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Hot Rods Consignment Dealer Business Practices

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by lothiandon1940, Jan 3, 2020.

  1. BuckeyeBuicks
    Joined: Jan 4, 2010
    Posts: 2,705

    BuckeyeBuicks
    Member
    from ohio

    I have to agree with you, maybe we are both old fashioned. It just plain pisses me off for some one to make an offer without even looking at the car. I have had them make low ball offers over the phone so I just tell them to go back to their sandbox and play with their tootsie toys. I have sold a lot of cars over the years, I always have the title in my name, it takes cash in my hand, no checks, no paypal , no trades and sure as hell no payment plans. I figure if a buyer is serious about buying they will do it on my terms.
     
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  2. Squablow
    Joined: Apr 26, 2005
    Posts: 17,390

    Squablow
    Member

    Over the phone offers from people who haven't come to look will erode your nerves like a cliff on the oceanside. Every wave takes a tiny bit more with it.

    I had one particular buyer who I had to ban from a Facebook buy/sell/trade page because he would say he'd take something without any discussion of price, set up a time to come, and then offer half, in person. That was worse. At least you can hang up on the call-ahead lowballers.
     
  3. JOECOOL
    Joined: Jan 13, 2004
    Posts: 2,771

    JOECOOL
    Member

    I can't imagine anyone buying a $40,000 car without seeing it ,touching it ,listening to it, I know it happens I just don't understand it. Maybe it from being old.
     
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  4. ..........I agree with you completely, but then I'm not the guy with the $4o,ooo looking to buy the car.
     
  5. .....My thoughts exactly.
     
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  6. Hnstray
    Joined: Aug 23, 2009
    Posts: 12,355

    Hnstray
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from Quincy, IL

    What’s wrong with the price being ‘firm’? That smacks of an ego problem on the buyer’s side. Seems to me being a firm price doesn’t matter if the merchandise is well worth the money being asked. If it is not worth the asking price, then understandable it is a ‘pass’.

    Ray
     
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  7. Bandit Billy
    Joined: Sep 16, 2014
    Posts: 12,287

    Bandit Billy
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Ill take the other side of the coin.
    I sell higher end cars through consignment and the contract I have with them states the price I am willing to accept for the car. It also states that they will present "bona fide offers" of less for my consideration if they feel it is within reason. I didn't ask what makes an offer "bona fide" but I would imagine the purchaser is either known to them or some sort of earnest money is in play. I would not use them again if they had contacted me with an offer and the purchaser was just testing the water.
     
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  8. 49ratfink
    Joined: Feb 8, 2004
    Posts: 18,829

    49ratfink
    Member
    from California

    why would someone waste time make an offer on a car they have never seen or driven? that is what we should be discussing here. for me an offer over the phone marks you as a flake.
     
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  9. Gman0046
    Joined: Jul 24, 2005
    Posts: 6,256

    Gman0046
    Member

    There's absolutely NO car that I would buy sight unseen. I almost did that once on a 57 Chevy Handyman Wagon that I thought I couldn't get hurt on. Wised up, drove three hours to go look at it. What a POS. The seller lied like a rug. If I can't see a car locally or at a car show I'm at, I don't need it.
     
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  10. ken bogren
    Joined: Jul 6, 2010
    Posts: 1,056

    ken bogren
    Member

    I was thinking of selling one of my hamb friendly vehicles, went to a consignment shop to as about how it worked there.


    Basically sales above my min + their commission ... THEY KEEP THE EXTRA

    6: No thank you.
     
    Last edited: Jan 3, 2020
  11. finn
    Joined: Jan 25, 2006
    Posts: 1,280

    finn
    Member

    I suspect that the cash up front is there to protect the consignment shop. A legitimate business has rent, payroll, advertising, and utility expenses to cover. Putting a prospective buyer in direct contact with the seller/owner, without some sort of financial skin from the buyer and seller is just like begging to be cut out of the transaction.
    In real estate transactions, the earnest money from the buyer is held in an escrow account to protect the prospective buyer, but I have never heard of a transaction being completed without it.
     
