Selling my entire Tiki collection

I'm moving and, sadly, need to sell my much-loved tiki mug collection. I have original limited edition Shags with documentation, lots of limited edition Munktikis with their certificates, and some Trader Vic's, Outrigger (Monterey), Tonga Room (SF), Harvey's (Tahoe), Bali Hai (San Diego), Kahikis, and Fireside Moai (Wisconsin). Everything in excellent condition from a smoke-free, pet-free home. Please email me and I'll send you pics. Prices are, of course, negotiable. Thanks! And I'm in the South Bay Area of California.

[ Edited by: tiki_meli 2008-10-15 15:02 ]

"Pets are welcome,Children 'MUST' be on leash" TD

[ Edited by: TIKI DAVID 2008-10-15 16:16 ]

I think I saw you ad on craigslist...can you give us an idea of your prices?

Is this the link?

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/clt/879740394.html

Thanks,

PTD

[ Edited by: Psycho Tiki D 2008-10-15 15:50 ]

I will take the Munktiki Bowl if available

.

shame on you tiki meli! tiki meli (melissa of sunnyvale) agreed to sell her munktiki bowl to me and told me how much she wanted. the next thing i knew, someone offered her more money and she took it. and to the female bay area tcer who got the bowl, shame on you too. you knew she agreed to sell it to me. you're both despicable!

here's the b.s. e-mail exchange:
"Hi Bullet,

Let's see, for the Green Volcano Bowl, it's a very low # 4 in the limited series, so for that one, I'd ask $120.

For the 4 snack tubs, I'd ask $40.

Thanks,
Melissa"
my reply:
"that sounds fine, melissa. how would you like to complete the deal? cheers, b"
then i get this:
"Hi Bullet,
Someone is offering me $250 for the volcano bowl and $75 for the snack tubs and she is in the area. I'm not sure what to do here...you contacted me first, but she's offering more and can come in person this weekend...."
here's my reply:
"well, what you SHOULD do is tell her you have already made a deal to sell them. if you need the money soon, i can do that. if you wanted an auction, you could have put them on ebay. as far as i'm concerned, we have a deal. bullet"
here's her last e-mail:
"You know Bullet, I'm new to the whole Tiki Central scene. Everyone has been really lovely and friendly, several people even telling me "Wow, you know, you should really charge more for that, it's so rare...how long has it been since you actively collected / traded?"

It's my preference to sell in person---I'm not comfortable mailing the Munktikis and Shags in particular. And I was upfront about that. And while you did say you might be in the area in a couple of weeks, I had an equally eager buyer ready to show up immediately. And I'm in the process of moving, so time is of the essence for me.

Someone offered me $350 for the Green Volcano Bowl---if I mailed it to Ohio. I was not cool with that, so I declined. Instead, I sold it yesterday for $200 to a really awesome collector, super-friendly, who was willing to drive to my place, pick it up right away in person, and cherish it.

So ultimately it's not about the money for me---it's most important that a true appreciator buys these mugs to display them, use them, etc. And from what I hear, you are one of the top, if not THE, collector / appreciator on Tiki Central. Yes, the 40+ people with whom I've been emailing, trying to juggle all their requests quickly and fairly, all know of you and speak of you, quite respectfully.

So when I threw $120 out there (before I had a chance to do any sort of research at all), that probably sounded amazing. I can see why you're flustered---getting volcano bowl basically for a steal would've been fantastic....but not entirely fair to me. Had the difference been only $20 or so, I would have set the bowl aside and taken on total blind faith your possibility of driving down to San Jose in a few weeks.

But I am moving and I do need think about my finances. And I stated my apprehension about shipping. I'm honest, I'm not charging ridiculous prices (like many others I've noticed), in fact I'm looking to Tiki Central folk to mentor me on pricing. I've set my prices to average selling price, not the highest. Because the spirit of the exchange is important to me.

So you have my apologies that volcano bowl didn't work out. And you have my promise that he's found a good home. And you still have my offer of the 4 Snack Tubs, which----because they are sturdier and have no protruding or delicate appendages---I would consider shipping.

