Caveat Emptor (Buyer Beware)
Written by @Lloyd Gordon
If you're about to enter into a trade, give-away, sale, agreement or buy...
Before anything else, ask yourself:
Is there any way this could go not according to plan?
Would I feel bad if it didn't go according to plan?
If the answer to these two questions is YES:
DON'T DO IT!!!!!!!!!
Well that was easy, wasn't it? However then the only thing we would exchange is information, which would be limiting.
So what's the answer?
1) Understand yourself - think about how you would feel if the deal went completely wrong. For instance, you lost money, material and/or plants. Or the other person(s) were angry, ungrateful, frustrated, complaining or vengeful. Can you emotionally handle this? Realistically?
If you can't (and you have to really assess your emotional background), don't do it. Buy things commercially with insurance and safeguards, the same way you would buy a toaster from Costco. The CPSC is not like Amazon, it's more like a plant Kijiji.
2) As a follow-up from #1: Know how much you can emotionally or financially afford to lose. Don't go above that limit.
Examples:
- you send $21 and you never get the plant or it gets to you in a state that doesn't seem worth $21
- you give someone a freeby and they complain that they never got it or it wasn't what they expected or they want the stamp/envelope reimbursed because they didn't appreciate the SASE offer.
- you send a plant and the other person doesn't send you enough or any money or the trade in return doesn't seem worth what you sent them
- the other person flames you or complains about you on the forum or elsewhere
- you enter into a commercial or semi-commercial type of relationship and it goes sour
How would you feel if this happened to you?
What if it was $5, $10, $50, $100, a SASE, a valued plant, a common plant with no or little commercial value, a freeby?
In other words, don't do anything that could lead lead to an emotional or financial loss that you couldn't comfortably deal with.
And of course, if you get into a situation that troubles you emotionally or financially......
Everyone here will feel sorry for you, to a degree. We will be emotionally supportive, to a degree. Beyond that, you have to deal with your emotional loss in your own fashion.
But.........
You have to deal with material/financial losses on your own. Sorry but that's the case.
Let the buyer beware.
Written by @Lloyd Gordon
If you're about to enter into a trade, give-away, sale, agreement or buy...
Before anything else, ask yourself:
Is there any way this could go not according to plan?
Would I feel bad if it didn't go according to plan?
If the answer to these two questions is YES:
DON'T DO IT!!!!!!!!!
Well that was easy, wasn't it? However then the only thing we would exchange is information, which would be limiting.
So what's the answer?
1) Understand yourself - think about how you would feel if the deal went completely wrong. For instance, you lost money, material and/or plants. Or the other person(s) were angry, ungrateful, frustrated, complaining or vengeful. Can you emotionally handle this? Realistically?
If you can't (and you have to really assess your emotional background), don't do it. Buy things commercially with insurance and safeguards, the same way you would buy a toaster from Costco. The CPSC is not like Amazon, it's more like a plant Kijiji.
2) As a follow-up from #1: Know how much you can emotionally or financially afford to lose. Don't go above that limit.
Examples:
- you send $21 and you never get the plant or it gets to you in a state that doesn't seem worth $21
- you give someone a freeby and they complain that they never got it or it wasn't what they expected or they want the stamp/envelope reimbursed because they didn't appreciate the SASE offer.
- you send a plant and the other person doesn't send you enough or any money or the trade in return doesn't seem worth what you sent them
- the other person flames you or complains about you on the forum or elsewhere
- you enter into a commercial or semi-commercial type of relationship and it goes sour
How would you feel if this happened to you?
What if it was $5, $10, $50, $100, a SASE, a valued plant, a common plant with no or little commercial value, a freeby?
In other words, don't do anything that could lead lead to an emotional or financial loss that you couldn't comfortably deal with.
And of course, if you get into a situation that troubles you emotionally or financially......
Everyone here will feel sorry for you, to a degree. We will be emotionally supportive, to a degree. Beyond that, you have to deal with your emotional loss in your own fashion.
But.........
You have to deal with material/financial losses on your own. Sorry but that's the case.
Let the buyer beware.
