A Note To Car Sellers

LOL. Now that's funny. (You forgot to say the three-wheeler's siezed)

 

folks who give the impression that they're ****s, usually are.

 

haha...great!! straight ffrom craigslist...

 

i recently sold a relatively high priced car. i advertised it locally at first and i had a lot of idiots calling, probably 10 to 1 to the real potential buyers. i then advertised it on several car forums and the quality of callers improved drastically, no stupid offers, it finally sold to a fellow HAMBER. and to think i almost didn't advertise it here because it is not a very popular car on the hamb (vette). so i guess what I'm trying to say is where you advertise matters!

 

No, I started this tread because I thought this was a discussion forum and I wanted to see what other people thought. But thanks for trying to read my mind again.

Let me try to read your motivation. You lack enough fiber in your diet and that makes you a friggin grouch.

 

It works both ways, i agree with some of the points the OP made but as i have been a seller on many occasion i constantly run into day dreamers and tyre kickers.

The price is a couple grand so they bring 500.

They rock up 3 hrs late while i am waiting around just for them (that was one from last week) i know i said i would be around all day but 7:30 at night is no longer 'all day' imho.

They come over to feed you a line, pretend they are buying, so they can see how you did something and copy it (this was the week before, and if the bloke was honest about it i wouldnt have had a problem and took him straight thru it instead of messing me around)

The restorer guys are the hardest to deal with. You pull some parts from a car and instantly you have every lonely old nerd around in your lawn trying to offer you $10 on stuff you know is worth $1000. Be reasonable. And they go over everything like it rolled off the dealer lot last week. "theres a bit of light rust in this diff".. yeah fella, it's 80 something years old, its been on the lawn in the rain since two weeks ago when you SAID you would turn up and its $50. Jeezus.

 

You have to realize that not everyone selling a car is starving and absoloutely must sell it at any price and chance every single possible inquiry as a buyer.

I mean, we have 250 cars up on the hill and it's a side hobby - once in a while there's a bill due that might get you a deal on something, but for the most part, if they don't sell, it doesn't make a damned bit of difference, no one's going to lose the house or go without a meal. And if I had a nickel for every ***hole that offers pennies on the dollar, I wouldn't have to sell anything ever again. That **** gets old after a while, and I never had any patience for it in the first place. Think my car is junk or overpriced? That's your problem, not mine, I'm not interested in your opinion - either talk turkey or go away.

But that stuff is everywhere, be it Craigslist, eBay, or even here on the HAMB, you pretty much need an asbestos suit to sell stuff and deal with all the selfish, thoughtless ***holes who are going to come along and have no clue what they're looking at or what situation they might be dealing with. They only care about what they want or need and how much money is in their pocket - that's okay, to a point, but if you don't consider the seller's situation you're going to come up empty most of the time.

 

Thanks, rustynewyorker and Doughh. Thoughtful posts that didn't yell at me. I learned something from them.

 

Enjoyed reading these stories. I got ruined 2 years ago when trying to sell my 48 ford conv. hot rod. It was a great running driving looking car that I built myself and put 18,000 miles on. It seemed to attract people that just wanted to torture me! The fact that it was a fun reliable traditional hot rod didn't seem to ever matter. If they weren't picking it apart they were just talking my ear off. I finally sold it to a friend and am dreading ever having to sell one of my cars again!

 

rmak good luck on finding your model a . My 2 cents get to know the going price. So you know if it is a deal. If the price and condition is in your range, tell the guy, I am bringing some cash and a trailer and lets make somthing happen. And another thing if you say CASH most people only deal in cash. So I dont know why people think you will drop the price 2k. Good luck

 

You're a whiner. A whiner complains about stuff that they can control, but don't. Don't like the ads? Then don't call on them. You have control over it.

A complaint is over something you can't control.

 

I agree with the Original Poster.

And I find it disturbing that some of the responses are so disrespectful to him.

I buy/sell collectible cars as a full-time business. I wanted to say I do it for a living, but that would be a stretch. Rather, I do it to embrace my hobby and satisfy my need to work every day of the week.

Communication and respect are so very important, whether you are a buyer or a seller. I get very turned off by some of the "angry" or "bully" statements made in a for sale ad. Many times, I just walk on by.

It is darn near a full time job answering questions, providing additional photos, dotting the i's/crossing the t's and completing all necessary do***ents for the couple of cars we sell each week. We get SSOOOOOOO many tire-kickers/nose-pickers and down-right disrespectful dip****s that it becomes truly frustrating. On the other hand, there are those situations that are worthwhile going through the process. Especially when a person is contemplating the purchase of a rather expensive car, it is important that they do their homework. As a seller, we must respect that. Especially when they are buying a car sight unseen.

We have built our reputation and level of communication to the point that we sell approximately 75% of our vehicles sight unseen. In fact, I sold the Willys in my avitar for $99,000 and the buyer bought it sight unseen.

On the flip side, the prospective buyer needs to offer respect and courtesy to the seller. I try very hard to discover the rationale for the sale and to learn of underlying reasons that may help me earn a deep discount. A combination of emails and phone calls helps me get a feel for the integrity and character of the seller. This takes time and understanding on the part of both parties.

I have a policy to NEVER disrespect a seller with a lowball offer. However, through discussion and respect, it is possible to learn of their bottom dollar without creating drama or upsetting them. I recently purchased a car for 60% of asking price and all parties involved were cordial at the end. The car was indeed worth every penny of his asking price, but the timing was right and he needed to move on. We would have never gotten to that point if there was any sense of anger or disrespect involved in our communication. It took me over six months to complete the transaction!

