Quoted from High_End_Pins:I say no refund. Period.
This is something I learned the hard way over the years trying to be overly fair.
In the early days of doing this I would accept the games with no deposit at all.
After a while I figured I was storing and insuring them on my dime and when people would bail it was actually costing me money. It also made it impossible to understand my true workload or inventory.
Then I started doing a $500 refundable deposit.
Flakes would send games and either move the money from one job to the next or transfer ownership and move it from one owner to the next or use it to ship the game back.
Next I went to a $1000 non refundable non transferable deposit and that seems to have cured it for the most part.
What good is a deposit if you cannot either or
A) Count on the sale
B)Count on the work
C) Use the money to offset cost and liabilities
D)Keep it if A,B,or C become pointless through no fault of your own.
1000000% this. A deposit is your "earnest money" for the game. If you flake out, or change your mind, you don't get a free do-over with no consequences. The oonly reason you'd refund him is if you plan to do anther deal with him, or to protect your rep on Pinside. Since at least half of Pinside is telling you (IMO rightly) to keep it, keep it.
