed on a price. Before sending a deposit, the seller notified me that he had sold to a higher bidder. I understood, but sure enough that buyer was just another tire kicker. I tried making the offer again, but he said no, I then upped the offer by a couple thousand, and still he said no. Well, the car still hasn't sold and I do believe as Bob Putnam stated, you make a deal, and notwithstanding some major change in circumstances, that's the deal you complete.

[Steve R]

A clarification.
There were two scenarios presented which are not an apples to apples comparison.
As to the flywheel, I feel Jon has a legitimate gripe.
They entered into a verbal agreement about the price, then the seller raised it. Not good.
I just don't have a problem with a guy who changes the ad and raises the price. It's done every day to reflect market demands
by just about every business I can think of. Having said that, If a guy called about the lower price up to the date of the change,
Yeah, the seller should honor it. Once the ad re emerges with the higher price the person selling the product should review the
price on the phone before wasting the prospective buyer's time.
Steven

[SCOBRAC]

Actually..

Jon was referring in part to a post in which I had rocker arm assemblies for sale. (there may have been another he saw as well but this is something I know happened)

I had as I often do typed something I had not intended, in this case $135. The price was suppose to be $185 for parts which would sell anywhere on the planet for much more. Parts by Jon's own admission are way under priced.. In fairiness, and what he fails to mention, is the only price I gave him was the price I had intended to charge, $185. The parts in question are a like new pair of C5AE rocker arm, shafts, stands and bolts. On which the springs were removed, and replaced with 1.250" billet aluminum spacers carefully fitted and completely assembled. Wait.. There's more.. The rocker arms are fitted with Crane Cams Poly-lock ball adjusters #99680.. The cost of Poly-locks for 16 rocker arms is $76. I offered him the rocker shaft assemblies described, ball and cup push rods and drip rails for $250. and I offered to pay the shipping to have them there day after tomarrow. (Wednesady 4/9)

I certainly regret any confusion there may have been with Jon and my post which may be seen in Parts for Sale.

[SCOBRAC]

Oh, and for clarity.. I reserve the right to raise and lower the price on anything I own based on the color of your shirt, socio-economic factors, the color of your Cobra, your race, mother's place of birth, the armed service you served in (and if you never served) the color of your hair and whether I have had a big fat cigar recently.

[Edley Rondinone]

I agree with the "Price sold at advertised" price. Honor has its place here.

[ENTDOC]

An honest mistake in the ad is of course legitimate and I would assume that would be clarified in any correspondance by the two parties.I mean that if an offer was made at the real asking price ,it should be honored even if someone else offers more later, before the first transaction has finalized.Please no lawyer rebuttals;right is right,not nessesarily law. chuck