Moral question, selling a car given a deposit

im suprised at some of these comments... inconvenience for what?? the 15min it took to show him the truck and the 2 min it took to answer the phone and give directions? you probably spend more time on the ****ter reading a magazine... or watching TV.

you dont HAVE to take a deposit, and you didnt have to wait for him to get the rest of the money.... agree on a time frame and stick to it.

dont take the dudes money, thats ****ed. just tell him the truck is actively on the market but he is welcome to it unless the truck sells before he can come up with the cash, if it doesnt sell to him return the $500.00...

****, put it in the bank and let it earn a bit of interest, that'll be due compensation for being a nice guy.

 

If the next saturday comes and he does not have the balence return the $500 and sell the truck to the next potential buyer. Holding a deposit is tantimount to an agreement that he is buying and you are waiting for the balence. As long as you have the cash you could be legally bound to wait for him to pony up. I'd return the $500 and say if you still want the truck I need payment in full, otherwise it's up for sale in the front yard again.

Don't do #3 unless you told him he had X number days to pay up or forfeit the money.

 

The seller has decided to sell the vehicle. From that point forward, he is incurring additional costs of keeping it insured. Makes absolutely zero difference how long it sat in his driveway before he decided to sell it. Once he's decided to get rid of it, it's now an expense.
The guy who is wanting to buy it has essentially said "You hold onto it, keep it insured, and keep it safe and protected from theives, the environment and acts of God until I can come up with the money." This is a stretch, but say someone loses control of their car and crashed into it. Say a hail storm dents the hell out of it. Say the neighborhood kids are playing baseball and launch a ball through the window. There IS risk involved in keeping a vehicle in your driveway. Once you decide to sell the vehicle, you are at risk of it being devalued until it sells. If he had sent the car down the road with someone else who had the cash upfront, the car would not have been in the driveway to be damaged (in a position to incur loss)
And, you've put out hard cash to keep it insured. I can tell you how much money per week my vehicles cost to insure. Do the math, you can too.
If you've committed to buying my vehicle, why do I need to buy insurance for you until you get around to giving me the money? ESPECIALLY if I have opportunity to sell it to someone else.
That is why you're en***led to keep some of the deposit. Make no mistake, the guy who gave you the deposit is, at this very minute, costing you money.

I'd give him most of it back, but I certainly would keep some of it, because I never filed the paperwork to declare myself a Charity For Guys With Good Intentions.

I was also always under the impression that putting down a deposit is a declaration that you're going to buy the item, and that if you back out, you lose the deposit. That's the way it works when you order a car from a dealership, that's how it works when you buy a house, and that's how it works when you put something on Lay-A-Way at Wal-Mart. Don't pay the balance, don't get your money back or the item.

-Brad

 

Friend of mine and a different sort of problem. Seller paid $3500 for a complete 427 BBC. Steel crank, forged pistons, rectangular port heads, aluminum dual plane highrise and an 850 Holley. After 2 years, the guy never picked up the engine or called.

People are just plain weird.......

 

This is my thought also. I never wait any more than a day or two and in most cases I don't take a deposit or only a small one. Any others looking at the vehicle during a short 'hold' time I tell them I have a deal pending until 'X' day, after that if they flake out, first there with cash owns it.

In this case he's past the agreed time, give him another 24 hour last notice to pay in full. If he fails to do so, avoid a potential can of worms by giving him his deposit back and write it off as only time on for sale market lost. And don't do these "hold it for me" for weeks/months deals again.
Just my 2 cents of advice (and worth every penny )

 

I'd call him and say you have another buyer. If he still wants it,tell him he has til saturday to come up with the money,or the other guy gets it. I'd give the deposit back though. Don't compromise your integrity.

 

First of all I can't see where everyone is so "scared" to keep the money and tell the guy to get lost. Business is business.
We've delt in old antique cars for 20 years,.. (and we are just prvate individuals) and thats what a deposit is for. You do NOT put up a deposit unless you know you really want the item. Thats what a depost it for. It's earnest money, and if a buyer don't come threw on his end of the deal, and complete the purchase, he loses his deposit. SImple as that.

Now I understand everyone wanting to be fair, and all that. And I also see the deal DOES already have an ending date (he paid the deposit and was supposed to come back the next Saturday with the rest of the money). Once that Saturday came and went,.. technically the deposit was the sellers to keep. Keeping it ANY longer than that is just bending over backwards for the seller.

If it was me I would do this....
Call the guy... Tell him. That Saturday has came and went,.. and he's still past his "due date". Give him another week to come up with the money (even meet him and sign a contract if he wants saying you have $500 of his in earnest money) State when the deadline is to pay the remainder, and if he don't pay by then, he forfeits the money.... and you'll advertise the truck and sell it to the next buyer with the money.
Here's the rub.... IF you don't keep the earnest money, and just give it back to him... WHAT USE was there ever putting up some in the first place. Earnest money (a deposit) is put up so there is some penalty if one party renigs on their end of an agreement.
This guy could string you along forever.

This will either motivate him to come up with the money (if he REALLY wants it) or let you know he's not going to do anything, and give you and out.
If AFTER you sell it to someone else, and REALLY feel like you "owe" him something you might give him 1/2 his deposit back (which is more than he would deserve, and he should be THRILLED to get.

 

^^^ amen

 

Or dead or in jail. It happens.