fmbjogger

This has been bugging me. I extensively search multiple classic car sites every day and come across ads that demonstrate sellers bad attitudes. Phrases like " don't waste my time", " no tire kickers" etc come up time and time again. Is the seller trying to sell his car or insult me ?
As someone who has bought and sold multiple classic cars, I've found that respectful interaction goes a long way toward a sale. If I don't like you or your attitude, I'm not buying or selling to you....just a rant. I'm done.

slantflat

I can't believe it. You are the only other person besides me I have ever heard say this. I say I have to approve of the buyer/seller, and people laugh at me. I've actually told someone to leave before when they came to look at a car I was selling, because he was a *****.

I went to look at a car the other day. I looked it up and down, and the guy said do you want to take it for a ride? I said no, it isn't really what I want. He said, that's okay, it goes with buying and selling. He wanted to sell the car but didn't have a fit when I wasn't buying. By the way I was/am a serious buyer.

Thanks for putting this up here. It really made my day. I hope others that are would-be ****** will see this and adjust themselves accordingly.


Mike

jensenracing77

i see alot of that on eBay. i don't often do something like that but i do have one on there not that says

"Sorry, i will not add a buy it now price so please don't ask for one, thanks."

i have listed some parts there and got 30 emails in one day asking for a buy it now. i tried to state it as nice as i could but get the point across. many on there just don't care. the other thing i don't get are the people that make an ad like this one.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/GATES-31646-...item27c17fd695

1970cs

I am in the sales game myself! What these people don't understand it's part of the game, you can't always sell something that may not be appealing to that person, also as a buyer we know that some sellers are not truthfull either.

Regard,Pat

DreWRoolZ

I agree! (Strange coming from a 22 year old, huh?) Not just when buying/selling cars but in general really people need better manners! Alot of a**holes out there with no respect for anybody but themselves it makes me sick.

buzz lightyear

I know what you mean. I called on a car last week. A little girl answered the phone. Took a little while to get her dad on. He didn't seemed to pleased. Hard to get info. from him. Didn't even know if it a 4 bbl or 2 bbl. Told him I'll call back at end of week -to see if he still had car. As I'm 5 hours away. Short story--Called again-Talked to little girl again. Let 2 messages with phone #. Never heard back. How rude!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.I guess he didn't want to sell car. Maybe he did. It went back on craiglist again. Sorry dude. I gave you my time, you didn't aknowledge me. I'm thru. Look somewhere else.

compedgemarine

unfortunately that all works both ways. I always try and be polite and answer questions but it wears you down after spending 30 minutes on the phone answering questions to hear "I dont have the money now but if I sell my car soon I am interested". that has happened to me over and over. after wasting hours with people who have nothing to do and just want someone to talk to these people put that in their ads and now they look like the jerks. although some people are just jerks so as I said this all goes both ways.

oldcutlass

I can see both sides of this story. However I tend to be an optimist, I look for the good in people and their intentions!

VikingBlue

I don't have a probelm with that at all...they're just trying to keep the jackals away who are looking to get cars for peanuts, sell for them, etc. I'd say the same things.

This has nothing to do with civility IMO

w-30dreamin

I'll agree there are alot of rude,inconsiderate people in our world today.

Also I feel our countries moral standards are slipping away.

Rude,mean people suck!

Thanks for letting me vent.

Napoleon Solo

My turn!
I had a customer come in one day and the first words out of his mouth were "so what moron does the blasting?" Uh I am the owner and I do the blasting.....He was a long time customer of 'the other guy' but I remained polite instead of planting my foot in his keyster. He wanted the engine bay of his Roadrunner blasted. He would be the kind of customer where no matter how good the job was it would never be good enough. Mopar people...jeez.
(did I say that out loud?)

'S'tuff1979

I worked at a manheim auction doing security... Those are dealership auctions only. Need i say more

Chuck_66

I work for a medium company that thinks it's GM or something out right arrogant and every year it gets worse. If you are not a complete a$$ and yes man plan on not getting promoted. So now upper managers are total idiots average age is about 34 I almost have that many years experience. I know this isn't an isolated incident but it seams like the nice guy finishes last. I just keep telling myself one day they will get what is coming too them.

