RANT: about the classifieds: O/T: sorta

Okay, am I the only one on here that gets annoyed when people list CARS & PARTS for sale in the cl***ifieds with a brief description like:

1) F/S Great running '59 Chevy. Must sell. Looks good. Interior rough. Needs some patch panels. $4000.00

-or-

2) F/S '51 Merc headlight rings, some pitting, good shape, daily driver stuff.

1b) Chevy WHAT? How many Doors? What engine? What trans? What rearend? Where is the REAL rot? What colors is it in? HT or convertible? When was the last time it ran? Drove? How is the suspension? What is the story? Will it roll? Run? Drive? WHAT!??!?!!??

2b) 51' Merc headlight rims: yeah, well, mine are pitted but "driver", what is YOUR definition of driver/vs. mine? No pic? Hard to tell. Probably no better than what I already have.

HELLO! you are trying to sell a CAR or OLD PARTS on the INTERNET! You need to post MULTIPLE pics to give us GORY DETAILS of what you are offering for sale! We're not mind readers. If you show us a blurry (cameraphone) picture of something and it makes it look good, then I'll feel SCAMMED when I actually get what you have for sale if I bother to bite and am less than satisfied.

DETAILS, people! What engine? What bodystyle (2 or 4 door)? How is the chrome? What doesn't work? What engine/trans? That's what we all want to know...

I don't even bother to look at ads that don't have a complete set of pictures (GOOD QUALITY - not taken after a rainstorm or in the twilight) because I think the owner is mis-representing the car or trying to make it look better than it is.

If you are a stand up guy, you'd take an overall picture, then you would show detail shots of the problem areas. The areas a person would look at if seeing a car up close or inspecting a part you're selling in person. This is something seriously lacking on here and on other car sites on the net. The net is full of nice, vague pictures. Ever notice how the e-Bay auctions that go into the high dollars have many, many pictures of every conceivable part of the car on display?

Everyone it seems wants to show the good points, and then have the buyer be too into the car when he actually sees it to back out, even if it's worse than he (or she) imagined. To me, if you're selling a car on the net, you have something to hide, or have tried unsuccesssfully to sell it outright. People came and looked, and saw flaws they didn't like. By only showing parts on the net on film that are the "good areas" you're duping people.

CAMERA PHONE PICTURES ****. Don't waste your time.

There also seems to be a proliferation of people with 1-10 total posts on the HAMB posting **** for sale (as in little description, no pictures) in the cl***ifieds...we don't know these people, I'd rather take my chances on eBay!

These VAGUE descriptions of both parts and cars in the cl***ifieds is starting to get to me. I can't tell you how many times someone has posted something for sale WITHOUT a picture, or without a price, or with a vague description for a decent price, then fumbles around when you ask for better (or pics at all) pictures! Pictures should be standard fare; hell you can get digital "disposable" cameras now! I shouldn't have to chase a seller down to see what he has to offer, it's not like that at swap meets! You see a part, see the price, bid him down after seeing it, and go from there. I think a lot of sellers are hiding behind their firewalls by trying to get top dollar for crummy parts because they "don't have a picture"...more accurately, a picture would "sour the deal".

I'm tired of seeing something I potentially would buy, ask for pictures, get a story about "I gotta go unbury it" then I never hear from the seller again.

I ask, if it wasn't close at hand, why did you post it for sale to begin with?!

Anytime I have offered things up for sale, either here or on eBay you bet your *** I would run out to the garage and take whatever pic was being requested of me, because I don't want anyone getting something they aren't happy with-

Anyone, Anyone? Bueller?

Okay, I'm done now.

 

Welcome to my world.

 

Rashy.....You are killin me over here ROFLMAO! BUT I agree pics make a deal! Also when someone sells to the person with the first PM in their inbox. The FIRST PM in the list was the last one sent NOT the FIRST one!!!!!!!!!!

 

MercMan, I agree with everything you said, I don't know how anyone would think an item would sell without photos. If something has flawes in it STATE THAT UP FRONT, no car or part is going to fix itself in transit to its new home. I've made it a point to understate the condition of my items, sure makes the buyers happy once they unpack the items. We all have the chance to meet some day face to face, might as well have people happy to meet you when that day arrives.

