Can a buyer MAKE me sell something to them legally?

I sold a dirt bike to a guy who was going to travel down from NY to pick it up (8 hours). He agreed to buy it and we set a pick-up time (cash on delivery). He told me when he got there the he found the same bike 20 miles from his house shortly after he agreed to buy from me. He wanted to stick to the agreed sale (even though he wasn't bound to it). Very respectable!

Backing out of an agreed upon deal to get a couple extra bucks - NOT RESPECTABLE!

 

There is a concept in Law called "Offer and Acceptance." If you make an offer in good faith, and another party accepts the offer in good faith, then you are legally bound to make good on your offer (you have created a contract). You don't have to cash the check to have been deemed in acceptance.

How did the two of you communicate? If it was through e-mail, he might have all the proof he needs of your acceptance.

I also remember from school that it's difficult to force somebody to sell/produce/do something specific, but that doesn't mean there's not a legal remedy available to the wronged party. He might not be able to force you to sell him the camera, but I'd be willing to bet that if he has the time, money and inclination, he could probably make your life pretty crappy for a little while.

I'm not a lawyer, and it's pretty clear that nobody else here is, either.

I guess the saying "buyer beware" is as true as ever. I feel bad for the buyer, and I sure hope I don't see you in the Buy/Sell/Trade forum.

 

X2

 

x10 my friend!
Karma is like murphys law, it will get you sometime or another. I've had the same thing happen to me and i sold to the buyer i agreed with, lost some money but still felt right about it.

 

Do what you want man you dont have to sell it to the first buyer unless an actual contract was written and you signed it. Even then its not legally binding unless it was witnessed by a notary.

I am a notary for the state of Arizona and deal with this kind of stuff on a daily basis.

 

I understand that a person's word means a lot, but think about it this way..

Buyer: obviously has money to spend as he is in the market to spend, he is upset because he thought he was getting a very good deal, the buyer knows he wont find this deal anywhere else and that is why he is upset with the seller.
He is being greedy

Seller: He is selling an item because he is in dyer need of any money he can get.
He said he was willing to negotiate with the buyer on a price half way, where he would be losing out on the better deal, and the buyer would still be getting a good deal, just not quite as good, because the buyer is being greedy he declined and is trying to get the item anyways.

We don't know if the seller is trying to put food on the table for his kids, or just pay off his debt because he wants to, but I'd assume he needs the money, he isn't just trying to get the most so he can buy mods for the taco.

I hope you guys can understand the situation the way I do, the man needs to do what he needs to do, his word is not down the drain, he simply made a mistake, we all make them.

we don't know if

 

i agree, i mean you can say i dont have morals or whatever, but like was said, the mans not just doing this to buy a big screen tv or a lift for his truck, hes doing it to pay the irs. now he could come up 800$ short and get in a bunch more shit way deeper than this with oweing the gov money if he cant come up with that 800$...or play it safe and get it all payed off free and clear. i dont think its that big of a deal, i think the buyers being greedy here, if i was in his shoes and someone said to me hey i owe the gov 4 grand id say hey man i understand do what you gotta do ill get over it.

 

like all have said, karma. your word is all you got. when i was selling my centerline rims, i got an offer for $350 from 2 parties i said whoever shows up at my door first gets it. 1 guy was in my city visiting for a fight and 1 chick was gonna drive like 2 hours to get them. i told her to call me in the morning before she drove down cause theres another dude closer that also wants them. she was coming at 9ish and he said he'd be calling me at 7ish if he was still in town. 9 oclock rolled around and he never called. she called me at 9 on the dot and i gave her the green light. he calls half an hour after and offers me $500 for the setup said he has cash and will come over asap. i said "bud, your SOL. shoulda called at 7 like you said. now someone else is gonna get them for $350." he bitched and moaned, but left back home with no rims. moral is, dont be a douche. you f*cked up and took the original offer. be a man and chalk it up for next time. if your a moral person and go with the higher bidder and screw the OG dude out, you will feel the guiilt. good luck man

 

your situation is completely different, you were just selling some rims, probably to buy new ones, your price difference was $150, his is 800! and he is doing it to pay his taxes...

