[Commtech]

I know some of you guys have had good trades with OUTBACK and I know he's known in this community. Now, I don't like to get into conflicts, especially in the internet where I can't really see people face to face, but this guy just really disappointed me and I think I should let you know what he did.
I posted in the trades section that I needed a 25th ann. yellow stalker and that I had a zartan no color changing logo and anchor tattoo shipwreck variants for trade. He contacted me all desperate and asked me to call him to seal the deal over the phone. He asked me to HOLD the figures for him until he received a yellow stalker in the mail that he had traded here in this website. He told me over the phone that as soon as he received the YS, we could ship each other the trade.
3 days later (today), he backs out of the deal saying that the figures I have are not the variants, are showing up at the stores and the prices have lowered on ebay. I contacted him telling him that this was not what we agreed and that he just wasted my time while waiting those days. He lied saying that maybe the person sending him the YS was probably changing his mind after realizing how much it's going for on ebay ($100). Well, I contacted that member and he had already sent him the YS in the mail. He probably hasn't received it yet, but it's been sent and delivery confirmation has been provided to Outback, so he WILL receive it.
Yes, I did send him several emails trying to reason with him and honestly cause I don't think its fair, but the thing started getting ugly after he stated that I was trying to trick him into an uneven trade and that I knew the figures were not the real variants (as if I had a crystal ball). I can provide transcripts of the emails and pms he sent me and the ones I've sent him. I just don't want to clog this thread with them. They are avaiLable upon request. (It did get ugly towards the end because he started cursing and offended me and I also wrote back stuff that I'm not proud of).
He finally threatened to have me banned from here since he was very known and has had deals with some of you.
Sorry for the rant, I just think I should let everyone know about this guy and it's for you guys to decide if you still want to deal with him in the future.

[Commtech]

Here's a transcript of the email exchange I had with OUTBACK. It's a long read, but it will open your eyes on what he did. I posted it in the "Testing Grounds Spam-O-Rama" thread, so I won't clog this one. Thank you.

http://www.hisstank.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1956

[General Scarlett]

I'm not posting my comments all over the forum.....you can all read them by clicking on the above link and reading what I responded to before I locked the thread..........

All I ask is that each and every one of you perhaps take a moment to really read it........

Thanks for your cooperation and understanding......Peace

[Obiwanjacoby]

Quote:

Originally Posted by General Scarlett

All I ask is that each and every one of you perhaps take a moment to really read it........

I did just that.

That exchange has lead me to conclude that Outback likes to string a deal out for several days while he's giving others the conclusion that he's committed to it 100%.

If anyone is interested, send me a PM, I got an exchange that will demonstrate similar behavior. Not going to make a big stink of it here, and this will be the last I post on it in public.

What's happening here is that if he knows where a hot item is located, he'll put his finger in the wind and hold off until the last minute, gauging his overall market opportunities like a playa on prom night, "Which date do I have the best shot at taking back to the Super 8?"

Of course he'll make all his trade prospects think he's right there for them. That's just what he wants. :cool:

He did it to me with a PTE Command Center, only I didn't get into it with him as far as he did with Commtech.

Just saying be careful if you get a PM from Outback saying he can hook you up right away and the deal is final and all that. Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

-PJ

[OUTBACK]

first off, i'd like to address the Obiwan issue.

dude, i NEVER strang you along. you simply emailed me and asked if i could get you a PTE headquarters, which i can/could. i said i don't have them physically but a 30 min. car ride can get one. i explained that selling them on eBay was a waste of time (for me) and not worth the gas and time.

i then asked what would you give me for it (ie. trade) or what was your offer (considering i was getting 48.00 - 55.00 on eBay)
You then told me you'd pay cost plus shipping. i thought to myself "not interested" and never responded. i figured you'd just forget it. you then emailed me a week later stating "i found one, forget it and thanks anways". i let it go, no big deal. i see your the type to kick people while other's are kicking.


i don't think just because i'm not "hooking you up" at cost makes me a bad person. if you think so, so be it. your insignificant in the saga of my life.



now to mr. Commtech...

i didn't "contact you all desperate". i was ignorant, i admit...to not knowing that exact day that those 2 were not variants. i wanted to tell you of a deal that might land you one, if you saw so fit. i didn't make you wait long, this all happened over the matter of 3, maybe 4 days.
for the record, you contacted ONE of the people i was getting a Yellow Stalker from, nice try Sherlock Holmes. i had 3 coming to me ( i don't like to broadcast all my dealings because it may cause potential drama).

just to see how much "investigative" work you did because you were so bitter, is really sad.

analizing all my posts, trying to decipher someone who could have been "the" trader to then go harass him and TRY to smear me, only makes you look like a defeated person. til last night, you have not stopped crying to me in emails. i had to block your email, it was so out of control. face it, you tried to sucker someone, it didn't work...move on.

