Responding to Online Classified Ads

Online classified ads are one of those things that have made it possible to buy and sell almost anything to or from almost anyone anywhere. Ah, the wonders of technology. More often than not, things go fine - seller posts ad, potential buyer contacts seller, seller responds and buyer either buys or advises the seller that they are no longer interested.

Sometimes, things don't quite go that way. You respond to an ad for something and you wait..... and you wait..... and you wait. The seller doesn't respond for several days. Now maybe they are out of town, sick, or have some other reasonable excuse for not responding to my email which is absolutely more important than anything else they could be doing right now. Seriously, I know I have a bit of an instant gratification issue. However, how long is reasonably long enough?

Maybe it's because I have recently responded to four different online ads from 3 different online sources several days ago. Not one of those people has responded. How long would it take to a) remove the ad if the item is sold, b) mark the item sold or c) hit "reply" and type SOLD? It's all about closure, I need closure people. Wouldn't it be common courtesy to respond? You know their mamma's taught them better.

Impatiently yours,