Posted By:
Tim NewcombHere's a hypothetical question that I haven't seen discussed lately, or maybe never. I'd like to see some discussion, and maybe a consensus will emerge.
Say you put a "wanted" post on the BST with some very specific and fairly obscure cards.
We'll say for the sake of example that they are 1916 E135 Collins-McCarthy cards of mostly common players-- because you are doing the whole set. Not expensive cards but not falling off trees either. You list 10-20 cards you need in the post.
After a few days someone posts a comment like "I have a few of those cards available-- please contact me." You contact the person as soon as you see this. He tells you that someone else from the board contacted him right after his post and has already bought them.
Would you feel ripped off because you had placed the original post, done the "publicity," etc., while some lurker who is also doing the set jumps in and walks off with the cards?
Would it make you think twice about posting wantlists?
Should the other buyer have contacted you and given you first refusal, or offered to split the ones you both needed?
Or is all fair in cards these days?
These questions are not that clear to me, but I do think I would feel a little ill-used by the other buyer, especially if it was by someone I knew.
Tim