What to do when buyers don't show up?

[fish brain]

Since I retired I’ve been clearing out my garage using CL and Used Van. I’ve sold 10 items approx. There are a lotta d bags out there. One word of advice, if they start asking you to lower price before they come see it, don’t respond at all. Secondly I transact in my rear alley not the house. Kinda like a dope dealer. Lastly. Almost every guy is always $10 short. I don’t have the correct change. Trying to grind you to the end. I don’t **** around. Pay me it all or I’ll chuck it out.

I always determine the purchase price before I go look, I dont want to waste my time either. If you are selling a Downrigger for $350 and I ask if you will take $300 and we settle on $325 or whatever. When I show up, acsh in hand, I buy it for the agreed price no more haggling . This assumes the item is as advertised, if not I walk away, no further discussions.

 

[Stizzla]

Negotiating is what it’s all about. It’s just the way it is. I usually start with a lowball when I buy just to see where the seller stands. Especially if it’s been up for more than a week.
Sometimes he low offer works right away, sometimes they counter. Sometimes they get pissed off and don’t respond. Meh.

At least when I buy or sell something I always show.

I got my ace hauler with hands free in new condition for $225.00 I think he was asking $350.00. No Che it wasn’t stolen.
I’m just a #cheapskate

If you don’t like lowball offers on your items price it to sell and put firm at the end. It weeds us out.

 

[triplenickel]

I like the haggle game when I’m selling if the person is there and can show or tell me why my asking price isn’t fair. I try to price my stuff fairly in the ad. If they lowball me before coming to look I chuckle and tell them to come look and tell me why it’s worth less. How one can discount something they e never seen doesn’t make sense unless asking price is out to lunch. But for the original question, I do nothing. I go on with life and wait for another buyer, CL has no shortage of flakes.

 

[Peahead]

I like the haggle game when I’m selling if the person is there and can show or tell me why my asking price isn’t fair. I try to price my stuff fairly in the ad. If they lowball me before coming to look I chuckle and tell them to come look and tell me why it’s worth less. How one can discount something they e never seen doesn’t make sense unless asking price is out to lunch. But for the original question, I do nothing. I go on with life and wait for another buyer, CL has no shortage of flakes.

Your item is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it , is actually the correct answer to your question lol.

A commonly sold item would be far more likely have a known average price that people will pay but all other items, not so much. A 'low ball offer' is something that really doesn't even exist for unique or unusual items. Its worth only what people are willing to pay. As a seller I have no problem with being presented a "low" offer even on something I know could likely sell for more. This because there are all sorts of reasons why one might sell for less than the item could fetch. Just one reason for me is that I feel my time is worth alot so I may not care to spend the extra time and effort holding out for an additional % more. I may need the space. I may be moving soon. I may not want to pay to store the item because I refused to sell for less. Quite counter intuitive to pay for storage for something you just refuse to sell for a bit less. My point is that not everyone that sells is after the top possible dollar .....certainly for me there are several other facts that may determine a sell price. Hence the term "lowball" price really doesn't exist for this reason.

I also don't mind an offer on the phone before person seeing an item either. For that reason I can't agree with Pescador's advice to not respond to those offers. It all depends how you handle it. An offer on the phone can be a most efficient fast way to sell and can save both the the buyer and seller a bunch of time and hassle driving around to just fail at a transaction anyway. I have no issue with trying to finalize a sale on the phone to save the BS of the "tire kicking" in person. Its easy and quick to say yes or no on the phone. I just say the deal is you show up (in the agreed amount of time) otherwise I will sell to the next in line. My item is always as good or better than I describe or in the photos so rarely have I had anyone complain and try to re-negotiate when they come to get the item. I do tell them though, no further negotiation when you see the item unless you simply don't want it when you see it. If they try, there is usually a chuckle on both sides and they pay the agreed amount - done.

Recently a buyer from the interior and I spent 3 minutes on the phone, came to a fair deal. She offered deposit via e-transfer to hold and I said no but when she then offered full amount we made a deal. She arrived 3 days later and moved the stuff out of condo and loaded up the truck, paid me more in cash for some related items to be added. Both buyer and seller, happy. I suggested sending payment prior to getting goods is risky business....she says I have been doing this for a long time and when I can talk to someone on the phone I can generally tell if something is off... she could recall only one time where an item wasn't nearly as good as was stated in the ad or in person but she had paid in advance to so that one wasn't a good buy - she says there is risk in paying first but the benefits have far out weighed the failures.

