Selling used equipment and nasty/agressive buyers

[Bottom_Feeder]

Originally Posted By: Uber_Archetype
Originally Posted By: Bottom_Feeder
I have about $3000 worth of radio control cars I need to sell in the near future, and eBay and Craigslist threads like this one always make me wonder if it's just easier to keep all of it.

So you have three $1k cars, or a hundred $30 cars?

About 20 $150 cars, give or take.

 

[69GTX]

Selling my neighbors 2003 Nissan Frontier truck w/38K miles for him last summer brought out all the local flippers. Just wanted a fair price. While the vehicle was somewhat rough on the body and interior with dents, dings, cig burns, etc...it had no body or frame rust and was presentable. It seemed they all wanted the 38K miles with a perfect body for $3K.

One by one it seemed every 60-75 year old guy within 10 miles came by to kick tires and tell me it wasn't worth more than $3K-$3,500 tops. They pointed to every visible flaw on the truck saying "look at that!" Some brought their wives along to help do the pointing....lol.

We were looking to get $4,500-$5,000. A couple of pro flippers said they could "help" by taking it off my hands in the low $3's. Within a couple days I had two potential serious buyer's in their 20's and 30's. Got $4300 for it from an industrial company that uses used small trucks in their fleet.

 

[NHHEMI]

Originally Posted By: Oldtom
I recently sold a well maintained MTD riding mower for $350 on Craigslist. I priced the mower at $350 firm to keep away Pawn Stars wanabees who want to buy it for ten dollars. I was amazed by the nasty, entitled attitude shown by people who called up. Some of the questions/statements appear below along with my thankfully UNSPOKEN response.

I am a single mother, can I buy it for $300? Not unless a DNA test proves the kid is mine.

What is the lowest price you will take? I will take $350 unless you want to pay more.

The eventual buyer showed up and whined seemingly endlessly about the motor not idling down well ( 16.5 horse Briggs single cylinder ) I finally lost my patience and told him it never idled that well, even when new. I also told him I usually started the engine, fast idled for a minute, and cut grass at full throttle, and the quality of the idle never mattered.

The guy eventually handed me $350, saying he was only buying the mower because he had borrowed a trailer and driven 50 miles to see the mower. I took his money and was glad to see him leave.


This brings me to my question: Have you noticed people are nastier, more aggressive, and more insulting nowadays? It seems that people assume everyone is trying to rip them off. I honestly think the buyer will get great service from the mower if he does minimal maintenance. The parting shot about only buying the mower because of the distance driven and borrowing a trailer was uncalled for IMHO. Maybe I am becoming one of those nasty old pharts who endlessly chant "GET OFF MY LAWN"



Yup and CL is the absolute worst for it. No matter what you say about price is firm, set, non negotiable, etc..., and no matter how fair the price you set actually is( I always set it at the lowest I will take so it is a good deal for all ), there will always be those who still try and haggle you down to a ridiculously low figure. I have come to accept it as part of doing business so to speak on CL. I just ignore those kinds of contacts now. I even add a note to the details after saying the price is firm that I will not respond to offers for less. My item details spell out clearly what the cost is and if they can't accept it then I am not wasting my time with them.

What really gets me are those who contact you and agree to the price when setting up a meeting to conduct the deal and then show up and try and haggle then. That infuriates me and I have all I can do not to knock their teeth out. I remember one deal where I had some new take offs( 300 miles +/- )for sale @ $500 which was $250+ off a set of new( I included links and local prices to show what a good deal I was offering ). Guy e-mailed me, we spoke on the phone to arrange a meet, and I drove 30 minutes to meet him to do it. He even waited until I had the tires out of the back of the truck and on the ground before he said I have $250 cash and that is all I will pay. I almost knocked him into next week. Loaded the tires up while he suddenly remembered he had another $250 in the other pocket. I flat out refused to sell to him and left. 3 days later I sold to another person who was genuine and decent to deal with for the full price.

I really hate selling on CL to be honest because of the losers that frequent it. BUT, with that said, for certain things it is the best option and you just have to deal with the low lives and wait for a decent buyer to show up.

 

[Bottom_Feeder]

Originally Posted By: road_rascal
Originally Posted By: Bottom_Feeder
I have about $3000 worth of radio control cars I need to sell in the near future, and eBay and Craigslist threads like this one always make me wonder if it's just easier to keep all of it.

I've sold a lot of RC planes/helicopters/trucks throughout the years and I've never had a problem with buyers. I usually price most of my stuff about 60% of what I put into them, which is about what the going rates are at swap meets and auctions.