Mak

I think that's just to make it clear that listed price of their vehicle is "firm" with absolutely "no room for negotiation"... which we all know is always BS!!!

firefrost gold

Jens just so you know I got two of those gas caps I tend to lose them know and then. thanks for the tip on them I the Qestion on the buy it know is a Three fold fOr me, what will he sell it for , I dont want to be out bid in the last second it and maybe I need it shipped faster than the 4 or 5 days it is listed for , JMO

Highwayman

That hit a sore spot with me.


The last time I tried to sell something it was my old daily driver, a 1979 GMC 'Jimmy' 4x4. It had about 20k miles on a rebuilt engine and 1000 miles on a rebuild tranny. It had a lot of rust. It was also a sound mechanically 4x4 and it was Colorado. I checked all the ads I could find and thought I had a fair price with a little room to bargain. Parked it in the driveway with a for sale sign in the window.


All I got was guys that the first question out of their mouth was how much less then what I was asking would I take. They didn't want to look under the hood, hear it run or drive it. The guy with a new Escalate didn't want to get out of his car for a closer look. One guy called me on the phone to offer me a low ball price and when I said no he got irate and told me my truck was a piece of **** and not worth what I was asking. So why did he want a piece of ****? I had to hang up on him.


I figured out these clowns were probably buying old cars, fixing the rust with a 5 gallon can of bondo, a rake and a trowel and a quick coat of paint. Then resell it for profit. I don't mind someone making a profit but not at my expense. For what I was asking they could have parted the truck out and made money.


I finally had a young guy with his dad that were polite and said he wanted something for his body shop project make me a reasonable offer. They had cash. Sold!

'S'tuff1979

Yeah but why even offer something if you dont want to deal with the people that are going to buy it. Of course you get stupid questions, tire kickers, oil smellers, and good ole engine reving teens. That to me seems like a target sign. Dont shun these people they are usually intimidated and afraid theyre gonna get taken lets face it happens (NOS license plate mounting kits) need i say more hahaha

Vega

AGREED! You have no idea how many people are secretly behind you on this lol

A lot i feel like im the only person on craigslist who is actually up front, honest, and respectful in regaurds to their listing or other people's listings. Ive had tons of people text, call, and come look at my cars and i swear some people have some real ***** on them with the attitudes they get. I had a guy i was talking too about trading one of my cars for a while and seriously every time we'd talk he came "pre-pissed" haha, like i had already insulted his intelligence by answering his phone call. Ive had tons of morons who think theyre professional vehicle appraisers who have no idea what an Olds 350 is, or what a TH350 is, or what a posi-rear or 10-bolt rear is.

It just gets really aggrivating when you have things listed and youre 100% honest and up front about them and these people come along with their attitudes or insulting oppinions and such, or even when everyone expects that of you just because every other seller out there is trying to pawn off their pile of crap on some unsuspecting victom (see other post LOL)

I'll also add to your rant saying i hate when people contact you many times and then set up a time and date to come see/buy your item and then...no call no show. I HATE THAT. Which i think is what is meant by "serious inquiries only" trying to deturr people who would set a time and date and then no call no show on it. Another thing i hate is people who know what is on the table, they make an offer, you both agree on it, then later they change it. I was contacted by someone to buy my car once, the idea of a trade came up, i ended up coming out to see HIS car, and then a few days later the idea of a trade doesnt sound so appealing to him anymore. Thanks for wasting my time random guy, i love getting lost in nowhere-town Indiana on account of your indecisiveness -_-'

Okay...and thats my rant LOL. I might make ammendments to it later lol

Vega

And here's my 1st addition to my rant as promised haha:

