Was I being scammed somehow?

Or maybe just mistreated.

I have a parcel of land for sale in Honnister. Someone approached me about buying 6k of it. I had priced it a little under the price I paid for it. I was running from a laggy snow sim at the time and was willing to pay the high price because I thought it was worth it. Of course the lag monstor followed me. But I found a private sim that promised no horrendous night clubs and a monthly rental fee equivalent to what I was paying the Lindens. The catch was that I would need to tier down. I put the land up for 6.5 a sqm, which was less than what was going around.

It had been on the market a couple of days and no bite. I was getting antsy, so when someone contacted me and asked me to lower my price to 4.5 a sqm, after my initial horror, I agreed. The party agreed and then said he would pick it up in an hour, so I set it this name at the ridiculously low price and I went shopping, thinking of the things I could do with my cash and trying not to tihnk of the money I would be losing.

Three hours go by and no sale. So I IM the guy and he says, oh sorry I was doing some stuff getting ready for the sale. I let it go although if it had been me, after the hour was up, I would have contacted the seller and let him/her know what my situation was. So I wated another 2 hours getting really impatient. Finally he contacts me.

He says he has to use his alt to make the sale. I couldn't understand this at all. So he needed me to go back to the lot and change it to his alts name. I was in the middle of doing something but I took the time to go to the land and make the change. And I wait. Nothing happens. Ten minutes go by and I think something is going on. Why doesn't he make the sale. The person I left hanging to do this transaction is IM'ing me, so I take the alts name off and put the land back to a higher price. Then I IM the guy and tell him I dont' know what kind of scam he was pulling but I'm out of there.

He IM"s back that he was just getting ready to click buy. I find it hard to believe and I didn't want to be jerked around anymore, so I said that's okay. And I went to finish what was interupted. The other guy now IM"s me saying he's really him, that I should check with some other person, who is offline btw, as a reference. I told him I needed to check with some of my friends who had more experience and figure out what he was trying to pulll. He said he was with his gf and didn't want to leave her and sent his alt in. Could I please come back and put the alt's name back on at the lower price. I said I would come back but he should throw in an extra 2k for all of my trouble.

This is the funny part. He says, no way a deal is a deal. That was the straw that broke the camel's back. The original deal to me was that he was going to buy it right then and there, not 6 hours later and that he was going to buy it not an alt. He changed the deal several times yet I couldn't change it?

So I ask you oh wise SL people, what was his trick? Was there a time between changing names where he could pull a fast one? And somehow steal the land from me? Also, was I foolish in the first place to take a 40% cut in price? Or was I just the victim of an inept Businessman and his poor Customer Service?

I cant possibly think of any trick he could have been trying. At the end of the day, he still has to buy the land at the specified price.

However, I don't see how you can, in all conscience, demand a further 2k for him messing you around a bit and then and then ask "was I just the victim of an inept Businessman and his poor Customer Service?"

For a start, you are the seller. Customer Service is on your side. He's the customer. And if I'd been the customer, even if I had made you wait around a while for one reason or another, I certainly wouldn't have agreed to your sudden price-jacking after agreeing on the lower price anyway.

You realise that he's probably saying the same about your customer service and going round telling people that you're scamming people for cut priced land you dont deliver too? I'm sure he's just as pissed off as you are, since he lost a potentially good land deal.

There are two sides to every story. But even your side doesnt really support your actions, imho. I just don't think there was any need for you to overreact the way you did, antsy or not, and your going back on the deal simply lost you the sale anyway.

Haven't you never found yourself in a situation in SL where you want to be somewhere and it's incredibly hard getting away from where you are now, because people don't seem to understand the word 'bye'?! Because I find that to be the case 99% of the time! I'd really have given the guy the benefit of the doubt. Especially if you needed to shift the land *shrug*

Just my two cents.

That story is really confusing.
Yes, you were foolish to cut the price. And way too patient with those people.
Who knows, maybe there is some sort of bug with changing names that he was trying to exploit. We'll find out sooner or later.

