Bad time to sell?

deegs

I'm trying to sell my GTV at the minute, its been on for about 6 weeks and i've only had one phone call and no follow up.

Is it a bad time to sell, or a bad price? I'm thinking of just keeping it now at this stage as i'd loose money to drop the price much farther.

Any thought on wether it would be better to sell after the new vrt/tax system?

Lex Luthor

Best of luck with the sale, Deegs. Just keep the ad up. The car looks well and someone will pick it up.

Is that the going rate for one of that year?

deegs

I would think based on condition, mileage and spec maybe 9.5-11k. (from carzone years 1999 - 2001 avg)

I'd like to think the condition of my car warrants the high end with some negotiation after a viewing.

Maybe not,

miju

your car is the most expensive on carzone for the year which is probably why your not getting any calls after 6 weeks. for example compared to yours with 50,800 miles for €11,000 you can get the same year car on carzone for:

1 - 60,000 miles for €10,000
2 - 77,000 miles for €8,800
3 - 65,000 miles for €7,000

also theres a couple of 2001 year cars which are much better priced than your car for example:

1 - 45,000 miles for €12,450
2 - 27,000 miles for €11,750

JHMEG

miju wrote: »

your car is the most expensive on carzone for the year

Most people (like myself) sort by price, look at the 5 or 6 cheapest, and don't bother with the rest.

Chonker

I agree it may be a wee bit too expensive.
Although in answer to your initial question Yes I think it is a bad time to sell.
Beautiful looking car though. Good luck with the sale.

Omcd

Bad time, it has been for a while - sold my previous car a couple of months ago and had to go a full €2000 below the next lowest advertised price to get a single genuine phone call after nearly 3 months of gradually reducing the price (from 11k) - it's sole destroying to have a car in mint condition that absolutely no one seems to be interested in - luckily, first to see did buy.

deegs

miju wrote: »

your car is the most expensive on carzone for the year which is probably why your not getting any calls after 6 weeks. for example compared to yours with 50,800 miles for €11,000 you can get the same year car on carzone for:

1 - 60,000 miles for €10,000
2 - 77,000 miles for €8,800
3 - 65,000 miles for €7,000

also theres a couple of 2001 year cars which are much better priced than your car for example:

1 - 45,000 miles for €12,450
2 - 27,000 miles for €11,750

Hey Miju, hows the form boi
Perhaps, but i weigh that all up and still think my car is a good price.

ciarsd

Price - the only reason for any sale attracting no interest.

Owning cars and loosing a sum of money is what they're all about unfortunately. Unless were talking about classics.
If you cannot afford to go lower on price, then it might very well be worth more to you to keep.

Lex Luthor

ciarsd wrote: »

Owning cars and loosing a sum of money is what they're all about unfortunately.

especially when it's an alfa

Atomic Pineapple

it seems to be a terrible time to sell, if your on owners forums people with the best examples of cars cant sell them no atter how low they go on the price

vibe666

I'm selling my car too, I thought I had it at a decent price, but I'm starting to think I need to lower it a little bit too if I want to sell it.

I know we all price our cars at the value that we think they are worth, but at the end of the day when you are selling your car (and mine) it is worth only what someone else is willing to pay for it and not a euro more.

you also have to look at the prices of other cars as only the vaguest of comparative values as more often than not, if someone wants to buy any particular car they will haggle anyway and the advertised price will most likely be significantly more than the final selling price.

unfortunately we have to look at the market and decide how badly we want to sell. mines only been for sale for a week, so it's not as much of an issue for me, but your car certainly hasn't gained any value sitting on your driveway unsold for 6 weeks.

The sad fact is, if you haven't had any interested buyers at that price then despite what it's worth to you, it's priced too high. sorry.

Henry Ford III

Price is the issue. Revenue VRT calc. places a value of less than half of your suggested selling price.