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  12. There’s plenty of threads with the other side of this coin. It goes something like this
    I called him on the phone and we agreed on a price. I drove three hours and when I finally got there he sold the car and I saw it leaving the driveway. Can you believe that M Effer.
     
    Last edited: Jan 3, 2020
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  13. hotrodjack33
    Joined: Aug 19, 2019
    Posts: 4,128

    hotrodjack33
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    I agree with Don. The purchaser was being asked to send $1000 to GET HIS QUESTION ANSWERED !
    Buyer had $40k to spend and wanted to know if that would be an acceptable offer. Consigner basically said "send me $1000 and I'll answer your question. "RIDICULOUS :mad: That deposit wasn't to "hold" the car...or get the process moving along...he was asked to send a deposit BEFORE it was even determined that a deal could be made. Just plain WRONG.
     
  14. I think the selling dealer handled the situation wrong- When the buyer made his offer- he should have asked the buyer if he was willing to sign a deal and provide a deposit for the car -subject to acceptance by the vendor. That would have shown commitment on the part of the buyer with a get-out clause (money returned by the dealer)if the deal was rejected by the seller. It would also leave the door open sonthe seller could have counter-offered back through his agent( the dealer) to come to a mutually agreeable price and terms of sale.
    Soft skills go a long way in the negotiation process.
     
  15. The truth of the matter is we have no idea what was actually said on the phone so all the indignation is based on second hand information. Maybe the dealer said the sellers bottom line is $42,000 but I can check with him if he would take your offer but I am not going to him without a commitment that you are serious. As Bandit stated people use dealers so they don't have to deal with every clown that calls about the car and for sure don't want a phone call from the dealer every time someone makes an offer over the phone.
     
  16. a serious buyer ,,,
    What are the prominent traits of a serious buyer?
    What are the prominent traits of a tire kicker?
    What are the prominent traits of a flake ?

    Is there really an area of overlap of these traits?

    What does the stereotypical tire kicker/flake do? If you were to write a sitcom scene with them as characters what would they be doing and saying?
     
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  17. Dick Stevens
    Joined: Aug 7, 2012
    Posts: 3,710

    Dick Stevens
    Member

    That is not very smart, that is illegal and could land you in big trouble if they presses it!
     
  18. Tri-power37
    Joined: Feb 10, 2019
    Posts: 510

    Tri-power37
    Member

    I have bought 2 cars from pictures and got totally ass-raped.... yeah ass raped. I have seen cars I knew well that where not that great go online and sell way to high because the pictures looked great.
    Come on - most of us have been around old cars our whole lives and if you only had 5-10 minutes actually looking at a old car you could know if it was worth it or not. Hell it only took me 2 minutes on the cars I bought from pictures to know I was screwed.
    If a car is so great and the price is right ... how come no one local buys it?

    Buy a car from pictures. NOT recommended.
     
  19. 29moonshine
    Joined: Dec 30, 2006
    Posts: 1,341

    29moonshine
    Member

    I just drove 7 hr with a trailer and cash to look at a wagon. and the seller forgot to mention that the hinges on the tailgate were busted. and whole back of the wagon was fiber glassed and the motor had a rod sticking out of the block but it looked real good in the pictures saved myself about $10000
     
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  20. Nothing at all wrong with a 'firm' price. I simply ask that question to find out if a counter offer will be considered. It's not an ego problem, it's an economics problem. I don't pay my guy to haggle. He's paid to pay for, pick up and deliver. If a counter offer is not going to be considered, there is no reason to send him. I have no problem paying the 'firm' price when I feel it's worth it. When I don't, I just like to know an offer is an option. No sense playing the game when time's run out and the score's already recorded.
     
    jim snow likes this.
  21. LOU WELLS
    Joined: Jan 24, 2010
    Posts: 2,754

    LOU WELLS
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from IDAHO

    I Have Bought And Sold Olde Cars For 55 Years To Finance My Hobby And The Only Practice That Is Effective Is To Look At The Product In Person And Then Let The Money Drama Begin...IMHO...
     
  22. People paying some one else to sell their cars. People paying some one else to buy their cars. My guy, his guy, their guy. Holy shit, doesn’t anybody do anything themselves anymore?;)
    My guy will call your guy and we’ll all do lunch.
     
