stupid offers on a private sale

RobAMerc · 13-03-2011 9:10am #1

has anyone else tried selling a car privately recently?

were you plagued by stupid offers?

I am trying to sell a car @ 16250.
So far I have been offered - sight unseen 14,500 by a BMW dealer ( its a BMW), 13,500 by someone who expected me to meet him 50miles away to show it to him, luckily I made it clear I needed to know if he was willing to pay the asking price before I travelled - he admitted he was thinking 13,500 :mad: and most ridiculously a guy offered me 8k and his 98 Mitsubishi.

I've also had 2 more serious offers via txt of 14k sight unseen.
how do people think that 8k or even 13.5 k is a valid offer on something asking 16k plus

Kadongy · 13-03-2011 9:14am

Maybe you are asking for too much. Used big cars are very cheap recently.

The offers dont sound stupid. The 13.5k guy sounds like a chancer though - hoping you would just accept the offer after travelling so far to show it I think.

Brian? · 13-03-2011 9:15am

The way the used car market is at the moment I'm not surprised. They are plenty of people desperate to sell, so why not chance your arm with a low ball offer to see if you can pick up a bargain.

I realise that's going to be a pain in the hoop for the seller, but if I was looking to buy I'd give it a go.

RobAMerc · 13-03-2011 9:33am

Kadongy wrote: »

Maybe you are asking for too much. Used big cars are very cheap recently.

The offers dont sound stupid. The 13.5k guy sounds like a chancer though - hoping you would just accept the offer after travelling so far to show it I think.

What makes you think its a big car?
I was offered 16.5k for it as a trade in and the BMW dealer rang me offering to buy it cash for 14.5k - how often does that happen if it wasn't a rare desirable car ? and what does he think he could have sold it for if he was willing to buy it for 14.5k.

I realise there is a lot of people stuck for money, but 14.5k is not a reasonable offer on something priced at 16,250. If you don't think it's worth 16,250 don't offer anything, go find something else!

I have bought and sold a lot of cars privately through the years, people come to see stuff, offer 500 less than asking with the expectation of getting it for 250 off, not 2k off !

Seweryn · 13-03-2011 9:36am

RobAMerc wrote: »

has anyone else tried selling a car privately recently?

were you plagued by stupid offers?

Yeah, I was at the same boat. Silly offers are common these days and the best way is to ignore them. What you need is as follows:
- Make sure your car is priced right (not too high with some room for haggling),
- Your advert is well presented with detailed description and good photos,
- Patience. Just ignore the time wasters and wait for the right buyer to come. It will take some time, but you will sell it.
By the way, how long ago did you place your first ad for the car?

Good Luck with the sale.

Bigcheeze · 13-03-2011 9:41am

You seem to be taking it personally.

Two Things to remember:

1. Nobody is going to offer you the asking price. They're all going to offer at least 10% less no matter how fairly you think it's priced.

2. If you're going to insist on getting the full asking price you're not going to sell the car. If 16,250 is your minimum, price the car over 17k

Hootanany · 13-03-2011 9:48am

What car is it

MarkR · 13-03-2011 10:04am

Without you telling us more about your car, we can't really tell if any of those offers are stupid really.

What model, year, mileage etc is it?

anewme · 13-03-2011 10:29am

Contrary to popular belief, the second hand car market is actually thriving and some dealers simply do not have enough stock, hence the BMW dealer offering cash. I would ask the BMW Dealer if he could up his price. He may already have a buyer in mind and would be willing to take less of a margin.

If the car is a popular/rare model, there should be no problem selling.

My sister sold her year old car in a day last week. Got a very good price too.

skyhighflyer · 13-03-2011 11:11am

I would agree, good used cars are thin on the ground and are only going to get thinner as a result of the crash in new car registrations from 2009 onwards.

If a BMW dealer offered you 14.5k then the car is obviously well-priced at around €16k.

I have a couple of rules about private sellers that usually weed out messers:

1. They come to visit me; and

2. no dealing until they see the car first.

Atlantic Dawn · 13-03-2011 11:41am

skyhighflyer wrote: »

I have a couple of rules about private sellers that usually weed out messers:

1. They come to visit me; and

2. no dealing until they see the car first.

Exactly, when selling a car it's best not to entertain any offers over the phone from anyone, tell them price is negotiable and they need to view it to make an offer. Otherwise you have people with no intention of buying expecting you to hold the car for them until they figure out they can't afford it.

13-03-2011 12:20pm

I can't believe you expect to get the full asking price, I'd love more details of this rare and not big BMW

wyndham · 13-03-2011 12:25pm

RobAMerc wrote: »

What makes you think its a big car?
I was offered 16.5k for it as a trade in and the BMW dealer rang me offering to buy it cash for 14.5k - how often does that happen if it wasn't a rare desirable car ? and what does he think he could have sold it for if he was willing to buy it for 14.5k.

I realise there is a lot of people stuck for money, but 14.5k is not a reasonable offer on something priced at 16,250. If you don't think it's worth 16,250 don't offer anything, go find something else!