Yes I have found myself in situations, but in each instance, I have kept the person informed as to what was going on. He kept me waiting and waiting. I didn't demand an additional 2k, but asked politely. Come on, six hours after asking me to lower my price and still to keep me waiting. I didn't go back on my deal, I just had to go and I got suspicious with the name switching.

I'm just asking, sorry it upset you so much. Sorry for bothering anyone.

if this person was a land trader, you are the customer. in which case, you weren't getting swindled, but you were getting bad service.

for me, someone who would sell me land under market price is as much a customer as someone who would buy my land at market price.

Good point, Jau. I guess April is equally his customer as well

And yes, I think I'd have lost patience with someone who messed me about like that. I would have simply withdrawn the offer, I guess.

Btw, I wasn't really having a go at you, April... its just the way I read it you were complaining about being messed around cuz you needed a quick sale, then you messed the guy around when he finally turned up. But I accept I may not have all the facts. To be honest it didnt even cross my mind he could have been a land trader, I somehow assumed it was a private buyer. As Eggy said, the story was somewhat confusing, and you were probably way too patient (more so than I would have been!)

I'd have said after a few hours of waiting, "I'm setting this for sale at 4.5/m, but it's open to anyone. Better get here quick. After an hour I'm raising it back to 6.5/m." That way you're setting the terms, without backing out of the deal you offered.

Having a lot of mature land to sell myself at one time, I had a lot of hagglers. I finally took a huge loss to get rid of the land in order to move on with my SL life and escape the lagmire. That being said... I offered my land at one price and was counter offered. Meaning they were offering me a deal that suited them. To me, April was WAY too patient and should not feel bad about "backing out of a deal" she didn't offer. Remember, he asked her to come down on price, therefore he offered the deal. He negated the deal with his procrastination...in each instance that April had with him after the lowering of the price, according to April, she had to contact him. Every time he made a request, she complied and he failed to follow through even though he asked her to take a loss. I don't know if he was trying to swindle her, but his action bear scrutiny.

Some Land traders can be so sneaky...one time I set my group land to 0$ and set my name as the only buyer, before I even clicked buy someone was there hovering over it. I bought the land back from my group, and asked what this person needed...he said Mature land for 0$ need to snatch that deal. How on earth did he know? It's my understanding when you set a buyer it doesn't appear in landsales. /shrug

Did you get your land sold April?

Thank you Nisa, yes I did get my land sold. Anshe Chung offered me 5k more than the original offer.

I hesitated to reply because it seemed as if I upset some people. As you said Nisa, this person approached me. Then he kept me waiting so long. Kris, I did not demand 2k, I only asked. Also, I didn't go back on the deal. The deal was with one person and the original person then passed me off to an alt. I can't think of any reason why after all that time this person needed to use an alt. Okay, maybe he was in a shake till you drop contest but he could have contacted me after the contest since he had already kept me waiting.

Everytime he said an "hour", it was never an hour. What I was thinking might be happening is that my original land price was lower than what other land was for sale in the area. Maybe he was trying to sell this other land first and didn't want the buyer to know there was cheaper, better land on the market. So he gets me to set it to him at the lower price thereby taking it off the market. But he can't use his salesman alt because the buyer might be savvy enough to notice it.

What really got me was he IM'ed me and insisted I come right then to change the sell to name on the property. I was in the middle of something and then I go there and I'm hanging waiting for confirmation and he doesn't do anything. If he wasn't ready right then, why didn't he wait until he was ready and then IM me? That was the part that made me suspicious.

I would like to apologise to Eggy, it was a long story and I was trying to make it as brief as possible. I try hard to use complete sentences, correct grammar, correct spelling and to make paragraphs in order to make it easier to read. I am sorry it was still not good enough.

And I really want to apologise to Kris. This really seemed to upset her and I feel bad about that. I thought this forum would be the place to voice my concerns but obviously I would have been better off keeping it to myself, which I will do in the future.

Bright Blessings to you all.

Sounds like you were right, April. If that guy needed to get funds or alts together or whatever, he should've done it on his own time. I'm glad he missed the deal and you got a good one.