The problem with selling hobby-related stuff is that there is usually a big difference between how much was put into an item and how much it's worth since that is totally subjective. And a prospective buyers' level of knowledge can be all over the place.

 

[tom slick]

Making a deal doesn't bother me, it's the favors they ask for. Someone wants to buy a $15 thing I want to give away instead of throw away and they want to meet me somewhere 30 minutes away and offer me $5. I list something for free and you ask me to hold it for 3 days then don't show up.

 

[linkbelt]

Originally Posted By: bubbatime
Oh Craigslist. You have given me so much fun experiences over the years.

Sold a large cabinet to a guy in a busted up, old as heck, compact car. Guy shows up with his entire family in the car, wife, 4 kids, grandma, cat, etc.

Guy doesn't argue the price. Looks it over for 1.3 seconds, says, "I'll take it." Hands me the money on the spot. Asks me for help loading the cabinet onto the roof of his car. Guy wants to load a very large, several hundred pound cabinet, on the roof of a 76 Corolla. Not going to happen. I scratched my head in bewilderment.

I never let anyone load anything until I have the cash in my pocket.

I asked the guy where he lived and he said just up the street, so I offered to deliver it to his house with my truck. When I delivered it, guy thanked me, shook my hand, asked me to stay for dinner, and tried to give me another $10 for delivering it for him. I declined.

This guy was FLAT broke. I'm talking, probably makes $100/week flat broke. And has all the mouths to feed and rent to pay. And he was the nicest guy and floored me when he offered full asking price and even offered more money for delivering it to him.

Now lets compare to that the usual Craigslist idiot.

Sold a push mower to a guy. Price was $110. Guy in a BMW shows up. Looks at the mower for 45 minutes, tries it out, mows my entire front lawn as a "test-drive". Complains non-stop about this and that. Asks me for help loading the mower into his trunk. Loads the mower. Then says, "It's used. It has a lot of problems and will probably break at any time. Here is $50 dollars."

I about blew a gasket. "The time to negotiate a deal is BEFORE the darn thing is loaded in your car. You either pay me the full $110 I am asking for it or we will be unloading it from your trunk and you can leave." Guy gave me $120 and asked for change. I told him I don't have any change. He looked at me flabbergasted. He told me to keep the change and he left. So the guy paid me $120 for something that was priced at $110. Idiot.

 

[fdcg27]

I've bought a few CL listed items. There are some good deals to be had. My personal metric is that an item advertised as new or nearly so should cost no more than 50-60% of typical retail. There are some sellers living in a dream world where a dusty old quart of QTP is worth $4.00 and a rusty old Civic is a deal at $4K.
As a buyer, nobody needs to be a jerk. If an item is priced way high, you can simply ignore the listing. It would also never occur to me to accept an offer and then show up with less cash when coming to pick the item up.
CL is like any other market place in that most sellers and most buyers are honest and reasonable while others are ill-mannered fools.
A fair transaction between reasonable people leaves everyone happy.
I personally prefer reasonable over allowing someone to take me to the gorilla grimace level as either a buyer or seller.

 

[MinamiKotaro]

This is why I don't sell anything. Dealing with people just isn't worth it.

Selling things on ebay can be ok. Put it up, somebody wins the auction, you ship it to them. No person-to-person contact.

Ahh.

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted By: NHHEMI
Originally Posted By: Oldtom
I recently sold a well maintained MTD riding mower for $350 on Craigslist. I priced the mower at $350 firm to keep away Pawn Stars wanabees who want to buy it for ten dollars. I was amazed by the nasty, entitled attitude shown by people who called up. Some of the questions/statements appear below along with my thankfully UNSPOKEN response.

I am a single mother, can I buy it for $300? Not unless a DNA test proves the kid is mine.

What is the lowest price you will take? I will take $350 unless you want to pay more.

The eventual buyer showed up and whined seemingly endlessly about the motor not idling down well ( 16.5 horse Briggs single cylinder ) I finally lost my patience and told him it never idled that well, even when new. I also told him I usually started the engine, fast idled for a minute, and cut grass at full throttle, and the quality of the idle never mattered.

The guy eventually handed me $350, saying he was only buying the mower because he had borrowed a trailer and driven 50 miles to see the mower. I took his money and was glad to see him leave.