 

[profisher]

I've had great luck both selling and buying on Used Victoria. Usually the 1st person that is serious enough to have a look in person...buys The most recent was a purchase for me...picked up a 12ft Thornes Aluminum for $500 I used to have the same boat as a teenager along with the old 9.5 Johnson Sportwins. I'm in the process of restoring one of the motors and will go old school for giggles once it is done.

 

[Clint r]

I buy and sell online all the time, and unfortunately their are people out there that truly are flakes. It used to happen more often to me than it does now , but every once in a while one still slips through my screening process.

Do your research and know your price range. If your way out of line with your asking or offering price your going to either attract the wingnuts or be looked at as one yourself. That doesn’t mean you can’t try to dicker when you finally meet the guy, or take offers from them though.

Above all else: BE HONEST with the description when selling something. I’ll only accept initial replies to my ad by email. After a reply, usually to answer a question, or to set a viewing time, I’ll ask for their contact info. I’ll also ask them to contact me the morning of the day they want to come and that’s when I will give them my address and phone number. Just in case they run into problems finding me. Maybe I’m missing a few potential purchasers by doing it this way but it’s drastically cut down on my wasted time and often the first one to reply Is the one that purchases what ever it is i might be selling anyways. I’d rather answer a few emails in the evening than countless texts all day and night.

When buying something, check whatever classified sites you use cross country listings (search from coast to coast) and find out what average price is and you’ll have an idea where to start.

I always initiate contact by email, know the value at the high end and the low end. And I always use the same couple of strategy’s (is that right?)

“Hi there,
I’m interested in your ........, if you think you could come down to/or would take .......? I’d like to come and have a look at it. AND SEE IF ITS WHAT IM AFTER.

Or I’ll just flat out tell them what I have to spend. And if they can take that? If they can, I’d like to come and have a look at it. AND SEE IF ITS WHAT IM AFTER.

That’s your out if it’s not what they said and no disappointments if no sale. And you’ve already bargained them down a bit so everyone knows where they stand. You can try dickering a bit more when you met face to face. Both methods have worked for me. I also never ask for their contact info until the morning of the day I’m going to look at it. I also try for early in the day as to later as nobody wants to spend their day waiting around around for someone.

 

[sir-vivor]

I sold a truck once and met the guy at the bank , he didnt even take it for a test drive and trans the cash from his account to mine (bot dealt with same bank made it convenient ) then signed the docs and left ... Weird ! Obviously I should have sold it for more lol. All my other sales have usually been thru this site and all have been excellent deals ... Same here "Cash or Next ! "

 

[Clint r]

I actually sold a car to the same guy twice. It was in the 80s and the car was a 1965 Chevy biscayne. He needed it for parts but it was still a runner. Guy showed up and had a look, decided he wanted it and paid me the $600 I was asking. I was heading to camp in a couple days (6weeks in) and he wanted to leave the car for a week while he arranged a trailer. No worries, I introduced him to my dad where the car was at, and they figured out their plan. Long story short, I left for camp and came home 6 weeks later. Car was gone and dad had $600 for me. When I asked what the money was for he told me the guy paid him for the car when they loaded it up and took it home. Not sure how or why and I never saw the guy or car again.

 

[Stizzla]

I’ll take: what people do on drugs for 1000, Alex!

 

[sly_karma]

I'm on a long term decluttering plan, I have an item or two for sale on FB marketplace pretty much all the time. This is small stuff from around the house that's no longer needed so it doesn't matter a whole bunch what I get for it. Or it's used doors, appliances, etc coming out of the renovations I do for a living. Usually put it at about a third to a half of retail so it moves fast and easy to politely but firmly refuse lowball offers. My best strategy is not to give the item's precise location until the prospective buyer has agreed to date and time to meet. Seems like a small thing but at that point the buyer has made a form of commitment. Started doing it this way to protect reno clients who obviously wouldn't want it known that 1234 Smith St was in the middle of an empty home renovation, but I realised it makes a difference with all the sales. Having to agree to be somewhere at a certain place and time seems to make the tire kickers smarten up a bit.

My advice to those working on purging out the junk is don't put up items for free. You might get rid of the item quickly, but not before you have to field a zillion "is this available" messages, requests to hold, and other general fuckery. Put the price at something nominal, $5 or $10. Gets rid of 80-90% of the idiot calls/messages.

Along the same lines, ads with multiple items for sale are a pain to maintain and get confusing quickly, easy to forget who you're dealing with and which item you're discussing. Online ads are free, take a few minutes and do separate ads for each item. You'll probably net more money as a result, and it's a lot easier to maintain. Yes, it will take longer to move everything. If you want to blast it all out at once, there's always the tried and true garage sale followed by a trip to the dump or Salvation Army with unsold items.