I hate the phrase "whats your bottom dollar?"
im like "...seriously guy? Did you just go th..wait, no, my bottom dollar? The asking price." Ask a stupid question get a stupid answer lol. You can change the phrase up too and its still just as dumb "whats the least youd have to have for it?" like this one person is the final call for a sale, its this guy's offer or nothing. And then not only that but any time you throw out an answer to the "bottom dollar" question its always greeted with "eehhhhhh..." These people couldnt haggle their way out of a drug search in Amstradam. I'll at least entertain some interesting back and forth haggling, as long as it meets at a fair middle-ground, but the whole "bottom dollar" crap is just about the worst method of haggling ive ever heard lol. Again, sorry for the mini-rant haha

MDchanic

Sorry, but I think that "What'll you take"? "What're you looking for?" "That price firm?" and "How low you willing to go?" are perfectly reasonable first questions.
They establish a baseline for discussion and show immediately whom you're dealing with.

The assumption is that all prices are negotiable, and that all "firm" prices are set by old geezers who have no interest in selling their "goldmines" and just put prices on their crappy rustbuckets to mollify their nagging wives.

If I see a price of $1,500 and ask "So, about how much you lookin' for?" and I get, "Well, I've got over a grand into her, and I really can't let her go for less than 1200," or "Well, I've got three grand into her, but we're moving in a week," or "I really need to get pretty close to what it says," or "I don't know - talk to me," then I have some idea where we're going. If I get, "1500's the price." then I know I'm dealing with a jerk who won't negotiate, and that I need to move on (see above geezer).

Asking something like this at the beginning, before I've even looked at the car, can save me a lot of wasted time looking a car that I wouldn't buy because it's too expensive or its owner is too recalcitrant. Remember, you're not looking at a car in limbo, as an entity with its own inherent qualities, you're looking at a car to see whether it's worth a specific amount of money to you personally - If I can't get an idea of roughly how much money that is at the beginning, then there's no point in going further, any more than there would be if I were looking at cars in the $1,000 price range, but kept calling sellers with ads around $5,000.

- Eric

slantflat

Eric are you saying you'd ask this on the phone at the initial contact? I have to disagree with you here. I hate when people start talking money and they haven't even see the car yet. Now, I realize if you're buying something a few states away, but then at least view some pictures. My feeling when I hear this is they are trying to pull something.

Now, if this works for you that's great. Lots of different styles of negotiating. My feeling is you can't make an honest and educated offer if you haven't seen the car.

And I agree whole heartedly that people who just throw out their price and won't even listen to any offers don't want to sell.


Mike

droptopron

What is your opinions on reserve prices on EBay auctions? I don't understand why some people keep them a big secret like it is the last step to making a muclear bomb. When i was shopping for my car my very top of my budget was $15K. there was a car on EBay that was fairly local so I went to look at it. I asked about the reserve price but the guy wouldn't say what it was. I get to the guy's house & he pulls it out of the garage and the for sale sign on the car says $24K firm. Then the guy says that is his reserve. It was way beyond my budget & I honestly didn't think it was worth that kind of money. If he told me the price i could have saved my time & his too.

MDchanic

Mike,

Not if the car is nearby, of course, that'd be silly.
I mean it more when actually looking at the car.

BUT, if I were talking to someone far away, yes I would ask "How firm are you on the price?" before I traveled hundreds of miles. It's important information to put in the hopper with everything else.

- Eric

jensenracing77

i think every situation calls for a differant tactic. as many of you know, me and my wife are looking for a 62 Cutlass. there is one exactly like we are looking for in Missouri but it is $4900 over priced IMO. it has been for sale for a long time. i called them and told them it was what i was looking for but we were pretty far apart on the price. i had ask if they would take my number and call me if they get to where they need to lower the price to move it. the guy almost begged me to shoot him a price and when i told him he was upset and saying i hadn't even see the car other than pictures. they did take my number so maybe they will call me when they realize it is over priced.

f-85

Im with you Eric. I do that alot. I get pics, info, and talk price over the phone, or email. Most stuff i go look at isnt close. So i have to get as much info as i can. I find alot of people selling things are F.O.S. To me "Time Is Money" I cant waste a day or half a day going window shopping. When i go to look at something 99% of the time i have cash in hand and a trailer hooked to my truck (i have to rent trailers)

oldcutlass

The problem is the internet has changed the way we purchase things. People sit nekkid eating pizza on thier couch and email, text, or call around looking for something they can steal. The voices in their heads are feeding them prices that may not reflect the correct price that is reasonable for what they are buying. They have a $20k budget but yet are looking at $50k cars.

