The economic times are terrible for selling anything, much less a vintage car. If you have some free money, this is a good time to buy. Seems pretty simple, no? Given that the HAMB reaches the universe, there are many people who would be better off in a swap than selling. Maybe the seller has lost his p***ion for the particular car he has. Maybe his needs have changed. It seems to me that a trade is the way to go. So, how to get the word out? How to word your cl***ified ad to get the right response? I hate to deal with time wasters and tire kickers. We all do. The HAMB cl***ifieds, Craigslist, Ebay... Good places to try. The reason I post this, is because I want to swap my old mild custom for a roadster. This is a poor time to hope for a good price. The ideal thing would make two owners happy. Your thoughts, HAMBers? How do you fellas approach a trade?
I think of Ebay as cheap adverti*****t. I have sold a couple cars due to the fact they were originally viewed on Ebay but the deal was made outside it's realm. It's easy enough to put "for sale or trade" in the ***le and set you reserve at the price you feel is fair. The cl***ifieds, here, would also be a good start, as well as the Hotrodhotline cl***ifieds. Craiglists will get you a lot of tire kickers and in my personal experience, scammers. Good Luck
The bottom is nowhere in sight yet... but if you see your dream car in your price range, and don't care about future value, that's different. as far as saying "trades considered" in an ad, you will get offers of jet-ski's. snowmobiles, boats, and rusted 4 doors. The younger crowd is doing the trade-up stuff on CL, around my area. Somebody wants what they just listed, but the buyers are broke, so they get desperate and trade something worth way more.
I agree that a trade may be the best way to get value for your car, and also is likely to get you something that is more interesting to you. I have been mulling this very thing over lately around my chopped 34 Ford coupe, a car that I have had for 20 years now. The market is so low that I would not get the cash that I think it is worth, so a trade may make it more feasible to let the coupe go. Who has got a 36 Ford roadster they want to move?
I've put a couple "Trade" adds up in the cl***ifieds here and on Craigslist. I put up an ad on here to trade my running driving tagged hot rod '31 roadster for an equivocal condition Tri-five Chevy. Got a few nibbles but never a bite. Here's the link: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=649170 I ended up trading a 1956 Ford F-100 truck I got for free for a 1956 Chevy from a guy on Craiglist who mentioned he would be interested in a trade in his ad. Link to that deal: http://waywardgarage.com/3302/traded-one-1956-for-a-1956-of-a-different-flavor/ I currently have an ad up in my local Craigslist seeing if anyone wants to trade my 1931 Model A Coupe body for a running driving cl***ic truck. I've gotten a few nibbles, one for a 1953 Chevy truck that piqued my interest but the guy seems to have stopped replying. So I've had good luck with trades I think.
Phill I would much rather trade then sell or buy. In a trade all that is involved or all that should be involved is that both parties want what the other party has to offer. I guess if I had something that i wanted to trade and was writting an ad i would give a clean description of what I had to trade ans what I wanted to trade for. Make it clear that what I wanted to trade for is exactly what I want and no subs***utes and go from there.
Anytime I put or trade on Craigslist I always state post pics of what you have to trade and just delete the BS stuff. Better if trading to do local so you can actually go in person and look at their trade. Do not let them come to your place,to many damn thieves just seeing what you have. Also E-bay has a new cl***ifieds section where you don't have to deal with the paypal and e-bay costs anymore .You and the buyer deal directly with each other. And the price is right,Free. Only way they can compete with Craigslist.
I like the idea of a trade, just because I know if I sell that money is probably going to end up paying bills or something else. I have had really nice cars in the past and sold them, and ended up not really being able to afford to get back into the hobby. I think its easier to find a good trade here than on CL or ebay just because the average joe doesn't know much about traditional rods or customs.
If you put trade,as some have mentioned, you will get all kinds of wierd stuff even if you are specific in your ad. Had a Chevelle advertised for a while--got alot of trade offers but waited for the cash buyer--took 6 weeks but that was OK-allowed me to buy another 40 coupe. There are still folks out there with the money--they are just being cautious as they should be.
I tried to trade my T bucket before I sold it outright and the problem I found was people wanting money on top of my car because they think their **** is gold and my gold is ****. That being said I much prefer to trading to selling, it's fun
Everything listed is good advise. I just say in my ads for sale $**x or trade. Also, don't be afraid to contact sellers who have cars you like and see if they want to trade. Also, wait until the deal you like comes up. Don't feel forced to make a trade just because the tire kickers and guys offering dirt bikes are wearing you down. I waited a year on and off and found a guy that was looking for the same model car I had, and had a car that id been looking for for a long time
I don't like trades.. I would rather sell and buy exactly what I want.. If you build a nice traditional( or somewhat traditional ) rod, they seem to always sell.. That's just my take on early cars...
I've been waiting for someone to make me good trade offers for some of the parts I have. There are a lot of parts that I sure would like to have on my A so I'm very flexible with trading up or down or with cash, etc, etc. Seems like trade offers are harder to come by than buyers. Whatever makes both parties happy is what I generally shoot for.