This brings me to my question: Have you noticed people are nastier, more aggressive, and more insulting nowadays? It seems that people assume everyone is trying to rip them off. I honestly think the buyer will get great service from the mower if he does minimal maintenance. The parting shot about only buying the mower because of the distance driven and borrowing a trailer was uncalled for IMHO. Maybe I am becoming one of those nasty old pharts who endlessly chant "GET OFF MY LAWN"



Yup and CL is the absolute worst for it. No matter what you say about price is firm, set, non negotiable, etc..., and no matter how fair the price you set actually is( I always set it at the lowest I will take so it is a good deal for all ), there will always be those who still try and haggle you down to a ridiculously low figure. I have come to accept it as part of doing business so to speak on CL. I just ignore those kinds of contacts now. I even add a note to the details after saying the price is firm that I will not respond to offers for less. My item details spell out clearly what the cost is and if they can't accept it then I am not wasting my time with them.

What really gets me are those who contact you and agree to the price when setting up a meeting to conduct the deal and then show up and try and haggle then. That infuriates me and I have all I can do not to knock their teeth out. I remember one deal where I had some new take offs( 300 miles +/- )for sale @ $500 which was $250+ off a set of new( I included links and local prices to show what a good deal I was offering ). Guy e-mailed me, we spoke on the phone to arrange a meet, and I drove 30 minutes to meet him to do it. He even waited until I had the tires out of the back of the truck and on the ground before he said I have $250 cash and that is all I will pay. I almost knocked him into next week. Loaded the tires up while he suddenly remembered he had another $250 in the other pocket. I flat out refused to sell to him and left. 3 days later I sold to another person who was genuine and decent to deal with for the full price.

I really hate selling on CL to be honest because of the losers that frequent it. BUT, with that said, for certain things it is the best option and you just have to deal with the low lives and wait for a decent buyer to show up.


Yeah, I wouldn't waste time driving a 1/2 hour to see a potential buyer. Usually I make them come to me so that if they don't show up, I don't waste any time. Usually I use CL all the time for rentals. About 1/2 to 1/3 of the time they won't show up. The worst ones are the ones who just don't answer the phone after they don't show up. The least they could do is set up some lame excuse of why they couldn't make it. It's why I typically try to stack 2-3 people at the same time because one or two of them won't show.

 

[hatt]

Originally Posted By: AuthorEditor
Quote:
If you price your home at market price it sells for that price. If you price it higher, it doesn't.

The big problem with CL is that much (most?) of the stuff is not priced correctly. Most people have no idea of the correct market price in the first place, and a lot are doing just what people wrote here: they price high and hope the right person comes along willing to pay, or they haggle. Personally, I price low and stuff moves with little hassle, or I give it away to a charity auction, that sort of thing. Seriously, look around and find a worthy cause and donate it.
I think most people price things on CL by seeing what it costs new and then adding 10%. I price stuff a little low or donate it as well. You can set stuff on the road the day before trash comes and it disappears in minutes around here.

We tried a yard sale 5-6 years ago. I'd rather stick needles under my nails than deal with that nonsense again. People trying to talk you down from a quarter. I have thought about having an entertainment yard sale one day. Every time someone offered less cut or break the item in half and tell them OK.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
As a buyer, nobody needs to be a jerk. If an item is priced way high, you can simply ignore the listing. It would also never occur to me to accept an offer and then show up with less cash when coming to pick the item up.
CL is like any other market place in that most sellers and most buyers are honest and reasonable while others few are ill-mannered fools.
A fair transaction between reasonable people leaves everyone happy.
I personally prefer reasonable over allowing someone to take me to the gorilla grimace level as either a buyer or seller.

I bought/sold some items on CL, never met any ill-mannered person yet. Probably we don't have many jerks in So Cal.

I actually let buyers into my house to see/check the items I listed on CL.

 

[AuthorEditor]

Quote:
We tried a yard sale 5-6 years ago. I'd rather stick needles under my nails than deal with that nonsense again. People trying to talk you down from a quarter.

You've got to go with the flow at yard sales. I found that things I had put prices on often didn't go for half that price, while other stuff I didn't bother to price I got offers on for five times what I thought the value was. I'll never forget the last big one we had--couldn't give away a nearly brand new air conditioner for 50% of its value, while an old tool box with rusty junk tools in it sold for a good price. It went that way all day. Ended up making more than I thought, so I took a bunch of really nice stuff to various charities and donated it--old records, furniture, etc. Felt happy at the end of the day that we cleared out a lot of stuff, made some money, and everyone left feeling like they got a deal.

