Car selling is the most painful thing in the world.

In reply to ddavidv :

berkeley that. If I come to a dude's house for free parts, I'm more than willing to wait for him to move cars and such to get it for me...when I show up. 

You guys have someone respond?? Once I buy something it is considered worthless. I have a brand new set of wheels I have been trying to sell for 2 years, in a popular size and offset. This spring I listed them on FB and CL (up for 2 weeks) and the lowballers and scammers aren't even reaching out to me, WTF? 

In reply to Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) :

Don't give up man. When I sold mine, it took a lot longer than I'd anticipated. Now that it's getting warmer, and people are more stir-crazy than ever, someone's going to want to scratch that touring itch. 

I have always hated selling cars. At this point I much prefer having something new enough that i can just sell to carvana or carmax and not take too much of a wash on.

I think I have a system for taking some of the pain away from it. Somebody e-mailed me today with the words "Still for sale? What is your bottom price? You have it listed at twice the NADA."

The truth is that the price I have listed is within $100 of the NADA price for the bike in the condition it is in. It is twice NADA for one in Fair Condition which this one is not. This guy has never seen the bike in person so I am not going to argue with him about the condition of a bike that he has never seen. What's the point? I also hate it when someone starts out asking me what my bottom price is. At this point after dealing with too many A-holes, my bottom price is that I keep the damned thing. I really don't get these guys. Most people will at least look at the bike before making an offer. As far as the buyer knows the bike could have a horrendous rod knock and be blowing nasty smoke out the exhaust. You can't tell that from a picture. I am wondering if these guys are just flippers who won't even come out unless they get the bike for a price that allows them to turn around and re-sell it immediately. 

I am starting a blacklist of people I will not sell the bike to and putting this guy's name on the list. Then I deleted his e-mail. Why not? I don't sell motorcycles for a living. I just have this one bike to sell. I'm not really hard up for cash so I don't need to sell it tomorrow. I have two people who may or may not be coming to see it tomorrow. I have already considered that they may be no shows so I scheduled them for Saturday when I will be doing other stuff around my garage anyway instead of taking time off from work and risking somebody not showing up. My life is too short to deal with a-holes. If I have to keep this bike or take longer to sell it rather that deal with these dicks, so be it. 

I feel better now. 

The standard answer to low-price inquires is, "Bottom line is listed in the ad, until you come see it in person."

Done.

In reply to Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) :

Despite the strong overall market for "stuff", there are some weak segments.  Based on what I see around me, one of those appears to be touring motorcycles with names that don't start with "Harley" or "Honda".  I've got some stuff for sale right now, and dealing with FB marketplace flakes is as maddening as dealing with CL scammers.

In reply to eastsideTim :

I don't do FB marketplace anymore. At least not for selling.  If I want squirrels I will pry them out of my husky's mouth. 

Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to eastsideTim :

I don't do FB marketplace anymore. At least not for selling.  If I want squirrels I will pry them out of my husky's mouth. 

Having been owned by a fur exploding woo box I can relate to this whole heartedly. I keep eyeballing that bike, but I'm waiting to see what the doggy doc tells me my play budget will be here in a few weeks. 

Duke said:

The standard answer to low-price inquires is, "Bottom line is listed in the ad, until you come see it in person."

Done.

This... except they don't usually quit trying after that. When they keep trying to low ball me without looking at it, I start going up on the price each time they try. This only confuses them, and takes them several times before I point out I'm being an azz, since they are not getting it!

"What's your lowest price?"

What is your name?

"Why?"

I need it so I can add you to my list of shiny-happy-people I will never sell anything to in this lifetime.

(I like this idea. Very much.)

For what its worth I did manage to sell my truck. Two guys came, pulled a wasp nest out from under it, scanned it for codes (found some) and then complained it wasn't 4wd. I told them 5k more and it will be just need the money up front. At least they laughed. Made a not hurtful offer, I countered a little higher, done. 
 

The truck I bought was rust free but needed mechanical work, and I feel like I got a solid deal. Guy was going to Vegas the next day ans its hard to gamble a whole truck. 
 

Sometimes things are just timing. 

ddavidv said:

"What's your lowest price?"

What is your name?

