Rant Therapy....grrr

[Diamondpilot]

Steve,

That's too bad. A man should be able to keep his word. I've been through the same thing and it stinks, but it might be fate that you'll find something even nicer or cheaper.



Anyone shows up on my property where my wife & children live to buy something I'm selling with a handgun and/or a "big buddy" and they can just take their business elsewhere. Most likey they'll be getting in their truck with my size 11 steel toe boot up their rear ends, too.

If they or you are honest they will have no problems. By the way its never been a issue and the gun has never been out. But on many of these deals I am showing up with between 30-80K so I want things in my favor.

Chris

 

[Diamondpilot]

Yep, my Son's frequently sell stuff on Craigslist. They say it takes ten "inquiries", "I'll take it", "coming by tomorrow to get it" phone calls to get one solid buyer. They always tell potential buyers first cash wins.

As a buyer I never go look without the money in my pocket.

You are a wise man. That is why when I go to look at anything, especially boats I show up with cash. I can usually get 20% off or more of the asking price by offering cash.

Chris

 

[Soundguy]

I agree.. I've bought things well under asking price by having cash.. heck.. I've even offered thinking the offer was too low and being honest that I thought it was worth more.. this this is litterally what I have.. if ya want it great.. if not.. no problem.. more times than not.. I walk away with the item..

soundguy

 

[LBrown59]

What goes around does come around...I have a friend who missed a deal several years ago on a F-350 it was advertised for about one third of what Kelly Blue Book had it valued..and had only 10,000 miles and was still under waranty...he mentioned it and told an aquaintance of his he was looking at buying it and mentioned where it was..that fella he mentioned it to went and bought that truck...made my friend so mad...but here is the rest of the story...turns out the truck had been stolen and the VIN had been changed with one from a salvage yard and had a clear title ..but when it went in for service the dealer caught it and the police became involved and the fella that bought it had to convince them not to charge him with recieving stolen goods ...he ended up losing the 20K he paid for it and the truck....what goes around comes around..LOL

Payback time.

 

[newbury]

About 6 weeks ago I found a used Stihl 460 for a good price, not a steal but equivalent to ebay and local. I really needed one about that size. The guy was about to meet me at a local mall, Then he delayed twice, then wouldn't return my calls and I went on my trip. I won a new John Deere CS62 (just slightly smaller than the Stihl) at Arboristsite. Saved $700.

I was peeved at first I didn't get the 460, now when I get home I'll have a JDCS62 and bought an alaskan mill for it.

I should be thankful.

 

[Steve C]

Yep, my Son's frequently sell stuff on Craigslist. They say it takes ten "inquiries", "I'll take it", "coming by tomorrow to get it" phone calls to get one solid buyer. They always tell potential buyers first cash wins.

As a buyer I never go look without the money in my pocket.

Neither do I, however I can't think of anything else I could have done as a buyer. I agreed to the price and offered to get over there ASAP. I don't know what else could I have done as a buyer

If you call me and say "Hi my name is Richard xxxxx I want to look at your tractor as soon as possible and i will bring the money with me. That tractor is exactly what I have been looking for, for a long time."

As the seller I say I am glad you called, to whom am I speaking? Richard xxxxx. My Name is Steve C. I have had the tractor about 10 years and it has been great, but we no longer have any property to use it on so it is time to send it on to a good home. It has been garage stored its entire life I am the second owner and it has been lightly used for the last ten years. It pretty much looks and runs like new. Richard, when can you come over to look at it? Right away?..Oh that won't work for me, I am working out of town, let me check with my schedule.....oh it seems that the earliest we can get together is almost 2 weeks from now.

I say "Richard xxxxx, this is where I live, come over to my place Thursday at 3 p.m. on October 8th if you want to buy a tractor." I only take cash.

Richard says "fine if that works for you, I will bring the money and my trailer", then Richard gives me gives me his phone number and e-mail address with instructions to contact him if it becomes possible to do it any time sooner. I say O.K. Richard I will see you on October 8th then, or I will give you a call if something comes up.

Richard then goes to the credit union to get the cash.
Richard spends the next 2 weeks anticipating bringing it home.