Don't get me wrong you have to weed through alot of folks to get your sale, but you also have to be respectful at the onset!

There is an a$$ for every seat!

rustyroger

We have the same issues over here.
One thing that often comes up is someone wanting you to take the car to them, I soon learned to say "If you are really interested you will come and have a look", maybe one in five of these callers actually came round.

But this is how it is right now. Plenty of buyers hoping you are desperate to sell quickly, plenty of sellers hoping you are desperate for what they have on offer, all looking for a deal.

Roger.

aliensatemybuick

I really don't care if a seller or buyer has an attitude, as long as he's serious about the transaction. You don't have to like the person you buy something from or who you sell something to. As far as sellers having an attitude, that will happen after dealing with enough idiots. Consider too that on the internets, now when selling your car you (apparently) are expected to share everything with the ENTIRE WORLD, not just a few serious potential buyers. People forget, a sale is between ONE seller and ONE buyer; everyone else doesn't have to like the seller, his car, his ad, the price, see pictures of the cowl tag, whatever. Selling stuff aint a popularity contest.

I do agree though that manners and civility are dead. In fact read it in the newspaper back around 1999 (saved the article, and if I can find it, I'll scan and post a copy).

Highwayman

I don't mind dealing with folks. There are no stupid questions, ask away. The truck was knee deep in rubber so kick the tires. Knock yourself out. Smell the oil. It's clean and fresh so that only works in my favor. Start the engine and rev it up. Take it for a drive. Make me an offer. The first guy that did that drove it home.


Let me back up a minute. I checked the ads and similar Jimmys and Blazers were advertized for $4K to $5K. Mine was in great mechanical shape but had rust so I was asking $2K. I saw one ad for $1K without an engine. I don't think I was out of line on price by much.


There was no ad in the paper or on the internet. Just a for sale sign in the widow parked in my driveway. So these guys that came to the door knew nothing about it and weren't interested in asking or looking. I'd offer to start it so they could hear it run but they didn't care about that. It was just “how much?” followed by “that's too much.” And these guys weren't making me any counter offers. They acted like I was wasting their time.


The guy on the phone that cussed me out because I turned down his offer for less than $1K was about the final straw for me.

slantflat

Eric I had to go back and reread what I wrote. I agree with you if you're looking at something far away you get everything in line, including the price, before you set out on a journey. But, my opinion is that talking money isn't the first thing you do.

I've done this before. Get all my information and decide to buy the car, and we agree on the phone to the sale price, but I will say, if I get there and it's everything it's supposed to be, I'll pay you this amount. If it isn't, I'm taking my empty trailer back home with me. I flew out to look at a car once, and the guy was convinced I was going to drive it home. I had the check with me. The car was nowhere near what he said it was and was way overpriced for what it was. He was shocked when I got back on the plane and came home.

At least he wasn't rude. Nice enough fellow, a little naive I think.



Mike

WhatIf

The 'bad seller attitude' has really been ramped up in the past couple years. I think it's because ofthe economy. Sellers are frustrated because their cars aren't getting anywhere near the prices they would have gotten 4 years ago, maybe when they started their project. They're probably tired of people showing up, driving their car, acting interested, then lowballing them by 50% on the price. Then a buyer lectures the seller about how the car is overpriced, the economy is in the toilet, etc.

After a few of those buyers, I'd probably be a little short tempered as a seller too!

gearheads78

Could not have put it better if I tried.

I have an exteem amount of patience so I can deal with the ********, tire kickers , time wasters, chain pullers and so on. You wade through it all to find the sale.

My only real pet peave about buying and selling (seems to be worse on CL ) people will not return a simple email saying something is sold or not. I am alway left wondering do they even know I tried to contact them.

