Dibs 2021 - What does it mean now? (1 Viewer)

BirdCage

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Sorry (not sorry) to bring up this perennial and existential question, but what does dibs mean now?

To me, it means an iron-clad desire and commitment to purchase the indicated item immediately - unless the product details or sale terms were not fully disclosed.

However, with some of my sales and countless other sales, I've seen dibs operate as a placeholder while the dibser mulls it over, experiences an unexpected financial emergency or just claims poverty.

A current sale ad has three dibs posted and as the seller worked through each, all three "released" their dibs.

In my mind, any individual releasing dibs should occur once every several years, if that. Have a little dignity.
 
Sorry (not sorry) to bring up this perennial and existential question, but what does dibs mean now?

To me, it means an iron-clad desire and commitment to purchase the indicated item immediately - unless the product details or sale terms were not fully disclosed.

However, with some of my sales and countless other sales, I've seen dibs operate as a placeholder while the dibser mulls it over, experiences an unexpected financial emergency or just claims poverty.

A current sale ad has three dibs posted and as the seller worked through each, all three "released" their dibs.

In my mind, any individual releasing dibs should occur once every several years, if that. Have a little dignity.
Any particular person you might wanna disclose? How can we change something if we don't know who to teach a lesson?
 
Sorry (not sorry) to bring up this perennial and existential question, but what does dibs mean now?

To me, it means an iron-clad desire and commitment to purchase the indicated item immediately - unless the product details or sale terms were not fully disclosed.

However, with some of my sales and countless other sales, I've seen dibs operate as a placeholder while the dibser mulls it over, experiences an unexpected financial emergency or just claims poverty.

A current sale ad has three dibs posted and as the seller worked through each, all three "released" their dibs.

In my mind, any individual releasing dibs should occur once every several years, if that. Have a little dignity.
If it’s the ad I think it was, it was a serial dibs releaser (lol) and the other two were just tagged.

Dibs is stupid.
 
I have stopped buying from the classifieds after the last dibs blow up. As a seller I impose traditional dibs rules and post those specifics clearly in the post. I reserve the right to not sell to those who I choose. I prefer to buy and sell as much as I can by PM now.

However, with some of my sales and countless other sales, I've seen dibs operate as a placeholder while the dibser mulls it over, experiences an unexpected financial emergency or just claims poverty.

I have seen a member impose a two strike rule on dibs releasing. I like that. I could even see using a one strike rule.
 
That's a great example, but there are so many that specific instances aren't really needed!

I actually like dibs when used with integrity. The only real solution would be to build a dibs system into the forum infrastructure. So that a user would have the ability to post a dibs via the system. If they don't follow through with the sale or release it themselves, then they lose the dibs function for a period of time - like six months or a year. That would be fun and awesome.
 
Depending on the poster it means:
I already bought it
I'm going to buy it
I dont want YOU to buy it
I plan on buying it
I might be interested in buying it
I'm thinking about this
Placeholder post
Sad but true
 
Yeah, I agree with original post. Unless you dibs and then PM to clarify something that isn’t clear in post, then you should be ready to buy. I had posted dibs where I was a 2nd or 3rd back up and first 2 dropped and by the time they did was so many other posts and dibs that seller passed right over me probably by mistake. Would not have happened if not for the false dibs ahead of me
 
What about in the event of mistaken geography?

Only time I’ve ever felt comfortable asking for my dibs to be released was when I mistook the seller’s location—I thought he was in Canada but he was in Switzerland. I wound up buying the chips anyway, but I think the difference between “hey I dibsed this but changed my mind” and “hey I dibsed this but I thought you were 1000 miles closer to me than you were” is big and evident

That being said, dibs are stupid they only serve as a way for people to try to sell shit quickly and maximize their own convenience
 
What about in the event of mistaken geography?

Only time I’ve ever felt comfortable asking for my dibs to be released was when I mistook the seller’s location—I thought he was in Canada but he was in Switzerland. I wound up buying the chips anyway, but I think the difference between “hey I dibsed this but changed my mind” and “hey I dibsed this but I thought you were 1000 miles closer to me than you were” is big and evident

That being said, dibs are stupid they only serve as a way for people to try to sell shit quickly and maximize their own convenience
I can see this as a legit reason. Lots of great deals pop up and if you arent the first to take it, its not going to last. But not everyone has their country listed, or listed incorrectly, and then you see the sale is from someone on another continent and shipping/duty/taxes to you kills the deal.
 
No dibs in my sales.
I always add a line like this to my sales:

Posting "SOLD" or "I'll take them" in the thread trumps "dibs" or PM's or "PM sent".

Dibs is lame and wishy-washy and can lead to confusion and hurt feelings.
Dibs to hold for someone else is particularly lame, albeit good intentioned. You can scare off potential buyers and if the hold falls through it can burn someone else who thought the item(s) were gone who would have otherwise bought. Better to just tag or contact the person and hope they get there in time.

"PM sent" without stating in the thread that you want the item(s) can also lead to confusion and hurt feelings. "PM sent" without a claim means you have a question regarding the item which is perfectly fine, but expect to miss out on the item(s) if someone else commits to buy in the thread.

When someone PM's me that they want the item(s) I always quickly steer them back to the thread to post "sold" or "I'll take them" there so they don't miss out.