ATE: 08 February 2008 TIME: 09:23

STATISTICAL CODE: 40885011
MAKE: ALFA ROMEO
MODEL: GTV
VERSION: 16V TS LUSSO 02DR / SPORTS COUPE (NON-CONVERTIBLE) / MANUAL / PETROL ONLY /
MILEAGE: 50800 MILES

The information requested in respect of the vehicle shown is indicated below.
DATE OF FIRST REGISTRATION(MM/YY): JUNE 2000
OPEN MARKET SELLING PRICE:
(applicable on enquiry date) €5204
RATE OF TAX: 30.0%
VEHICLE REGISTRATION TAX:
(payable on enquiry date) €1561

Cyrus

JHMEG wrote: »

Most people (like myself) sort by price, look at the 5 or 6 cheapest, and don't bother with the rest.

thats an odd approach, i pick the car, pick the ones id like the own and then view and negotiate on price, no point only looking at the cheapest ones, they are the cheapest for a reason

alias no.9

deegs wrote: »

Hey Miju, hows the form boi
Perhaps, but i weigh that all up and still think my car is a good price.

I hate to be another negative voice, the car is a beauty, but your opinion of the price/value means squat, the car is only worth what somebody else will pay for it. You can decide whether it's worth your while selling at that price but you can do very little to influence it.
For what it's worth, my own experience of selling privately (two seperate occasions) is that if you describe the car properly and price it competitively, it will sell to the first person who comes to see it. The biggest problem is getting anyone to come and see it. This is where lowering the asking price can make it more tempting for someone to come and view it. You may get a little less for it but you'll get it much sooner, you can probably make up the difference by having a set of balls when buying your next car and driving a hard bargain. One final piece of advice, don't turn down a genuine offer for the sake of €500. I know people who've done this and ended up selling for less, many months later.

deegs

Lex Luthor wrote: »

especially when it's an alfa

oohhhhhhh and from a fellow alfa owner too


My 146 i sold last Dec was at the Top Price for all the other comparative 146's and when the bloke came out he said he was staying away from the cheap ones.... as you usually get what you pay for...

Dunno, I'm loving the car so im not too pushed to sell, I'm dying for more space tho'

--amadeus--

Maybe it's just my screen but the photos look very dark? Maybe re-take teh photos when there is a bit more light (I won't say sunshine, you could be waiting a while).

I agree with JHMEG. I figure out what I'm interested in, sort by price and go from there. If a car is waaay lower than the rest I won't go near it but if condition is good then why pay more? Usually the highest priced cars - while maybe marginally better specced or condition - sit for much longer.

It's also worth mentioning that your price is a starting point. Better to price realistically and not drop much than price highly and get no interest only to be negotiated down anyway.

And you may weigh it up and think it's a good price but if no-one is phoning then other people don't agree.

JHMEG

Cyrus wrote: »

thats an odd approach, i pick the car, pick the ones id like the own and then view and negotiate on price, no point only looking at the cheapest ones, they are the cheapest for a reason

The cheapest ones are usualy private sellers, the dearest are dealers. Plain and simple. Nothing to do with quality, as you are implying.

Fizman

--amadeus-- wrote: »

Maybe it's just my screen but the photos look very dark? Maybe re-take teh photos when there is a bit more light (I won't say sunshine, you could be waiting a while).

+1
Thought the very same myself as soon as I saw the add.

deegs

well its going on 3 months and I have not had anyone out to view the car yet let alone drive it.

I think it is currently priced well, but I'm still waiting for a buyer, the wifes going mad!

Any advice?

alias no.9

deegs wrote: »

well its going on 3 months and I have not had anyone out to view the car yet let alone drive it.

I think it is currently priced well, but I'm still waiting for a buyer, the wifes going mad!

Any advice?