J-(Chicago)

The worst are the craigslist no shows.
They call you up, beat you up on price, and when you cut them a deal, they say they're on the way and never show.

I have built up a crappy buyer/seller attitude to a point as well. At first.... I welcomed everyone.
Now after years and years of idiots I've grown a bit weary of both sides.

When an ad says a car is solid, and you go drive 3 hours with a trailer, JUST to see not even one good panel on the whole thing. You kinda want to beat the **** out of them.

I was selling a set of Jeep wheels on CL last week, and in the ad I put:

There is rust bloom on these wheels and the paint has been compromised. Would be great for winter wheels so you don't use your nice ones in the snow. All 5 wheels for $100

The guy that came to look at them, was PISSED that they had any rust on them. They are 20 year old steel wheels.
He said he was trying to flip a truck for money and he can't give me more than $40 because of all the work he's going to have to do now to make the wheels look nice.

I told him, the center caps were worth $40, and give me $75 or get lost.
He left.
An hour later his girlfriend showed up with $75 and she asked me if I'd still take it.
What a d1ck. Couldn't even show his face again.

So now my ads make me sound like a jerk. NO HAGGLING. THIS ISN'T INDIA.

It works both ways, people. A fair price is a fair price. Jerk or not. Misrepresentation is much worse than bad manners in my opinion.

Vega

[QUOTE=J-(Chicago);360285]The worst are the craigslist no shows.
They call you up, beat you up on price, and when you cut them a deal, they say they're on the way and never show. [QUOTE]

Agreed completely. This is what aggrivates me too. over 80% of craigslist buyers are just window shoppers and dont really want to buy anything. But theyre just fine with utilizing your precious time to fine-tune their haggling skills. Loved the India crack btw xD

I feel like different circumstances call for different approaches. If youre driving 100 miles or more its a sure bet that you'll want to get everything sorted out over the phone. But my issue comes from every single person asking "whats your bottom dollar?" and all these people are 20-30 miles away. Like i said, i enjoy the typical haggling but thats not haggling, its just lame. Theres much better ways to word it if you want to start talking about price, "how firm are you?" is a good way to go about it, i can dig that. But like i said, different approaches and different circumstances. Me, i dont post on craigslist or sell things much at all and those are my thoughts, however if you (or i for that matter) owned a business or sold as a hobby you would need to put up with those people, business is business and you cant take it personally at that point. Its like if someone came to you and said "can you stuff this Ford 460 in my numbers matching 1970 W30 4-speed 442?" sure you might try all of the easy tactics you can conceive to talk him into just rebuilding the original motor, but if its what he has his heart set on and youre the guy with the business, you gotta please the customer, no doubt.

MDchanic

Absolutely true.

And I wasn't talking about haggling to death over a set of winter wheels, I was talking about buying a car.
If a guy is selling a set of wheels, and he describes them accurately, and he says the price is firm, that's within reason, though I'll still see if he'll budge (you did, even though the guy was a jerk ).

I won't sell little stuff like that via Craigslist or the classified for just that reason - too much trouble over too little gain, but I will sell at flea markets, and I do occasionally buy or sell a car.

Last car I sold was a '68 Galaxie sedan with 68,000 miles, no rust, 390, and a number of improvements (brakes, sway bars, cam, I don't even remember...). Had a sign on it for something like $2000 for months, finally got a bite from a high school kid, sold it to him for $1,200 (again - I can barely remember because it was so traumatic) and let him pay me over about 4 months before he picked it up. Now that's bargaining, but I recognized the reality that it would rot into the front lawn if I didn't move it, and it wasn't going to move for what I thought it was worth. I get annoyed at people who stand firm on an obviously unrealistic price and let their cars go to hell rather than sell them to someone who can use them. Yes it's their car and they can set the price, but if your price is double what the car is worth, then I say you're not really trying to sell it - you're just busting people's chops for your own amusement.