"Why?"

I need it so I can add you to my list of shiny-happy-people I will never sell anything to in this lifetime.

(I like this idea. Very much.)

What is your lowest price is not a question deserving of disrespect.  The standard answer is typically I put the lowest price in my ad.  Or what I asked. 
     He may still be a buyer at that price and you  just forced yourself to deal with at least one more person.  
       I'd still stand there in front of him waiting for his response ( which might be OK I'll take it),  however if he tries to lowball me, I'll respond  with I guess you don't want it then, turn around and slowly walk away.  At that point is only two options are, OK I take it at your price. Or not to buy it. In which case you can keep on walking. Or turn back and counter. You're still in charge. 

"What's your lowest price?" is not a question typically asked when someone is in front of me. When it is, I'll play.

No, that question is usually the very first thing in the email or text they send me.

I'm still trying to sell the drop in bed liner from my truck. I took lots of pictures, including the manufacturer's label that shows the part number and what it fits. I also stated what make, model and year it fits in the description.

Some dude just emailed me asking if it will fit his 2014 Chevy short bed. Its for a 09-18 Ram 1500 short bed.

The stupid, it burns 

I sold the bike this weekend. But this was another kind of adventure. 

The guy was about three hours late coming to look at it, but he did text me every thirty minutes or so to tell my he was waiting on his driver.

A Hummer pulled up in front of the house and he got out of the passenger's door. A guy in his early 20s. 

He looked at the bike. I started it up for him. He sat on it revved it a little bit, talked about what good shape the bike was in. Decided to buy it. 

We went inside to seal the deal. My dogs liked him. He petted the dogs. Talked about how he likes to ride a lot but wanted a touring bike to go on long distance trips with his friends. He gave my $2,600 cash in an envelope, the full price I was asking. I gave him a signed title. Said he was going to ride the bike home walked out the front door. I went to the computer to take the bike off my insurance and file the notice of change of title with the DMV. I hear Mrs. Snowdoggie scream "Oh no!".  I went to the living room and looked out the window.  He was picking up the bike. He dropped it right at the end of my driveway. The first time this 23 year old bike has been dropped in it's life. By the time I got out the door again to offer to help the guy was up again and riding. The Hummer followed slowly behind him and down the street they went. Now it was 5 pm. I was hoping he would have picked it up by 1:00 or 1:30 so I could have time to mow the lawn, take the dog to the groomer and clean out the garage. Nope. Wasn't going to happen. 

A few minutes later I get a phone call. It was his mother driving the Hummer. He had dropped it again at the end of the block. She wanted me to help him get the bike up. This  time he dropped it on the other side so the two damaged sides matched. Now the foot peg on one side was broken off. Mom wanted me to get the bike back to my house and keep it there until they could make arrangements to get the bike. He still wanted it, and by all rights it was now his. I ride it back to the house with one foot peg missing and park it in the driveway. She takes off in the Hummer. I call him. He said he was going to get his friend to right it home for him. Without one foot peg. I also notice that in one of the falls that the back trunk had broken loose. 

A few hours later, he calls saying his friend is still at work and won't be able to get the motorcycle tonight so he and his friend will get it tomorrow. I was going to the autocross on Sunday so I told him I would park the bike at the end of the driveway and leave the keys with my neighbor, who witnessed the first crash and usually is out working on his Camaros on Sunday. 

Next day. Late morning. I am at the autocross waiting on the grid. I get a call from his mother apologizing about not getting the motorcycle that morning and that she and her husband will come to get it after church. I explained to her that the foot peg was broken off. She said he had it. I also told her the trunk in the back was broken and loose. She said there wouldn't be a problem because her husband was an  experienced rider and could ride without the foot peg, although he hadn't ridden in years. I told her she might make a deal with my neighbor to haul it with his pickup truck and that the U-haul down the street rented motorcycle trailers for $20 a day and didn't close until 5 on Sunday.  She thanked me and said they wouldn't have a problem getting it. 

Getting home from the autocross at 5 pm, I was relieved to see that the motorcycle was gone. No more low ballers, blacklists and stand ups. I won't be selling any more vehicles for a long, long time. 

My ordeal was over.