Hot Rods Selling stuff, do you all get these questions too?

[QUOTE="I am amazed what people expect a $250 truck to do. Gene[/QUOTE]
As you should be sir, as you should be.
But, maybe not considering the education level and understanding of people these days.

 

My son came with me to a swap meet a few months back and brought a pair of powered exhaust cut outs he had taken off his Challenger after only a few months of use before selling the car. He wanted 150 bucks for them and if I had a nickel for every guy that picked them up and put them back down on the table he would had his money. Some bozo kept walking around my son waving a hundred dollar bill at him while he was walking around the show area with his buddies expecting him to jump at it. And while this guy was waving money at my son I was back at the table selling the exhaust cut outs to someone else for our asking price and later enjoying the clown who had come back to my table with his hundred dollar bill in hand freaking out cause we sold them.

 

The best person I ever saw was a lady that owned a high end jewelry store with her husband. Think Rolex watches and 3+ carat diamonds. I worked off duty for them for many years and it was quite an education.

Several years ago the price of silver went up drastically and that started the influx of customers that wanted to sell their grandma's sterling silver flatware. Many, many times the owner would quote a "buy" to the customer. For instance, she might have offered $6,500 for the whole bunch and the customer would thank her and leave. A couple of days later the customer would come back and want to sell her silver for $6,500 as was quoted. The owner would tell them that the offer was now $6,000 and the customer would ask why it was less than it was two days prior.

The owner would then tell the "seller" that since they came back to her store she must have been the high bidder so now she was offering less.

 

Living up in the hills, I have to drive a bit to get to any swap meets. Years ago I trailered a '31 A body about 100 miles to a meet. I had it priced at $300. A guy looked at it and said he wanted it but couldn't take it that day and asked for my address. Next week he shows up at my place with a trailer and wants to buy it for $200. I said no thanks. He hops in his truck and drags his empty trailer 100 miles back home. No cure for dumbassness.

 

Dumbassness....I like it....

 

Stories we've all heard,encountered..... Part of the game in this hobby...... Some good one's for sure!
BUT- you know that they are even among us here..... and I don't mean first timers.........
Even though on the HAMB, there are still those who resemble all the above^^^^^
Now, there are true and honest peep's here, which I've had the pleasure of dealing with, and would call on if I needed some info, or a part in relation.......But- Low ballers/flakes are everywhere! Don't discount where your at,or whom you speak with/contacts you.......

 

Only heard about this one.

Seller advertises a very nice '50s convertible for a fair FIRM price. A guy wants to buy it but he is 1000 miles away. He is told to bring a trailer and cash, and the seller reiterates that the price is FIRM.

The man shows up after driving all that way, looks the car over and is pretty happy with it. He asks the seller if he'll take a number that is 10% less than the FIRM price. Without saying a word, the seller put the car back in the garage and closed the door. Never answered another call or email, and there were several

 

I have to ask Gene, did anybody show up?

 

Just a little update on that $250 truck, its now about 8:45 pm, so far none of the 3-4 guys that were bringing money today have made it here. I was gone about an hour this morning, and about an hour and a half tonight, so maybe I missed them. Suppose they will come tomorrow? I'm not holding my breath.

When I got home this evening, there was a hand written note inside my front door saying the author was going to buy my truck, and left me a number. I called the number, and left a message with my number. Haven't heard from him either.

Another couple of weeks and I will pull the motor & trans and junk the truck. I tend to have better luck selling parts, but these days, selling anything is a challenge. Some days it seems like you can't sell a $100 bill for $95 without someone complaining.

On a side note, in years past, when people would ask what my bottom line was over the phone, I'd tell them "I'm not sure yet, you should come by and start counting out $100 bills and I would tell them when there were enough there."
When I sold parts, I usually had stuff priced at the "I don't ever want to see it again" price. I would get those guys that insisted on offering a lot less then my asking price and I would return with an offer double my original asking price. Should the person had been brave enough to counteroffer, I would again double my price. I had one guy one time that went 4 rounds with me! Finally, he asked if I would sell it at the price marked, I told him that price had flown away, I was going to mark it to the new price. After he left, a guy that was on the sidelines that watched the whole deal bought the part for my original price. The other guy came by later to see if the part was still there. Gene

 

I've got no problems with folks that want to try and cut a deal, you never know until you ask. Everybody wants a deal, It's the ones who want something for nothing that irk me. If I have something for sale and you offer me less, it all depends on how badly I want to let it go as to if I accept or not. If it's just a little less, I'll usually do it because I try to price things a little on the high side so I can haggle a little if I need to. Offer me half what I want, and you won't get it for love or money.

