Sellin a car = bullshit

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Here's a suggested revision of your ad Snake....Just trying to help you!!! :cheers:

Super Clean 1969 Dodge Dart $20,900

Great running 360 with floor shifted automatic trans. 8 3/4 rear with 3.23 suregrip
This is a 5 year old restoration that still shows well and gets lots of attention.
Blue exterior with white bucket seat interior & white butt stripe.
340 sport hood, dual exhaust, polished aluminum wheels (say something about the tires-15s? condition?)
I've lost interest in the car and would prefer it go to a new home. Serious buyers only please!

You can contact Don until 9pm for additional details.
 
I've been known to get a stupid offer ,then just pull the car back into the garage and close the door without saying a word.
 
Bullshit offers have always been a part of selling cars. These people aren't doing anything anyone else wouldn't do. Trying to get something at the best price possible. I also agree that your ad would make me look some where else for a car. I would figure that if your that rude in your ad then how are you going to be in person to deal with. Your ad seems to make the assumption, that if I call you then I'm wasting your time.
 
H22A4 said:
I would lose the attitude in the ad. Are you selling a car or are you frustrated at trying to sell the car? You mix the two in your ad. Stick to the facts only in the ad. Isn't the point of this thread on fabo to vent your frustrations? Why also show those frustrations in the ad?? And saying it will only be posted for 2 weeks in the ad shows your not serious in selling it. If you need the money then you will list it until it sells.

Also if you want advice, why not just put the link to the ad in your thread instead of having people google it? Make it easy for members here to provide the advice.
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I agree, the wording of the ad is crummy! Worst part is " lost interest" then sprinkle in the aditude and it may scare guys with actual interest into thinking they may lose interest. As for price I'm not sure what Canada's Market is but in the Chicago area it is most likely a few grand to high. Shoot even nicely restored real 340 4 speed A body cars rarely touch 30k most sell for under 25k!
 
6pk2goDemon said:
Here's a suggested revision of your ad Snake....Just trying to help you!!! :cheers:

Super Clean 1969 Dodge Dart $20,900

Great running 360 with floor shifted automatic trans. 8 3/4 rear with 3.23 suregrip
This is a 5 year old restoration that still shows well and gets lots of attention.
Blue exterior with white bucket seat interior & white butt stripe.
340 sport hood, dual exhaust, polished aluminum wheels (say something about the tires-15s? condition?)
I've lost interest in the car and would prefer it go to a new home. Serious buyers only please!

You can contact Don until 9pm for additional details.
Click to expand...
OK I just change the add some thanks 6pk2goDemon.
 
one approach to car selling: place ad with good honest description. give plenty of good pics. when someone calls , simply answer the questions asked. agree to send more pics of any part of car in question. NO other conversation. if they ask a question already fully addressed in the ad, politely refer them to ad.
when they come to look. bring car out of garage. tell them to look it over as they wish. then go somewhere else. tell them where you will be if they need you. DO NOT have any conversation with them, simply answer questions. IF they buy the car, then participate in conversation. and hopefully make a good friend.
too much conversation on the sellers part will usually result in saying sometime that need not be said. IE : I want to sell because: I need the $$$, my dog is sick, lost interest, tired of buying overpriced Mopar parts, pissed because my bodyman screwed me, wife wants a new sofa! ETC
we all know,, the seller would always like to sell high, the buyer always wants to buy low. its a lot easy to sell a car that is priced under the market than over. and what a person has invested in his car, has NOTHING to do with its value, unfortunately.
 
