I was the potential buyer, and I was going to keep quiet on this matter (and save felix5616's reputation on this forum). But since he opened the door to this issue, I might as well pipe in now.
We traded a couple emails where he sent me a link to his feedback on photo.net, and we agreed upon a price. I had the money all set to go on Monday (after connecting/confirming another one of my bank accounts with paypal). I requested some photos from him just to make sure that he had the items (after all, it's a big sum of money that I'm sending over, and I wanted to make sure he had them). Seller said to wait until Thursday when he would send me pics. I told him ok and asked why Thursday and not earlier. No response from him. Today I get an email from him saying that he is holding onto his gear because he got his contract for his job extended. While I'm happy that he got his contract extended (I don't wish anyone to be unemployed), I'm a bit peeved that he's backing out of the sale/deal that we agreed upon. On top of that, I had made plans with someone else to sell my existing Leica M8 gear to them. I made a mistake and assumed people stick to their word. Now because of felix5616, I have to back out of my deal (I can't very well be cameraless!) and my reputation is being tarnished.
It all boils down to managing expectations. If felix5616 had mentioned in his ad that he wasn't 100% sure about selling his gear and would know by this Thursday whether or not he would have his job so that he could keep the gear, I wouldn't be upset. However, he mentioned nothing about his job as the reason for selling the gear. Instead he was (supposedly) selling this gear because of his dog's medical needs/bills. Now if he had written me today telling me that his dog's medical bills are no longer a problem, I wouldn't be as upset (I'd be disappointed, but I would at least be able to piece the puzzle together). Instead, it seems selling the gear had nothing to do with his dogs in the first place.
The most interesting thing is that felix5616 told me to check back with him next Friday to see if he really still has his job contract extended - meaning it's not for certain yet! Personally, I feel like something is a bit fishy here. It seems like we agreed upon a deal, and now he's backing out because he may have gotten a better offer elsewhere, but he's keeping the door open just in case that deal falls through.
I'm actually glad I didn't wire the money over on Monday (without asking for pics) because what would've happened if I did? He'd have all my money, and then he could flip on a dime (like he did today) and decide not to send me the gear. Then I'd be out my money and have no gear. To say that "no one has lost any money here" should be attributed to my street smarts, not to felix5616's credit.
And re: feedback, we all know how easily feedback can be forged. I'm not saying that felix5616 (I keep referring to his screenname here so as not to reveal his real name for his sake) forged his feedback. But we can all see how easy it is to create another username and write feedback about yourself. (eBay is the prime example of this). So I don't think sending a link to a list of your feedback is sufficient, and I feel like my asking for pics of the gear was not an unreasonable request (given the amount of money we were talking about). Mind you, I'm not accusing felix5616 of being dishonest with regards to his feedback, but he definitely was not honest with his reasons for selling...and I feel like he's not being entirely honest with his reasons for NOT selling now. He's put me in quite a pickle now and I'm not entirely sure what to do now with my situation.
