KP, nowhere did I say your experiences were unique. I consider them fairly common. That is the point I am making. In this case, for whatever reason the guy doesn't seem to want to do business with you, at least right now. And price or percieved value pretty much has to be discussed, because it is usually in the ad, thers is an idea of how much an item is going to be. And if it wasn't discussed, he might have well thought your were wasting his time, and just did'nt have the courage to tell you. I'm not saying this was a decent human being you were dealing with, I don't know who it was, but there are two sides to every deal that makes or doesn't make.
And no, I don't care for that blame the computer excuse either, but it does happen. I can tell you I am someone that does have buyers feedback on all the sites, I have over 200 on Ebay(jvia@mindspring.com), and I will tell you things happen fairly often. And a lot of times it is just easier for people to "drop it". Especially if they are slightly embarrassed for not being able to make a deal or changing their mind about a deal. And e mail gives them an easier chance of blowing a deal off. E mail is not instantaneous, I get tons of e mail that was sent the night before, stuff that should have reached me before I went bed at 1 am or so. Its all dated at 830,900pm, and sometimes its deals that I or the mailer lose out on because email is really pretty slow, even though its an electronically based medium. You have to talk if you answer a ringing phone or a knock on the door. I also consider it easier to find out if I am dealing with a flake or not in that phone conversation. Thats why again, I post it my ads when I am selling, and I will call(if I have the #) before I will email if someone is listing an item I am interested in
Most of these people have jobs, families and other concerns outside of audio and just because 1 person or 10 do something you don't like on a particular deal means they want to do it again. Each deal does and should stand on its own. I have an will always consider myself as good as the last one I make. lucishow, you must frequent audio market place for that wild wild west comment. That place is dangerous!