Snake this is not directed to your car at all. I haven't even looked at your add. If I look at a car they are asking 12k for and I offer 7k. What i'm saying is I think your price is high so I'll offer 7k knowing that more than likely won't buy it. But I can judge by the sellers reaction how close I am. Half way between is 9500. This is more than likely my top dollar. As a buyer I can negotiate up from my offer, but not down. It has nothing to do with disrespect,that's BS.
 
j par said:
They'll find out the hard way in the end. They'll spend $1500 on a rust bucket and spend three times what your asking for your car to get it to your cars condition ! LOL You shoud keep there # and ask them to bring by the car they end up with, that way you can stand there with a calculator and politely ad up what everything is going to cost them to get there car to the condition of yours. Then you might want to mention the countless hundreds of hours on the internet and going to swapmeets ( full of Chevy and ford parts looking for that one booth with a few little Mopar trinkets) looking for the parts they'll need. You might also politely mention this calculation is based on you doing all of the hundreds of hours of work yourself. If they would prefer to use a shop they can times that number by three! No one sees the real heart and soul we put in these cars, and its not like we are trying to get that out of it, but can you please offer me enough to pay for some of the parts !??
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Hammer + Nail = Driven; Vote for best post!
 
Ok I went and read your ad. I don't understand why when cars are listed, sellers get stingy with the words. In your ad you mention "built in LA you know what that means?" Really, I'm 60 years old and been into Mopars my whole life. I have no idea what that means? You mention floor shift, floor shift what? 4 speed, 727.904,3 speed. 360 , with what, X heads, Edelbrock intake, Holley or Edelbrock, cam stock or ? Headers? Flo masters, Dyno Max. P/S? A/C? Power or manual brakes? Disc or Drum? Interior condition? Ralley Dash? You get my point. The guy that is interested in your car is more than likely a Mopar Guy. These details will help you represent the car better and give a buyer a better idea of what he is getting. Just my opinion tho.
 
selling cars is BS ......my dad wanted to get into flipping years ago but I never got into it because I am a horrible saleslady.

I understand the headache and wish you luck on your sale
 
If it was me Don I would list the car in Alberta as that is where the money is right now buddy, but if you do make sure you state that the car is in Ontario. Best of luck my friend.
 
Looked over your ad. It's a nice looking car. I'd probably put in more details in the ad about the build, what's in the motor etc. If I was still looking I'd probably be interested in it.
 
Wanting the money from a car sale and needing the money from a car sale are two different things. If you need the money, you will sell the car at the highest price you get in a defined period of time (ie: just prior to a mortgage payment being due or some other significant payment that needs to be made). If you want the money, you are likely starting with an unrealistic price which won't result in the car selling. I get the sense, that even though this is the third time you are listing the car, you don't need the money but want the money which will ultimately result in the car not being sold.
 
Years ago, I advertised a car for sale in the paper, then after several people looked at it but didn't want it, I changed my mind, cancelled the ad and kept the car. 2 weeks later I'm out of town on business and one of the lookers shows up unannounced with cash and tells my wife "we'll take it". She tells them I decided not to sell it, and they go ballistic on her and tell her it's illegal to do that, she has to sell it to me! She tells them to call when I am home, which they do. They chew me out for coming "all that way" with cash and not coming home with a car. I told them they should have called first. What if I'd already sold it? This woman wasn't giving up. She was going to contact my counties District Attorney! I told her to go ahead, which mad her even madder! She threatened to call my employer and let them know I was unethical. I gave her my bosses name and work phone number. She tried calling back a couple of days later and disguising her voice! When I told her I decided not to sell it, she again told me I couldn't do that since I advertised it. The funny thing was it was an old Mustang 2 hatchback, not a classic anything just an old beater, but it was for her 16 yr old son for his first car. This lady never even made an offer when she came out to look at it the first time. Some people are just crazy.
 
Well truth be told I could use the money,put some down on a car we just bought,first i had to use LOC + cash ever i was hording total bummer,but would like some also to get another A Body get my drift.Ihave well over 28 GRAND so my price is not out of line,me think.Thanksssssss for the tips they were all taken in good faith,I knew my FABO family would help me out.
 
Glad we can help a brotha out.

Someone else mentioned in this thread already but there is no correlation between what a seller has invested in the vehicle to what market value of the car is. For example, I could spend $60k restoring '68 Roadrunner (base model 383) but wouldn't be able to get more than $35k for it.
 
