Is this the normal way business is handled?

My guess is that he probably was not comfortable shipping the speakers. He could have told the buyer that he had another buyer whether he really did or not so the leverage angle does not wash.

My guess is that you will find a better pair of speakers or a better price. There are plenty of speakers for sale and more coming everyday.

If a person does not have all the proper packaging they are probably better off and so are you not having shipped the speakers.

Ethically if he committed to you he should have at least notified you and it sounds like he did. I agree once committed that he should have gone through with the sale.

He probably was desperate to sell and after thinking about all the possible consequences of shipping the shippers backed out. Sometimes caution is the best policy for everyone involved! Sometimes our gut instincts guide us much better than are mind.

You must realize that for people who are not dealers or at least avid sellers shipping speakers can be precarious. Gosh, I am a dealer and ship hundreds of items every month and I am never totally comfortable shipping speakers.

Good Luck! You will find other speakers!

Even worse! I had agreed on a deal of a CD-Transport/DAC unit. The seller told me he was glad to sell it as a pair and glad that it would go into good hands and all. Then, while I was arranging money transfer, he told me that somebody else had bought other stuff (!) from him and that he had sold the CD-transport to that person. The DAC he would sell otherwise.
Well, GREAT!
I think you just have to deal with that sort of people. Audiogon is no exception from real life....

If I were to contact a seller and told that person I wanted their item at their listed cost plus shipping, they may or may not choose to sell to me. As a seller you want to weigh all your options if you are lucky enough to have them. Just because I was the first to say I wanted the item doesn't necessary mean I will get it. The last amplifier I bought I was second in line. I got the unit because I was a registered member here at audiogon. The other person beat me to it by about 8 hours, but was not registered here, I got lucky.