later that day, and following days up until yesterday, it became fact that your 2 little "variant's" are worthless, and you knew it. let's just say i had someone "corroborate" before i accused you of knowing.

you emailed me more than what you showed, and some of that text is altered and some missing(you must think people are really stupid). you were so hasty in trying to score that figure because you found your "sucker", (me)...who had no clue. you specifically made that username just to grab a yellow stalker, that's a fact.

if it was the other way around, i would have understood...after all since your so "honest and true" you would have admitted it to be a bogus and uneven trade. but you are insistant on going through with a deal that IS NOT FAIR for the other party. whether i commited to you or not, i am not going to throw away figures that i could trade to someone for an even trade. you accused me of being "greedy" ..."only out for $$", that is not the case. i was taking a LOSS trading with you. Zartan was fetching 25.00 - 30.00 tops! Shipwreck same. that's 55.00, compared to 100.00+ for a super-rare figure.
so explain to me again how i was gaining my greedy upper hand here???

i have multiple Piper figures, multiple Yellow Stalker's, 2 Gold SDCC PDD's AND i have other items you will NEVER have, do you see any of them on eBay?? .....no

so that picture you're trying to paint of me is now proven to be void. i believe in fair, even trades. yea sometimes one of the parties comes out on top, sometimes it's even. i have been on the upper-hand (few times), and lower-hand in trades in the past...it's all gravy.

i won't let it cosume my life and go on a rant on the interent and whine because some guy doesn't want to get duped. i wasn't going to out you, nor spend another minute on it. i figured you were an adult and would understand. i was wrong.

you could have just said your peace and went to trade with someone else...right??
why didn't you try to secure another trade? so you're telling everyone here that i was your only lifeline for that figure? c'mon now...you think people here are really stupid???

that proves that you knew time was of the essence. if any more days went by, people would figure it out and you'd have no chance.
you KNEW what you had was common and nobody was going to be stupid enough to trade you. anger had now set in.

i have traded with many people here, never had a problem. if people are going to actually put stock in your bogus arguement, fine.
your only crutch is that i "misled you" in some way. Most will see through your crap and see what you were trying to do. keep claiming innocent and how you "didn't know"....mr.self-proclaimed "variant pro", like you told me on the phone (lol)

sorry you didn't burn me.

sincerely,
OUTBACK

CONTENT EDITED

[C.I.A.D.]

There seems to be a lot of miscommunication involved in all of this insanity. Outback, not to throw you under the bus, but to play devils advocate....are you sure that CommTech was really trying to get over on you? Or was he just trying to get you to commit to your end of the trade?

With the fact that you have so many on hand, couldn't you have hooked him up and in turn get the figures you wanted, albeit "not an equal trade"?

There's something everyone has to keep in mind. This comment isn't intended to single anyone out, but it serves as a point of reference to those that might not understand why others are getting mad in trades....

If you want eBay prices for your items, go to eBay. If you're looking to trade, keep in mind that "the going rate" doesn't & shouldn't always apply to trades among board members. If you paid $5 for something, and someone else wants to trade for something that they paid $5 for, don't turn around and expect another $50 because of "current market value". If that's the route you want to take, then make it very clear up front so that there's no confusion on the back end.

[Commtech]

Quote:

Originally Posted by C.I.A.D.

There seems to be a lot of miscommunication involved in all of this insanity. Outback, not to throw you under the bus, but to play devils advocate....are you sure that CommTech was really trying to get over on you? Or was he just trying to get you to commit to your end of the trade?

With the fact that you have so many on hand, couldn't you have hooked him up and in turn get the figures you wanted, albeit "not an equal trade"?

There's something everyone has to keep in mind. This comment isn't intended to single anyone out, but it serves as a point of reference to those that might not understand why others are getting mad in trades....

If you want eBay prices for your items, go to eBay. If you're looking to trade, keep in mind that "the going rate" doesn't & shouldn't always apply to trades among board members. If you paid $5 for something, and someone else wants to trade for something that they paid $5 for, don't turn around and expect another $50 because of "current market value". If that's the route you want to take, then make it very clear up front so that there's no confusion on the back end.

I was just trying to get him to commit to his end of the trade. I wasn't trying to trick him or anything. I have no magic crystal ball to know more figures were showing up a the stores and that ebay prices were coming down in the next 3 days.
The reality is that he stalled for a few days and waited to see how the prices changed on ebay.
Unfortunately, I'm new here and don't have that many references from fellow collectors here. But if you check out Rebelscum.com, you'll see that I'm very well respected over there and have helped fellow collectors get hard to find figures at retail price or by a fair trade.

One thing I can't stand is people who have no commitment.