Selling a valuable restored car on a free service is indeed bullshit. You get what you pay for.

Have you cnsidered something like Hemmings ($90) where actual buyers go to buy cars?
 
EL5DEMON340 said:
I agree, the wording of the ad is crummy! Worst part is " lost interest" then sprinkle in the aditude and it may scare guys with actual interest into thinking they may lose interest. As for price I'm not sure what Canada's Market is but in the Chicago area it is most likely a few grand to high. Shoot even nicely restored real 340 4 speed A body cars rarely touch 30k most sell for under 25k!
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I know someone who picked up a fully done very very nice numbers matching 70 340 4 speed swinger for under 25 Canadian ( around 17 US )not too long ago...the market is a bit soft up here.

I bought a car about 6 months ago and offered $8,000 less then asking, politely told the guy that was what I felt it was worth to me and if he needed more I was just going to keep shopping...after he thought about it for a few minutes he let it go. No need to get emotional about any offer just take it or leave it.

Now as far as the blue car in the add I would not pay 20K for it if it was around here ( Manitoba) If it was my car I would be listing it at just under 15K and would not chase anyone away who made any kind of offer over 10K, just try to work them up a bit.
 
Things are only worth what someone will pay. Right NOW the economy is bad. People are not going to pay more than they have to. Unfortunately, that makes it not worth what you may think it is.
 
So this got a little longer than I expected. But just my insight into Kijiji/craigslist. My views as a buyer/seller. And whatnot.

I recently bought my 72 Scamp off kijiji. Kijiji is great...IF you have the patience and ability to handle it. It's a lot of searching. I wasn't after one particular car. I had an idea in mind of what I wanted. But for every one car priced reasonably, there was 10 that weren't. If I had a dollar for every mullet mobile, 383 S10, clapped out car, I could have bought mine for free. I seen guys listing a rusted out, fenders cut up, hasn't run in 25 years, "SS" nova, for 5g. "All it needs is a carb and distributor to run". Except that it hadn't been turned over in 25 years. Or their mid 70's or more challenger/roadrunner/whatever with a non running 318, dented and rusted and sat in the back yard for 10 years, and hes "taking offers, so far I'm at (whatever) dollar". These guys watch too much barrett jackson, see a car and say "hey, mines only two years older, it must be worth close to that!" . Or the old "Not sure if its for sale, just looking to see what I get offered!"

Let me telling you what I'll offer. **** all. Your ad isn't worth my time if your not actually selling.

As a buyer, it can wear on you. Dealing with guys who are too sentimental about their vehicle and sabotage the sale before it can even happen. We all love our cars. But don't list it if you don't wanna sell it. Be serious about it. You don't walk into a store and hear the guy behind the counter go "Well I'm not sure what I wanna sell that for....". Its for sale. Period. There is a price you will sell it at. Period. Or don't list it.

I was looking at a 440 duster but could never get a hold of the guy. Emailed a couple times. Never heard back. I was willing to fly, pick this thing up, drive 15 hours back for this car. That's how serious I was about a car.

When I found my scamp. I asked what I wanted to know. Asked for pics, details, etc. Cause I was traveling 5 hours to get it. I'm not going up there to scratch my *** and look through the window. After that we got to talking money. I was straight up with the guy. I said "I know you're asking this, I won't waste your time. This is what I can do". Straight up no bs. I offered him a little lower than he was asking. And we met just shy of the middle. I went up there money in my pocket, deal done. That's how it works. Am I going to pay what your asking? Maybe. I haven't yet. I look at something. I ask what I wanna know about, and make my judgement based on that. Going and looking at it is only to confirm what I knew about it. Check that you weren't full of it. And most likely buy it. Yeah sometimes I go and look at cars that are a "maybe", sometimes seeing it in person can sway me to buy it. But 9 times out of 10, if I go to look. It's cause I'm buying. And we've negotiated it all out already.

