i don't know who to believe, and at this point it's a moot point.

On one side, you have a guy with an old scarab thats become a bath tub, if the core is soaked, it's probably not worth the gas for the chainsaw...

On the other side, you have a guy who doesn't know much about this type of boating, asked for advice on motors for the scarab he bought, bunch of people all told him the same thing, but he refuses to see the forest thru the trees. He is worried about resale on a 30+ year old boat.... whether he builds small blocks in his basement or buys used merc takeouts, he will already have more in motors than the boat is worth.

all cut and past from ebays selling practices policy. these are just a few that pertain to this problem.

You're required to:

Provide complete and accurate details.

Specify the condition of the item.

Describe any defects or flaws—this helps avoid problems or buyer dissatisfaction.

Making sure the item is delivered to the buyer as described in your listing.

When selling used, refurbished, or flawed items, we recommend you include pictures of the actual item for sale, instead of a stock photo.

You're required to meet the expectations you've set in your listing.

You're not allowed to say that you're not responsible for item delivery or ensuring that the item is delivered as described. For example, we don't allow statements like "I am not responsible for the item once it's dropped in the mail."

had the boat been what it was describe as i would have followed through whit my commitment to buy at the price the of $6k witch was my winning bid.

BUT IT WAS NO WHERE NEAR IT!!!!!

please show me the parts in the listing where it states, plan on a 2-3 weeks stay or party of hired help to DRY OUT every thing listed above. or the boat has been it the weather since 2008 that i know of because i did not get it from the aviator. just a story i was told with pics from the guy i got it from.

SAY WHAT YOU WANT!! NO ONE IN A CONSCIENCE STATE OF MIND WOULD HAVE FOLLOWED THROUGH WITH A COMMITMENT TO BUY.

THE BOAT WAS FULL OF WATER, AND ALL THE PARTS WERE IN RUBBERMADE TUBS SUBMERGED IN WATER TO THE TOP, AND HAD BEEN SINCE AT LEAST 2008.

PICS AND VIDS IN NEXT POST... RIGHT NOW

The pics and video mean nothing. You still agreed to buy it even after seeing it in person and even proceded to renegotiating the price. At that point, the ebays rules become null and void as this is no longer an ebay transaction.

Now if you refused to buy it at all after seeing it, then the ebay listing rules would have some merit and you might be intitled to your deposit back. But then that falls under the inspect before you bid.

The tools are yours, left behind by mistake. Go get them and show face, or pay to to have them shipped to you on your dime.

Nopost,
You just don't get it. Condition, appearance etc. are all subjective terms. The time to check that out was BEFORE you bid. You started this thread hoping everyone would rally around you and try to force Lars into giving you a refund. Now that hasn't happened you're throwing an internet temper tantrum. I don't see that working for you either. Check the list price of a brand new boat, now look at your bid and subtract the two. See the huge difference. If you wanted new, you should have bought new. Your mistakes are your own to live with. You should apologize to Lars, delete this thread and forget the deposit.

Disclaimer: I've never bought or sold on E-bay and I don't know any of the parties involved but I do believe a contract shoulb be honored.

If I worked in the Texas heat for a grand+ of tools I think I would have turned around to get them.

I can't figure out how you can shrug off a grand+ of tools but a $500 deposit on a boat you won at auction has you this worked up. But I can understand that if the Viking said he would return the deposit in good faith that you would expect it's return in a timely manner. Hope it works out for the both of you.......if it doesn't at least you have the comfort of knowing you providing us with some entertainment in the winter months on OSO

I feel nopostduece should not be obligated in the purchase of the boat after winning the eBay auction. And this is coming from a person that buys and sells on eBay.

For the reason the boat was misrepresented in the add. The add said nothing about the boat being left outside and had a crap load of water sitting in it. Not only was water in the boat it was bow down so all the water went forward in the cabin.

I will stick to this only if nopostduece provides us the pics of the water he talks about.

On the other hand Lars claims he new nothing about the boat being outside and the water problem. He did offer the boat at a lower price and nopost accepted then drove away. The truth be told Lars did say the trailer was junk but thought it would make the haul. So in my eyes the trailer has no battle either way.