    Last edited: Jan 3, 2020
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  23. DDDenny
    Joined: Feb 6, 2015
    Posts: 19,144

    DDDenny
    Member
    from oregon

    I'm not calling you a flipper but saying "my guy" sure makes it sound like one to me.
    Most hobbiests just don't talk that way and I can only use myself as an example but I think most "hobbiests" get a hinky feeling when someone wants to make a living off their hard work.
     
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  24. I sold my '34 on the bay about 10 years ago. Had lots of pics, good description, etc. Guy bought it sight unseen, sent me a good check for 30 grand and sent a guy to pick it up. As it turned out, he got a good car and a good deal. I don't think I'd have done it but I did have a couple thousand good feedbacks and 100% feedback. Still, I think it was risky on his part.
     
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  25. OLSKOOL57
    Joined: Feb 14, 2019
    Posts: 477

    OLSKOOL57
    Member

    Amen to that!! $22,500 lost on eBay for a ‘56 Chevy Bel Air Sedan in 2013 that I trusted the pictures and the owner................Go Look At It or Send Someone To Look At It!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
     
    lothiandon1940 likes this.
  26. Agree........big time.....part of my verbiage to a seller when I'd like to look at his vehicle for sale - I don't buy over the phone !
     
  27. BamaMav
    Joined: Jun 19, 2011
    Posts: 6,711

    BamaMav
    Member
    from Berry, AL

    I agree 100%. I see those commercials on TV all the time for those places where you can buy a car with your phone or computer and they bring it to you....WTF? Only thing I've ever bought sight unseen was a parts car I was going to take apart anyway, and it sure wasn't $40,000!

    If I'm answering an ad for a car, I usually ask if the price is firm, then make a decision to go look or not depending on if I think the price is firm. I've had folks tell me over the phone a price was firm, then get there and offer less and get it.

    But I'm not going to put a deposit down on anything. Wife did that back in 82 on a new Chevy shitbox Cavalier for them to hold it until I got home to go buy it. I went and drove the pos and it wouldn't hardly pull any hill it lugged down so bad, no power, only had an AM radio and didn't even have hubcaps, a real cheapo. I hated it, told them I hated it, they wouldn't even change the radio to an AM/FM, wouldn't change to another car, so I told them I wanted the deposit back. Had to just about threaten them with a lawsuit to get that $100 back, they didn't want to give it up!
    Went and bought another car for less money with more options and drove 100% better. A Toyota Corolla.
     
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  28. Penetrator
    Joined: Aug 25, 2011
    Posts: 514

    Penetrator
    Member
    from SK CAN

    Best reply. ^^^

    As a former vehicle dealer, consignments were part of the business. A verified (refundable) deposit serves as nothing more than to 'secure" the offer ... this, of course, comes from a bonded, registered dealer who has to follow the rules and regulations...

    If the buyer doesn't come through with the sum, the dealer and his lawyer light the deposit and documents on fire, just like a failed real estate deal. I went through this countless times and I can attest, the customer who sees the vehicle and likes what he sees, buys.

    My point is... an offer, no matter how good or bad, is only as good as the money on the table. A consignment dealer doesn't have time or enough money in the deal to suck the soggy end of a piss rope.

    Unscrupulous persons aside, the ONLY way to buy a vehicle is in person. A thousand dollars can fly you most anywhere in North America and back...

    .
     
    Last edited: Jan 3, 2020
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  29. Mr48chev
    Joined: Dec 28, 2007
    Posts: 33,861

    Mr48chev
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    From experience lately having people lowball you without taking a look at the vehicle or anything else for that matter is more common than not. My recent experience with an OT car that was listed pretty cheap to begin with says that. That and people thinking that they can get in and drive a car that is clearly listed with engine problems that is parts or rebuild only who get mad when you tell them they can't jump in it and head to Southern California on a road trip without 3K worth of repairs.
     
    HSF likes this.
  30. Budget36
    Joined: Nov 29, 2014
    Posts: 13,174

    Budget36
    Member

    Seems it was touched on, but no one actually said it (unless I missed it), but unless I had a signed and agreed upon refundable deposit, I wouldn't send a fiver to anyone.
     
    LOU WELLS likes this.

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