The initial buyer also didn't go to his house with cash in hand, he sent a cheque...

 

I don't think you do...

Is it greedy to expect someone to sell you something for the price he/she promised it? I don't see where the greed of the BUYER comes in here. It's not like he agreed to buy it, then offered substantially less than the negotiated price and refused to budge.

The SELLER agreed to a price. He didn't have a gun to his head (though, I concede that the IRS isn't much better), and he agreed of his own free will. When the buyer tried to pay, in good faith, the seller decided he wanted more just because more was offered by somebody else.

This is absolutely NOT the buyer's greed.

How does this change the situation? He was happy to accept the original amount, which was "any money he could get."

Also, while I realize it's not necessarily fair to draw conclusions from a single post on an internet forum, I found a little evidence that he's not exactly Mr. Responsible with his money. I'll go out on a limb and say that there's no "feeding the kids" issue going on here.

Again, I disagree. Would YOU buy something from this guy? I sure as hell wouldn't.

 

how is it different? forget him owing money, for all you know hes some rich cat that didnt pay taxes and got caught. he probably owns a house and for sure has newer truck than me, so im sure he can afford to pay the difference. dude had enough to buy a damn $5K camera. he needs to man up and sell it to the original guy.

 

well put!

If I agreed to sell at a lower price I would honor that price, just me.

Murph

 

Bottom line is the OP should of asked for $4K if he needed that much money to pay his taxes; regardless of the legality of a legal verbal contract or not. If I needed $22K to pay off my truck to sell it, I wouldn't agree to sell it for $20K Sorry I have no sympathy for the OP....there's probably a good reason he owes the IRS too. How would you feel if you went into a car dealer worked out a deal to pay $XXXX for a new Tacoma only to have the dealer say, "You know what, we're not going to sell to you because someone else offered us more...too bad!" I bet just about everyone of you guys saying go ahead an reneg onthe deal would be pissed. Talk about hypocrits... I didn't realize there were so many classless people around here.

 

I already stated the numbers involved very early in the post. He wanted it for $3200, another person wanted to pay $4000. Difference of $800.

 

NO, but my stock intake is for free if you want to pick it up and dont' think I'll stick you up,ha ha. LOL.

 

YOU hit the nail on the head. I'm at work now (0300 west coast) and know I dont' have to post a pic or prove anything to you guys, but I'll take a pic of my tax bill when I get home.

The diff in $3200 and $4000 will actaully totally get me out of the hole and have a few hundred left over after I ship this equipment insured etc.

This was the break I needed. Again, you can call me whatever, but I sold my prize possession and had to leave my favorite hobby to pay my bills.

I knew on the phone the original buyer was soo intent on pursuing this and thats when he mentioned a lawyer because it' is literally the deal of a lifetime.

I said to him on the phone, that he knows my predicament, and if explained to me the way I explained it to him, I'd let it go as if I was the buyer and I had several thousand free monies to pursue a hobby. I'd be a good guy and try to help the seller out. So, yes, there are indeed may different types of greed in the world.

But I needed this to get out of debt and have breathing room. He was indeed greedy, as he said he didn't care what situation I was in and that he wanted the equipment.

Call me whatever, but I had to take care of my family situation, not honor his good deal.

Again, I've never done this before. And hope to never have to sell my other hobby items in these dire times, but I've have to.

 

Not asking for sympathy or your extra stuff. Again (X4) asking a question about legality.


Actually times are really that tough.

I may have to give up the Tacoma as well. Ha ha, I can already hear the jokes about you not wanting to buy it. ha ha.



Anyway, it was fun while it lasted. Good luck to you all, guys.

 

Oh no, got me some neg gray anonymous rep. Might of shed a tear IF I GAVE A FUCK!!!!! Only thing that pisses me off about it is that it isn't red instead.

 

It makes me laugh out loud that YOU were explaining to HIM how to be a good guy.