- Eric

kartmaster

Ugh. I hate selling stuff. I hardly find it worth my time. Most of the time I either hold on to it, or if it really needs to go I cut someone in the family a deal. Sold my wife's old 91 Mustang to our niece for $800. Probably could have got $1,200 on the market, but didn't want to put up with all the bull. First thing she did was ask me to ride with her to the store and show her what she needed for oil changes so she could do her own.

I don't know what the car would have eventually sold for, but I felt good about the deal.

Vega

Agreed.
Or when people let great cars rot in their yard for no reason. Either a restored car that never gets driven and is just an expensive lawn ornament, or a great restorable car that the owner just "hasnt gotten around too yet" yeah, not yet, not in the 15 years its been sitting there has the owner gotten around to working on it yet, but he will, oh he will. Or worst of the worst. Those hoarders who buy up all the great restorable cars who are being sold by generous people at a great price to hopefully send them to a good owner who will enjoy it and put it back to its former glory, and all they do is sit on them waiting for the market value to go up. I cant stand people like that, its people like that who are the reason the youth isnt into muscle cars, its just way too expensive, and its sad really, most of them will never know what a quality car was really about. Too many people out there trying to make big bucks off re-selling like theyre stocks or something. And honestly it wouldnt be so bad if the hoarders had 2 or so good cars, but no, they always have 6 cars, 8 cars, 14 cars...people are free to do what they want with their property but come on, dont be a leech and suck the life from this great hobby just for your own financial gain. You cant take it with you after all...

DennisG.

After 28 years of messing with cars and parts I've seen and heard all of that. I've seen and been on both sides. I will sometimes as what the sellers bottem dollar is just to get a feel of what he expects to get. Sometimes it's good and sometimes it's not but it's saved me a long drive many times. If the seller is going to be a dick about it then there is no need to waste my time or his. If it's something I really want then I'll chance it. On the same token if I list something real cheap and I list the price as firm then don't bother me if you don't want or plan to pay that much. I know the economy sucks and I don't have a problem working with people when I can. And your attitude means alot to me. I don't mind answering questions just don't be a dumbazz and ask me stuff thats already plainly answered in the ad. It sems alot of people don't even bother to read ads anymore. They just pick up the phone and call or text the number. Thats another thing, I don't answer texts, thats what the phone is for. DUH! I even put in my ads I don't answer texts but people still text all the time.

And the famous - it's gonna cost me $$$ to get there. I don't care. Do you go to your grocery store and tell them you need a discount because it cost you $$$ to get there ?

Or they call you, ask all kinds of questions then tell ya "I need to get a ride". Please work that out before you call.

And last but not least, the most important. They want your address now but will call you later about coming out. I learned the hard way, I don't give out my address untill you are ready to come out. I've had stuff stolen and an attemped car theft. A guy I know had his Nova stolen that way. At least with your number in my caller id I have something to give the cops if something happens. I also don't answer blocked or anonymous calls. I let them go straight to voicemail and call them back if it's important.

MDchanic

... Also, as a concrete example, which I didn't think of this morning:

About a month ago I called on a CL ad for a coal stove for $300. It was located about 2 hours away.
I got some information from the guy, it sounded good, so I explained that it was a bit of a drive for me and asked if he was firm on the price. He said he was willing to talk, so I set up a time to go see it.
I drove down there, backed up to his bay, went in and said Hi, he showed me the stove, we BS'd for half an hour, I said, "What'll you take?", he said, "What'll you give me?", I said "One fifty," he said, "That's just what I was gonna tell you!", and I gave him $150, we loaded it up, and off I drove.

He gained a few bucks and got rid of a boat anchor that was in his way, and I got a stove for a good price.

My point, though, is that that stove was not worth $300 to me, especially considering it would cost $50 in fuel and tolls and half a day driving for me to get it (though it was worth $200), so if he had said he was firm, I would have thanked him and not bothered any further. The fact that he said he was willing to talk was what made the sale happen.

- Eric

sammy

Totally agree-i hate selling stuff-But, i love rescuing old cars.So if I kept going the way I was , my buildings would have been full! So i started to sell them for exactly what I paid for them-pretty crazy ! But, it made me feel good to have saved these cars!