I have noticed some controversy between buyers and sellers about when a deal is done. I am a stranger in a strange land and so I thought it best to ask the natives.
From an ethical standpoint, a deal is done when:
1. A verbal agreement is made such as “I accept your offer” or “Let’s do it”
2. Money is sent in case of a purchase or a guitar is sent in case of a trade.
3. The check is cashed.

I am open to other suggestions.

I was under the impression that a deal is done when a verbal commitment is made. However, I recognize that there may be a specialized linguistic game with rules with which I am unfamiliar.

Peace,
Rip

If I'm the seller, the deal is usually done when:

I receive the money and it clears, at which time I then ship the instrument, and once acclimated, the instrument begins the agreed approval period. Once the approval period has passed and the buyer is happy, its done.

Anyone else do anything different?

Well in my opinion, and not in a court of law, when you agree to a price and both people say " Lets Do it" the deal is done, even if you loose a couple of bucks. If the seller has remorse and says " man I just can't do it. I love this guitar" then a lot of us would cut slack. If the deal is squashed because the seller wants a few more bucks and has agreed to a price, that's not cool. I am not referring to any deal in particular because I don't know the details....and the devil is in the details,
Michael

quote:

Originally posted by Dredpicker:
Well in my opinion, and not in a court of law, when you agree to a price and both people say " Lets Do it" the deal is done, even if you loose a couple of bucks.

This is my interpretation as well. And I've done a LOT of deals (GAS is an evil mistress).

From The people law website:
"How a Contract is Formed

Contracts are legally binding agreements. Attorneys often use the terms
"contract" and "agreement" interchangeably, but not just any agreement is
a legally binding contract.

A contract is formed by a meeting of the minds of at least two parties, a
mutual assent resulting from the expression of an offer by one and an
acceptance of precisely that offer by the other.

The offer has no effect if the other person does not accept it. A mere
discussion of the offer does not constitute acceptance. Negotiation often
leads people to believe that they can expect other people to commit
themselves to certain things, but until there has been an actual offer and
a clear acceptance, there has not been the necessary "meeting of minds" to
form a contract.

A person making an offer may revoke it (cancel it completely) at any time
before it is accepted. If you wish to revoke your offer, however, you
must communicate that fact to the person(s) who might accept your offer.
The revocation becomes effective upon delivery to the other person...for
example when the letter revoking the offer arrives at his residence or
place of business.

If a person or thing essential to the performance of a contract dies or
is destroyed before the offer is accepted, the offer is ended
automatically. To avoid possible problems, the fact that the offer has
terminated should be communicated to those who are considering accepting
it.

An offer by mail or telegram may be accepted by mail or 4 telegram unless
the person making the offer specifies otherwise, and the acceptance is
effective (the contract comes into existence) at the moment the acceptance
is put into the mail box or given to the telegraph office. Unlike the
revocation of an offer, an acceptance does not wait for delivery.

Many business communications such as advertisements and catalogues are
construed not as offers, but as invitations to others to make offers.
Generally, invitations to make bids (as for construction contracts) are
not considered offers. That is why at an auction sale the bidder, not the
seller of the property who is standing in the background watching the
auctioneer, is generally considered the person making the offer, so that
the seller is not bound by bids and may withdraw his property from sale
without accepting an offer if the bidding is too low."
in excerpt from:
http://www.lectlaw.com/files/bul02.htm

quote:

If I'm the seller, the deal is usually done when:

I receive the money and it clears, at which time I then ship the instrument, and once acclimated, the instrument begins the agreed approval period. Once the approval period has passed and the buyer is happy, its done.

Anyone else do anything different?

I think that is the way it usually works on this forum and it sure seems right to me.

In an ideal world, the deal is done when an offer or counter-offer is accepted by one of the parties involved. Since people with music in their life often tend to prioritize kindness and understanding, many done deals get undone despite the pain involved for the person left holding the bag. I, for one, am glad that there is a gray area around this question. I would be very hard-pressed to back out of anything without misrepresentation involved, but I can understand someone else simply having second thoughts. In a case like second thoughts, I don't think it's unreasonable to have a 48-hour evaluation period, and I don't think it's unreasonable to have that door swing both ways. But even more than that, I suspect that many of us would agree to go back on a deal even after several days given the right (or wrong) circumstances.

Too often guitar deals go astray because the terms aren't made clear and people operate off of assumptions (bad). What are the accepted methods of payment? When will the guitar ship? What is the evaluation period, terms of acceptance, terms of return, and so on?

If you have the terms straightened away then commitment to the deal is made by tendering an offer and acceptance of the offer subject to the terms of the agreement. But… guitars usually have some emotion tied to them so I tend to cut the seller some slack if they decide at the last minute they want to keep the guitar. I’ve had that happen to me a couple of times and although disappointing and aggravating (because of time invested) it’s really no big thing.

If you offer a guitar for a price and someone agrees to it then you should go through with the deal. If you've given them instruction on funding then you have, for all practical purposes, acknowledged the "offer and acceptance." If you have remorse after the fact, then you should ask the buyer to let you out of the deal, not scrub it unilaterally, as far as I'm concerned... Short version: If you offer a guitar for $xxx and someone says "I'll take it for your price and I'm sending payment according to your terms," then you oughta go through with the deal. My 2 cents.

There is some slop in the use of terms. When we agree on terms (price, shipping cost and pays, etc.) we have a deal. After money and merchandise have been sent and confirmed to have been recieved, and any approval period is over, the transaction has been completed.

The conclusion of term negotiations doesn't substantiate a "deal." One might agree that the terms of the deal are acceptable, but not necessarily be committed to the deal. In other words, as those terms are being discussed, at some point they will likely become acceptable to both parties, but they are only the guidelines by which the transaction will occur, it doesn't include either party's "will" to move forward with the transaction. It's at the point which both parties express their agreement to trade cash for merchandise, following each of the guidelines they've agreed upon, that it's a "deal."

Problems often develop when terms are omitted. Perhaps never though of. Best to mention all of it and be overly inclusive (who pays shipping and insurance, is there an approval period, who pays return shipping if it's not approved of, during negotiations does the seller reserve the right to sell to other interested parties, etc.)

My cab is here - gotta go - great subject...

When is a deal done?

1) When all parties to the deal agree that the deal is done; or

2) When a judge in a court of last resort issues a final ruling on whether the deal is done.

Until either one of these things happen, the deal is still open . . .