 

I agree with you there, there are the flake buyers too...it works both ways, but to me, if you are making an effort to try and move your stuff, put a little more effort into it and at least be descriptive!

 

Curious, I don't envy you at all. You put up with on here (and maybe more in life) with what I put up with all day at work. I'll leave it at that.

 

So, you take off early Fri to get to the bank and draw out several thousand in cash, get up before dawn on Sat and hook up the big trailer, drag that ****er 300 miles, do you think that's a serious buyer? The seller didn't tell you every inch of it was dented,warped, bent or bondoed. the front fenders don't match. You were supposed to test drive it, but now there is some small thing wrong and it won't start. did he think Ray Charles was going to show up and buy it? So now i'm ******* off the next guy cause I want straight answers to 200 questions and fifty pictures before I repeat that fiasco.

 

I'm not saying that at all. In fact, I am ***uming it doesn't run! I am a body guy who cuts and welds. I don't care about defects, dents, dings, creases, major accident damage, missing parts...etc. These cars are 35, 45, sometimes 60+ years old. What can I expect?! I don't expect perfection! What I do expect is an accurate description. All I'm saying is...don't be VAGUE in your descriptions... and try to hide a car's (or parts) shortcommings. Tellling me a car was running last year and then has a stuck motor when I show up does nothing for me, outside of make me think you're a LIAR.

If you re-read my examples, you'll see what I mean. There are far too many:

"51 Chevy, needs engine, runs good, some rust, $1000."

Okay, so what engine does it have, what exactly is wrong with the engine, how bad is the body, what does the interior look like, what options does it have, how is the gl***, how is the trim, etc. A little more description is all I'm after. I shouldn't have to PM the seller 100 times to get the ACTUAL description of the car they are selling out of them if they would have posted it in the first place...No pics to me mean no sale. Simple as that. All I'm asking for is MORE INFO!

Read the cl***ifieds for 3 years and you'll see what I mean, unless you're one of the guys that has the vague descriptions I mention for sale and only joined this board to peddle your **** that didn't sell on eBay.

 

I`m with ya on this one bro! I can only guess how much time Rashy spends on this type of thing. Anyone that has even been here for even a short time KNOWS that pics are the norm for sale items! I have sold a few things here and automatically know that you guys want to see what you`re buying before bucks change hands. Its kinda like my friends that tell me about some old car that someone has for sale and I ask what kind? ''I don`t know'' How much do they want? ''I don`t know'' Where`s it at? ''I don`t know'' It just plane pisses me off! On another note I think that some of the newbys list stuff on here thinking that there gonna make a killing on something just because it`s old and they think they can take advantage of someone. Good for you to bring this up!

 

i hate it when i get sand in my *******.

 

My rant with the cl***ifieds is that a thread last 10 minutes till its in never never land it used to take all day I think we need more magazine ads LOL

 

I hate sand in my ******* too. Messes up my fishnets.

 

Is that right??

 

ot in an ot thread... Rash, did I see you Thursday night at the startbird show with THEM! ? Got a tag that says Rashy ??

 

MercMan - Wow, my blood pressure went up just reading that. And I agree with everything you said.

As an aside to your thoughts, I hate when you do give a good description (local cl***ifieds or Trader type mag) and some joker calls you trying to beat you down on price before they even see it. You're 6 blocks away, Dingus!! Come over and look at it...

 

My pet peeve is sellers who provide poor quality, non-detailed, useless pictures or none at all. If you are advertising to a national market, you need to give buyers some basis on which to judge your offering. I can't count how many cars I wanted to buy, intended to buy, and would have bought if only the seller would have made a full, honest, detailed description and provided a complete set of clear detailed photos, top and bottom, inside and out. I don't know why sellers waste their time and ours with a half-*** useless ad. Sometimes I think maybe they are just not very smart. So then I will ask if they will guarantee the condition. Invariably they will not. So maybe they are dishonest? (The last car I sold on ebay, I told the seller that if he thinks I mis-represented it after seeing it, I would let him out of the sale. He bought the car.)

