What would you do? -- A Reseller's Blues - Part 1

[HotRoxy]

Haha, as soon as I saw your name here, I knew you'd say that. You're so predictable. And mean! Why are you picking on poor little me?

Because asparagus makes pee smell funny! Or at least that's what I think of when I see your banner. Haha. Also, I'm not mean! Would a mean person name all their petpets after you? *blinks innocently*


Either way (and to further argue the [moot] point), the *nice* thing to do was to not bid on the auction on the first place (that's a lot of outbidding!) if you were just going to experience buyers remorse.

[TeddyBearRosie]

I just wish there were more nice people in the world. I see tons of miserable, nasty people, who wonder why no one is ever nice to them, or why they never get a break. The longer they are under a rainy cloud, the harder it is to get out of it.

I'm one of those totally annoying, positive people. Nasty mean spirited people...they hate me, because good things happen to me. I have always felt life is too short to be nasty or mean to people. It's only money, it's only NP, it's only a game. Who cares? I'm not a religious person, but I just notice that nice people.. kind people, have it easier in life. Yea, so I'm kind to people who might not deserve it. And maybe that nasty person might never learn a lesson. But as long as I feel good about what I did, then I'm good with it.

I have alot of fun on Neopets, and I've been at it for 50 months. I can buy what I want, and I befriend newbies and get them items, but only if they do not ask.

Not bragging, just saying, nice things happen, in my book, to nice people.

Last edited by TeddyBearRosie on Tue Jul 18, 2006 4:35 am, edited 1 time in total.

[Daze]

Not bragging, just saying, nice things happen, in my book, to nice people.

Give me a break....what a contrite thing to say.

This isn't a case of good versus bad. You may be lucky in what happens to you, but not every "good" person has the benefit of that.

I can think of some very famous "good" people where atrocities where made against them.

But back to this post, JCMidore is a regular person who asked an opinion - he is not nasty for keeping the item nor would it have made him good to give it back.

It was a decision made on the facts at the time.

[TeddyBearRosie]

All I know is that bad stuff, really bad stuff, has happened to me, and I tried to stay positive and get past it. I could have taken another route, but I decided to take the high road. Please do not make this personal. Please don't make this into a battle.

Anyway, whatever a person decides is their right, but I guess if it were me I would have not bid on the item when I suspected something might be fishy. If I saw other bids after I made a bid, I'd stop bidding...If the person told me there was a mistake, I'd let them fix it, and talk to me later. that's it. And if they could not fix it, and it put me in an awkward position, I'd go somewhere else for the item. I would not battle it out in the auction. (I never win auctions anyway, unless I accidently buy something more expensive than the SW.. duh.)

Great topic for discussion, obviously. (nervously looks around) Hey, are the prizes out for Altador? Hey! look! (points right) a codestone! (runs left)

[Katy]

I think it's sweet that some of you would bend over backward to be nice in this situation... that has certainly not been my experience when I've made a stupid pricing mistake, and I hope someone like you is on the other end if it happens to me again.

I think there's definitely a limit to how much trouble you can go to be nice on neo, especially if you hope to keep enjoying the game yourself. For example, when they changed the WC rules, it became impractical to work on more than one world's map, so I had a bunch of extra random pieces. I put them on the trading post and the wishlist says that I will accept any other WC piece, which I then put back up for trade. I do it to stop the hoarders and just to be nice to other people working on the map. I accept the first offer I get. Sometimes people throw in other things with the map piece, ranging from a few hundred neopoints up to lab map pieces. If the first offer contained other items, I used to neomail the person and explain that it wasn't necessary, and return the other items. It didn't take long for that to become a pain, and I ended up deciding that if they think that will help, it's on them, because my wishlist is clear.

There has to be a point when you can say "it's on them," and I think that happened when the supposed-to-be-private auction was made more or less public without a word to the arranged buyer about what was going on.