So your previous email, instructing me as to what I SHOULD do and sounding rather peeved, isn't really friendly.

Again, my apologies it didn't work out this time.

~Melissa"
what a load of crap!

[ Edited by: kingstiedye 2008-10-17 17:40 ]

Well, that really stinks Bullet. I wish I was in the running at least. I didn't even get a reply email from her and I thought I posted right away. Knowing now that she wouldn't even ship it, that really put me out of the equation anyway. Oh well I guess I will keep on looking for one.

I had a similiar experience where I thought I had an agreement in place for a trade. A certain TC member that is somewhat popular agreed that we would trade an Hukilau Event Mug and a Tiki Oasis Event Mug. That year tiki oasis came first and that certain someone had an extra mug. I then in turned was going to get an extra mug from the Hukilau for him/her. But once that the Hukilau was over and there were extra mugs she/he decided to buy one through TikiKiliki. Even though I had already picked up an extra one for them. They totally backed out and I was left without my tiki oasis mug.

Anyways I digress a little. So Bullet, I am sorry about what you have gone through.
But she really should have done some research before posting.

mahalo brian. yeah, renegers suck! there's a collector in my area who's pulled that same crap you describe on me twice. i guess it's shame on me for getting fooled twice. oh yeah, i e-mailed her before your post, so don't feel too bad! :)

[ Edited by: kingstiedye 2008-10-17 19:25 ]

Yeah Brian,

There is a collector in the same area as Bullet that did this to me twice as well???

PTD

I may have to disagree with kingstiedye here - from the limited information I have, I think that tiki-meli may have acted in a proper fashion.

Much of this is due to the nature and limitations of handling a purchase via e-mail. One can never be sure that the e-mail messages one sends are read immediately after they are sent. You may send a message thinking 'Yes, its a deal' - but until the seller responds in the affirmative saying 'Yes, the item is yours at that price', there is no deal.

Here is a scenario to illustrate my point.

Person S is selling something - posts a notice on several boards to gain attention of interested buyers.

Person A replies, asking how much the items are. Person S provides a price list.
Person B replies, asking how much the items are. Person S provides a price list.
Persons C, D, E, and F ask how much the items are. Person S provides a price list.

At this point, all that Person S has done is provided a price list to several people. No 'deal' has been completed.

Person S goes away for a few days, or is unable to check any messages for some time.

During that time, Person D writes and says 'yeah I will buy the item at that price. How shall we proceed and arrange for shipping'
5 minutes later, Person E writes and says the same thing.
10 minutes later, person F writes and says 'Oh, I was willing to spend more money than that for the item'
15 minutes later, person B writes and says 'I'd be willing to match any price that is offered ... and I'll come to pick it up.'
5 minutes later, Person A responds and says 'yeah I will buy the item at that price. How shall we proceed and arrange for shipping'

At this point, there is still no deal between Person S and any of the potential buyers. It is as if Persons A, B, D, E, and F are standing there with open hands, ready for the handshake that will close the deal - but Person S is not there to extend their hand and complete the deal yet.

Person S finally comes home, checks e-mails, and only then sees the messages that D, E, F, B, and A sent - and due to the limitations of servers and networks, they may have reached Person S at varying times. In my view, Person S is not obligated to accept the response from the earliest time-stamped e-mail. Person S can choose to close the deal with any of those respondents, or conduct further e-mail exchanges for clarification. In the business world, this is the point equivalent to 'evaluating the proposals'

The seller has all the power and freedom to sell to who they want, using whatever criteria they wish (barring race, religion, sex - there may be laws against that) They can sell it to the first person who comes to their front door. They can choose to interact with only one person, perhaps someone they have already know and trust. The seller can also wait for better offers to come in, or even decide not to sell at all.

Conducting business via Tiki Central or craigslist is always a bit iffy. In my view, the main problems are those where someone actually sends in money, and never receives a product in return, or someone buys something and is sent a cheaper inferior product. I don't think either applies at all to the above scenario.

You may do everything right in hopes of buying something, but the deal can fall through for any variety of reasons. At times all you can do is just set it aside and wait for the next worthy sale.

