Advice needed on this trade!

[Emfen]

So early Jan I made a deal to partial pay for an original storyboard piece, first it was just about two org illustrations of dinosaurs but the seller the said they had some pony art... He wants 50 for this, is this a fair deal? visitors can't see pics , please register or login

It's a storyboard piece from the book with the baby bonnet school of dance in it.

[LadyMoondancer]

Really hard to say, because those kinds of pieces are one-of-a-kind and just don't turn up much.

IMO I think $50 is fair because you're getting something that no one else will ever have (and Baby Lofty is way cute in that illustration).

[Haruna]

$50 USD, right? I think, like Lady Moondancer said, that that's probably fair and maybe even a really good deal, since it's one of a kind.

[Emfen]

Thanks! He mentioned having many pre-production pieces in a storage but only had this print available right now. I really wanted a previous piece with sea ponies but I could not afford it then (he offered it for 150), I'm hoping that there may be more pieces like this he find later on.

[Ringlets]

I agree with the others - it seems like a fair deal to me  too - it looks awesome - as well as being one of a kind    

[kitkatvintage]

Was the seller a guy on Facebook? If so, I would proceed with caution.

There was a guy that had a bunch of preproduction pieces from MLP books a few months ago that he was advertising in a vintage toy collectors group. He sold one particular piece to 2 different people, and it was discovered when one of the 2 people tried to find who "accidentally got the piece she purchased". Then as several pony collectors commented on her post, it was discovered that he was giving wildly different prices to different people. I will poke my friend who was involved in this mess to see if she has anything to share.

[Ringlets]

Thanks KKV - I hope it isn't the same person  ( ) , but if it is then we need to know. Please update us when your friend gets back to you 

[kitkatvintage]

Looking back through my Facebook messages, this guy originally was selling in July & August. He had a sea pony painting and multiple pages from the book "The Recital" which matches the info above. I had inquired about the prices, but didn't purchase because he was asking more than I was able to pay at the time.

When it was found out that 2 people purchased the same piece, the seller initially made it seem like an honest mistake. Then it came out that one buyer had paid substantially more than the other, as the seller apparently started asking higher prices as he got more interested buyers. That made it seem like it was a less-than-honest mistake.

The seller does have these pieces, as several people purchased & received them... it's just his manner of pricing is a bit shady. If he's not currently advertising the pony prints to sell, I would guess that he doesn't have the flood of interested buyers this time around so it's more likely to get what you pay for. My advise would be to make sure you pay with PayPal goods & services so you have the PayPal protection to fall back on if something goes wrong. I'm not saying don't buy from him, just be cautious.

[Ringlets]

That's really helpful info KKV - thank you
Emfen I sent you a PM

[Emfen]

Was the seller a guy on Facebook? If so, I would proceed with caution.

There was a guy that had a bunch of preproduction pieces from MLP books a few months ago that he was advertising in a vintage toy collectors group. He sold one particular piece to 2 different people, and it was discovered when one of the 2 people tried to find who "accidentally got the piece she purchased". Then as several pony collectors commented on her post, it was discovered that he was giving wildly different prices to different people. I will poke my friend who was involved in this mess to see if she has anything to share.

Yes, the piece with a storyboard and water color painting right? I was offered that one for 150$ but I was broke at the time.

Now I borrowed the person 20$ in early jan, because I am a nice person (and we're kind of good friends at this point). In return they were going to give me MotU comics, which I declined asking if there is a chance to swap them for turtles instead. Anyway at one point _that_ particular piece enters our messenger discussion (they added me because I'm an artist) and I ask if it's sold (which it is). But - there's pieces still available because someone flaked on them prior in a trade. I ask if there's any chance it can be held (no, but it has not been actively advertised as for sale). I explicitly state that in 8 days I can pay the remaining half if they are willing to wait, because otherwise I would be unable to buy myself food. They react with surprise, and I tell them that I already stated this. At this point I get stuff in my inbox like hounding me for payments(5 days until payment), despite me explicitly stating I can't right at this very second. I paid another 20$ the day before payments and a week later use some of it on a weekend trip of _very_ important personal matters, he hounds me for another 10$ the entire weekend, which I say no because I need to make sure I can afford the ride back, again explicitly stating I am going away for some time and can't send the payment right at the moment. By Sunday eve last week I made the final payment of 10$ which was requested as friends and family (or add another 2-3$ for fees), which I did not send it as nor did I inclcude the extra $ because I did not agree to that.
I was told partial payment was okay, and agreed to it.

Have I essentially messed up by entering a trade with this person?

[LadyMoondancer]

I'm crossing my fingers that everything will go smoothly for you, Emfen. 

That said, I would suggest that in the future you don't do any partial / gradual payments with him, because it might make things more confusing later if you have to do PayPal chargebacks.  Just save up the money, do one payment for the item, and if he doesn't come through then it's time for a dispute.

Another suggestion:  tell him to arrange a "private" eBay BIN auction for you.  The way those work is:  Seller puts up the item for a crazy price, like $500 or something, but has the "OBO" option open. You make your (pre-arranged) offer, the seller accepts, and then you have PayPal AND eBay protection.

[Emfen]

Interesting to know, thanks LadyMoondancer.
In the future I'm not going to do any partial payments, even if the seller is nice to talk to. However, I'm going to ask what items there will be in this package now because so far I was promised 2 TMNT comics and a dinosaur art piece plus the pony art. I have this app that I write down transaction info (seller and items bought) in to keep track of pony mail going to me, so I know what's missing.

[Emfen]

So an update kind of, seller asked for 8 more for shipping but then quickly changed it to 35 and I said no, I accepted the shipping quote for 8 but said that's it. This was last week, I kindly asked they ship it asap but after that has gone silent. I know it's only a few days, but this behavior is kind of making me nervous. I've asked thrice this week for updates (twice this day) but no answers, so any advice on this one?

[Emfen]

Okay so the 7th I sent him the 8 for shipping, it's now the 19th and I've yet to hear a word from him. The last time we spoke he claimed he's sleeping in a hotel, I'm starting to think he's pulling some unpleasant tricks on me.
I demanded he provide a proof of shipping ASAP or I'll open a claim because this is not okay.

[Ringlets]

These latest updates make him sound pretty dodgy, aside from what we already know. I think I'd open a case - you haven't received the items and he's stopped responding/hasn't given you proof of postage... and looking at the other update where he's asking you for more than you agreed on and you refused (which I would have done too!) , theres a good chance he hasn't sent your parcel for that reason
I'm sorry hun. I was hoping it would work out ok for you. Please let us know how it goes