On the general philosophical debate that's going on here, how's this for a cynical theory: Everyone acts in their own self-interest. There is no such thing as a completely charitable act.

[XenaAndGabrielle]

I'm just stuck on this "mispricing" thing. I don't understand how someone could type 10,000 instead of 1,750,000 (or whatever it was before the increments); I just don't. Maybe he priced it that low on purpose and told a few different people to bid on it in a lame attempt to start a bidding war and get more than 1,750,000 for it?

...

Or maybe he's just really, really stupid.

I am also stuck on that point as well. I truly think they just flubbed up a lame attempt to push it over the agreed price.

Yes, the title of this thread is "what would you do?" Everyone should be free to state what they would do and why.

I wish I had a billion Neopoints. It might be fun to "misprice" a few expensive things, just to see what the average person on Neopets would do in a situation like this. My guess, very few would bat an eyelash and start neomailing their friends about how cool of a bargain they got.

As for the hundred dollar bill situation ... if I saw someone drop $100, I would go run after them and try to give it back. When a cashier gives me too much change back, I give back the extra to them. I ordered Chinese food the other day, and they charged me way too little. I tried to tell the woman taking the money it was wrong, but her English wasn't very good. She thought I was saying I was *over* charged. So she had to go get the manager, who spoke slightly better English ... and we resolved the situation. (they had quite a laugh over it as well)

The above situations are "real life." This situation is in a *game*. Sure, I know many people love Neopets so much that it seems like real life sometimes (me included) ... but in the end, it is just a game. That might sound harsh, and it doesn't make anyone involved feel better or worse ... just an observation.

I'm babbling once again. Am I a "bad" person? I don't think so. Would I give the potion back? From the sounds of the situation, probably not.

P.S. Noone (that I've noticed), answered my question about just removing all your neofriends mid auction. Can a removed Neofriend still bid on an item if they have a previous bid in a NF only auction?

[Cranberry]

Yes, exactly -- in "real life," if I saw someone drop money, I would give it back. If I found a wallet with money in it, I'd return it. I've also pointed out when I got too much change. That's real life, and that's an honest mistake that could really hurt someone -- maybe whoever dropped that cash really needed it for food, or the cashier could get into trouble if their till was off. This, like X&G said, is a game. That seller doesn't need that 1.75 mil; no one does. Sure, he's probably kicking himself for screwing up so badly, but that's neolife. He wasn't scammed, he wasn't hacked, and he wasn't cheated out of that NP. He made a huge mistake and he's (maybe) inconvenienced because of it (who knows; he may snipe big-ticket items all the time and this is just a minor thing). He'll live.

You can't tell if someone is a good or bad person based on their advice here. You just can't. And spouting platitudes about how good people have good things happen to them just annoys everybody. Or at least it annoys me.

[Azzie]

Not totally off topic, but about a month ago i bought my lunch and the lady gave me back $1 more than she should have, i returned back. This week i won a $60 lotto. Not much but i do believe in karma.

I've been in shops where things were horribly mispriced and had given them back and i've given things out and have received no thanks, the most expensive being a Jeran and Lisha plushie set worth $ 1 milion which i gave away to a stranger on a whim, and yes, i'm still sore about it till today. I'm not really interested in passing judgement on others views on this matter. Everyone is going to differ in that respect.

[bgryph]

You can't tell if someone is a good or bad person based on their advice here. You just can't. And spouting platitudes about how good people have good things happen to them just annoys everybody. Or at least it annoys me.

And? Spouting platitudes about how Neo is "just a game" annoys me. But everyone is entitled to state their opinion, regardless of whether you or I find it annoying.

I don't think anyone has suggested you can tell whether someone is a "good" or "bad" person based on their comments on this thread.

[JCMidore]

... JCMidore is a regular person who asked an opinion - he is not nasty for keeping the item nor would...

