Mark R.

It's very simple. I would tell the second and third callers:

"I already have someone coming today to look at it. You are next in line. I will call you back tonight, and let you know".

Jerry Feather

That's what you would do, but that doesn't answer the question, does it?

Imo000

Your moral compass will issue those rights.

Mark R.

I had to go back and reread your question, and the answer is: The Seller.
By following that convention, and honoring the order of contact, the seller is the one issuing those rights.
It's very similar (albeit on a larger scale) to how we honor the order of PM's when parts are offered for sale here.
The seller works with the first responder to complete the sale, before he moves on to the second, then third, etc.

DKWalser

I agree with this 928%. I paid for 3 PPIs when searching for my 1st (and so far only) 928. All the cars were 1,000 miles or so away and there was no practical way for me to personally inspect the cars before the seller and I'd agreed to terms -- all premised on the assumption the car was as represented and would pass a PPI. The 1st PPI was of a car in the Chicago area. The seller had doctored the photos he'd sent me of the car. The 2nd PPI was of a car in west Ohio. The seller backed out of the deal after I'd paid $300 for the PPI. (The PPI revealed the A/C wasn't working and the passenger window wasn't functioning. I said the seller could have those two items fixed and I'd buy the car at the agreed price. He walked from the deal.) The 3rd PPI was of the car I bought in Orange County, California. (I should have had Dr. Brown do the PPI, but didn't.)

I can understand why a seller wouldn't be willing to bind a car until a deposit has been received. What I can't understand is why a seller would think a long-distance buyer would be willing to arrange and pay for a PPI if that's not the last step in the sales process. There was no way I was going to arrange and pay for a PPI if the deal hadn't already been struck. I don't know why any long-distance buyer would.

hlee96

I agree that it is the right thing to do, but how many sellers out there actually "honor" that, when there is always a potential "bidding war" coming? How many of you would "refuse" a potential higher offer on a house just because the higher offer came later but before the signature on the contract?

We honor the 1st come 1st served here on Rennlist, because we are a membership group (very close knit one) and a bad rep would spread within a day here. Also, Rennlist rules requires an asking price from the beginning, and this can hinder "bidding wars".

However, once it involves the whole public, all bets are off in the world of "anonymous" offers. Whoever gives you the first hard cash in the amount that satisfies you, then that's the buyer. Shouldn't care about who "called" first, unless the caller already made a commitment to drive and see your car and tried to obtain financing on the agreed upon price.

I recently contacted a pristine '83 gold 928 owner in MN, but the owner immediately stated that he was already expecting someone local to come the next day to check the car out. He stopped any further possibility of potential buyers until the first local contact was done. He let me know if there was no offers, then he would contact me. I appreciated the honesty.

hlee96

Completely agreed. I usually would only have arrange for a PPI once an agreement has been reached on the price. PPI ($3-400) is same as a nonrefundable deposit. Only stipulation I had with a PPI was if the PPI reveals more than a certain amount of work to make the car safely operational (not regular maintenance like WP/TB or cosmetic, but safety issues like working brakes, alum ball joints etc), then I have the right to back out of the deal or request an adjustment to the agreed upon price.

Jerry Feather

A contract is made up of an offer and an acceptance. When someone posts something for sale at a given price, that might seem like an offer that the first responder/prospective buyer, can simply accept thus making a contract based on offer and acceptance. However, such a posting is not an offer that can simply be accepted, but rather is legally only a solicitation of an offer. When the first person responds he is not in a position to say he accepts and thus have a contract. Actually he is only in a position to make an offer of that amount (or any other) anticipating that his offer will be accepted. There may be any number of reasons that the seller does not want to sell to a given prospective buyer, whether he if the first responder of the seventh.

Therefore, the first thing a buyer should expect to do when responding to such a solicitation is to ask what the seller will sell it to you for. He may even be indignant, because he doesn't know either what his solicitation actually was, but he will more likely tell you that you saw his asking price, so that it is. Then You get to say "are you offering it to me for that? Then he will most likely say yes or something like "well, I can let if go for this, XXX."

None of this has anything to do with who called first, who responded first or who did anything first except to show up, one way or another, to deal with him first. Even that guy has no kind of "rights by being first, because the seller can simply say no and whatever else he wants such as I'm talking to someone else about it right now. Thanks for your interest.

There are no "rights" in the hierarchy of buyers that I am aware of. Even the one thought to exist here on Rennlist is largely misunderstood, from my observations

Imo000

So if you had a buyer on their way to see the car, you would have no problem selling it to someone else before they get there?

Randy V

So which buyer ended up getting the car?