Quote:
Originally Posted by davepl
Time is money. If you want to stand around all day talking to losers from Craigslist who come out and kick our tire because they think an old truck is something that they can likely talk you out of...
But I hate talking to strangers to begin with, so would much rather pay someone (like a car salesman) who does it for a living to put up with it.
I bought a '69 Pontiac Brougham at an auction in Florida and sold it at a consignment dealer in Seattle for -exactly- what I paid for it (less taxes and commissions which make it easy to fool yourself about your great deal!). Never had to deal with either end of the transaction other than paying/receiving.
Some people like talking to strangers. I don't!
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I don't have that social issue, so don't need to pay someone to compensate for it. I have sold plenty of vehicles in my life and because I have dealt with all sorts of strangers in my life across the board I have learned how to deal with the unreasonable ones and remain the one in control of my sale. I try to feel potential buyers out prior to arranging getting together. Many never get to that point. I have been self-employed since '82 so I realize time is money. And, I have made my living through dealing with strangers.
I don't recall any negative experiences that would prompt me to hiring someone else to deal with my selling. On Craigslist I never give my phone number, which eliminates the texts. It's strictly through the indirect e-mail they provide. My two most recent sales were my '85 Jimmy Diesel I sold for 40%+ more than I had into it to the first person to show interest. Although I had two others waiting with money in hand. One lived on my road a mile in one direction and the other about four in the other. That was when it wasn't for sale. They were disappointed I decided to take it to spring Carlisle with me and it sold there. My space cost me $100, I made 10x that back just on parts sales all the while enjoying three days of dealing with strangers and friends who were once strangers.
The other was a '71 I listed on Craigslist. I'd post it up and get all kinds of responses, but none I cared to see through. Mostly it was "So what's the best you can do on it?". My standard response is "Come take a look and tell me why you think it's worth less than I'm asking". Nips that crap in the bud. I would post it up, get the responses in the first day or two, let it run out, and months later I'd decide to give it another shot when convenient. It's not like I was desperate for the money. After a couple cycles of the S.O.S. I came to realize maybe I was luring flippers by not asking enough... people judged it as less than it's worth by my reasonable price. So I listed it for close to half again more and sold it for my asking price right away to a guy from over 400 miles away. He came to me, so didn't have to spend time taking it to a dealer or wasting time dealing with them on the terms and signing an agreement for their cut. The next week the guy had it on Craigslist for more, so he was flipper. I have learned a lot through my selling experiences to where now it is no big deal at all. In fact I enjoy it and the money I have made with my time.