Dibs on Calling Dibs!!!

[owen matthew]

Dibs sucks

Yep, it does. Its getting to an absurd point these days.

[Mega Zenjirou Yoshi]

I thought it was a little odd at first. . . honestly didn't really know the etiquette of it all until I watched a few threads unfold. I just kind of rolled with it assuming that's just how business started getting done around here. (looking to buy recently and selling previous).

I guess I ended up thinking it meant something like, "I'm at work/on my phone/whatever and have to thumb-type 'I'll take it, I just need to get home to my computer/wallet/paypal/piggy bank and get you paid." with dibs being shorthand for the above. Alternately, "I want it, price is right, but I need a little more info to make sure it will fit/look/work right." - this is the "pending pictures" sort of thing. It never really occurred to me that folks would be jumping in and disappearing. . . I just assumed folks calling dibs had cash in hand and it was just a communication shortcut for the archive.

This.

Seen the exact item I want come up, browsing at work, and be gone by the time I get home, many times.

[Thomas MacFinn]

So what do we do as a community ?
If you don't dib on here you're gonna lose said item to a line of dibbers.

Could be as simple as trying to establish a convention for adding a single line at the end of posts - "Dibs accepted for 24 hours", "Dibs accepted: dibber must contact seller within an hour of dibs", "No Dibs accepted, first money up gets it" - something of the sort, perhaps? That way people with different opinions on the matter can deal with selling their items as they best see fit. As always, open communication about expectations from both buyers and sellers goes a long way towards a happy purchase experience.

I think this is an excellent suggestion.

[Agentofselection]

This is a really easy problem. What you do is, if you want something, you first email or PM the seller with an offer. Then you post in the thread something to the effect of "[Seller], check your email for an offer on the [item]" as a courtesy to other users. You can make the seller an offer regardless of whether someone else has said "Dibs". If you're not sure whether you want something (because of lack of information either from the seller or about your own affairs) then you don't offer to buy it. If someone else who doesn't have your issues offers to buy it in the meantime, then you suck it up and accept that that is how big boys and girls play the "capitalism" game.

For sellers, it's less fun, but still straightforward. What you do is, if someone makes you an offer, you give them a decent chance to follow through on their offer. This means quoting them a final price, and telling them how to pay you. If they fail to communicate with you, then you make a new post saying the item is still for sale. If they say they are going to pay you, and then don't, then you give them a little public shaming and move on with your life. It sucks, but it's what you have to do. If someone says "Dibs", that is not an offer to buy your item. It is an expression of interest. If they haven't emailed you, email them. If they still don't email you, post in your thread stating that you have not received any offers yet, and the item is still for sale. Follow up on actual offers in any way you choose--order they were received, highest offer, buyer you like best, whatever. It's your merchandise. Dibs don't count for anything.

I try to follow this system. Sometimes my items have not sold even though someone expressed interest. Sometimes I miss out on an item because I waited for extra information. Shit like that happens, but all you can do is act like a grownup.

[Saritor]

Cash is king and don't get bent if you called dibs and the next guy in line waved money in my face.

See, I post "dibs" on threads (on those rare occasions where I want to buy something) because, in the past, I've:

Emailed/pm'd a seller that I want to buy it RIGHT NOW if they'll just tell me where to send money, only to not have them check their pm/email until after they'd sold it to some guy in the thread.

Wanted to buy an item, but the seller doesn't list sizing information, or says something like "It's a little banged up but I'll get pictures up tomorrow/next year" (so I can make sure they don't really mean "Got hit by twelve successive semis")

Sent money to a "cash is king" seller, only to have to go 'round and 'round with them because they sold it to someone else and now need to refund my money.

It doesn't happen with all sellers, but there's times where they're vague enough or new enough that I'd rather use "dibs" than just flat-out say "Great. I'll take X and Y. Tell me where to send your money."

[darksole03]

I personally only call dibs to start a conversation to someone about price of the item. ESPECIALLY! when there is no image of the item. If the person doesn't want to contact me and sells an item to another person with out any notification, do I not have a right to be upset? I was inquiring some information and in response I get nothing and then the item is sold. Thats kinda screwed up. When someone walks into you shop and says "Hey, How much is that item" or "Can I see the item on the back shelf" and the owner sells it to the person behind them, then its complete negligence and disrespect to the party that arrived first. If you have enough time to take the cash, You have enough time to notify any party's involved that the item has been sold out from under them.

[Knight Sir James]

The only time I will call dibs is if the item lacks details, but the price is fair, I have money on hand, and I will buy it if the details work out. I primarily buy armor, so when I call "dibs", it means "I would like to confirm that the armor will fit me, so I just need measurements and maybe a few pictures of other angles" - I'll PM the seller as soon as posting dibs, and I try to send payment in less than 24 hours after receiving info and confirming it fits - and if it won't, I'll release dibs right away.

Also, "dibs" is fast and easy to type and post - if I spend 15 minutes typing out the measurements and photos I want and such, someone else might jump in and just say "dibs" while I'm in the process of posting. So I "start" posting first, but it's "seen" second.

IMO, if it's been 24 hours since someone said "dibs", and there's been no further communication or payment - move on to the next person. And dibs should really only apply if the item's description is lacking critical information (sizing, material, etc).

[Maeryk]

you can dibs my items all you want, as long as you put a deposit in my pay-pal when doing it.

If you back out, I keep the deposit.

Too many tire kickers.

[Thomas MacFinn]

This thread is a beautiful example:

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=147827

Look at the dates on those posts.

[Knight Sir James]

This thread is a beautiful example:

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=147827

Look at the dates on those posts.

Dibs was called April 5th at 3pm, and released April 6th at 2am - less than 12 hours.. seems reasonable? The seller recently bumped the thread himself.