Vern

your point is valid, vern. however, melissa didn't get the higher offer until the day after she agreed to sell it to me. there is nothing that makes that ok.

[ Edited by: kingstiedye 2008-10-18 11:45 ]

Thank you Vern. I appreciate your logical, professional, and sensitive approach to the whole exchange.

So Bullet, now that you've gone out of your way to mud-sling on Tiki Central, and after you've sent me cruel and hateful emails to my personal account---which, interestingly enough, you neglected to post here----ALLOW ME TO RETORT.

I would like to post the other emails we exchanged---so people can see the whole story. The email in which I expressed my concern over shipping and asked you about PayPal. The email in which you simply said, give me a call. The "deal" was very one-sided, in your mind. I never agreed to anything.

And that's amidst at least 30 other potential buyers, whose emails and requests for pictures and prices I was trying to manage in a timely and COURTEOUS fashion. And I repeat, COURTEOUS.

Also allow me to post the last few emails from you, which I will have to sanitize because of the foul language. What you said to me in my personal account I can't even post here because it breaks forum rules....

And after I post said email correspondence, I will delete my account from Tiki Central and never visit it again. Which is too bad, because there are so many lovely, cool, interesting people here who have been really great. And also unfortunate that a brand-new person to the site is basically driven away because of one person's self-indulgence. For those of you with whom I've been communicating, if you'd still like to see pictures, ask questions, purchase any mugs, please keep in contact with me. I'd be happy to hear from you. As for Bullet and those who think he is acting in an appropriate, mature, professional manner, please do not contact me. I'm leaving you alone; please respect me and do the same.

bye!

So here are the rest of the emails Bullet and I exchanged---the ones he's not telling you about:

On 10/17/08, Melissa wrote:

You know Bullet, I'm new to the whole Tiki Central scene. Everyone has been
really lovely and friendly, several people even telling me "Wow, you know,
you should really charge more for that, it's so rare...how long has it been
since you actively collected / traded?"

It's my preference to sell in person---I'm not comfortable mailing the
Munktikis and Shags in particular. And I was upfront about that. And while
you did say you might be in the area in a couple of weeks, I had an equally
eager buyer ready to show up immediately. And I'm in the process of moving,
so time is of the essence for me.

Someone offered me $350 for the Green Volcano Bowl---if I mailed it to Ohio.
I was not cool with that, so I declined. Instead, I sold it yesterday for
$200 to a really awesome collector, super-friendly, who was willing to drive
to my place, pick it up right away in person, and cherish it.

So ultimately it's not about the money for me---it's most important that a
true appreciator buys these mugs to display them, use them, etc. And from
what I hear, you are one of the top, if not THE, collector / appreciator on
Tiki Central. Yes, the 40+ people with whom I've been emailing, trying to
juggle all their requests quickly and fairly, all know of you and speak of
you, quite respectfully.

So when I threw $120 out there (before I had a chance to do any sort of
research at all), that probably sounded amazing. I can see why you're
flustered---getting volcano bowl basically for a steal would've been
fantastic....but not entirely fair to me. Had the difference been only $20
or so, I would have set the bowl aside and taken on total blind faith your
possibility of driving down to San Jose in a few weeks.

But I am moving and I do need think about my finances. And I stated my
apprehension about shipping. I'm honest, I'm not charging ridiculous prices
(like many others I've noticed), in fact I'm looking to Tiki Central folk to
mentor me on pricing. I've set my prices to average selling price, not the
highest. Because the spirit of the exchange is important to me.

So you have my apologies that volcano bowl didn't work out. And you have my
promise that he's found a good home. And you still have my offer of the 4
Snack Tubs, which----because they are sturdier and have no protruding or
delicate appendages---I would consider shipping.

So your previous email, instructing me as to what I SHOULD do and sounding
rather peeved, isn't really friendly.

Again, my apologies it didn't work out this time.

