A little over a year ago I scored at a local auction house here in Los Angeles

Fancy limited art print signed signed by the artist in a heavy signature frame done by his studio.
His stuff can sell for hundreds or thousands even though just a glicee.
I don't know how it happened but I'm the opening and only bidder ($50) on this thing and I get it for $65 out the door with taxes and buyers premium.
Better yet my wife loves it, which doesn't always happen for the art I buy and flip, so I get to hang this up in our living room while I put it up on eBay for Buy it Now $1,250.00 (a bargain, after some research) and leave it there for sale.

During the last year I've turned down several lowball offers for it.
It's a heavy frame as I said (25lbs) so I knew my "free shipping" would cost me on this one so offers in the $200 range were easy to pass on.
About ten days ago I get a decent offer and start negotiations, a little back and forth and we settle on $800 and I accept it.
I even talked to the buyer during the process to answer questions and found out they are huge fans of this artist and one of their friends has 3 originals by the guy, including the original for the print they are buying.
Done deal.

I'm high five-ing myself because even though the shipping is going to be a lot I did well with it.
They pay instantly and before my wife gets home from work that night the art is packaged up and shipped out to the east coast.
I have a couple thousand positive feedbacks on eBay about my fast and secure shipping and that's how I keep the buyers of the bigger stuff happy.
If they get it fast, it scratches their itch for the purchase.

I hang a temp piece on the wall where it hung until the wife tells me what she wants hanging there next from the collection/inventory.
"That was my favorite piece you ever brought home." she tells me that night.
Of course she was bummed but she knows the art moves. It comes and it goes. Nature of the business.
There are some pieces I plan on owning until I die but not many.

The next day I'm counting my money and the buyer calls me.
They had called that friend to tell them they finally found a print of that piece they loved and the friend tells them they were planning on giving it to them. In fact they were going to give them all 3 of them.
So she would be returning my piece for a refund.
I can't even remember the last time I had a return.
I thought that would definitely not happen on this because of what super fans they were and all.
Plus, the PIECE WASN'T EVEN THERE YET!
Whatever.

So to their immense credit they offer to pay for my shipping costs and that was nice of them.
when it arrived there they stuck a check in the box and just shipped it back the same day without really even opening it.
Got it yesterday and took it out of the box and wrapping and it was safe and sound, none the worse for wear, which had been my main worry at that point.

Hung it back up in it's old spot on the wall, took a picture and texted it to my wife
"It's like it never even left. I'm glad. lol" was her reply.
At least she's happy again, so Im happy too.

I will get my eBay commission that I paid on it back in a credit that will be used against future sales so that's really the only cost to me on this, except for the shuffling of money in Paypal to cover the difference for the refund.

There's no big ending here, just a story about how frustrating it can be dealing with buyers of higher ticket stuff sometimes.
I went from "SCORE!" to "SHIT!" in 24 hours on this deal.

Then I went and got another great deal on a couple more pieces at that same auction house last weekend too.....it never stops.
Fingers crossed.