Can asking price be changed after offer is made?

Bomarc, may be I was naive, thinking that once a buyer agrees to pay the full asking price, then the seller cannot up the price. I did contact the seller and was offered the opportunity to buy at a higher price.

So it looks like you give me a dose of reality. On Internet and even on audiogon, buying and selling is a wild wild west. Until the money changes hands, anything goes.

This item was offered at a fixed non-negotiable price. But it seems like from legal aspects, fixed price or BO is a moot point. Legally the seller can change his mind as many times as he wants. Practically, he can do so until money changes hands.

In the long run, I agree if we accept that it is okay to do what-ever-it-takes, even for a pitiful amount of money, then we end up to loose out on a good thing. For the old timers, do you remember rec.audio.marketplace? How many of you still read that free-for-all unmoderated newsgroup?

My question is not just about a legal issue. It is about whether sticking to one's words is an outdated concept.

I kind of agree with Zaikesman that the best story is a straight story. Unfortunately, the seller did not do that.

Rather than cancelling the ad and giving a straight explanation, the seller chose to: (1) mark one ad as SOLD, (2) increase the price in the other ad, (3) agree to sell to another buyer who offer to pay just the new asking price. The seller also said that he had TWO identical stands and sold one at a lower price, (4) offer to sell to me if I pay at the new price. He did this even after already having a "contract" with the above buyer.

At this point, the seller did not know that the world is small and that the other buyer and I know each other! We did swap war stories.... and figured out how the seller was weaving his stories.

I was annoyed but then amused. Anyway, it was a good lesson for me included.