I have bought and sold a lot of cars privately through the years, people come to see stuff, offer 500 less than asking with the expectation of getting it for 250 off, not 2k off !

10% off your asking is not a "stupid offer" and would be a reasonable starting point imo. €5,000 would be a stupid offer.

alias no.9 · 13-03-2011 12:36pm

The place is full of people making stupid offers regardless of the car and it's market value. I'm usually dealing with much cheaper motors, but when I get an offer unseen, I respond by restating the asking price, inviting them to view the car, then telling them they're welcome to make an offer once they're satisfied with what they see. I've only once had to show a car to a second person, and at that, the first person who saw that car was left disappointed, that they hadn't made a firm offer in time.

alias no.9 · 13-03-2011 12:38pm

wyndham wrote: »

10% off your asking is not a "stupid offer" and would be a reasonable starting point imo. €5,000 would be a stupid offer.

It may not be a stupid offer after viewing a car, it's stupid to do unseen, the car could be a wreck and you're already committing to a price.

Owen · 13-03-2011 12:40pm

You should try selling small stuff! I've a moped for sale for 375 euro. I've web offered 50, 100, an xbox, two people have offered asking then disappeared without viewing ... and I got offered a collection of DVDs. Not the interesting kind

Seweryn · 13-03-2011 12:42pm

alias no.9 wrote: »

The place is full of people making stupid offers regardless of the car and it's market value. I'm usually dealing with much cheaper motors, but when I get an offer unseen, I respond by restating the asking price, inviting them to view the car, then telling them they're welcome to make an offer once they're satisfied with what they see. I've only once had to show a car to a second person, and at that, the first person who saw that car was left disappointed, that they hadn't made a firm offer in time.

True, and the same happened to me. Hundreds of silly offers over the phone and no viewers for a month or two. Then a single interested person viewed it and bought the car week after.

Ev84 · 13-03-2011 12:57pm

Sure wouldn't it be worse if you were getting NO offers for it? Getting offered 14.5k is only 1.75k off your asking price so you are close to getting a decent offer. It shows there is good interest in it so why complain? Good luck with the sale...

mickdw · 13-03-2011 1:51pm

If the dealer is offering 14.5k cash, I would assume that 16.5k is not out of bounds for it.
Still nothing strange about people offering 13.5k etc.

x in the city · 13-03-2011 2:11pm

your nuts to expect full whack price.

what is this rare not big BMW you refer to and put us out of our misery sir.

Hootanany · 13-03-2011 2:16pm

Must have some nice alloys with a go-faster stripe up the middle oh and a big exhaust

13-03-2011 2:23pm

Only a two on carzone at that price that are private sales.....

2006 320 M sport saloon
http://www.carzone.ie/search/BMW/3-Series/320-I-M-/201104201051656/advert?channel=CARS

2004 X5
http://www.carzone.ie/search/BMW/X5/X5-3.0SE/201045200210978/advert?channel=CARS

Not either of them anyway.

RobAMerc wrote: »

I've also had 2 more serious offers via txt of 14k sight unseen.

How can a text be considered a serious offer if they haven't viewed the thing?

listermint · 13-03-2011 2:29pm

http://www.carzone.ie/search/BMW/3-Series/SE/201043200004991/advert?channel=CARS

this is the closest i can find to yours although this is an '07 with quite a good spec. Maybe your priced too high tbh, also maybe the dealer needs a specific car as part of a deal and wont make profit on it.

10% off asking is standard fair and work from there.

you gave no mileage or spec of your 320D touring so its hard to judge.

13-03-2011 2:39pm

listermint wrote: »

you gave no mileage or spec of your 320D touring so its hard to judge.

A 320d ? Seriously

RobAMerc wrote: »

how often does that happen if it wasn't a rare desirable car ? ...

dharn · 13-03-2011 2:41pm

i have a 06 320d se fully specced 100000 k full bmw service history i would be delighted to be getting 16000 ono for it ,a bmw dealer only valued it on a trade in at 12..13 k recently

listermint · 13-03-2011 2:46pm

RoverJames wrote: »

A 320d ? Seriously

my eager spidey search sense came back with that nugget. E90 320D Touring. 16+ is dealer prices tbh.

muckwarrior · 13-03-2011 2:51pm

I've seen plenty of threads on Adverts where someone offers maybe 80% of the asking price, the seller laughs and tells them to feck off, then weeks or maybe months later the car still hasn't sold and the seller has lowered the asking price to below the offer he scoffed at.

listermint · 13-03-2011 2:55pm

muckwarrior wrote: »

I've seen plenty of threads on Adverts where someone offers maybe 80% of the asking price, the seller laughs and tells them to feck off, then weeks or maybe months later the car still hasn't sold and the seller has lowered the asking price to below the offer he scoffed at.

Agreed, have seen this countless times myself. There are too many people expecting to achieve dealer prices with no warranty and no come back as it is a private sale. Im all for maximising your return when selling but you have to be realistic if you want to change vehicles.

Ive always been realistic when selling. undercut the competition and sell on as soon as i can. And I keep my vehicles in great nick. Ive sold to friends and family in the past and would hate to hand over a junker.