War PP bought at unethical shop

I'm going with the shop owner being a scumbag.

Its just like when my local gas stations "coincidentally" raise gas prices when the students come back from their summer vacations. Its gouging all the way.

I also agree with the OP that the raising of the price was in reaction to his showing interest. This is a derivative of the bait and switch in my mind.

The best thing to do when a guy makes a jackoff move like that is to just walk away. Your better off not even trying to reason with them.

I remember this one douchebag I bumped into on gunbroker. He had a used .22 magazine listed for about two months with no bids, then he upped the price to more than what a new one would cost. I shot him an email asking him what he'd take for the thing and discovered just how ignorant some people are.

You just have to learn to accept this.

Myself, I'd rather keep my money in the bank than deal with people that want to play games. Guns are fun, but not if the sale leaves a sour taste in your mouth.

That is poor customer service and I personally would not have pulled the rug on my customer like that.

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Here's the thing: you weren't a customer! Just because a fella walks into a shop and looks at some items, doesn't make him a customer. So no, it's not "poor customer service". For all you know, he could have had the new price tag written up before you came in, and hadn't had a chance to slap it on there yet because he was dealing with you.

And IMHO, once you go back to the shop where the supposed scumbag is running things and put down your money, you lose the right to take issue with the way he does things. Whether he raised the price for reasons fair or foul, you supported it by coming back and paying the price.

Gee, in Econ 101 I learned (about a million years ago) that the value of an item is the price the seller and buyer agree upon (absent duress on either party).

Have the rules changed, or does nobody pay attention in Econ 101 anymore?

I suspect the latter, and the gas price analogy is a pretty good one.

Here's the thing: you weren't a customer! Just because a fella walks into a shop and looks at some items, doesn't make him a customer.

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Yep, and the shop keeper did what he could to keep him from being a customer. Which the shop keeper has the right to do.

Except that the OP still decided to become a customer. Which, in my opinion, is on the OP. If the shop owner's practices were so out of line, why did the OP still play ball? And why come here and complain about it?

If you'd left money on it ...then..you would have been treated unfairly! But you still got a good price on a good gun, so it's not all bad!

Conwict:

Quote:
Never attribute to malice that which can be explained by ignorance or stupidity.

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That's an excellent adage, but I don't see any ignorance or stupidity on the part of the shop owner whatsoever.

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The shop owner was originally unaware (ignorant) of the true value of the arm. Don't load the word "ignorant" negatively.

He, unlike so many others, corrected his ignorance, and did not keep the old price. That would have been stupid.

And, babbalonja,

Let me state clearly that I have no one to blame but myself. My hesitation and not buying the gun immediately was MY stupidity.

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Look at it this way, if you tick off a customer over $150 and that customer now decides that he will never shop at your store again you've now lost the lifetime value of the customer which is probably going to FAR EXCEED the $150 extra profit that you gained by jumping the price around.

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... you are essentially trying to punish the owner for your own self-admitted stupidity.

Sorry, but that's the way it is, in my book. Cheap tuition at $150.

"My car skidded and went into the ditch."

Wrong.

You allowed your car to skid and allowed it to go into the ditch.

Don't blame the car.

And don't blame the shop owner.

-- Terry, 230RN

there was certainly an understanding that I would likely come back to buy it the next day and the ham-fisted philistine knew that

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Look at it this way: if you hadn't showed up the next day and just decided to walk away from the deal, would he have been justified in tracking you down and making you buy the gun?

If no, then you didn't really have a deal. A deal is only a deal if both parties are obligated to do their part. As long as you were free to walk away without buying the gun, he was free to change his asking price.

Its just like when my local gas stations "coincidentally" raise gas prices when the students come back from their summer vacations. Its gouging all the way.

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I agree it is not a coincidence, but I'm not sure it's gouging. Any time there is a huge influx of demand, such as a bunch of students returning from vacation, prices are going to rise. This is a simple law of economics.

Looks nice, I'll give you $450 for it.

Quit being emo and butthurt. You didn't jump on it when you should've, now you're kicking yourself for that and trying to blame the shopowner for fixing himself before he sold the gun. Heck, you even went back after chewing it over for a week and bought it! Obviously it was a good enough deal for you not to pass up on it then

"But, that is all in the past and I should move on."

You said it better than I did. Why don't you take your own advice?

I would however, point out that his raising the price was not arbitrary but rather an obvious reaction to my showing interest.

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I guess you will make more money as a mind reader vice a negotiator. Did you ask him about this. I'll bet not. I will ASSUME that you are ASSUMING this is the reason. Could it be that someone brought the gun in to him and said, will you give $250 for this. Pawn guy says I'll give you $200 because that is what he has done .32's for before, having looked a couple up in the past. Dude, says, OK, $200. Pawn guy puts tag on it for $450.

Then when he has time he looks up that specific gun and wets himself. I think you are pretty arrogant to think that he raised the price because one guy comes in and says I'll be back tomorrow and MAYBE buy it. I also think you are pretty arrogant to think he should treat you like such a high valued customer because you say I MIGHT buy tomorrow.

Just how much stuff have you bought from this guy in that past? Zero? Once? Twice?

It's ridiculous that, in an attempt to come to the aid of a "businessman," the term "customer" is dissected. To the "professional," everyone is a customer, or at least, the most closely related entity to a customer: a POTENTIAL customer!

Arrogant? How about a customer (who should be the most sanctified party in the business arrangement, but customer service is as dead as American-made products) wanting to be pampered by a business? That's the way it was when products were quality and customer service was excellent. But that was before most of the critics' schema was molded.

And lastly, the pawnshop seller is the "expert" and "professional" because he's doing it for his livelihood. The customer is flipping burgers for a living. Hence, the customer must rely on the ethics and expertise of the seller to a far higher degree than vice versa and it's incumbent on businessman to make every effort to satisfy the vulnerable customer.

And to those scorning the OP for buying the gun, wouldn't you scorn OP for not having bought the gun if it were still a good deal? So, although he bought the gun, that in no way should place him in a position of blame for having bought it.

Why is the seller unethical?

I do not see him as being unethical...if you had purchased it that day then you would have gotten it for the price listed...

If you found something in your attic...had a garage sale and someone made a comment that that sure looks like x and might be worth some money but did not buy it would you not remove it and check it out to verify it? Or would you simply sell it for a lot less than its real value? I think we all want to get what something is actually worth when selling it and I also think we all want to find that diamond in the rough when shopping.

He had every right to raise his price after he found out what he had. Only if when listed for $450 and you offered to pay his price and he then refused to sell it to you and/or asked you to pay more than the listed price would I consider him unethical. Sounds like he is just a business man.

Also based on your response, going back and buying it anyway, he was still asking for a fair price. Seems to me you just made a good decision when you chose to go back and buy it.