Online Selling Practices - Craigslist etc. Rant!

[isenbed]

Not necessarily c-list, buy I hate when dealers don't list prices. The whole $call tag irks me.

If you really think the prices are too good to list, then they are too good to be true.

I believe some manufacturers prohibit dealers from advertising new equipment at less than a certain price, hence all the package deals.

 

[LD1]

I believe some manufacturers prohibit dealers from advertising new equipment at less than a certain price,

If that is true, it makes no sense to me at all.

As a buyer, I dont what to waste my time trying to figure out how much you want to sell me something for. Especially if shopping different models and brands. I like to look and see what I can afford, and how much more/less for a different model bigger or smaller, or how much another brand may be. I dont want to play 20 questions with a dealer just to get at a price.

 

[mikehaugen]

If that is true, it makes no sense to me at all.

As a buyer, I dont what to waste my time trying to figure out how much you want to sell me something for. Especially if shopping different models and brands. I like to look and see what I can afford, and how much more/less for a different model bigger or smaller, or how much another brand may be. I dont want to play 20 questions with a dealer just to get at a price.

Deere, and I'm sure other manufacturers have a website that you can build a tractor, it will then at least give you msrp. Then if you wish it will send it to whatever dealer you specify and they can give you a quote. Never done the quote part but at least getting msrp is a help.

 

[LD1]

Deere, and I'm sure other manufacturers have a website that you can build a tractor, it will then at least give you msrp. Then if you wish it will send it to whatever dealer you specify and they can give you a quote. Never done the quote part but at least getting msrp is a help.

And how many times on here do we have people inquiring about prices? or wondering how much % off MSRP should they expect?

Is it too hard to just put a fair sales price instead of $call

Car dealers used to always put a sales price on the window or on a sticker. Some still do, but more and more are not.

 

[jmc]

The police in Spencer, Indiana welcomes people to do their CL exchanges at their police department.

 

[DavesTractor]

On the other hand the $1 guy may not know enough about marketing to attract any interest at all. My Yanmar YM186D with loader was advertised as 'Tractor $1.' Inside the ad he didn't mention the brand or model and was asking $4,500. Only two days later he hadn't gotten any calls so he left the title the same but revised the internal text to $3,500 - a very good price. I called immediately and learned he was including a full set of brand new manuals and $50 of filters, an original Yanmar box blade, a pair of new loader forks, and the tractor had the rare and valuable power steering option. And he had done a fluids & filters service on it in the year he owned it. I ran down immediately and gave him all the cash I could raise in a couple of hours, $700, and brought home the forks and box blade mainly as a symbol that this was a done deal. Next day I shifted savings to checking, paid him the rest, and towed it home. In my opinion he could have gotten near his $4,500 if he had described the options included with the tractor and had let the ad run more than a just a couple of days at that higher price.

Dave - you saw the earlier one. This one's better!

California, I need to hire you as a buyer...well done! One thing that is true is that a poor seller sometimes offers a good deal and it can be worth the hassle to look at a poor ad and make the effort to contact etc. The really savvy buyer would have asked and received more $$ for that tractor.

 

[DavesTractor]

What is the best way to buy something for cash that is worth thousands and not get rolled by a scam seller? I would hate to meet a stranger in an unknown neighborhood thinking he knows you have a pile of cash on you. People have been killed that way as I heard on the news. I have bought low ticket items on CL and sold things that were worth a few thousand and it never was a problem, but I would have an uneasy feeling carrying a pile of cash into a trap. I used to CC but moved and haven't reregistered but I would feel a little safer from that standpoint.

I understand meeting in a safe spot in the daylight, if that is possible. Maybe, put the cash in a nearby bank before the meeting.

I CC for "insurance", but a good method on a big item is to tell the guy if it looks good you and he can drive to the bank and he can watch the bank pull a cashiers check in his name. That way he knows it is not a scam check. If he insists on cash, you can go to the bank after you get there and pull the cash. Or at least tell him that is your plan, even if you have a stack of $100's with you, at least he won't assume you have $$. Then if it looks safe, you can tell him you stopped by the bank on the way to save time, etc.

You certainly want them to know that you just have the cash for a deposit with you, but that you have no problem getting the rest immediately. Of course this concept only works during business hours.

 

[DavesTractor]

I believe some manufacturers prohibit dealers from advertising new equipment at less than a certain price, hence all the package deals.

Exactly. Many manufacturers "protect" dealers from inline competition by not allowing anything other than list prices to be advertised. It's been that way for a long time, and most of the majors hold to that. That's why you see clever packages and other ways that dealers try to show the price and still not get in trouble.

As a former dealer council member for a tractor brand, I made the point that we can't just look at what we like as dealers, we need to look at what our customers demand. But that fell on deaf ears.

But when you see "price too good to list", generally the dealer is trying to keep himself out of trouble.

This will change over time. Just like phone booths and yellow pages and newspaper advertising...times are changing. We think more like Amazon, search for item, get good price, order....

 

[newbury]

People that can't spell the manufacturer of the tractor or whatever is for sale correctly even though it is in the picture.

John Deer, Kabota, Kobota, etc.

That's how I bought my LA352 Kabota (Actually a B7610 Kubota WITH an LA352 loader).

What is the best way to buy something for cash that is worth thousands and not get rolled by a scam seller? <snip>

Cashiers checks - multiple if you think you are going to dicker price, for example I think I took a $10K, a $1K, and two $250 checks, plus misc. folding money.

 

[PILOON]

I believe some manufacturers prohibit dealers from advertising new equipment at less than a certain price, hence all the package deals.

True
Another industry, but we had to comply with those terms. If a competitor or 2 made a complaint you could lose your franchise.
My solution was to have demos also to create package deals whereby some bonus items were added at cost.
Our product line usually required a labor content so on straight forward installations I might offer an 'installed price'.
I think it is called creative marketing.