how would you of handled this

i have been buying and selling cars for 37 years now and yesterday something happened that never has before.

i wanted to post this because to give the members involved a place to give a response. i have sold 2 cars to members and it was a joy even meeting one at a truck stop at 1am in the morning.

i had a corvair and bradley for sale on this forum and the corvair had many emails on it. i talked to three buyers on the phone and explained i could only show the car on Saturday all three were about three hours from the car. i talked to all three people on Friday and told them i would be at the shop from 7am to 5pm and explained to all of them it was who came first with the cash would get the car.

one buyer asked if he gave cash could he pick it up next weekend i said that was fine. so i got there at 7 and the first buyer got there at 7:15am and next two got there a little later i was showing the car to the first buyer and he said he would take it. that he would leave $500.00 down and pick it up next week. the second buyer said wait a minute i am here with my trailer and the whole amount i should get the car. i asked the first guy if he had the whole amount he said no but that i agreed to him picking it up next week. i told him he never said anything about just a deposit on car.

so i sold the car to the second buyer. the first buyer left calling me every name you could think of. the third guy agreed with what i did. he just looked at his wife and said "see i told you we shouldnt stop for breakfast" and smiled at her. he did buy a tri-power set-up off me so it wasnt a wasted trip.

the story does not end here. the bradley was sitting in another garage and i had a couple corvair parts there. when i opened the garage up the buyer of the corvair started to look at it and said is it still for sell i said yes but i have been talking to people and one in IN seems like he wants it. he says he will give me $1200.00 for it right now. (i was asking $950.00).

i said i have to call the other guy. i was not able to get a hold of him. i told him he would have to wait till i talked to the guy he was little upset because he was able to tow both back with him.

i was able to get a hold of the other buyer today and explained the situration to him. he was very understanding about it and said to take the money and no bad feelings so the bradley is sold also.

was i wrong to handle it like i did

First case: Full price, cash money. Deal. First guy left a dick. You did the right thing.

Second case: I don't really understand, but it sounds like both parties were happy, so, success.

Money talks.

If he wanted the car . . . he should've brought more money.

Rules with cars are simple. First one with cash takes it.

You did good.

Yep, money talks.

What you did with the 'vair was completly fair. The other guy shows up with a trailer and full payment before the deal with prospective buyer #1 is closed, you were within your rights to sell to him, and guy #1 is just a sore looser. If #1 didn't make a counter offer, with full payment today, he's full of BullE36 M3.

As for the Bradley, the same basic deal applies, the first prospective buyer didn't make a deposit, so he had no legal claim on it. But you were right to call him, I would have appreciated that too.

yep, you are in the clear in my book. You went above and beyond in the case of the Bradley.

Rest easy and I'm saddened to hear anyone from this group would think otherwise.

Serious buyers bring cash.

If you did not in any way agree to take the deposit of $500 and hold the car before the guy with the full purchase price chimed in, you're fine.

If what you said is what happened then yeah, I don't see anything wrong with that. I wouldn't go look at a car for sale in that situation unless I had a really good reason for it, but as long as you get enough interest then no reason not to do it.

I think you did the right thing, you said the first person to show up with the cash and buyer 1 only had a deposit, not even a cheque for the full amount. He probably wanted the car really bad but he was just being a bad sport about it.

First rule of buying second hand: Never show up with less cash than the maximum amount you're willing to spend. The second rule is: try to spend less than that.

Had Deposit Guy followed rule #1, he'd be picking up a Corvair next weekend. Who drives that far without being prepared to close the deal if necessary?

One more for thinking you did the appropriate thing. As a seller, your first priority is getting the cash and getting rid of the merchandise. You sold the car to the first person who could meet that end of the deal. It sounds like the first person make an offer that you didn't yet agree with and was mainly mad at himself and isn't mature enough to admit it.

good on both sales

win/ win

Money talks, BS walks.

i am glad everyone agrees and i hope buyer 1 chimes in on his view. i did email him but no response from him let.

i really like posting my cheaper cars for sale here instead of CL because the buyers here are better educated on what they are buying it seems. no one has tried to beat me up on my pricing either. you cant expect a new car for less than 2k but a lot of people do.

i just wish this site had a place for 2k to 5k cars for sale

cutter67 wrote: i am glad everyone agrees and i hope buyer 1 chimes in on his view. i did email him but no response from him let. i really like posting my cheaper cars for sale here instead of CL because the buyers here are better educated on what they are buying it seems. no one has tried to beat me up on my pricing either. you cant expect a new car for less than 2k but a lot of people do. i just wish this site had a place for 2k to 5k cars for sale

And on here I bet you don't get offers like "I have a money order for 3 times the price of the car could you cash it and send me the leftover?"

money talks.. it's a business transaction, (hopefully) not an attempt to meet new friends.

I concur with everyone else, you were correct in selling the car to the first person who paid you the full amount. As others have mentioned, if you're serious about buying a car, you should have the full amount with you when you go to see it (especially if the car is under $2K). You were up-front in your ad and mentioned that multiple people were going to see it...

I think you were an exceptionally good seller in the case of the Bradley. Congratulations on the sale of both!

I don't see any problems based on how you described the events. No way am I gonna drive 3 hours one way and not be able to close the deal, but if my intentions were to leave a deposit I would have made that clear when discussing the need to have the owner store it for me.

You should have let me buy it. I'd have given you $1 down and got the car after this check I got from a Nigerian prince cleared. Heck, I'd have given you an extra grand!!
Seriously, you made it very clear. The most serious (or able) buyer showed up with cash and a trailer.

Anyone who expects you to turn down full, cash payment (and have the car off your hands immediately, rather than setting for a week) in favor of a down payment and an "I'll get back to you in a week" has, shall we say, an "overinflated sense of personal worth." You're good.

Kenny_McCormic wrote: Money talks, BS walks.

Yup.

You did the right thing.

Only time "hold it with a deposit" works is if there are no other buyers present, and then I'm gonna have a written agreement that if the car is not picked up by a certain date (a week or two, tops), the deposit is forfeit. I'm not gonna sit on something indefinitely just because someone gave me a couple hundred bucks. And if you do that, I'm not cutting you a deal on the price; you're gonna pay me extra for making me sit on it longer.