 

[greenjp]

I have bought and sold a fair number of things on craigslist, mostly vehicles and furniture, and had good experiences in the vast majority of the cases. Sure people are looking for a "deal", but indeed who isn't? You can choose to price it high to try and get the most money, or you can price it low to just get rid of it. There are pros and cons to both approaches.

I've also found that the people I've dealt with have been not unlike me. That is, regular people.

I've sold 2 cars, a motorcycle, a camera, and some furniture in the last several years. Also bought some furniture.

Other things I've sold via ebay and through buy/sell forums on various enthusiast sites. Also generally happy with how those have gone.

jeff

 

[AuthorEditor]

For those that use the term, "Price firm," you may want to skip it. IMHO that usually means the item is priced too high and in reality it is a bluff by the owner. I've seen the same car listed for weeks with a gradually declining "Firm price" displayed each week until it got down to where I could make an offer that was reasonable. Also, skip the "Must go today" on your ad that runs for four weeks at a "firm price" that is too high.

 

[supton]

I'm not much of a haggler, so I like to see "firm" if they don't want to haggle--if the price is right, then it's right.

Every once in a while at a yard sale or whatever I'll try my hand and see if I can haggle down even a good price. That's how it works, after all. Sometimes I get it, sometimes I don't and I walk.

 

[bubbatime]

Originally Posted By: MinamiKotaro
This is why I don't sell anything. Dealing with people just isn't worth it.

Selling things on ebay can be ok. Put it up, somebody wins the auction, you ship it to them. No person-to-person contact.


Wait until you sell a couple hundred dollar item on eBay, spend $20 packaging and shipping it to the buyer, and then they fraudulently claim it is broken. They get to keep the item AND get refunded the full purchase price they paid you AND they get free shipping too. You just spent $20 to ship an item for free to some jackwagon. eBay flat out SCREWS sellers sometimes. I was an eBay power-seller and I wont sell another thing on that screw ball site. Too many fraudsters out there ripping sellers off.

 

[linkbelt]

Originally Posted By: AuthorEditor
For those that use the term, "Price firm," you may want to skip it. IMHO that usually means the item is priced too high and in reality it is a bluff by the owner. I've seen the same car listed for weeks with a gradually declining "Firm price" displayed each week until it got down to where I could make an offer that was reasonable. Also, skip the "Must go today" on your ad that runs for four weeks at a "firm price" that is too high.


No bluff here, when I say "price firm", that is what it means.

 

[Uber_Archetype]

Auction sites (CL, eBay, et al) attracts a certain flaky demographic looking for easy money - sometimes to the extent of scams and ripoffs. Of course the vast majority of participants, both sellers and buyers, are on the up-and-up. Problem is, if you're gonna go there, you run the risk of turning over a rock and finding one of the ne'er-do-wells.

 

[MinamiKotaro]

Originally Posted By: bubbatime
Originally Posted By: MinamiKotaro
This is why I don't sell anything. Dealing with people just isn't worth it.

Selling things on ebay can be ok. Put it up, somebody wins the auction, you ship it to them. No person-to-person contact.


Wait until you sell a couple hundred dollar item on eBay, spend $20 packaging and shipping it to the buyer, and then they fraudulently claim it is broken. They get to keep the item AND get refunded the full purchase price they paid you AND they get free shipping too. You just spent $20 to ship an item for free to some jackwagon. eBay flat out SCREWS sellers sometimes. I was an eBay power-seller and I wont sell another thing on that screw ball site. Too many fraudsters out there ripping sellers off.


I probably haven't sold anything on ebay for, gosh, probably ten years now. Glad I quit.

 

[MinamiKotaro]

Originally Posted By: Uber_Archetype
Auction sites (CL, eBay, et al) attracts a certain flaky demographic looking for easy money - sometimes to the extent of scams and ripoffs. Of course the vast majority of participants, both sellers and buyers, are on the up-and-up. Problem is, if you're gonna go there, you run the risk of turning over a rock and finding one of the ne'er-do-wells.


So do brick and mortar stores. I've seen someone buy a box of wheel covers, put one on their car right outside the store, then go back in and ask for their money back because "there are only three in the box". Even seen it with oil and antifreeze. Buy some, pour it in, go back inside, "You sold me the wrong kind. Give me my money back." Then, of course, you have those who buy parts, install them, and return the old one they just took off their car.

I've seen it increasingly in restaurants, too. Seems like every time I go, someone is making a scene about something (wrong order, it was bad, had something in it they were "allergic" to) to get their meal for free. It doesn't matter if it's fast food or a "real" restaurant.

And let's not get started on the people who try to haggle the price of a combo meal down at the freaking drive through window.