Tyre kickers......

[SumpMagnet]

I had forgotten how REALLY annoying these folks can be. Especially now they can do it online without having to even get out their front door!

I have a bike I don;t use much anymore, so I figured...as I am trying to move house...that now would be a good time to move it on so I don;t have to pay to get it transported. I took loads of photos, did a bit of research to see what others of similar age and condition, carefully chose a price that was at the lower end of the scale, as...while it is in excellent condition and has been well looked after all the while I have owned it, it's on SORN and there are a few minor issues. All of which were carefully listed in the advert and visible in the pictures. I even included pics of the tyres, as it had recently had a new pair fitted before it was laid up.

"what's the tyre tread like mate?" .... like in the pictures of the tyre tread....

"will you take 20% less than the advert price to sell it now" ... no

"Is the paint faded and rubbed on the fuel tank?" ....no 

"is the paint faded eslsewhere if not on the tank?" ...its all in the description...

"I'd need to have some money off to pay to have it couriered" ....you what?

"you said it needed a battery...I would need some money off for that" ....no...thats already been accounted for and stated

"Will you take 25% less than the price if I pay now...it's all the money I have" ...well, then you can;t afford it can you

"Will you take 25% less than the price if I pay now...I'm a bike dealer" thats nice for you. But not a reason I should give you a bargain

Now....it's not that I don;t mind a haggler, but NOT ONE of these folks has come to look at the bike, heard it start, or given one good reason why I should knock money off. Is it just assumed I have listed it for £500 more than it's worth and there is some unwritten agreement that an AUCTION site is where you start high and work down? Now I have tried to get money off vehicles before, but at leasty I went to the trouble of going round, standing in front of it, and finding faults and issues the seller had not mentioned and using that to bargain with.

Give it a minute, and my inbox will ping with a fresh message asking me to give the bike away for peanuts.

[cooleronthecoast]

I've had my Triumph Thruxton for sale recently, same scenario sadly.  People asking stupid questions.  If I come with cash tomorrow can I have it for a grand less than the asking price?  etc.etc.

The one sane conversation I had was with a dealer who made the best offer, but still less than I was prepared to accept.  But of course there are genuine people out there, I had a few stupid offers when I sold my CB550 last year, but the guy who eventually bought it was a top bloke who I still keep in touch with, Sadly its the chancers who stick in your memory.

[ka-ja]

I once advertised my daughter's cb100n in a well known motor magazine, I had 7 replies, all from dealers,

[mike the bike]

I just sold an electric fire on marketplace.  I advertised it for £60, then I get the gormless questions and stupid offers.  Is it working?  What size is?  It's all in the description, if they bothered to read it.  Will I accept £30?
No, bog off.  The woman who bought it asked nicely if I could shave a tenner off.  Sorry Mrs, I can't do it, I need the money.  The landlord of my local needs the money and I need the beer, which is the same thing.
I found the fire in the skip at work and it only took me 1/2 to fix so I'm happy about that.

[heli_madken]

The last vehicle I sold privately was in 1987! it was an MGB GT that I had fitted a bored out, Holley carb, hot camshaft 3.9 ltr Rover V8, 5 speed gearbox, 3.0 LTR Capri rear axle, competition brakes and suspension etc, after spending a fortune I wanted just £2.5k for it, here are some of the questions and responses -

'Is it good petrol wise'? I looked at him and said if you are careful you might get 12 MPG, he was dumbfounded and walked away very quickly, what did he expect!

Looking at his souped up 1.3 Ltr MK2 Escort, 'I bet its not as fast as that', the screams from him as I snaked off the line on the test run where pitiful!

Coming all the way from Ireland to take a look and telling me the most he could pay was £1400 as 'thats all its worth in Ireland' I just walked away and shut the door.

Then their was the chap who wanted to beat me down because 'It was no longer to original spec'

'How cheap is it to insure and do you have to tell them its got a V8' well I guess thats up to you but expect to pay a lot for what it is, he looked at me and said 'why'?

'I have two kids do you think they will fit in the back' yes but the battery and fuel cell might make it a bit uncomfortable, he looked in the back and I could see he was thinking about it carefully.

It just went on, eventually I sold it for £2000 and the guy promptly wrote it off two weeks later then tried to blame me for fitting such a powerful engine, I have never since sold any vehicle privately.

[SumpMagnet]

so...its not just me then .....

I'm still answering questions about rubbed paintwork on the sidepanels and tail where it was kept under a cover...and has the paint faded after 16 years. No mate....and I have a painting of it in the attic thats slowly going rusty..... (excuse the literary reference...I'm venting before I answer any more requests for info which would otherwise include a crude drawing of where I would happily shove the bike right now)

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

Last car I sold privately was in 1996 it was a Mercedes W124  230E manual 5 speed (it returned 32-40mpg), only one person enquired about the car advertised in the local newspaper. He came to see it as he definitely wanted a manual not an automatic. He test drove it and bought it I think I accepted about £100 less than I was asking for it - manuals are not sought after.

About 6 weeks later I am in the local Post Office when I bump into the same chap who had just got out of a BMW 350 automatic. He complained about the Mercedes being hard work to drive as he was used to driving automatics so he traded it in for an automatic BMW. He then complained that the BMW only did 17 mpg! To be fair he did tell me he took it to a local MB specialist who checked it over and found it was in faultless condition - he said if there had been anything amiss he would have returned it for a refund as he had made a mistake!

[Laverda Dave]

A mate sold a 80% restored 70's Triumph via a well known auction site.  He had a few phone calls but nobody actually came round to see it.
One guy kept calling and asking fo info along the lines of what needed doing to finish it (all in the description), what parts were missing....none, again all in the description, would he take an offer as it wasn't running.....it was running as mentioned in the description, all the gears selected etc, it just needed the paintwork doing, the mudguards putting on and the front brake adjusting, again all in the description. The guy admitted he had never owned a British bike before and could he use metric spanners on it? He eventually bought it and collected it in a van. Because he had the phone number he would call my mate up every weekend or whenever he worked on it to ask about this and that and what should he do etc.  Worst mistake my mate made was selling it!

When I sold my 400/4 I didn't want the stress of the tyre kickers, waiting in for the no-shows etc so I sold it to a dealer. I lost money on it but I had the money in my hand straight away and without the hassle of placing ads and paying commission etc.

[Pops400]

“What’s the lowest you’ll go on it mate?”

“2 miles an hour, Mate, any lower than that and you’ll fall off.”

I’ll get my coat… 

[kevski]

When they try to beat me down i counter with a higher price and say can you see where I'm going with this, or say i will let you have it for nothing and come round for the next ten years to service, clean and add fuel to it for you, then they look at me as if i am taking the pish.

[SumpMagnet]

well..in the end, I sold it to a guy who turned up with a pocket full of cash and a positive attitude.

He brought his mate round to have a look who was a mechanic at a local dealer.s..and he was happy she was a good solid bike and the deal was done.

Bike was taken off E-Bay, and I will avoid selling on that site in future. Everyone wants a deal, I get that, but I have to wonder...do these olks go into Tesco, fill up a trolley with stuff, and when the checkout staff say '£95 please' ...do they go, 'well...I only brought £50. Will that be enough?' ..'well, your asking too much for those cornflakes, there isn;t much demand' .... 'well, I would pay full rirce for that milk, but I saw some in another shop for less' .....

probably do..... but thankfully, I don;t work in retail, as I would not keep the job long!