Posting and selling a car on GRM....

... to a GRMer.

What is the accepted method to view a vehicle, to be fair?

First contact?

First come?

What is an acceptable 'hold' period for first contact to view, 3-7 days, 7-10 days, 2 weeks?

What do you guys do?

Asking for a friend. 

TIA

In reply to fasted58 :

Too many variables to give a single answer. Just be clear in your communication and expectations. It’s your car, you make the rules, and you can also change the rules if needed. 

You are selling a car.  This presumes you need the money and/or need the space.  It does not seem fair for the buyer to unreasonably dictate how long you wait to gain this money or this space.  As stated, communicate what you think is reasonable and don't be afraid to call out what you see as unreasonable.  

If circumstances change and you need the money or space sooner, tell the buyer but at the end of the day your own needs have to come first.  

My approach...

I will give first contact dibs. But then we start talking, and it’s my job to define things. 

If he needs 3 weeks before he can view it, I’m not holding the car without a deposit. If others have expressed interest, I will communicate that to the guy with dibs, and expect that he will step up or back down.  

I’ve never had to, but if it came to it, I would be fine saying, “The car is yours if you want it, but I’ve got someone else interested.  I can’t hold it without a deposit”.  It’s muxh more common in my experience that the guy with dibs will voluntarily step down and pass it to whoever is next in line.

I assume people are good for their word.

For a GRMer, I will often store the car for a long time, IF I have a deposit. 

Generally I won't hold anything.  Whoever shows up first with money in hand is the buyer.  

... I would also give a courtesy “hold” to someone who is traveling a long distance. If you tell me you will be there on Saturday and expect to buy, I won’t let anyone else come look at it (without them knowing you’ve got first dibs). 

In general, the first person to show up with cash gets it. Be reasonable. 

I just sold the Ecomiata to a guy from two states away.  I sent him 153 pictures and answered innumerable questions.  He had a friend check it out in person and when we both felt things were all known to both parties he sent me money (bank transfer) and I delivered the car to a mutual friends’ house.  Then he sent the rest of the money and I mailed off the title.   

Probably overly trusting on both our parts but I think most people in the Motorsports area are generally good and good for their word.  

A GRMer just bought my Protege5, cheaper car and less questions but just as straightforward and i’ll Do my darndest to make sure that the transaction is completed with as little drama as possible.

I basically followed SVreX's post to a T when I sold the Civic. 

I posted here first for a couple weeks to a month or so, I don't really remember. No real interest. Then I got really serious about moving the car on. I listed it locally and updated my thread here. 

The first guy that made actual contact, meaning more than a "what's the lowest you'll go" text really wanted to see the car but wouldn't be able to look at it until the weekend. I told him I would hold it until the weekend. In the meantime I had around ten other locals that wanted to see it but I told them I was holding it and if it fell through I would let them know. I also had one GRMer that was interested but it would have been a fly and drive. 

The first guy showed up when he said he would and purchased the car. However, if it would have went the other way the next on the list would have been the GRMer. I wasn't in a real crunch to sell the car and wanted it to go to a good home (which I'm pretty sure it did). 

But if I really needed the money or the space it would have been first to show with the cash gets it.

Money talks bullE36 M3 walks. First person with cash get the car.

Thanks all for the replies. 

I've never sold here but have seen a lot posted here over the years and trying to be fair and reasonable, because GRM. I would not try to be as reasonable elsewhere. 

Coming soon.

If a grm’er wants something i’m more inclined to go as far as bending over backwards for them especially for challenge use

I'm pretty trusting of folks here to the point that I told one buyer if I wasn't home he could just pick it up from the driveway and leave the money. I've also fronted buying for others here without getting burned. As far as holding I don't mind as long as I'm not selling to get space I need. 

Yeah, craigslist? No anything without money in my hands. Period.

Here? I’m pretty flexible about holding/storage/transport etc. The best thing to do is to clearly say what’s going on and what accommodations you can provide. Selling an engine and able to store it for 6 months? Cool. Selling an engine and literally tripping over it? Just say so. 

I guess I am the more trusting one of the group. I bought both of the cars I purchased from here sight unseen. Both were from known board members and I had a certain trust factor. Both purchases have turned out great and I'd do them both again. 

I've had one good experience buying from Tuna on here.  He just went in order of PM/response.  I was second in line, but first decided not to go for it. 

We chatted and he held it for a week for me before I could do the fly and drive gig.

So from my perspective, some GRM trust worked out swell :)

bmw88rider said:

I guess I am the more trusting one of the group. I bought both of the cars I purchased from here sight unseen. Both were from known board members and I had a certain trust factor. Both purchases have turned out great and I'd do them both again. 

I’m sending a deposit to a grm’er tomorrow for a car based solely on his build thread. 

Donebrokeit said:

Money talks bullE36 M3 walks. First person with cash get the car.

That would be true for me too unless it was a GRMer.  Then I would request a non-refundable deposit with a stated time to hold for completion of the transaction.  We've had a few people here where the purchaser dropped off the face of the earth after paying or at least putting down a deposit.    

Easy, knock 20% off the typical CL price say that's the low GRM price, and treat the people like they are intelligent honest people, and it works, or has every time for me.

I trust people here. 

I don’t trust people elsewhere. 

That’s about it. 

BTW, it goes the other way too. 

I have bought 5 different cars long distance from non-GRMers sight unseen, based solely on the referral of a GRMer, or a GRMer looking at the car for me.

That’s about $25K in transactions.  

If a GRMer tells me the guy is good and the car is good, I’ll send the money. 

Sometimes good things happen. My most recent purchase started to go south when the shipper showed up 2 days early, and I had not transferred the funds. Seller was not a GRMer, and we had never met. But I had had a GRMer check out the car, and we felt like we could trust each other. 

I transferred the maximum amount my bank would allow daily- $2500. The car was $8K.  I told the seller I would continue to transfer that much each day, and he could keep the title until the car was paid for. 

He trusted me, and let the shipper take the car. I was good for my word, and transferred the max every day until paid for. He mailed me the title the next day. 

All  good. 

SVreX said:

I trust people here. 

I don’t trust people elsewhere. 

That’s about it. 

I agree, but I still generally want the car gone and the money in my pocket ASAP--but it obviously varies by vehicle. When I'm buying, I'm making clear communication with the seller to figure out how, where, and I'm up front with my challenges. 

FWIW, in my most recent situations: 

1: Bought a car from a GRMr site unseen. It went well, it was exactly as advertised. 

2: Listed 3 cars for sale here and 2 of them were listed elsewhere. Had 5 cars in my driveway and a self-imposed limit of 3 cars. One person expressed interest in 2 of the cars, but it was clear that said person wasn't going to be ready for a while. I sold them without hesitation to the public--but these cars really were nothing special. 

3: Bought a car site-unseen from a GRMr, who really went above and beyond in his effort to make the sale. No deposit; he happened to be coming to where I live anyways. I showed up with cash when and where we agreed to meet. He put way more effort into selling it than I did buying it, but it also wasn't listed for sale anywhere. 

4: One of my 3 cars in comment 2 is still with me. Still for sale, but I haven't even posted pictures... so not really for sale. I need to get around to washing it and waxing it before selling it. Or maybe not. 

I will only hold a car with either a deposit, or a text saying “I’m on my way”, or if someone bought a plane ticket, though that’s never happened. I would hold a car for someone I know, for example SVreX says he want my car, I’m coming on Saturday, I’ll hold it. If “Iwreckmiatasbamalamadingdong1234” says he wants my car and he only has a post count of 2, I likely won’t hold it longer than the evening.