OK, I see what you're talking about. It would seem that the seller should honor things from a "first come-first served" basis. If you had a PM in first with its time stamp, seems to me that you should have your question answered prior to decisions to take money from someone else. But I guess in the "real world", if you call about a craigslist bike and someone else shows up with money in hand before you get there, unless you were promised something, I guess the cash wins.