Hello!  I hope everyone is having a marvelous 
holiday season.  ^_^

(The following is rather loooong.)

I'm having a minor dilemma, and I was hoping some 
more experienced sellers could offer some 
feedback.

Anyone who has tried to buy a cel directly from me 
knows how hard it is for me to let go.  I *HATE* 
selling.  I believe that I've only sold 2-3% of 
what I've bought over the last couple of years.  
(Yeesh!)  Yet I agreed to a private sale earlier 
this year for a cel that I prize highly.  We 
haggled for a while and finally agreed on a price. 
 I made it clear that the sale was a direct result 
of an immediate money crunch that I was in.

The seller was affable enough, but the payment was 
delayed.  When it arrived, it was for 25% of the 
amount.  We had never agreed on a payment plan, 
but I said it would be okay if they could get the 
balance to me within a month or so.  A couple of 
weeks later, another 25% showed up.

Since then, nothing.  And that was over five 
months ago.  

I e-mailed them early last month and got a 
response that said they would try to pay by early 
December.  Nothing.  And no response to a 
follow-up e-mail.

The odd thing is that they haven't asked for a 
refund (which I couldn't afford anyway) or 
complained about their finances.  They are 
simply....losing interest in cels.

So I'm left with a half-sold cel and a dispirited 
buyer.....  As someone who hates parting with 
cels, you have to understand that I have already 
cut my ties with this one.  In my mind, it is 
SOLD.  So I don't like having it in my binder.  
And I don't want to give it away for half price 
(since full price was only enought to tempt while 
the wolf was at my door).

I am waiting a bit longer, but I have proposed the 
following solution to the buyer and would like to 
hear feedback on it or alternate suggestions.

I proposed putting the cel on Ebay.  If it sells 
for it's remaining balance or less, I keep the 
profits and we are done.  If it sells for more 
than the balance, I give the excess to the 
original buyer as a refund.  If it sells for more 
than the total original price, I keep the balance 
owed, refund the buyer in full, and keep the 
excess.

For example.  Price: $100.  Paid by buyer: $50.
Ebay final price:
$45: I keep it all
$75: I keep $50 and refund $25
$125: I keep $75 and refund $50

Am I nuts?  Or is this fair?

What about the time frame that I've waited?  If 
this was an extended payment plan that we had 
agreed upon in advance, I'd have no objections.  
But this has been a surprise to me.  And the buyer 
is breaking their own deadlines left and right.  
:-(

?????

JP