 

Put my 50 Ford coupe on local Craigslist last weekend. Lots of high dollar items on car so very attractive for a bargain price. Noted that I have had the car for 36 years and never been in a shop. Best request I got was a hip internet follower that wanted a CarFax before looking. If it has not been in a shop for 36 years, what did he think a CarFax was going to show? Blank as his understanding about what he was asking for.

 

I had a car I was selling years back. Everything was redone on the car. Guy comes and looks at it. Seemed like a nice guy. Can we take it for a drive. I am serious and you can drive. I asked do you have cash to buy today or to leave a deposit. He said yup. Now this was about 1hr and 30 mins after talking about the car. So fast forward we go for a quick drive and he said he's interested. Get back to my house and then this asshole asked well "how much for just the engine". I laughed and said I'll tell you what. You give me what I am asking and I throw the car in with the engine. He was so pissed when he left. Fuckin idiots!

Now on the other hand if I am looking to buy something I bring the money and if I don't feel its worth what it was respresented to be. I have no issues walking away. Yes sometimes I will try to get a better price. But I will never low ball or try to offer on a phone call. That shit pisses me off. Most phone low ballers never show up anyways.

 

Interesting reading here, I have had my 51 Mercury For Sale and have listened to more BS/Stupidity/Rudeness in the last 2 years than I've heard in my 50+ years of buying/selling cars, as a hobbyist/ consumer and a small business owner for 36 years. The car will sell in time as I keep driving/enjoying it, not a fire sale, just reducing inventory. I now attempt to prequalify potential buyers for my sanity as my BS tank has been full for years now, not in the BS business so don't want/need any. The last question that I'm thinking on adding to my prequalify list is, IF you have to ask your Wife, Banker or Mommy, stop wasting my time.

 

I guess I’m kind of different, I don’t haggle over price, if I don’t like your price, I don’t buy.


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Selling a car story.
Was selling a '57 Chevy project car and a "buyer" came over to look at it. Did the grand tour showing everything and he asked the right questions Took him about a hour to inspect it all. He then offered 1/4 of the asking price.
I asked him to follow me as I had one more thing to show him.
He followed me as I walked to his truck,pointed at it and said get out of here.

 

Your story brought a memory of mine this AM. I've never really put up with much BS ever and now as an old man, I'm not interested at all. 1986 I sold a Midget racer/roller, winning car in excellent shape as it came off track, a young racer comes up looks at it, we talk, he knows car, agree on price, gives me $500 cash down, he will send his Dad with trailer to pick car up next weekend. OK, Dad shows, up, hands me a pile of cash and I count it up, $500 short, Dad states, thought that would be enough as he was there with cash and trailer, my reply was, do have the $500 in your pocket, he says No, hand him his money back, told get the F**k out now before I throw you out. Son calls, apologies for his Dad, can they pick up car next weekend, I said, Yes you can but bring the agreed amount plus another $500 for pissing me off and do not bring your Dad. After some conversation he shows/picks car up and I agree to babysit him 1 night at track. OK now at track, look car over, totally changed everything as his Dad knew everything, so I tell the kid, I'm sorry but I can't help you, not the same car and will not put up with your Dad, he was in my face telling me what was all wrong the car. My rambling point I guess is, You can't fix stupid, this comes to mind with dealing with people today.

 

I had a guy tell me that one time, I told him to see if his wife would take his balls out of her purse and let him use them to make his own decisions.

 

Well said.

 

You should tell them the story about Brock taking the ElMeano to New York, and the clown who wanted to buy it.

 

Will it roll on my trailer ?

 

Very true statement

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That actually has worked out for me. Just be sure to hold on to the car until the final payment is made.

