Kind of interesting that I happened to see this post today.
I just delivered my '97 Z-28 vert to the new owners and watched them drive it away. The new owner is a 16-year-old from Florida whose grandfather bought him the car. He first called me last fall and I wrote him off as a dreamer, given all the junk responses I was getting from the Internet ad. But he persisted and, in February, his grandfather sent me a deposit check. The car was snowed in its garage at that point, so we agreed on an April delivery. Well, February through April is prime-time for selling a convertible and I must have turned away half a dozen seemingly serious buyers since the car was on deposit.
Today, the kid, his grandfather, his brother, and his aunt arrived from Virginia to pick up the car and they turned out to be great people who will give the Camaro a good home. So I'm glad I honored the deal, if only because I believe that integrity is the one true possession we have that no one else can take away. But there were a lot of flakes along the way and they make it hard to believe in the serious buyer, especially if there is no money on the table and they are taking their time about following through.
So if you are seriously interested in something, back up the interest with a deposit and signed Purchase Agreement, then do your part to close the deal quickly. Remember, everyone presents themselves to the seller as a "serious" buyer, but the true serious buyer is one who's done all his/her thinking beforehand and is ready to execute the sale. If you haven't reached that point, the seller really has no obligation to accomodate you, especially if it means turning down a serious buyer with cash in hand.
I couldn't tell from your post if you had placed a deposit on the car. If so, the seller should not have sold the car out from under you. If you did not, then the seller did not sell the car out from under you since you had no real claim on it. I'm sorry you lost out on it, though, and hope you find another one soon.
Our Ponies
http://www.ultranet.com/~bpratt/images/Mach1painted.jpg http://www.ultranet.com/~bpratt/images/65vert.jpg