IcemanG17

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/car/210552141.html

I was looking at craigslist and came accross this car...no affilation....looks like a nice 1990...83K miles with black-red trim leather.....fair price too at $14.9K..might be worth a look for someone?

Foz

It used to be priced at $12.9k -- I guess he raised the price due to getting too many offers. Not so cool in my book. Here was the old ad:

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/car/203242534.html

Bill Ball

I do like the red piping. Somebody needs to go look at this car.

RyanPerrella

well i dont see whats wrong asking more for a car. If you under price something and you get a bunch of bites, good for him for raising the price if he can get more for it, all the power to the seller, eother that happens or some guy steals it from him and turns it over to try and make 5K either way it always seems to end up for sale again for a higher price and someone makes money, better the original owner then some guy who owns it for a month and just resells it in my opinion.

Loaded

He needs to ask about 18K. I wouldnt mind that at all

Foz

Because it's your word. If you offer something at a certain price, and someone calls you up and says "I'll take it", and then you change your price, you are a slimey weasel (at least in my book). Lack of good faith, pure and simple. Or in legal parlance, 'Bait and Switch'.

RyanPerrella

well foz then you have a point if you had some type of payment arrangement with the seller.

But If i advertise something, and I get a bunch of people offering me what i am asking, and i dont take any of those offers, but instead choose to relist said item at a higher price then theres nothing wrong with that. Youmay not be happy but its simply a response to market demands. A "thing" is only worth what someone will pay for it, you can claim it does this and that and is such and such but if no one will pay what you claim it to be worth, then guess what it aint worth what you think it is. That goes the other way too. If you see something advertised for less than what you believe it to be worth, then you better jump all over it, otherwise maybe the seller gets a better offer, or is informed that its priced low, then if they catch it, theres nothing wrong with that. I believe you would do the same.

When people list xx price OBO, or best offer. That dosent mean xx price -10% or whatever. "Or best offer" means my price or best offer wether it be higher or lower, now you wouldnt typically get a higher offer unless multiple people saw it and all wanted it at a premium, above asking price. I believe a seller has every right to want more if the market tells him/her they can get more.

However that being said, if there was some agreement one day then someone renegs on that then you are entitled to your opinion towards that person. But oral agreements have no standing in court, they dont mean **** honestly.

I was told that when i bought my car, someone else had a pending deal on it which the seller reneged on apparently and sold to me. I heard the offer ant thought it was so low i offered the offer plus 20%. I thought well should i offer +10% and gotten it cheaper, maybe but i think by going where i did it was too good to pass up on and was an obvious choice to sell to me instead. I could have gotten the car for 10% less but if i hadnt i would be kicking myself now if that wasnt enough to change the sellers mind. So that worked out for me obviously. I think whoever made the previous offer just lowballed the guy and when i called up and was happy to offer more, he was so inclined to sell to me.

I get that you would feel bad that someone dosent live up to their word, but such is life unfortunately. There are many shady people and shady deals all around, look at some of these stupid ebay ads for cars and 800 hp engines, what a bunch of crap. But again as for an oral agreement, that unfortunately wont get you anywhere in court.

Richard S

How is this different than the housing market 1-2 years ago? Most would list their house at a certain price, and typically get more than the asking price. Or even raise the asking price in response to demand. Especially in the Bay Area.....but you should know that.

Rich

RyanPerrella

my thoughts exactly

Charley B

Foz - Are you saying that you or someone offered him full price and he said not thanks and raised the price? If not, then whats the beef?
I figure he probably had to fix something and raised the price accordingly to cover the repair bill. I've done that a time or two.

Foz

First off, I don't know anything specific about this car. I did not make an offer on it, not have I communicated with the seller. Like my first post said, I guessed that is what he did. Apparently this is pretty common on Craigslist because a few weeks ago, someone advertised a Pioneer deck & 2 Infinity speakers for $65. I emailed him and he said the price had gone up because of too many people calling.

To some people, that's just business. To me, it's being a weasel. If you underprice something and then someone takes you up on it, then you take a loss and chalk it up to a wise lesson learned. NOTHING is preventing you from overpricing it, and then lowering the price. I have a 944 parts car for sale, first at $1000, then at $750, now at $500. If someone comes to me with $500 cash, and someone else shows up two minutes later offering $750, guess who gets the car: The first guy that showed up with the $500. To you, this is probably being stupid. But to me, it's the only way to conduct oneself.

We're getting way off topic here, but don't even get me started on the housing market. There is going to be so much pain in the next three years that is going to affect EVERYONE (flipper, buyer, renter, homeowner, business owner, illegal immigrant, and most importantly, TAXPAYER) because of the widespead lack of ethics and morals that allowed that to happen. If you want to know more, read housingpanic.blogspot.com (the funny one) or thehousingbubbleblog.com (the serious one) or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_...housing_bubble (Wikipedia).

Oh, and it wasn't 12.9k obo... It was just 12.9k. And regarding your story, Ryan, it sounds like someone did make a non-binding lowball offer under the seller's asking price, the seller said 'I'll think about it', and then you showed up. No harm, no foul. But if they did offer what the seller was asking for, then it's a lack of ethics on the part of the seller for them to break that deal and sell it to you. Is is prosecutable? Probably not. But does that mean it's acceptable or right? No.

Or maybe he bought the car at $12.9k and now he's one of the flippers you hate so much reselling it two weeks later for 2k profit...

RyanPerrella

i agree that there is a serious lack of ethics in many aspects of our lives, but its something that we all need to first recognize is there, and take it into account when dealing with people, companies etc etc. Its unfortunate that we all have had to or are dealing with or will deal with people who lack those ethics. Its something thats there and we have simply to acknowledge and EXPECT, we dont live in a perfect world, nor are we all perfect and upstanding people.

Charley B

Foz - I hope you don't get too worked up over the HousingPanic Blog. I've been in the Housing and Lending business since 1976 and I assure you the blog is a load of crap. Maybe. :>)

tdelarm

Ryan...I couldn't agree with you more. Like my house in LA that sold in under 31 hours, my shark also has been priced at a value to me that if it sells or not, I will not loose sleep. Like you say in so many words, the value of an item is that of what someone else believes it to be valued. However, its up to you either to sell at a given offer, keep, or to meet demand or lack of demand by adjusting your price accordingly.

It is only business after all and nothing personal.

Foz

So I called the guy to get the complete story on this car. He is a high-end low-volume car dealer (25 Porsches, BMWs, etc.) The 12.9k was a 'weekend special' because he was buying a house and needed to quickly free up cash, so he was selling a bunch of his inventory "almost at cost" (says he bought it for '12-something').

For those who are interested in the car, he says "There is room to negotiate on the 14.9k price", although he said the 12.9k price was gone.

Hope that helps.