people who don't put the price in the sign are fools. they think that anyone seriously looking for whatever year and make of car they are selling would call regardless. and people who don't are not serious. I've bought quite a few cars I wasn't looking for. bought a 65 falcon several years back, I seen it parked on the street, it had a fair price in the window, called the guy, drove it and I was driving it home no more than an hour later paid in full. if there was no price I wouldn't even have called.
on the OTHER hand, when i was selling my COE i had it siting out front of the shop with $12,000 on the for sale sign. some retarded fuck calls me up and asks" what are ya asking?" "twelve" i say retard sez" will ya take a thousand" i said"just so we're on the same page, it's twelve THOUSAND not hundred" retard sez"oh" and hung up it taught me something. people can't read and NEVER talk to somebody named nathan... you can put ANYTHING on a for sale sign, ebay ad,craigslist,etc and people will only read what they want to hear.....
I have learned to put prices on even the stupidest crap at swapmeets. I had some large 8 lug chevy split rims with almost new tires on them. I had no need for them but they where to nice to toss. Well after them sitting there half the day I took out a piece of binder paper and scribbled $25 bucks on them. Almost instantly I had people looking and sold 'em like 10 minutes later. So back out came the binder paper and I priced everything I could. I made around $1,000 that day selling nothing over $50 and most stuff was around $10. It was great because all day long the jerk with the over-priced intakes and aluminum valve covers next to me was bitchin how he didn't make any money.
I always put a price with "OBO", those 3 letters increase the number of legit calls and I rarely end up with less than the asking price. as far as "serious inquiries only", I would never "pre-pressure" a potential buyer with a rude assumptive statement like that. no price = no call from me.
I ask them sometimes if they're right there but then if they ask any questions I just say nope just needed the price. If there is no price listed on a website or like auto trader I dont even bother calling. That annoys the crap out of me!!!
All this reminds me of the car appraisel joke...."you want it appraised huh....is it for insurance or bragging rights?" Those people that dont have prices are the same ones with the 3000 paint job.
Couldn't agree more - "serious inquiries only" is a total waste of ad space. If someone is interested enough to call, they will call. If some joker is just trying to waste your time and joyride in the car you are selling, do you really think those 3 words would stop him? The ad needs 3 things and 3 things only. contact info, a FAIR price, and a PICTURE! Do that and you will sell anything pretty fast.
Ragtop I'm with you. Never fails I'm in the driveway tunning or tinkering and some jerk comes along and want to buy it. No not for sale so they say everything is for sale just give me a price. A couple of years ago I was working on the old galaxie in my drive. this guy walks up and wants to buy it. its not for sale i say. Then he prods me for a price so I say OK 5K, as is where is. he says can my mechanic come look at it? i don't see the point #1 its not for sale#2 its 5K just the way it is. So I say do ya got 5k ya want to purchase this car with? He says well no. OK so I say no. he shows up 2 days later with some greaseball mechanic/used car salesman (no offense fellas) who wants to look at the car. So I ask to see the cash, well we wanna look at it first then we'll decide what its worth. " No its 5K to you as is where is." Now they're all offended I wasted their time etc. I hoped the turkey would have gotten offended the first time. Drives me freakin' nutz
What annoys me the most is For Sale etched in the glass of a car at a show, means to me the owner is fishing for the big bucks. I don't want a car that exists only to sell. I think I answered my own question...don't buy it!
The buying and selling part is the shitty part of this hobby. If you want to know why everyone tries to jump on the latest bandwagon and "rat rod" is now the buzzword and every goofball with a lawnchair has his '80s reject painted flat black.....well.... It's because of buying and selling and money. Seriously, I know for a lot of you this hobby is simply about money. You're not happy unless you've screwed over 50 people to build a car for negative dollars......then turn around and sell it for $20,000 or more. (yeah I got some friends who do this too). When it becomes ABOUT the money, it makes everything shitty. This hobby is seriously about half shitty. Curious Rash, Your response to this thread is the best one. I keep that phrase in my mind at all times "Don't make me be the BUYER and the SELLER." For Sale signs at shows sucks ass. Any car with a for sale sign in it becons me to kick a panel in on it. Its a car show, not a used car lot.........again, assholes taking the fun out of things. Small minded. ONLY seeing the dollar value of anything. You go through life like that and you miss a hell of a lot of interesting stuff.
