Ethics and Race car sales (long) Saturday April 5th, 2008

Old 04-05-2008, 03:54 AM
  #1  
Oldewalnut
Senior Member
SENIOR BUILDER
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Nineveh, Indiana
Posts: 108
Default Ethics and Race car sales (long) Saturday April 5th, 2008

Just need to vent (whine a little if you prefer).

Wondering how others might view this situation. I finally found what I thought might be the car that fit the criteria I had been seeking. By the way, it was not found on this forum.

I had called the owner on Wednesday, got some information. One question I asked him, "had you gotten any bites on the vehicle", HIS reply, to quote; "only calls, one no show that had wanted to see the car". He emailed me some photos and a lengthy detailed description of the car.

I proceeded to return him another call, made arrangments with a friend to go look the car over with the intention of purchasing it this Saturday (today). Lo and behold, last nite at about 10:30 pm, I get a phone call. He informs me, he had just sold the car.

On the one hand, who am I, it is his property, which he has every right to do with as he wishes. I can accept that. Maybe he just needed the money that bad, who knows. At least he had the courtesy to inform me before I had undertaken a trip. The whole thing digs at my craw.

Alot of you here seem to be "sellers" of cars and goods. How do YOU handle these circumstances. If someone has made an appointment to look at your goods, someone else swoops in before the first person has the opportunity to make you an offer, what do you do?

Would you just take the money, tell the other potentioal buyer to go pound sand, which essentially is what this guy did to me. Or would you have waited for the first person to make his offer. Going back to what I said , maybe he just was desperate for cash.

I've read numerous instances of sellers complaining about buyers being tirekickers. I guess I'm on the other end of the spectrum, I'm a potential buyer that is starting to take umbrage with sellers! If you DO have people knocking down the door to purchase something, tell us that. Granted, I'm not out anything but a little inconvenience, I haven't lost ANY money. I still feel like I got screwed over.
Oldewalnut is offline  
Old 04-05-2008, 04:22 AM
  #2  
kw89425
Senior Member
MASTER BUILDER
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: waynesburg, ky
Posts: 217
Default

well its a raw deal but as some one trying to sell on rj i got to tell you i havent yet. i have had several things posted on rj and i have talked and got e-mails from all kinds. i have wasted days waiting on people to show up to look that never did. dont take it to heart if there is a real person right here right now with money you just about have to sell. you just dont know who you can beleive anymore. im not saying you arent an honest buyer i dont know you but i think you understand what im getting at. i wish you luck in your search.
kw89425 is offline  
Old 04-05-2008, 04:50 AM
  #3  
sc3314
Member
JUNIOR BUILDER
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 65
Default Sales

It's not just RJ this happens on to start with. Being on both sides buying and selling. He said he had phone calls prior to your's

If I had a dollar for every time someone said the check was in the mail. I really would not have to sell any parts. Can't blame the man for selling his car to someone there with CASH!

If you like it, you better be on the ball and go and get it before it's gone. I am looking for another tube chassis car. I found one on RJ 2 weeks ago. About a 800 mile trip one way. I talked to the guy on Friday night, called on Saturday. No reply, got e mail Sunday morning said the car was gone.

Good luck
sc3314 is offline  
Old 04-05-2008, 05:15 AM
  #4  
hollowayshotrods
Senior Member
RACING JUNKIE
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 1,230
Default

Robert,
I feel your pain brother! I have a first come, first served policy. I do know what you mean though, I am a serious buyer as well. The ones that really tick me off are the ones that don't bother to tell you they sold it. At least the man called you. Have sat and waited on the " I will be there first thing in the morning" guys I have no clue how many times. I do know when we find the deal we want, we do not wait, simply for the reason you just experienced. On occassion we have waited a couple days, but that was gut instinct only. The man with the first cash gets the car/part. Good luck finding your car man!! By the way, what kind of car are you searching for?
Later,
Rudy
hollowayshotrods is offline  
Old 04-05-2008, 05:17 AM
  #5  
suicidebomb
Senior Member
RACING JUNKIE
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Independence, Missouri
Posts: 1,181
Default