I will say that at some point you need to be firm and to the point. If you sense a buyer, or a seller, is wasting your time and is not sincere, or is just jerking your chain, then move on. But don't burn the bridge behind you. Once in a while, the lines of communication may re-open.

In my opinion, rmak is offering good advice. Sugar will catch more flies than will vinegar.

 

I agree with aafd. It ****s having someone ask you 20 questions, get directions, show up late, ********** the hell out of the part/car your selling, then stand around for twenty minutes saying, well if I wait for my next check and collect what jethro owes me and you take this on trade I can afford it. If you can seriously afford the vehicle in the serious buyers only ad don't worry about the warning. If you can't then keep dreaming without bugging someone.

 

if your serious, "serious inquiries only" shouldn't bother you, if your not a picture collector or a tire kicker why would that bother you? letting people know that lowballing won't get them anywhere saves both of you time. if you can be lowballed you say "all offers considered"

it's not that complicated

 

I have sold a pretty fair amount of Harleys, guns, farm tractors, and so on over the years...(Soon to be 67 years old)
I can see both sides of this discussion (or should be)....
I usually am friendly but have developed a knack of reading people up front.
I ask right away...do you have the cash.... ????
That rules out about 70% of them.
The balance are usually 20% ********ters, which leaves about 10% really interested.
When selling or buying YOU need to take control of he situation right up front to qualify the buyer.....
JMHO which has done me quite well over the years.
Of course you need to be reasonable in your selling price, as well as offers...

 

When I'm selling I'm open to talking to anyone about it.
Sure we'd all like to find the guy that has exactly the amount of $$ we're asking and is able to pick up the car right away and the car is exactly what he/she is looking for.

But reality is you have to go thru a lot of frogs until you find the prince that will buy your car. If they shoot me a lowball number I politely tell them "Thanks for the offer, but its not enough". Is there any harm in that? Maybe he's the guy that will respond with "Yeah, just had to ask" and then follow up with a REAL offer.

As a buyer I'm not "serious" until I've laid eyes on whatever you're selling. I've bought lots of cars without driving them, because I figure everything is repairable one way or another. But if I can't see and touch the car, no deal. If you as a seller aren't available for me to look at your car then chances are I won't bother to extend myself. But don't whine that the economy's bad or there's no buyers out there. Buyers are out there but you may have to court them a little.

And if I shoot you a lowball price it most likely means I'm not willing to pay what you're asking, and I'll leave you my name and number in case you can't sell at your dream price after 6 months of trying.

I'm not out to take advantage of someone. Sometimes a deal just fits right for both the buyer and seller. More often they just aren't a good match and they should both move on.

 

Thanks for you post. Since I'm new here can you help me out? When someone makes the effort to be derogatory in a really dramatic way without really knowing any thing about me, am I supposed to call them a name back? If so, is there another sub forum for the adults?

 

If we are looking at it both ways, here is my take as a seller:

I set a price at what it is worth "to me". I don't care about market value, appreciation, depreciation, etc. The price is arrived at by considering the desire I have to keep it/use it/store it, the amount it would take for me to let it go, and if I can/or care to find another one.

 

This thread is more or less useless but I put in my ads the price is firm,not open to offers so in the ops mind I guess I"m an ***hole seller.Just don"t respond to my ad because your 50 questions are not going to change the price.

 

as soon as i sell my old dump truck, i will come buy it, thats what i was told

 

Good points.

 

This is just another one of those we all know some people are flakes and a-holes and nothing will ever change that so you just need to deal with it threads.

 

Original miles , in my 50 years of buying and selling cars, means that the odometer has not been ****ED with. There's a few cars out there being sold with 20,000 miles on them when the seller originally bought it with 185,000 miles. Hope that answers your question.P.S.....dumb thread.

 

I completely agree. I'm in western Canada, a bit out of most buyers' way and it's tougher to sell based on geography. I'm very open to e-mailing you for communication, sending pics, etc., that's key when you can't actually put your hands on an item. I get lots of questions about truck freight shipping and have finally resorted to this: I send the "inquiring buyer" a shipping company contact, the pickup zip code for the item, the dimensions and weight of the crate and let them check on shipping. If they're serious, they'll check it out - if not, less time of mine is wasted.

Steve

 

people are strange, had a 65 biscane for sale a few years back, nice car, but needed paint and interior. guy stops and looks at it, then says to me, ' $2000?? it needs paint and interior!!' i said, ' if it didn't need that, it'd be more money', he looked at me like i was the nut. hate selling stuff off the lawn, best 'sales' i've had have been thru word of mouth, seems to bring out the real buyers.

 

Ha, ha. You're about the forth guy to say that after adding their two cents. Doesn't say much about you, does it?

 

I will usually ask the seller for their "best price". I've found that it's not insulting and sometimes their best price is less than I would have offered them anyhow. If I don't have the money, I don't call. There's a lot of **** in this world I'd love to have but can't afford.

 

Hey rmak, I don't know what your budget allows (I read the whole thread a few hours ago, sorry if you said), but this guy has an A RPU for one hell of a deal. I don't know him, just ran across this ad. Good luck on your search.

 

What does the seat smell like?

 

Hey rmak, there are tons of threads and posts here about buyers vs. sellers and sellers vs buyers.

These arguments have been going on since the beginning of time and will never be resolved. Hashing it out here isn't going to help. There are professionals and idiots on both sides of the fence.