This OUTBACK person is just one of the worst people I've encountered and you can read that in his last post in this same thread (By the way, I already have a gold head Destro and don't really care about Roddy Piper). Thank god I have a great job and can afford going to ebay and buy the stuff. But ebay's always my last resort. I just thought I could get someone's help here, instead of helping some scalper on ebay pay his bills.
It's very sad that after getting back into GI Joes again with the 25th figures, finding this great website, my first experience trading turned out to be a bad one.

ps. It's good there is another member of this site who backs up what I went through with his own similar experience so people know I'm not just making this up.

[OUTBACK]

i'm done with it.

like i said, i admit to backing out. i never "stalled" anything. i was waiting for 2 YS's to come in sometime last week. i proceeded to clarify to him that i didn't have the figures in hand and my deals were in the verbal stage only (last Tuesday),...i got my figure yesterday night (3 days elapsed). he was well aware of that.

"i hope they don't look on eBay and get wise and back out of those deals with you..." - Commtech (on phone)

during that 3 day wait period i studied them (yes, after we had verbally agreed to a trade) and after further findings and confirmed fact, i decided to not trade.

i was taking a loss any way you look at it. i traded a lot for a couple of those Stalkers...even some things i had only one of that were rare and i know i'll never see again. One i even paid $$+ for, etc....so i know they paid $5.99 for it, but i was willing to trade them/or purchase them at current market value and give them 10X more that what THEY paid for that item. and i was STILL willing to take the short end of the stick to help someone out. but i refuse to get completely burned.

if i was so evil as he claims and money hungry, dishonorable... i'd would have thrown my anchor-tatto & no-logo Zartan on eBay Thursday night and try to con someone with the "VHTF" "RARE" tactic.

i know i have always been fair. this is the last time i reply to this matter.

[Obiwanjacoby]

Like I said, if anyone is interested please PM. I don't understand why Outback went to all the this trouble risking carpal tunnel to sum up our non-deal, when he could have much more easily copied/pasted the PM exchange we had. ;)

Quote:

Originally Posted by OUTBACK

dude, i NEVER strang you along. you simply emailed me and asked if i could get you a PTE headquarters, which i can/could. i said i don't have them physically but a 30 min. car ride can get one. i explained that selling them on eBay was a waste of time (for me) and not worth the gas and time.

Look in the mirror at your own post. Note especially where ^^^ that evolves into VVV this.

Quote:

i then asked what would you give me for it (ie. trade) or what was your offer (considering i was getting 48.00 - 55.00 on eBay)

You failed to mention that in the PMs. This is also a discrepancy with what went on via PM and in public. Note the subtle; arbitrary change in the terms and conditions. FURTHERMORE your selling them on ebay was a waste of time above to begin with, and now alla sudden it's not when you go down lower in the post. Very circular.

Quote:

You then told me you'd pay cost plus shipping. i thought to myself "not interested" and never responded.

1. I said full retail price. There was a coupon floating around that everyone knew about, which I directly referred to, that would have given you an automatic 20% profit from me.
2. I offered you trade fodder after you pushed the proposal into a trade, and then failed to specify what you were looking for. You kept saying "make me an offer, I don't have a list." That's code for, "I want you to offer me something I absolutely can't refuse." I told you verbatum that I can't read minds. I don't play games like that.
3. I then made an offer of what I had. I had an '07 con female trooper + the regular convention Joe of your choice, both complete with filecards. Easily a $40 value and a total steal for anyone looking to expand their collection. Since when could anyone obtain con figs just from shopping for non-Joe items at Big Lots?
4. You failed to break it off in an open; honest manner. You just left me hanging. You thought to yourself "not interested" and simply stood me up.

Quote:

i figured you'd just forget it. you then emailed me a week later stating "i found one, forget it and thanks anways". i let it go, no big deal. i see your the type to kick people while other's are kicking.

It's clear from your own post here and the PMs that I was clearly in the dark about the deal, I had no idea what the status was on it, and I was telling you not to run out and hold one for me. It's called open communication. I'm not singling you out, but if the shoe fits*, then wear it.

Quote:

i don't think just because i'm not "hooking you up" at cost makes me a bad person. if you think so, so be it. your insignificant in the saga of my life.

LMAO!!! That sounded just like Jeff Albertson! That killed me!

-PJ

*Follow Gen. Scarlett's advice and read carefully.

[OUTBACK]

hey, call me whatever... i didn't know about "coupons", i just figured cost meant retail price, sue me.

to be honest, i don't remember you offering that, but you might have. besides, i still would have said no. i only collect/ am interested in vintage JOE, 25th anni (that i didn't have at the time) and SIGMA 6. i have no need, nor care what the "value" was because i trade only for me and what i like to have, not to resell.

sorry i "left you hanging", you're right, maybe i should have just told you flat out. my apologies for that. it was the right thing to do, you are right.

i never tried to, nor wanted to string anyone along or mislead. sometimes it seems that way over a internet connection, but i can honestly tell you that wasn't the case.

we had no "deals" either talked about or set in stone. you merely asked, and i declined. to take it further than that, it just silly.

OUTBACK