I'm a she, love. :3


Just to clarify this topic's purpose, it was intended for open discussion on the matter and was actually in the beginning a "poll" of sorts. I honestly needed advice, and after seeing the majority of the replies at a certain time lean to an answer, I went with it. If they were to lean towards the other, I would've went with that instead-- but it didn't at the time.

It was not made for the purpose of waiting specifically for those that would side with keeping it, to justify any actions.

As far as comparing real life with Neopets, it's hard-- I don't think you can. You can't see how the person is fully acting and decide whether you think they "deserve it" or not, as harsh as that sounds. If I saw a begger in the street drop a 100$ bill someone had donated to him, I'd break my neck returning it.

But would you do the same if you saw a snobbish, selfish person who might've passed said begger up?.

Do you see where I'm going with this?. It's hard.

Unfortunately it's been a few days, and for the longest I received no neomails from the person I purchased it from. Upon thinking it was over, I vowed to go and sell it and completed a sale the other night.

By auctions, for the correct price. I really don't see how someone could've unintentionally made that mistake.

Also, their minimum increment was 1np. I have never done or participated in a private auction where the increments were that little. Atleast 50,000np or above.

But today, I receive another demanding neomail from the user.
It went a little something like this.. Pretty much copied and paste.


" Setup a trade and Ill offer the 245k.
Then we can do the auction the right way, now that I deleted all those neofriends.
TNT doesn't have to get into this. "

Do I see a thank you, or a please?. A friendly gesture, a polite responce or question?. The last statement regarding TNT was made because I requested them to sort out the deal with TNT to see if they could do anything about the issue.

This was also not a reply to a previous neomail. I stopped replying long ago, and this was a brand new one with a different subject and all.

[Siniri]

I've been in shops where things were horribly mispriced and had given them back and i've given things out and have received no thanks, the most expensive being a Jeran and Lisha plushie set worth $ 1 milion which i gave away to a stranger on a whim, and yes, i'm still sore about it till today.

This reminded me of a (Chinese?) proverb: A man who gives a gift expecting to be thanked should expect to be disappointed... Or something along those lines. The newbie to whom I sent an item and neomail after buying an underpriced item in her shop never thanked me. Does this change how I feel about what I did? Of course not. Same thing when I give someone their quest item instead of SWing it for them. I don't give hoping to be noticed or appreciated...

Especially in Neopets, sometimes people click on the event, don't notice the sender, and then the event gets deleted before they can go back and see the name, so even if they wanted to, they couldn't thank you. But when I give, I don't expect the recipient to ooh and aah or even say thank-you. That way I can truly enjoy the act of giving without expecting anything in return. Yes, of course gratitude is nice. But if I was going to get so upset months later that someone didn't thank me, I'd just keep the item instead of giving it away in the first place. But that's just my philosophy -- to each his own.

[Cranberry]

Also, their minimum increment was 1np. I have never done or participated in a private auction where the increments were that little. Atleast 50,000np or above.

But today, I receive another demanding neomail from the user.
It went a little something like this.. Pretty much copied and paste.


" Setup a trade and Ill offer the 245k.
Then we can do the auction the right way, now that I deleted all those neofriends.
TNT doesn't have to get into this. "

Heh, now I definitely think the "misprice" was on purpose. I bet the seller set the increments low thinking you'd come in, bid the full 1,750,000 all at once as agreed (probably didn't know about the 5k max -- I didn't, and I've been around forever), and then his/her other neofriends would compete with you and drive the price up little by little. This seems like the most obvious answer to me, as I still can't wrap my head around how someone could accidentally type 10,000 instead of 1,750,000 (or whatever it was supposed to be before increments) AND set a 1 NP increment.

But even if this was, somehow, a really stupid crazy mistake, the person hasn't been very nice to you and sounds like they think they're entitled to the item back with no NP loss whatsoever. And I'd bet that if you did send it back, they wouldn't actually sell it to you for the originally agreed-upon 1,750,000, but would go for more. But of course, I can't prove that. It's just a gut feeling. I tend to trust those, because ignoring them has bitten me in the butt in the past.