I dont see how "for sale or trade" can hurt you. You are expanding your options, and you can always just say "NO" to all the trades for salt water equariums.
I've made some good trades over the past couple years that I've been really happy with. No real secret to how it's done, just get your stuff out there where people can see it and mention you're open to trades. Yes, you'll get guys wanting to trade blown up jet ski's and newer cars that "just need a $50 part" but you've just gotta ignore that **** and hold out for the deal. Not to hijack the thread, but has anyone else noticed tons of guys trying to trade relatively late model Harleys for old cars? I seem to be running into that a lot. Maybe it's the type of guys who just follow trends and now that **** is "out"?
i just did the same trade about 2 months ago.... my 52 olds for a 39 chevy truck roadster.... seems that alot of ppl are going that route
Agreed. Definitely, must have turned down 8 of them when I was selling my coupe... I've never had much luck with trading, probably because I'm pretty specific in my tastes and even then pretty picky about the actual car.
You will get offered lots of ****, but if you've got your "big boy" pants on you can handle it. My current "trade my Model A Coupe body for a driving cl***ic truck" post has netted some weird responses, several 80's beater trucks, an Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser, some crackhead threatening me to sell it outright to him, as well as several legitimate offers, a 1941 Chevy flatbed truck, a 1953 Chevy 3100 shortbed, and a couple others I can't remember right now. Yep, when I had a Model A up for Sale/Trade on Craigslist I got no less than 6 different offers for late model Harley Davidsons, as well as the usual horsepucky kinds of trades...
I always put "or Trade" in my ads because, well, you just never know what someone will offer you. Sure, you suffer through countless BS offers, but sometimes it pays off big. And around this part of the country, particularly, my area of NE Ohio, it just seems nobody has "mad" money to spend, but usually have cars or stuff to trade.
I also like the trade idea. I wish the hamb cl***ifieds had a trade only section. If I sell something I tend to hoard the money because I am such a cheap tightwad but if I can trade for something then I don't feel like I am out anything. Recently traded a 58 Ford convertible I lost interest in for an early 35 Dodge pickup with a fellow hamber. We each drove about half way and swapped vehicles in a parking lot. I think we were both satisfied.The deal could not have been made if either of us had to come up with the money.
Yeah, I too, prefer to swap,,,,,,,. Wish there was a vehicle and a parts "swap/trade" section. They won't let me list it, but, I probably have the lowest mileage 2nd Gen Dodge/***mins in the US. Sure would like to trade for a '32 hi-boy,,,,,,,,.
I'm all for the trade and currently have my corvair listed as "or trade" in my perfect world, someone would come with something interesting to trade and the rest in cash. But I would even trade for two cars, equal to my one, but one has to be sellable. I find lots of guys wanting to trade Harley's or boats which I have no use for. I also find guys wanting to even trade for something of much less value. (must the word "idiot" that I have tattooed on my head) The biggest problem I have is all the cool stuff is down south and I'm not.
I had a good trade experiance a couple years ago, a guy wanted to trade a 52 Ford mild custom for my 61 Olds. I'd been trying to sell the Olds for quite awhile so we got together (we had only exchanged photos). As soon as I saw the Ford I figured he wouldn't want to trade, it was nice and I figured worth more then the Olds. He looked at my Olds and said to me he'd understand if I backed out since my Olds was worth more! I told him we better trade since we would both walk away thinking we got the better deal, he agreed and we swapped ***les. Interesting though 2 weeks later a guy offered me $2000 more then I had been asking for my Olds for the Ford, wasn't even trying to sell it yet. That said, I put in the ad for my 40 I'd be interested in PART trade, got a lot of offers to trade a car worth half or less what I was asking straight across, I guess I can't blame someone for trying but geez, some of the offers were offending me (felt like they hoped I was stupid). I mean, really, I actually had a guy ask would I consider a unrestored yellow with green interior 74 Monte Carlo for my finished 40 and oh yeah, could I travel 1000 mile to do the trade?
i traded my 52 chevy for a 54 ford for a 29 model a rpu which i sold for cash and bought a 49 fleetline and a shovelhead. sold the fleetline bought a plymouth, now looking to sell or trade the shovelhead (1978 74"/4spd if anyone is interested PM me). i've found that being open to trades works out pretty good so long as you can sift thru the Baloney. every time i've put up for a trade, i've been very specific about what i want. most people dont bother to read the ad completely or choose to ignore the stuff like 'no trucks, no 4 doors, nothing newer than...." when i get the plymouth painted, it'll go up for trade. i get a kick out of it.
This ^^^^^ I have done one trade and it happened when I was selling a '56. I made no mention of a trade in my ad but had a guy message me asking if I would be interested in a trade. Turned out to be a great trade that I was real happy with. So don't be afraid to ask if you happen to see a car you'd like. You never know, they may say yes
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