There's a lot to it beyond that though. If I see your ad up. And every week the price drops. I know that what you're asking isn't what its worth, to you or me. I am gunna offer you lower than you're asking. Say you're asking 10, but last week it was 11, and the week before it was 12. I'm gunna offer you say 8,500, maybe 8. Depending on any more of the info you give me, any more pics you send me. And your attitude (yup, attitude can make or break a deal, it's part of selling something). I'm not out to lowball you. I offer 8 because I expect to settle around 9, I just don't wanna wait till you list it at 9 next week. It's a give and take. I expect the same when I sell. If I ask 2500, I'll probably settle around 18-20. Would I like 2500? Yeah, of course I would. But I set a hard low. If it comes to brass tacks I won't drop below a certain amount.

On the flip side. I sold an old project truck. Answered all the kids questions. Which were endless. Even after the sale. He texted me for two weeks asking stuff about the truck. How does this work. Why does that do that. etc etc. Was it annoying? Yeah. Very. But I'm not one to leave a guy twisting in the wind.

I can't describe every ad or sale or purchase I've made over sites like kijiji/craigslist. Each sale is its own beast. Gotta figure it out as you go.

In the end. I have basic rules as a buyer and seller.
Be courteous
Be honest
Ask what you want to know, answer what they want to know
Treat their time as valuable as yours
Don't get taken for a ride, don't take them for one either
 
I cannot stand Year One for most things. But, they really have it right when describing the selling of cars. It does not matter one bit how much you have in your car. Labor, parts, whatever. If you think that, then you best leave it parked right where it is.

What matters is what someone is willing to pay. Period. Over and out. End of story. That's all and nothing else. If somebody is willing to give you 28K, then so be it. I haven't even looked at your ad, but from what some have said of it, it was not very good.

If you ask a premium price for something, you should be very descriptive. It does not appear yours was. I know you had that stroke and all. I know things changed for you. Maybe you might consider letting your wife help with a new ad? Just a thought. The more you describe your car and greater detail you give, the bigger chance you have of selling it.
 
If I go out and look at a car and determine it us way over priced I will ask them what the best price they can let it go for.

And if it is still out of the ball park in my opinion I will just thank them for their time and leave
 
Snake said:
Thats right,Ihave posted my car 4 sale for the third time in 2 years.This time I drop the price to fare market value.My rant is people phone all hours ask stupid questions,and then say they are coming to see the car.A few came love the car hey can we go for a ride, I figure why not a good way to show them what it has.Then the low ball me pick it a part and say I will think about it,ya right.The last people just yesterday I told them to get the **** off my drive way,they offered me half price and laugh about it.I AM NOT GOING TO GIVE THIS CLEAN CAR AWAY. If they want a car that has undercoating hiding rust or just a plant rust bucket go for it.Want I should do now is put the price down by half let them all come, wait for I will take it,then i say hey give me your number i will call you tomorrow.See how that feels.Never in all my years I have had such a hard time selling 1 of my cars.Selling a car = BULLSHIT.........:banghead:Sorry just had too tell someone how i feel,even if u dont care.
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Tell people in the ad that the car will be available for viewing on, say, Saturday between 10 and 2 - and have them contact you by email - then you control your schedule - you might even spark a bidding war if you get a bunch of people to show up at the same time. :)
 
back before the "net", I would have car advertised in city newspaper. city was 45-60 min away. people would call, all excited, want to come look. I would tell them if you decide to not come look, call and let me know. " yea, we will be there in an hour for sure!!!!" I wonder how many no shows I had!!!! lol
but I have sold cars to some great people that made wonderful friends, and they loved that car like a child!!!!
 
:wack:I call them TIRE KICKERS lol When I sell a car I always up the price thousands from what I want for it. Then if the person who really wants it lowers the price on me feels they are getting a better price & I am also happy. Man I have been there I know what your going through. It sucks ! I had a 68 dart years ago, new red paint, wheels, tires, mini tubed, ect. People wanted it cheep. I needed the money bad. I lost my *** on that car. The car finally went to Canada. Love to know what ever happened to that 68 dart. Good luck let us know how you make out.
 
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