 

YEs, but I also hate the ones that have very vague ***les and are so wordy that I cant tell what theyre selling, how much and where theyre located when I hover over the post.

 

I hate it because seymour gets all the good stuff !!!!!

 

This is all good stuff.

Keep going with it, get it all out, and I'll turn it into a "Tech - Things you shouuld know before posting an ad" thread.

I may have to remove the sand in the ******* remarks for that though.


Now, everyone re-read the rules and tell me how stupid they seem.

 

I guess i need to get the pics posted of the 60 Buick I have listed on there? hehehe

dude, it snowed 3 inches and I couldnt take a picture and it look like much. I know what you mean, it pisses me off too. I hate when there is no price, that pisses me off more than anything, even the lack of a picture. Two things draw me to to respond to an ad;
Is it something I want?
Can I afford it?

If it's something I want, I more than likely have an idea of what it looks like. I might ask for a picture later in order to see it's condition as compare to the sellers description to see if he's blowin smoke up my ***.

If there is no price, I automatically ***ume they are afraid of scaring someone off, so I know it's more than I'll give

 

What I think bites is the huge amount of random thoughts in the ads. "did I see you at the show?" "Come on over this weekend", "Cool car, wish I had money", etc. That's the stuff that makes your ad disappear in a few hours. This site is too big for a lot of that kind of ot stuff.

Another thing is buyers that don't buy. Tales of money coming, etc. I have had two buyers from the left coast that didn't come through, and took all the momentum out of my ads because I held the goods til they could get the $ to me. One is still promising payment a month later!? "I sent it, did you get it yet? It was returned for lack of a two cent stamp. It was returned, marked undeliverable. I was short of money for a little bit. etc.

 

I hate everybody.

Mutt

 

Hey since we're *****ing, I have to add something. Why don't people put what City and State they are in? Especially if it is something large, like an engine, so if you're in Alaska I won't waste your time replying to an ad when I know I'm not going to want to pay to have some big mofo thing shipped. Oh yea and does "your momma's house" qualify as a location, what the hell, unless you're the Unibomber I don't think telling people what City and State you're in is too much to ask for.

 

Frankly, i beleive there should be no Car/parts 4 Sale post w/o pics, a couple decent pics and the rest is covered,if more is needed, we use the PM or email (yours IS activated right?)
MY main pet peves
no pics ,keeping in mind that very few of us are pro photog's,but someone here can post em if you can't
no activated email contact in the member area
no home state in the avatar area ,
hamb handle + your REAL name and return addresses WITH item purchased, so i know they go to the right people
none of which is bad enough to make me stop buying or selling,it can be delt with.

 

Yeah,it's frustrating,but if it doesn't have the info I want,I just keep scrolling-not my loss if the seller is too short sighted to post a proper ad. If I am really interested,I'll promt him/her for more inofr privately-maybe get something ahead of the game.\

 

The best thing about all this is that these problems would not occur if people would read the thing they are supposed to read when they sign up.....

It tells them to fill out their BIO COMPLETELY and to DO AN INTRO.

And then if they would read the rules it tells them the rest.

Has anyone read those things lately?

 

By the way, I'd like to see this post continue with no remarks directed at any one person, except me. I can take it.

If we start ****ing heads it will get killed and I think maybe some good could come out of this discussion.

Can we keep it clean? Please?

 

while were at it lets rant about the buyers bicker over the price too much, who want 210000 pictures from every angle in 3 types of light, want to know if you can hold it for 6 months,then deliver it to a friend 300 miles away, across the border, make payments via 5 different types of foriegn currency. and paypal.....make sure they make you put "sold" on the item. try to lowball you once again.

then they stiff ya, dont want it, and you dont ever hear from them again......














.......................for a 20$ headlight ring.


all in all the argument/explaintion for both is that common sense, isnt too damn common.

 

Things that DON'T bother me.

Trade offers.
Friendly advice.
Apologizing for not being able to swing a deal.
Counter-offers. I can always say no thanks.
Getting pm's instead of clogging up the ads with comments.

 

Haha.... I missed out on all the REAL good stuff last weekend while I was on my way to NE. Damnit!