It's a specialist car so the biggest challenge is to show it to the right audience. Have you considerer taking it to some car shows? I see you have it advertised on alfaireland, it could be worth your while travelling to the durrow car show with them for their upcoming meet. I have to agree with the previous comments about the photos being poor. If there is an hour of bright sunshine over the weekend, go out and take better pics.
As for the market in general, there seems to be plenty people moaning about how slow it is but I sold a car for my brother a few weeks ago (more recently than my previous post on this thread) and it was gone less than a week after being first advertised.

Henry Ford III

It's too expensive. Way too expensive. Nice car btw.

--amadeus--

Price is much better now in comparison to other, similar cars. I'll say now what I said a month ago though - those photos are woeful though, you can't see anything in them. If I see a car with such dark photos I assume that the owner is trying to hide something...

Vikings

I'd also say that part of the reason there is no interest is the location - I wonder if you could change the location to say Dublin for a week or two would interest pick up?

I know when I am looking on carzone, at least when browsing, I usually only take a look at cars that would be in my area.

Granted if people are looking for a specific car (in your case they probably are) then they will be willing to travel for it but then you wont attract any people just browsing and that rules out some of your market.

Problem is, would you then be willing to travel to Dublin or at least meet half way to show the car.

Churchy

Looks like a lovely example - good luck!

yop

Good luck with the sale, fine motor.

Let us know how you get on with it and how much difference the price drop made to you.

miju

deegs bang it up on alfaireland in my sig you never know

galwaytt

Well, as for the location thing - this may apply to run of the mill cars, people looking for the likes of a GTV won't be put off by a spin to see it. But do be amenable to travel a bit to show it. I brought a car to Louth for a guy to see it and he decided there and then to buy it. I drove it back to Mullingar the following week for handover.

However, there is maybe a wider issue. We all, here on Motors.ie, spend a lot of time looking/reading about cars, usually because we're mad/interested. The vast majority of car buyers, though, are not. To them, cars are..............transport :eek: Shocking, I know..........:rolleyes: So to them, price is king. Yes, there is a problem for the likes of us selling on something other than price -we will always come out bottom of the pile.........

Then, and my brother in Cork is having the same issue (his car here...I think the problem is the internet. Or, to be more accurate, the lack of it.

As long as the vast majority of the population, and by dint, the motoring population, do not have broadband access, then you are only selling to a % of a % of the actual market. Maybe this is why Buy and Sell still flourishes as a paper - it gets to all those places the internet does not - and that's a lot of places. Dealerships know this too, otherwise the internet would have sunk them already - there is fat chance of that happening. Case in point: we drove into Galway last Saturday, and for sheer curiousity, turned into a Nissan garage to see a new Note. If the man had put a good enough deal out there, we may have bought something. The internet offers no spontaneity, and no flexibility. The proliferation of roadside cars for sale is evidence of this.

As any car dealer will tell you - put them in the car. As soon as you do, you can nearly hear the mental gears turning............it'd nearly be a job to NOT sell them a car, rather than the other way around. It's all about removing the obstacles.

Does anybody, I wonder, or is there potential for, a commission-only sales forecourt, or does anyone know if any existing business does that already? I can see the advantages for the trader - good range of stock and types (including stuff they'd normally avoid, but would love the commission on...), but no capital outlay. For the seller - good footfall/traffic, ease of access for buyers. No need for the whole buyer/seller mind games.

Just a thought.............like I said, we're mad anyway...........:D

--amadeus--

galwaytt wrote: »

Does anybody, I wonder, or is there potential for, a commission-only sales forecourt, or does anyone know if any existing business does that already? I can see the advantages for the trader - good range of stock and types (including stuff they'd normally avoid, but would love the commission on...), but no capital outlay. For the seller - good footfall/traffic, ease of access for buyers. No need for the whole buyer/seller mind games.

I agree on the location thing - true if selling a boggo hatch but not on a specialist car - my last two sales have been to people who have traveled from Dublin to Limerick specifically to look at the car.

Very interesting idea on the commission only forecourt. How would warrenties work though? And a lot of people need to use the car up until they sell it, using the money from the sale to buy the replacement don't they?