I do blame Lars for not meeting nopost in person at the boat yard.


I think Lars should just give me the 500 dollars and call it lesson learned by both parties

If the boat appears the way in the pictures , It is as described. If you took the pics of the boat a year ago , and have not been back to inspect yourself your are misrepresenting it ,period. If the boat had 10 ,15, 20, or the 100 to 1000 as described , and it was not listed in said auction , your description is wrong and the auction is null and void, period. It is not the high bidders fault that seller was no where near the boat to provide to date pictures. This is above and beyond all other posts.... in the pics on the auction the boat looked pretty decent. So in my opinion lets see what the pics that Spencer took look like. But again if it clearly had water in it it cancels out anything else said.
Tell me one person that would buy a car online that had great pics , and when you get there to pick it up its full of water and bullfrogs , the seller shrugs his shoulders and says hmmmmph well it didnt look this way last year when i saw it last , would you feel inclined to buy???
Now the he said she said certainly brings a whole new light to a rather convoluted story , but , Vike if you said you would give him deposit back , why havent you yet done so??? period , you said you wanted to get it to him right away , but to date this has not happened??? why, this right here says that you have/had no intention of refunding it.
I myself drove 24 hours one way on more than one occasion and know what it feels like to have butterflies and talking myself into making my purchase justifyable one way or another when i get there .Ive been involved in somthing like this in two instances , one was perfect , i was there for literally 30 minutes , deal was perfect , i was out and happy and on my way back home for my 24 hour drive.THe other was a case just like this, the item was GROSSLY misrepresented, it was not EBay , but if it was i would react exactly like Spencer , I too spent several hours climbing all over said item ,looking , wrenching, thinking, wondering to myself at what cost can i make this 36 hour round trip justifyable? When i finally said damn im stupid this thing is a total waste of time , i reached into the truck and said to the wife ,how mad will you be if we go home empty handed ? I still think of that lesson learned and, the 35 to 40hours of my life that i will never get back, the $400 to $500 in fuel that i lost because seller was to damn lazy to give me a better discription.

Either way you look at it Spencer must have been pretty damned set on this boat , i doubt very seriously that he thought man when show up im going to butt rape this guy into just giving it to me , seeing as i drove so far.
Bottom line is there is a fine line with morals/ethics when buying and selling used . Represent correctly ,and things should go as planned. Leave out major details expect the deal to go sour. And expect that you will be the one being bashed .

You are forgetting two major points

1. Nopost tried to lower the price after he won the auction and BEFORE he even saw the boat.

2. He was more than ok to walk away from the deal if it was a classified ad but it wasn't. It was an auction, you make high bid you own it. Period

"The boat in the meantime was put away in Steve's "OLD FRIEND'S" place. I made sure she was tucked away right. Saw the boat, 6 months later, in spring of 2009. Decided I'll keep her, everything was still fine. Kept sending the $200 every month, (rent-total of $3,400), which is very reasonable out here. In AUGUST 2009 my wife was still in really bad shape and with little prospect to do much better for quite some time I finally decided to put the boat up for sale. Jumped on a plane to San Francisco for the day, had the boat pulled out, took the photos for the ad and put her back again.
After coming home I got second thoughts about selling her and put it off since my wife insisted that I should stick to my boats and all the friends around it. She said, "by the time I eventually get better You have something to fall back on and We could maybe even get something a little more comfortable then so I can come along?", got to love her! Well my friend Steve started having more health issues and this boat was all about us eventually having some quality time together, so in DECEMBER I just stuck it on eBay. Never dreaming that there was something not right up there in San Rafael. That the yard-owner had started moving several boats and other equipment around some time in NOV./DEC. without telling Us effected is maybe not that strange, but the way he left boats etc. laying around unprotected is a little hard to swallow. I feel sorry for him in a way, he was well respected and I liked him originally, but his old friend Steve has no pity for him at this point and has decided to never speak or see the guy again."