Meanwhile Bob Smith happens to catch me at home and says wow thats a great tractor Steve C. I want to buy your tractor, how much is it Steve?

I think it is my obligation to tell him it "is $2800 but I believe it is sold, I have an appointment that I set up at my convenience with Richard xxxxx on October 8th at 3 pm. so he can buy it.

You are the second person that contacted me. I told the first person Richard xxxxx that he couldn't see it or buy it until October 8th at 3 pm.

I realy want to sell this thing but I want to be fair about it. Bob Smith the only thing I can do now is put you next on the list.

I have effectively granted Richard xxxxx the first option to purchase it since I restricted Richard's access to it until then.

Bob Smith, I don't know if Richard has the cash in his pocket or if he had to get a loan from the bank. It doesn't matter to me, I told Richard to come over with the money on October 8th at 3 pm. He agreed to that and added he was bringing his trailer.

Bob Smith, leave me your phone number and I will give you a call or just come back at October 8th at 3:10 pm. If the tractor is still here then you may buy it. Under the circumstances it is the only fair thing to do.

This is the way I would have expected it to go down, at least that is the way I would do it if the tables were reversed.

 

[ovrszd]

Wow, that wore me out just reading it.

I agree that the seller might have abused you. But my rule still applies, "first cash wins".

As a seller I would never corner myself with a buyer commitment sometime in the future without cash in hand. For all I know the buyer is gonna bail on me and is just entertaining himself with no intention of coming thru with the money. That goes back to what my Sons say about ten nibbles before one with money shows up.

As a buyer I always lead with cash. If I'm unable to do that and the item gets away, so be it.

My Dad always said "Don't ever convince yourself that this is the only bargain out there".

You'll probably end up buying a better tractor at a lower price. Are ya gonna call the other seller and thank him for jerking you around then??

 

[Mike Costello]

Many moons ago, when I was in the garage business, I would always have some iron around to sell. I would put up a sign on the vehicle with the price. The deal was always the same--First one back with the cash gets the vehicle in question.
I sold a car one time that looked and ran well, so it attracted a lot of attention. At one time I actually had 4 buyers all looking at it at the same time. Three of them raced off to get the bucks--and the fourth just stood there. He quietly handed me the cash after all the others had left and drove away happy!

 

[Gary Fowler]

I have a little story to relate about trust and giving your word. Several years ago in 1988, I was working in Buffalo New York and living on Grand Island. Great people on Grand Island and friendliest folks I have ever had to please to live around. Anyway, a couple of pipe welders tested and made their test. They then asked if they could get a draw on their pay. The company policy was they could make one draw, but they had to work a week prior to that. They explained that they had used all their cash getting up to the job and were dead broke, but the company would not relent on the policy. I had a few bucks in my pocket from some safety incentive money that I had earned so I agreed to loan them some money even though I could really use that money to feed my family of 9.
Basically a similar thing had happened to me about 25 years before except that I was on the other side of the coin and a complete stranger helped me out. Well I loanded them $200 to get hotel and food. The next day they quit the job after working only 10 hours but told me they only did it to get their money and as soon as they cashed the checks they would come back and pay me. Everyone said,"Last you will see of those guys" . They did come back the following day, but after lunch, and I was beginning to believe everyone about never seeing my money. Anyway, I figured that even if I never got my money, that was my payback for someone helping me many years ago. Sometimes you just need to have a little faith in folks, just need to size them up first to see if you believe them to be honest.

 

[Bird]

Gary, during the time I was in charge of the police auto pound, we heard a lot of sad stories from folks who said they just didn't have the money to get their vehicles out of the pound. But usually, when all else failed, they reached in their pockets and came up with the cash. But then one day, a house painter got out of jail and came after his pickup, and his story wasn't really that much different; only that he had no money, but did have a 2 or 3 day job lined up, would get paid on completion, and could pay the wrecker and impound fees then, but needed the pickup to get to the job. It would be impossible to explain why, but I believed him. Now the city sure doesn't work on "credit", but I loaned the guy the money out of my pocket. Other employees thought it was funny and figured the captain would never see that money again. But come Friday, he showed up with the cash in hand. There are plenty of dishonest folks in the world, but still some honest ones, too.