Last night I was trolling eBay and OZtion for seats. The missing piece of the puzzle. See my next post.

On my meanderings of the digital ocean of selling and buying I came across a 69 Beetle that had ‘Buy it now’ for $4.45. I thought this a totally reasonable price and the only obstacle would be my wifes approval to house a second beetle. So with consent given I purchased it. Within five minutes it was paid for and a receipt sent to the seller.

Conversations post sale chalked the low price up to a gilted bride, full of bog, out of rego, stolen or perhaps an urgent sale as they were leaving this weekend. All the same the sale seemed legit.

An email arrived in the morning blaming the OZtion software for the wrong price. Another email also in my inbox claiming that I had ‘Mutually Agreed’ to cancel the sale. Now I’m a good one for sleepwalking and have in my time been know to scoff down a few chocolate bars and cakes overnight but never sleep surfed the net while under the influence of unconsciousness. Anyway, long story short the lady that way auctioning the 69 screwed up her decimal placement and instead of $4,450 somehow ended up with $4.45.

Now, I’m sure if push came to shove the law would side with the buyer. Certainly discussions with a lawyer this afternoon believed I could easily win following a day in small claims court. The user agreement is very clear and their is a review process prior to listing an item. That all being considered, driving, owning and enjoying VW is my one true love. After many years of depression I’m careful to not shit in the bed I sleep in. It’s not worth wrecking something you love for a bargain. The truth of the matter is that the VW community is a small one and even if I had continued down the road of litigation and lining the pockets of lawyers I wouldn’t have liked driving it after screwing over a fellow VW enthusiast. We all make mistakes and fortunately for this seller I don’t have the time, patience or inclination to have a second beetle. More so the fact I’m enjoying working on the one I have too much. I’m in no hurry and buying the 69 would doom the bunyip to the “To be done one day” pile of jobs around the yard.

I’ve just sent off an email to the seller explaining that she needs to be a little more careful in the future. Correct me if I’m wrong but auctions are a risky affair. Risky for the seller and the buyer. The seller must be happy with what they get in in return the buyer is the same with what is purchased, often sight unseen. Essentially my email was, “If your not willing to lose a car at Auction, don’t sell one”.

Anyhow, were are all attending the University of Life and hopefully I’ve learnt that there are things that are too good to be true. Hopefully when I stuff up in the future the people who benifit from my poor fortune will cut me a break. Also, proof things well when selling stuff and finally, karma’s a bitch so best off to be nice to people that stuff up and things will hopefully work out for the best.