This seems to clear up confusion and makes the deals smoother.
 
It’s just a word, who cares if it’s corny. I like ”I’ll take them” better but I always understand ”dibs” to mean just that. Dibs-releasers suck (unless there’s an actual reason for it).
 
What about in the event of mistaken geography?

Only time I’ve ever felt comfortable asking for my dibs to be released was when I mistook the seller’s location—I thought he was in Canada but he was in Switzerland. I wound up buying the chips anyway, but I think the difference between “hey I dibsed this but changed my mind” and “hey I dibsed this but I thought you were 1000 miles closer to me than you were” is big and evident

That being said, dibs are stupid they only serve as a way for people to try to sell shit quickly and maximize their own convenience
Yeah, you weren’t the only one and I was fairly relaxed about those who backed out. I falsely assumed that people pay attention to the location information under our avatars.

In the future, I’ll certainly be sure to clearly list shipping location directly in the Sale post to avoid any confusion for potential buyers and clearly write what the buying conditions are.

Generally speaking though, if the seller indicated it’s a “Dibs” sale, then writing dibs means a commitment to purchase imo. Of course, it’s not enforceable, but perhaps that’s a case for leaving negative feedback as the seller?

Perhaps the easiest solution is for a seller to clearly write their expectations in the sale thread and that buyers adhere to those expectations.
 
I can see this as a legit reason. Lots of great deals pop up and if you arent the first to take it, its not going to last. But not everyone has their country listed, or listed incorrectly, and then you see the sale is from someone on another continent and shipping/duty/taxes to you kills the deal.
Yup. I think the current dibs system promotes crackhead behavior—people are so focused on getting “dibs,” they’re more likely to immediately dibs it JIC.

Personally if dibs is going to be a thing I think it should be like the rules for baseball cards on the playground: “dibs” should really be “first dibs”—you get first crack at it, but it isn’t binding. Dibs should be non-binding in my opinion and go down the line in order of time. It’s why I always post “backup” on something I really want that’s been dibsed—if I made Stinky Steve take all the Pokémon cards he dibbed in 3rd grade, he probably would’ve become a serial killer instead of a CPA
 
What about in the event of mistaken geography?

Only time I’ve ever felt comfortable asking for my dibs to be released was when I mistook the seller’s location—I thought he was in Canada but he was in Switzerland. I wound up buying the chips anyway, but I think the difference between “hey I dibsed this but changed my mind” and “hey I dibsed this but I thought you were 1000 miles closer to me than you were” is big and evident

That being said, dibs are stupid they only serve as a way for people to try to sell shit quickly and maximize their own convenience
Don’t really agree, there’s plenty of members from all over the world. Don’t assume every listing is from the US/Canada just because it doesn’t say otherwise in the title and read the listing properly before expressing intent to buy. Perhaps we should all put origin country in the title (in US listings too) to clarify.
 
What about in the event of mistaken geography?

Only time I’ve ever felt comfortable asking for my dibs to be released was when I mistook the seller’s location—I thought he was in Canada but he was in Switzerland. I wound up buying the chips anyway, but I think the difference between “hey I dibsed this but changed my mind” and “hey I dibsed this but I thought you were 1000 miles closer to me than you were” is big and evident

That being said, dibs are stupid they only serve as a way for people to try to sell shit quickly and maximize their own convenience
This is the only reason I've ever released something.

That being said, I've never had someone post dibs on something and then not buy it, so I don't have the seemingly awful experience with the 'dibs' process that other people in this thread do. YMMV.

Dave
 
Don’t really agree, there’s plenty of members from all over the world. Don’t assume every listing is from the US/Canada just because it doesn’t say otherwise in the title and read the listing properly before expressing intent to buy. Perhaps we should all put origin country in the title (in US listings too) to clarify.
These days split seconds matter and looking up buyer location may cost you a chance to buy. I hear what you are saying, but if you see something you really want you really need to jump on it
 
These days split seconds matter and looking up buyer location may cost you a chance to buy. I hear what you are saying, but if you see something you really want you really need to jump on it
Then say “I’ll take it”. It’s not ambiguous and it takes less time than typing dibs and hitting enter, then having to go back to edit because spellcheck changed “dibs” to “spill”
 
Fine with me. I actually can’t think what I typed last time. Probably I’ll take them because dibs sounds weird. But who knows
 
I'm not really sure where the dibs thing took over but I always saw it as a verbal agreement when you commit to buy otherwise post something to show that you're simply showing interest. Typically I'll say something like PM for questions or I'll fully commit with "I'll take them" with a full intent to buy.
 
These days split seconds matter and looking up buyer location may cost you a chance to buy. I hear what you are saying, but if you see something you really want you really need to jump on it
Most of my purchases are associated with high shipping costs and sometimes custom fees so that’s probably why I don’t really sympathize
 
Most of my purchases are associated with high shipping costs and sometimes custom fees so that’s probably why I don’t really sympathize
dibs solves this for you?

It’s more powerful than I ever dreamed if this is true.
 
Most of my purchases are associated with high shipping costs and sometimes custom fees so that’s probably why I don’t really sympathize
Wouldn’t you like to know the cost of shipping prior to making a strong commitment to purchase? Have you encountered members who run wild with high shipping markups or simply don’t know of cheaper options to ship?
 

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