"Though I now dearly wish that I would have been able to be present right before the listing 12/17/09 and at the close of the deal 12/24/09 I also think has been described pretty thoroughly. My friend Steve had an appointment with the buyer and I trust him more than most. The storage circumstances the weeks before the event were VERY hard to foresee or even imagine in a abominable nightmare. I did offer to pay the buyer for his cost of diesel and his deposit back, but he insisted on staying at the site that evening and half the following day. He spent hours going through the boat and all the equipment with a trusted friend of his and then made me an offer of a lot lower price and feeling bad for him I accepted. That he then later took off without a word I still have no explanation for, that only he and his friend know."

Detailed event;
"Spencer calls me and says that they're on the way back to Texas, he continues, " I don't think I can find a trailer for less than $1,500 and then I'm into this close to $8,000. For a few thousand more I can get this KAAMA Scarab I mentioned that is turn key". I tell him I already know, "but do You realize Spencer that it's not a Larry Smith Team Scarab, rigged by John Conner and Larry Smith while they where trying to optimize the efficiency of the KAAMA drives. It's probably the boat they spent the most time in together according to Larry and they perfected it over a time-period of over a year?" I hear myself sounding like the used car salesman I am, but why am I trying to explain myself so hard? Is it because I really want this guy to have her? Spencer goes: "well i I didn't tell You that I knew it's a Wellcraft in Kansas, but it's all about the money". I hear myself reply, "are You telling me You still want my boat You bought?", Spencer, "well I give You $3,000!". I go, "You mean $3,000 plus the $500 You paid me down?", he goes, "no I give You $3,000, that's it". In disbelief I hear myself say, "You know what Spencer, give me $2,800 for a total of $3,300, but she's only Yours if You promise to do Your absolutely best to get her going this season coming and if You don't do it, You should call me back so I can get her in somebodies hands that will get her going. Bill on the Donzi.net forum is in Texas, he followed the eBay auction and he already told me he wants to buy her from You, if You decide to eventually sell her and he's a very solid guy". Spencer answers, "we're turning around, You got a deal, thank's for working with me, I'll call Steve and go and get the paperwork done, talk to You later". A few minutes goes buy during which I try to figure out why I totally just gave my boat away and then my phone rings, "it's Steve, I talked to Spencer and We're hooking up at around 4:30P.M. and get things squared away, why the hell did You give her away pal? I might go back more than 30 years with my Buddie, but You should have kept the boat and taken the inconsiderate bum to court for not storing Your boat right. I'm convinced she's O.K., but sh.t what could have happened if he'd kept her out there on the lot for another couple of weeks/months, while he's collecting Your money every month for nothing? Sue the b....rd, it's about time he wakes up, I don't ever wanna see him again, anyways it is what it is now! I call You when the nightmare is over", I quietly utter, "thanks Steve".
Sometime around 6 P.M. Steve calls, "the guy is flaking, they left for Reno, only God knows why, sorry Bud, but I think it's better this way, something weired about this whole thing". 8 P.M., "ay Bud it's Steve, this Spencer caracter called and said they left their toolbox at the boatyard and wanted me to see if I could arrange something, he said it's hundreds and hundreds of dollars worth of tools. Why would unload a full toolbox? There's nothing to wrench on? He also said they already were in Reno? Go figure? Please call the guy and talk to him".
Three phone messages, three weeks later and several email attempts I out of the blue miss a call at 07:35 A.M. on a weekend morning with a voicemail message, Spencer says, "thanks I finally got Your phone messages, I lost my phone two times and had to get new ones, but if You could send my downpayment back like You mentioned in Your phone messages that would be great. You can reach me on my email which is [email protected] , paypal might be best even though it takes a while to clear into the account, contact me and We can decide."

EMAIL WAS NOT CORRECT, LEFT PHONE MESSEGES AGAIN, EVEN WITH GIRLFRIEND! NO RESPONSES!

10 DAYS LATER THESE THREADS START APPEARING, BUT NO PHONE CALL BACK OR EBAY MESSAGE! WHY IS THAT? DO YOU REALLY THINK YOU STILL DESERVE YOUR DEPOSIT BACK? COMMITED TO THE DEAL TWICE AND NOW THIS!

Give the buyer his $500 back, but keep his tools and sell them ebay for $500.