But of course, I'm probably just rationalizing.

And bgryph, I have certainly gotten the impression from several people in this thread that a "good person" would send the item back because it's the "right thing to do" and "good things happen to good people" (which implies that someone who'd keep it is not a good person), but no, no one has stated it outright. And sorry if "it's just a game" annoys you, but at least that's a fact and not only a trite statement.

[Pardona]

I've been in shops where things were horribly mispriced and had given them back and i've given things out and have received no thanks, the most expensive being a Jeran and Lisha plushie set worth $ 1 milion which i gave away to a stranger on a whim, and yes, i'm still sore about it till today.

This reminded me of a (Chinese?) proverb: A man who gives a gift expecting to be thanked should expect to be disappointed... Or something along those lines. The newbie to whom I sent an item and neomail after buying an underpriced item in her shop never thanked me. Does this change how I feel about what I did? Of course not. Same thing when I give someone their quest item instead of SWing it for them. I don't give hoping to be noticed or appreciated...

Especially in Neopets, sometimes people click on the event, don't notice the sender, and then the event gets deleted before they can go back and see the name, so even if they wanted to, they couldn't thank you. But when I give, I don't expect the recipient to ooh and aah or even say thank-you. That way I can truly enjoy the act of giving without expecting anything in return. Yes, of course gratitude is nice. But if I was going to get so upset months later that someone didn't thank me, I'd just keep the item instead of giving it away in the first place. But that's just my philosophy -- to each his own.

Ever so true. You have people who give out gifts and automatically expect a return gift, even along the same price category. I just send people gifts when I feel like it, and I don't expect anything in return. I've gotten quite a few avatars by lending items, and I always do it as proper as I can (I often couldn't give full collateral in the past), but when it was over, I would just go on the SW, and send them a Thanks Card. I once had a Neofriend give me a Bear, a Lollypop, and Cherries, just because, and I still have them. When I saw what was for me the first real Plushie Gallery, I sent the owner a Plushie I noticed he was missing, not expecting anything in return, but got a few Plushies back, and my name in the donators list. Well, I guess I'm just rambling by now, but my point just is, like Siniri put it so nicely, don't give expecting to receive, and don't feel compelled to give if you receive. Just give when you feel like it, and remember those who give to you.

[bgryph]

And sorry if "it's just a game" annoys you, but at least that's a fact and not only a trite statement.

Well, to be nitpicky, "Neopets is a game" is a fact. "Neopets is JUST a game" is a value judgement. In particular, saying it in a particular context implies that whatever the reader is fussed about isn't important because Neopets is JUST a game, and that's defintely a value judgement, not a fact.

Also to be nitpicky, you may feel that the notion that good things happen to good people is a trite statement, but that's also a value judgement, not a fact. A lot of people all over the world believe in karma, the Threefold law, the importance of good works, and so forth. To them,

[Morningstar]

But today, I receive another demanding neomail from the user.
It went a little something like this.. Pretty much copied and paste.


" Setup a trade and Ill offer the 245k.
Then we can do the auction the right way, now that I deleted all those neofriends.
TNT doesn't have to get into this. "

Do I see a thank you, or a please?. A friendly gesture, a polite responce or question?. The last statement regarding TNT was made because I requested them to sort out the deal with TNT to see if they could do anything about the issue.

This was also not a reply to a previous neomail. I stopped replying long ago, and this was a brand new one with a different subject and all.

You need to block them, JC. And forget that it ever happened. And I am one of those people who would have suggested that you return it--IF THEY HAD BEEN NICE ABOUT IT--AND IF IT HAD APPEARED TO BE A HONEST MISTAKE. But it don't seem to be either of those cases. Block them. The sooner you do, the sooner you will be able to put this behind you. And if they show up on another account or their "neofriends" write you, hit the block button as many times as it takes until they go away.