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In all honesty, I do have to run it by my wife, sometimes it's her car that I am building... LOL

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Hello,

We had an ad for a 9 foot surfboard that my brother had shaped and glassed at one of the OC surf shops. He had high hopes of getting a job at that shop. But, actually shaped, glassed, sanded, finished and actually, bought the foam blank for his next surfboard. The shop allowed him to do the shaping and glassing because they were in need of a good worker. After he finished this new surfboard, it looked outstanding. He actually put in the hard rail edge below center line, in hopes that it would turn quicker and harder. It looked good and it did turn well.

So, months later, he wanted a new lighter weight surfboard, so he put his creation up for sale. This young kid from Bellflower came to our house and wanted to buy the dark blue board with two redwood stringers down the middle surfboard. He was happy and drove off with it stuck in the back of his mom's station wagon.

Jump up to 1965 and now I had my first 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery for sale to fund my future college experiences. Sitting in the Bixby Knolls drive-in parking lot, I decided to sell, I put a small sign on my front window. Now, that started the barrage of questions and offers. Some were great and easy to answer. Others offered cash so low that I might as well have kept in the back yard under a tarp.

So, I put a "For Sale" ad on the door of the sedan delivery and had it in the parking lot of the Huntington Beach Pier. No sooner than drying off after a session, this older teen comes up and says he will buy my sedan delivery. No quibbles or doubts about the price. So, I told him to come to our house in the Westside of Long Beach. When I said that, he said he knew where it was because he bought a blue 9 foot surfboard from us at our house. What a small world.

When he came over the next day, he had the cash and tons of questions. After explaining all of the stuff, he was very happy to have his own surf transportation. He was not mechanically minded or was a hot rod enthusiast, but drove his mom's station wagon. He just liked the look of the orange/red sedan delivery. When I told him about the oil usage, he did not care, as it was going to be used for his new surfboard business in Huntington Beach. He said he was going to put his surfboard inside and it would fit under the dash back to the rear door. It was sold and off he drove.

Jnaki

One day we were in Huntington Beach and saw my old sedan delivery sitting on Main Street. We walked down to check it out. Nothing was done to the sedan delivery and it had a couple of surfboards strapped down on top of the roof. (I showed him how to strap down a board or two on top, using the front door and the rear door, with ropes. He did not want to take out the rear window as an alternative) Inside the shop he was surrounded by his “groupies. ” He was telling stories about how he built the sedan delivery and fixed it up for surfing trips. Ha! As the years rolled on, he was known for his B.S. stories. Surfing skills? Ah…not so much. But, his shop was popular.

 

Here's the kind of buyer that helped me cope with all the asshats over the years. I was a little out of high school, working two jobs, still living at home, and my mom had just asked me why with a 3 car driveway and on street parking she was parking her car around the corner. I got the hint, ran an ad, and had a automotive weekend fire sale. Sunday afternoon a guy shows up in a car that was so rusted there wasn't enough for the scrap man to bother with and leaking everything that held fluid. He's got the whole family with him(wife, 6 kids) and the look of a man who knew he'd fucked himself away from the dinner table but didn't mind.. He looks at my last car (it had been a good weekend), a 150.00 64 buick skylark 4 door. Starts it, tests the brakes and tranny and says he'll take it, no haggling. While this is going on his kids are just following him around, asking polite questions and behaving like little angels. He starts digging in his pockets and counts out the cash on the hood, in dollar bills. He comes up 3 bucks short and sends one of the kids to the wife. One of his little girls asks if he was taking mommies grocery money. Well that did it for me. I scooped up his cash, added a 20 of my own, stuffed it and the title in his shirt pocket and said "Merry Xmas, the car and gas is on me". He tried to refuse, but it fell on deaf ears. Did I make money on that deal? Nope. Do I care? Hell no...….

 

A Young Man Had My OT Chevelle Bought And Yes I Will Take $1000.00 In Guns As Part Of The Payment Until He Asked the Fatal Question: "What Kind Of Stripes Do You Think I Should Put On It"?....Dial Tone...

 

Good karma to you sir. Snowman

 

Didn't see that coming!
May only be fleeting but that restores a little faith in humanity in my eyes.

 

Didn’t know that ya sold the ex-Flyin Flathead?
I can relate to all of this down the home situation..
Too bad that had to go, I probably would’ve have never let that one go, but people say that I have my 1st dollar ever earned= they’re right, it’s mounted on a plaque that says just that..

 

NICE story!