Am i obliged to buy when seller refused at first..


I gave an offer to an amp recently and seller refused the offer through message. I moved on, and after 1 and half day seller accepts my offer without taking my approval and since I did not purchase he gave me a negative feedback, and audiogon charges for backing out. Am I wrong here ? I would have definitely bought the amp if he had accepted my offer at first place or gave me a counter offer which I accept.
veerapaneni
From what I see here from the OP, is that he received a refusal to his offer and didn't counter offer. The negotiations ended there. Any return to the "table of negotiation" would have been either a "if you still want to offer X, I accept?" And a required response of acceptance or refusal would have re-opened the negotiation. But the sellers original NO was the end for both parties unless the buyer responded. In any world "NO" is a complete sentence.
Audiogon needs to research and correct this, but in the meantime, we all can learn from this one. When your offer is refused, respond with a closing comment that your offer is off the table or the option of a "let me know if you change your mind".
Just my opinion of course.
Under the most basic elements of contract law, a rejection of an offer ends the matter right there.

If the terms of the Audiogon service clearly and unambiguously provide for a contrary result and there is proof that the buyer assented to the terms by a specific opt-in to the terms (and not just by using the site after the rule went into effect), then maybe the would-be seller has a leg to stand on.
02-01-15: Lse
Under the most basic elements of contract law, a rejection of an offer ends the matter right there.

While this is true, the seller did NOT decline the offer through official Audiogon channels. The buyer made an official offer through the Audiogon system. The seller PM'd the buyer rejecting his offer, off the record. He did not officially decline the offer through the Audiogon system though. That is how he was able to accept the offer. It's like he tried to strong arm a better deal, when the buyer balked, he accepted his original offer.

I assume in the legal world there is a big difference between working with official documents on the record, and working off the record, is there not?

Cheers,
John
Not sure about that john. A contract is a contract is a contract. Oral, written or otherwise. Now proving it is another matter. Audiogon Should get right on top of this, because this is clearly a "bug" in their system that undermines the formal more profitable for them system that they have tried to establish. One of the motivations to stay within that system is that it is supposed to provide at least some protectton to buyers and sellers from someone who is negotiating in bad faith. The ability to refuse an offer rather than decline it, while leaving the buyer on the hook will drive buyers away. Without buyers there will be no sales. Without sales no sales charge and eventually no sellers.
Based on the rules/policies that govern trading at this site, when a prospective buyer makes an offer to purchase an item, the seller can select one of three actions pertaining to that offer,
1. Accept,
2. Decline, or
3. Counter.
Selecting one of these three actions triggers a specific outcome. However, the actions must be selected by using the tabs shown on the listing page, as there are no provisions for actions to be triggered by sending a message to the prospective buyer. In the event the seller does not select an action, then the offer expires after 48 hours. In this case, if the seller did not specifically select the action to "decline" the offer then, based on the buy/sell rules of this site, the offer would have remained active for 48 hours, during which time the seller could have still accepted the offer. The message discussed by the OP is not an accepted mechanism to decline the offer, based on the posted site buy/sell rules.

I agree with most here that, assuming the OP’s story is factual, then the seller displayed incredibly poor form. However, it may be good to remember we have not seen the message from the seller, or heard both sides. At a minimum, this situation is a good reminder of the importance of knowing the rules, which can be found by selecting "sell" at the bottom of the homepage. Unfortunately, you will need to follow a couple of additional links to see all of the information.