egl_archive

I've got an honest question for those of you, particularly sellers, who are active in the egl_comm_sales community. I've noticed that lately, it's become common for sellers to give the item to whoever provides their Paypal address first. I remember it used to be more common for the person who expressed interest first to be given first dibs. Well, things change. That's not my major concern - sellers can do what they please. My concern is that a surprising number of sellers are less and less likely these days to provide basic information in their sales posts, including shipping costs, measurements, and condition of the item, all factors that are extremely important to most buyers. So you have to ask the seller questions about the item(s), of course. Here comes the major problem with this - if you want to ask questions, chances are you're SOL, because someone is going to post their Paypal address before you find out the information you need. This drives me bonkers. I've lost out on a lot of items this way. But then I noticed something interesting, just in these past few weeks, really. I've been seeing a number of buyers including their Paypal address in their comments asking for more information so that the seller will hold the item for them, even though they have NOT committed to buying the item, or may not even be 100% certain they want it. Sometimes once they find out the measurements, etc, they'll pass on the item.

So my question is this - is it okay to do that? I haven't seen any sellers pitching a fit over this, but it strikes me as a little odd. In fact, the first time I saw someone do that, my initial thought was, "that's cheating! D:<" LOL. I thought the point of giving it to the person who posts their Paypal address first is so that you can sell the item - in other words, get your money - faster, instead of waiting on a potential buyer who may eventually pass on the item when there are plenty of other interested buyers ready to pay. So I'd like to get some opinions on this, because if it IS okay, you can bet I'm gonna start doing it! XD

Update: This has turned into a great discussion, guys! I'm so glad so many people are weighing in on this issue and exchanging thoughts and ideas. <3