Thanks for the response. I've been on here 6 years and I don't remember it always being like this. You highlighted another problem. It's bad enough that gear is "locked up" by folks without the funds to pay for them. But it's almost worse to be told something is "pending" by a seller, and then move on to buy something else, only to to have the seller come back a couple of days later to tell you that the original buyer backed out. By this time, my funds have often gone to pay for my "alternate item", because, as a buyer, its not fair for me to ask another seller to wait around for a few days, while I wait for my preferred item to possibly fall through.
This kind of "wait for me to get you the funds" attitude really ruins the buying experience for everyone. I don't see this type of behavior on any other forum or web site. I've done over $10K in deals on TheGearPage in the last year, and only once have I had someone not produce the funds shortly after a PM. At least on Ebay, the seller can force you to pay on 'but it now' etc. None of this, "I need to rob Peter in order to pay Paul" mentality. I just don't enjoy browsing the FS forums. I can't tell if stuff is actually sold, and I have to wait many hours for sellers to respond to PM's, but I can see they've been online. So, I know they got my PM, but they are just working out some other "deal" before responding to me (and in turn keeping me waiting even longer). Very frustrating.
If a buyer doesn't have the funds when they PM you, it's NOT sold.... period... i.e. its still available for someone else to buy. The 'tire kickers' and 'poor students' need to find another hobby.