Why you don't want to sell on your own

Nick14 · 01-18-2023, 04:39 PM

This is tangentially related to 'boating', on the topic of selling stuff on your own (including a boat). This is the funniest thing I've seen in a long time on 'selling.' It makes me never want to sell anything on my own again:

https://www.buzzfeed.com/christopher...orst-awful-bad

What makes it even funnier is that these all seem to be real experiences. I bet anyone who's tried to sell something on their own has similar stories (I sure do).

psneeld · 01-18-2023, 05:21 PM

I havent sold a lot, and I have been lucky.

All worked out as planned.

twistedtree · 01-18-2023, 08:34 PM

It's amazing some of these people are able to feed and dress themselves.

backinblue · 01-19-2023, 07:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick14

This is tangentially related to 'boating', on the topic of selling stuff on your own (including a boat). This is the funniest thing I've seen in a long time on 'selling.' It makes me never want to sell anything on my own again:

https://www.buzzfeed.com/christopher...orst-awful-bad

What makes it even funnier is that these all seem to be real experiences. I bet anyone who's tried to sell something on their own has similar stories (I sure do).

Thanks, that was good. I rarely sell anything other than the occasional car or motorcycle. Anything else I try to give to someone I know or end up throwing away. Not like I have money to burn, but just not worth the aggravation.

Nick14 · 01-20-2023, 05:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by backinblue

Thanks, that was good. I rarely sell anything other than the occasional car or motorcycle. Anything else I try to give to someone I know or end up throwing away. Not like I have money to burn, but just not worth the aggravation.

I don't sell much or that often nowadays. I haven't sold a car myself in almost 10 years. As you said, it's just not worth the aggravation. All the endless 'Would you take $xxxx?' from low-ballers, or 'Would you do financing?', or 'Why won't you take my rusty 1959 GM school bus in trade?', then the interminable attempted scams with phony cashier's checks and other payment cons...

Life is too short. It's just not worth it. When it comes time to sell a car I either trade it in (usually) or sell it to one of the car buying places (CarMax, etc.).

KnotYet · 01-20-2023, 06:02 PM

Rather than trying to sell some older 'classic' motorcycles I've had for
decades, I took one to the Mecum motorcycle auction last January. It was so
much fun and worked out well enough that I'm taking another one to Vegas
for the same auction next week. Anyone can register to bid live online, too.
(Shameless plug!)
Last year I was surprised at how many of the old bikes looked like the
owners were just clearing out some old clutter from their garage and hadn't
even been washed, sort of like some of the boat listing photos that another thread mentions.

backinblue · 01-21-2023, 08:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick14

Life is too short. It's just not worth it. When it comes time to sell a car I either trade it in (usually) or sell it to one of the car buying places (CarMax, etc.).

About 10 years ago I sold a used car myself because of the very low offer from the dealer for trade-in. If I remember they offered like $2500 And I quickly got a cash offer for $5500. More recently I bought and sold a car through Carvana and it was a great experience and a good price on both ends of the deal.

draakken · 01-22-2023, 01:32 AM

mostly right now its all electronic payment scams. so any message I get from a potential buyer my first reply is "this will be a cash only deal" so far 100% of the scammers seem to drop the chat immediately and move on. I did have one guy who tried to get a $325 NIB tool for 100, but he seemed to understand that i wasn't budging on price and went away fairly quickly.

Oeanda · 01-22-2023, 04:20 AM

Ha thanks for the laugh. Mirrors some of the experiences I’ve had selling lately. Worse yet is trying to give stuff away for free- that really brings out the crazies.

draakken · 01-22-2023, 06:26 AM

which is why my min price on anything is $5. If they show up and are decently behaved it might end up being free.

backinblue · 01-22-2023, 08:31 AM

If I want to give something away for free, usually I'll just put it at the curb with a "free" sign and it magically disappears with zero interaction.

Brooksie · 01-27-2023, 07:14 PM

Never had any trouble selling many things over the years boats, cars, houses, small stuff. Only when you get brokers/lawyers involved have I had problems.

twistedtree · 01-27-2023, 07:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brooksie

Never had any trouble selling many things over the years boats, cars, houses, small stuff. Only when you get brokers/lawyers involved have I had problems.

Funny. That’s been my experience too.

av8tr · 01-27-2023, 11:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by twistedtree

Funny. That’s been my experience too.

Exactly!

smitty477 · 01-28-2023, 10:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by av8tr

Exactly!

Same here.

Still Boating · 01-28-2023, 01:52 PM

I have never sold anything where the enquiring person asked about price or lowest price on the first contact. My reply to them describes that fact and I never hear back.

I figured that out when I accepted a lowball as a test and the guy never replied.

I price things very well, and those that buy don't haggle except for 5% to make themselves feel better. ;-)

The guy on Buzzfeed wasted a lot of time on deadbeats.

Bob M · 01-28-2023, 03:12 PM

I've bought and sold many items privately over the years: cars, boats, trucks, trailers, tools, powered lawn equipment and much more. Never have I encountered anything close to what's in these BuzzFeed examples.

I've also tried using third parties to buy or sell, example, boat brokers. Few of these transactions, either buying or selling, turned out to be a pleasant experience.

Lollygag1 · 01-28-2023, 04:24 PM

When I was selling a dinghy motor the buyer and I spoke by phone. He offered me $100 bucks less than I wanted. He then told me that he had forgotten to secure his motor on the mount and it came off while underway and was embarrassed .I gave him the sympathy discount.

drblank1 · 01-30-2023, 03:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick14

This is tangentially related to 'boating', on the topic of selling stuff on your own (including a boat). This is the funniest thing I've seen in a long time on 'selling.' It makes me never want to sell anything on my own again:

https://www.buzzfeed.com/christopher...orst-awful-bad

What makes it even funnier is that these all seem to be real experiences. I bet anyone who's tried to sell something on their own has similar stories (I sure do).

Too funny...and tragic at the same time. Its sad how many people these days feel entitled to whatever they want. Due in large part to government handouts and society fostering a lack of individual responsibility and accountability.

SeaMoose · 02-04-2023, 02:54 PM

The Admiral and I when not playing boat love to hit auctions, thrift stores, garage sales, buy stuff - mostly collectibles, old radios, lamps, magazines, records, cameras, art, that soft of stuff - clean it up, fix it, and resell it on Ebay. We do it for fun, we don't make a ton of money but that's not the point.

We've met lots of really nice people, and had many interesting conversations over Ebay with different collectors, or at auctions/garage sales.

I've sold some things on Marketplace, and CraigsList and had exactly the same results.

I think it matters where you live. We live in a rural area with small towns every ten, fifteen miles, just about everyone is armed (it is an open carry state), there is hardly any crime, churches are everywhere, we know all our neighbors, don't worry too much about locking things up...