Almost the same thing happened to me. I wanted a one ton truck that i saw on e-bay. It was for sale locallyin Des Moines so I called the guy and set up an appointment for next day. Next day we took off for Des Moines, get about half way there, the guy calls on my cell and tells me the truck sold at 10pm the night before. I sympathize, with the way you feel.

suicidebomb
suicidebomb is offline  
Old 04-05-2008, 05:21 AM
  #6  
slowmotion
Senior Member
RACING JUNKIE
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Staunton, IL
Posts: 943
Default

Really can't blame the guy for selling the car. He might have told the guy that you were coming to look at it, You show up and don't buy it and then the original guy changes his mind. Then the guy is still stuck with the car. Maybe next time you could wire the guy a small deposit to hold the car (maybe $100) untill you got there, but if you don't buy the car he keeps the deposit. Just a thought.
slowmotion is offline  
Old 04-05-2008, 05:37 AM
  #7  
RonOwensRacing
Senior Member
DYNO OPERATOR
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: florence ky
Posts: 498
Default

Ya it is a shame you didn't get the car .
But on the other hand it is hard not to take the cash when it is in front of you .

I have a truck for sale never advertised it anywhere just let people know here locally and the word got passed around fairly quick .
I got a call from a guy about a 100 miles away said a friend of his told him about the truck and he wanted it this was on a Tuesday in the mean time i get a call from another guy in the next town over that has a 1 ton truck that he wanted to do some trading on and i told him that there was a guy supposed to be here Saturday to buy the truck and if he didn't take it i would let him know .
well the guy called me about 4 times telling me he was coming then no more calls and he didnt show .

i called the other guy back with the 1 ton truck and he already traded it off so it is a deal where it's just hard not to sell when it's in front of you .

Hope you find you a car and i feel for ya.
RonOwensRacing is offline  
Old 04-05-2008, 06:54 AM
  #8  
I972Nova
Senior Member
EXPERT BUILDER
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Orient, OH
Posts: 384
Default

I just had kinda the same situation... I had a daily driver for sale, and was going to use the money to buy a truck from a fellow down the road.

I told him I would have the money Sunday by 2p... this was on Friday... He had no calls on the truck.

Low and behold the guys come and pick up the car and I call him at 1p Sunday with cash and he says they just left with it, and he ended up selling it for 200 less than he told me...

I was mad for a minute, but being a seller as well I know that when someone is there with cash and makes a fair offer, you HAVE to sell it... If I wanted it that bad I should have gave him a 100 or so to hold it...

anyways I hope you find what you are looking for!!

Wow I feel better venting on a Sat morning..lol
I972Nova is offline  
Old 04-05-2008, 07:14 AM
  #9  
lively
Senior Member
RACING JUNKIE
 
lively's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: ILLINOIS
Posts: 2,190
Default

after years of dealing the same thing comes to mind---first one with cash gets it!!!---you should have sent a small holding deposit[ which i do offer at times to sellers]---AT LEAST HE WAS NICE ENOUGH TO CALL YOU AND DID NOT JUST LEAVE YOU HANGING ops: ops: ops: --- LIVELY
lively is offline  
Old 04-05-2008, 10:22 AM
  #10  
gearhead1011
Senior Member
EXPERT BUILDER
 
gearhead1011's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Shepherdsville, KY
Posts: 313
Default

Ran into a similar thing with a 4-wheeler I was selling. Was for sale for a couple of months with no calls. Then on a Thursday I got a call from a guy that said he could meet me 1/2 way the following Monday to get it and he seemed seroius so we had a tentative deal. Friday another guy calls and says he wants it. I told the 2nd guy that someone was supposed to get it Monday and I could call him back if it didn't work out. This guy tells me he wants it for the weekend and will come get it in the morning and asks about 1st come 1st serve kinda deal. I didn't want to screw the 1st guy over so I told the 2nd guy I would think about it. I tried to call the 1st guy back, left a message and when I didn't hear back from him a couple of hours later I called the 2nd guy back. I still have the 4-wheeler. In the future I will tell any potential buyers that the 1st guy to show up with cash in hand will take the item. I think if you have made a deal and someone is on the way it would be wrong to sell an item until after the buyer was supposed to be there but other than that 1st come 1st serve.
gearhead1011 is offline  

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service - Do Not Sell My Personal Information -