I am very aware…but I am in the camp of those who wish things were different. :-\
I don’t think I would really say backing out of a BST deal on a yoyo forum would be a breach of contract. Maybe a little excessive.
Just like a deal anywhere else, a deal is a deal, which has nothing to do with what item you contract for (a yo-yo) or what website the deal is made on. If there is an offer, acceptance, you discussed the consideration (this for that), and the important details are set, it has all the elements of a contract. The most important point I’d like to drive home is that anyone who does that, is a jerk. Now, while a mod will remove feedback for backing out, as stated above, you can still put a comment on their profile page that they backed out of a deal…cause everyone will still see it, and people will not want to deal with them as much. Also, post a thread in the trader feedback section and make sure it gets plenty of attention. Save your PMs and post them. Always more than one way to skin cat.
I sure agree with the jerk part. I hate when a deal you think is final suddenly falls through. I also agree with the policy here. If nothing has changed hands then you can’t leave feedback. PMs exchanged don’t really constitute a contract.
Can’t argue with anything else you said.
This is the correct course of action. The problem with just leaving a negative feedback is that the person receiving it has no way to respond. The feedback may just say “bad trader” or “stay away from this guy” which could imply a scammer instead of a person that simply changed their mind. (which I do agree is frustrating)
Deciding what is an accepted deal is also a bit of a grey area. Both people agree, one address exchanged, both addresses exchanged… like I said it’s murky. Too many possibilities to really cover what constitutes an agreement that would warrant the direct negative feedback.
Creating a thread here though lets the full details of what took place be known. The person the thread is about can then either voice their side or not.
Good point Vegabomb. We had not considered that the forum software only provides so many possible options, and feedback does not allow a rebuttal of a negative comment. It would probably be more fair if it did, in any case, even those where nothing was sent at all. For example, if there was a shipping delay, it would be nice if the recipient of the feedback could comment, “my mom died and I had to fly out of state immediately, package sent two weeks late.” But, the software does not allow it, so we only get one side of the story. Sometimes you don’t even get one side because people write comments like “scammer” with no link to a thread, no text in the detailed comments, or anything to let you know why they are calling them a scammer. People should be more descriptive in their feedback. Even when feedback is positive, I never just write, “great trader,” instead I write, “as described, great communication, packed well, shipped fast.” If it is a buyer, I write, “pays fast, great communication…” and so on.
I see all kinds of standards floating around on the forum about when people believe a deal has been finalized, and I do not agree with a lot of them. I come from a purely legal perspective on it and look for all those elements. But, I have learned to check the BST threads of the members who submit quality posts and have been known and around awhile. It has helped me to find consistency in good deals on the BST. A year ago, I would not have had a clue.