AND HERE IS HOW BULLET RESPONDED:

From: br%k roberts
Subject: Re: munktikis
To: [email protected]
Date: Friday, October 17, 2008, 5:18 PM
not about the money? you are a real a**hole

you're right. i am highly respected, because i treat other collectors fairly. i would never pull this kind of bulls**t on anyone. i hope i never get to meet you. i told you what you should do because that was the only honorable thing to do. you agreed to sell it to me at that price. i didn't tell you what to charge. go to hell

WOW, BULLET IS SUCH A NICE GUY, SO I RESPONDED:

On 10/17/08, Melissa wrote:

Wow. You have so much class. And, apparently, time on your hands to harass people over email. If you check the trail, you'll see that I never agreed to any "deal." I stated ambivalence about shipping, asked if you ever come down here, even asked about a PayPal account. You asked me to call you in an email I did not receive until after 5 other emails and 2 phone calls directly to me. And I didn't even sell to the 2 "highest bidders" because it would've required shipping. And not that it's any of your business, but I'm moving and selling my tikis because I can't afford my rent anymore. I have cancer, last month I miscarried twins at almost 4 months because of my illness, and my medical expenses are through the roof. But you're right, I'm such an a**hole. And I deserve cancer and miscarriages because you didn't get a volcano bowl.

AND THIS IS THE KIND OF GUY BULLET IS---HERE'S WHAT HE SAID:

cancer rules!

AND THEN HE PROCEEDED TO DRAG MY NAME THROUGH THE MUD ON TIKI CENTRAL.

Sorry Tiki Central, but I think this is absolutely despicable. I am so offended and hurt, I can't even believe this. After you can read my side of the story (and I'm sure Bullet will post all kinds of other drama, but whatever), don't worry. I'm deleting my account and never visiting this site ever again. Unbelievable.

having lost my mother to cancer, i realize that was a horrible thing to say. but melissa used her cancer to try to justify her dishonesty.

internet drama is my TV.

Bahookas tonight!!!

Get over it, it's a stupid clay bowl. It's hardly worth trying to curse someone with cancer over, or to resort to name-calling. Anyone who spends their time here laying up treasures is going to find nothing but disappointment in the end.

[ Edited by: TikiTres 2008-10-18 16:40 ]

On 2008-10-18 16:40, TikiTres wrote:
Get over it, it's a stupid clay bowl. It's hardly worth trying to curse someone with cancer

wtf? :D you must think i'm a gypsy!
do you believe i don't have the right to use tiki central to complain about some newbie who screwed me over? and i was over it until i read your stupid post.

[ Edited by: kingstiedye 2008-10-18 19:37 ]

Woah,

I recently suddenly lost my dog Gypsy to cancer!

Weird.

On 2008-10-18 19:33, kingstiedye wrote:

On 2008-10-18 16:40, TikiTres wrote:
Get over it, it's a stupid clay bowl. It's hardly worth trying to curse someone with cancer

wtf? :D you must think i'm a gypsy!

On 2008-10-18 12:30, kingstiedye wrote:
having lost my mother to cancer, i realize that was a horrible thing to say. but melissa used her cancer to try to justify her dishonesty.

What a f*ckin' tool. I don't care how screwed you got on a deal, to cheer on cancer is about he lowest thing I have ever heard.

this from a guy who signed his wife up on tc so he could get 2 ohana huts!

Holy sht, that was over 2 years ago. Let it go already you fcking dork.

wtf? :D you must think i'm a gypsy!

OK, So now we are disparaging the Romani people too!
Where will it end?

Can't we all just get along?

Best
Mark

HANFOOOOORDDDDD!!!!!!!

ok, let's see who has committed the most heinous crimes:
tiki meli

1. agrees to sell a bowl to me and then sells it to somebody else for more money.
2. tries to excuse her dishonesty by claiming to have cancer. say hi to the scottish clown doctors for me.

tikipug

1. screws over the ohana by signing his wife up so he can score 2 ohana huts. apparently mrs. pug only posts when ohana huts or prizes are available: http://www.tikicentral.com/search.php?term=&frm=all&usr=Mrs.%20TikiPug&srt=newest&srch=text
2. repeatedly breaks tiki central rules by calling me derogatory names.

me

1. types 2 words on the computer and hits send.

That cancer comment was not cool, I just lost my mom to cancer, and if you did too, why would you say that?

