I hate flakes. I also hate starting this particular page on such a negative topic… but it’s biting me awfully hard today.
The recent events at QRGaraGe have created a need for some major cutbacks on our AE86 project, now known as August Sixth. This has meant, that for the past two weeks we’ve been having an official garage sale. The internet supposedly makes this easy, but I’m not so sure.
Ebay, and internet message boards and auctions… never before have we been able to advertise a product to thousands of people so easily. Not only are advertisements easier to create for vendors, most importantly, they are easily viewed by potential buyers who have the ability to instantly sort millions of ads for free to find the exact product of the fantasized about the night before as they were lying in bed trying to sleep.
Certainly the perfect thing for our materialist culture.
But definitely not the best, for a poor guy trying to clear his garage to pay the rent. I’ve decided… it’s all too easy. Enter the Flake. The Flake is the guy who browses online market places just because it’s fun. Then, in some seemingly delusional moment, convinces himself that he should buy some product; and before he realizes the truth (that he’s a poor SOB) he bids on an online auction or emails a seller and says he’ll buy buy buy. Of course, 30 minutes later, he’ll realize he still hasn’t paid his phone bill from two months ago, or maybe he’ll lose all his money playing online hold’em when some guy makes a wheel on the river. Also probable: guy was planning on paying you with the money he was going to get from his online auction, but his buyer flaked for one whatever reason, and now he’s got no choice but to do the same to you. Whichever… he’s a poor SOB. Meanwhile… while the Flake has layed false claim on your product, the real buyer has gone elsewhere.
Meanwhile, if he is the worst of all flakes, he does his best to forget that he promised to buy your product. So much so that he doesn’t remember anything when you phone him, and he deletes all your emails mistaking them for generic sales pitches that belong in his junk folder. Your a nice guy, so you give him the benefit of the doubt, and assume he’s too busy to call you back, or he’s away from his computer for a few days. Eventually he’ll pay.
But one week passes… your phone bill is due. If the guy has any sense he emails you at this point so you can comfortably relist your item. If he doesn’t… you just have to relist anyways. Of course… now it might be another week before someone promises to buy your junk. If they flake too… your in really big trouble.
And why wouldn’t the second guy flake too? All he has to do is click a mouse, or type a few words. He doesn’t have to pull out his credit card, or take a few bills out of his wallet… he doesn’t even have to talk to a real person. Somehow, his word in print, or that ebay contract just doesn’t hold up. Do that in person, and there would be major consequence.
Now… this is long enough. I’m not going to say I’ve never been a flake. I’m not saying there aren’t flaky sellers. I’m saying think a little bit about the person on the other computer 50 or 1000 miles away next time you blurb off an email and make promises you don’t intend to keep. Have some sense of pride, follow through and learn from your mistakes. Learn the pain your putting the seller through because your making him sit on a product he should have turned into cash long ago. Maybe next time you’ll think about your phone bill before you make that bid. Or maybe you’ll be too tired and haggard to think about what you want to buy next as you lay in bed at night because you put in a double shift to pay for your mistakes.