It bugs the h3ll out of me too. I'm a crappy buyer (probably why most of my stuff comes off epay) too. I refuse to negotiate with a seller. I figure if he's priced it, that's what he wants. If it's not in my ballpark, I walk by. I seldom dicker on a sale either. I mark my low price on the sale and seldom, if ever, go down. I know it's a game but it's not one I'm interested in playing. Been through thousands of craigslist ads looking for cars and sending email...some jackass says make offer, I do...$1.00.
You gonna etch "For Sale" in the window? I'm going to build a car some day and write FOR SALE down the side of it in 2foot tall white letters. Yeah right, I'm just sore cause all my stuff is junk that nobody wants. hahaha.
No, but I'll come over there and paint FOR SALE on the side in 2 foot letters.....hahahaa. Sorry, I couldn't help myself. I wouldn't do that to your machine either.
No disrespect , but when I see one of those little body colored stickers on a car I don't take them seriously. It looks like a fishin' expedition. If the car's for sale why be discreet, let the world know what you want and then you don't have to worry about all of the tire kickers and everyone that just wants to know "How Much"!!!???
. Seriously, I know for a lot of you this hobby is simply about money. You're not happy unless you've screwed over 50 people to build a car for negative dollars......then turn around and sell it for $20,000 or more. (yeah I got some friends who do this too). ]When it becomes ABOUT the money, it makes everything shitty.[/SIZE] Like those guys on TV that buy an old Dodge or Camero or something and dump a ton of bucks into them then take it to some auto auction just to make a killing.... and they call them "car people"! They sure have made it hard on us real car guys.
i buy high and sell low!!!!made one hellofa livin doin it!!!!!wait a min....hmm...maybe thats why i can finsh nuttin...im not sellin them cheap enough!!! what i hate worse then buyin is lookin and findin the car of my dreams[that week ] sold the day before for 38 bucks and he threw in his 19 year old daughter!!!!didnt matter!!!!she wasnt related anyway!
The guy who was my mentor at one time had a great saying ;"all you have to do is want it more than me".He had a price on everything. One time another guy I know gets a call with a guy wanting to know if he was interested in a couple of rare motorcycles.He asked him what he wanted;"Oh,I don't know what they're worth..".My friend hit him with a low buck offer which caused the guy to sputter "they're worth more than that!" My friend told him,See ,you do know what they are worth....! I think most people think that if they publish their figure,they'll scare people off. State it in the begining.No phone calls is a great reality check.
Hey, I have an idea........I have an ad in the For Sale section....Why don't you all go look at it and critique it for me................. http://jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=153201 Not getting much action..............hehehe
Wow, that this thread definitely confirms opinons are like buttholes, everyones got one. As a person in the advertising field, I don't so much mind for sale signs on cars at car shows. There is no better captive audience. Plus it saves people from asking (and answering) the question. Barrett-Jackson is nuts and unfortunately does force a lot of the classic car industry to be as nuts. But just like everything else in life, it comes to an end. I am anxious to watch the auction this week from my living room couch this year and see what happens. It seems like it is about time they stub their toe.... As for the 'serious inquiries only' line I hate that too. It makes me feel like the seller doesn't even have time to write the price led alone acknowledge any intelligent questions. I think "serious inquiries only" has almost become secret code for gold chainers who don't know anything about their cars but what they paid for them and have been 'told' (probably by the builders) what they are worth. And how about people who advertise their cars in magazines and don't give a price, just a phone number. Now THAT is crazy. I better never hear one of them complain about getting stupid calls. Good deals still exist, you just have to know where to look and the right people. Once again fellas, it's not what you know but who you know that makes the difference.
I usually have the "serious only" thing in my ads. Over the years I've had too many people make offers without actually looking at the car in person. Nothing peeves me more than someone trying to lowball me without knowing anything about the car. At least ask me about the car before you try to lowball me. Yea-I'll budge a little but jeeze! The people who are serious usually bring up the price after going over everything else about the car.
None taken, we just try to not disrupt a car show and at least let folks know it is for sale...and it is, example the gold 55 at scottsdale prettynice car we had a gold for sale 1 inch high on windshield vcery hard to see... no price or number but it sold for north of 65K if we build to sell, and that we did, we sell it...thats what we do for a living... sorry if that is a downer but it is what i do for a living... not to say that some cars are mine and not for sale as well.... so sorry if i offend you when i put a little for sale on a car .. but it has workd for years for the cars i do ..
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