This thread is a black hole of negitivity!! No Aloha here!! I will not return to this thread.

Interesting.

On 2008-10-19 10:08, Atomicchick wrote:
That cancer comment was not cool, I just lost my mom to cancer, and if you did too, why would you say that?

i'll yell this: I DID NOT POST THAT ON TIKI CENTRAL! i sent an e-mail to a dishonest person who probably doesn't even have cancer. i didn't screw anybody over, unlike meli and pug. knowing you, ac, i'll bet you'd be pretty pissed if somebody pulled this crap on you.

[ Edited by: kingstiedye 2008-10-19 10:36 ]

Everyone just take a breath here.
It looks like there were a few bad connections, some heated words and some underlying tension waiting to erupt. In all reality is any of this bickering going to help?
I think everyone should just throw their apologies out there now.
I'll start...ahem, I'm sorry for getting involved with a thread that I have no real reason to be involved in and that I think I have the right to ask others to apologize.
Cheers.

Matt and the Sperm Whale are absolutely right. This thread has turned into a black hole of negativity. I wish I had never posted a response to Bullet. What was intended to defend my integrity and honesty---my common decency after a nasty personal attack---has simply given Bullet more room to spread his hatefulness and selfishness. And now it's starting to upset other people. So I'm requesting the thread to be deleted, immediately. And as soon as I reply to those of you who sent me personal messages with friendly gestures and inquiries, I'm deleting my account as well.

There are a lot of really cool people on this site. It's sad I'm being driven away by one ugly person.

And Bullet, I sincerely hope you never get diagnosed with cancer, have biopsies and surgeries, go into remission briefly and feel so amazing and ready to take on the world again, and then it comes back. And then your doctors say to cure it, you won't be able to have children. Ever. And you're not yet 30 years old. And I hope the women you care about in your life never suffer miscarriages, because they're really a soul-crushing experience. I wouldn't wish that on anyone. Not even you, Bullet. I hope you have the luxury of good health and your own family.

I wish everyone here good health and a happy family. And I hope you all find that perfect tiki mug for your collection. And rather than let those mugs just sit on a shelf, take them out every once in a while and have a Fogcutter.

Bullet, make yours a Suffering Bastard.

[ Edited by: tiki_meli 2008-10-19 11:18 ]

you ain't left yet? i'm not surprised we can't trust you to keep your word to never come on tc again.

Holy hell....I feel bad for this girl because I was the person to tell her to post her sale here in the first place.

Yes I am a "newbie" as far as joining/posting on these forums but I have been watching these forums for years and pretty much do my collecting around the items I see people post about.

I was the very 1st person to respond to this sale ad on CL. I asked her for a list of prices because in the ad she didnt have them. She responded back listing the Muntiki and Shag mugs at full price as well as Trader Vic's , Harveys, etc and that she was selling them because she had bills related to her medical situation (cancer) and needed the money. She did say she was willing to negotiate on prices if I wanted more than 1 or 2 mugs.

I then realized she was located in Sunnyvale...which is an extra hour frm my work after I already commute an hour to get there. I told her I would have to pass because of the distance thing and she said she would prefer not to ship them.I then led her here. My exact words were "there are some hardcore collctors on TC who will pay you top dollar for your items.". (I even referenced Psycho Tiki D in my email because I have never seen someone score so much stuff on a daily/weekly basis and that he would probally be someone wo contacts her because he is the type of collector I was talking about)
She asked me what prices I would suggest for the Muntiki and
I even said "if someone is offering you $250 take the $250. these guys are passionate and dont mind spending money on these bowls."

Little did I know it would turn so stressful!

I just saw all these postings and felt the need to state that she does have cancer/bills to pay for, she knew nothing about TC and was excited that you all were here, and that she sold the bowls/mugs for as much as someone would pay for them because she needed to.

Since I have been burned on CL/Ebay deals in the past myself I would just say let it go. Mainly because it seems like that is the only logical solution.

In addition as a "newbie" seeing threads like this kinda give the wrong impression of the type of people that are on these forums and makes people like myself a little timid about posting in them.