sell agreed -now somebody offering me more money-

falabo

HI all

just seeking some advice on the situation

My car was for sale @ 7,950. accepted an offer of €7,550 took €200 deposit
Buyer supposed to collect car most likely tomorrow

Somebody has been ringing me offering more let's say €7,750

What would you do? I am a private seller, can I give the deposit back to the 1st bidder?
Forget about moral and all, your man was very business like, a bit of a shark, felt pressurised to accept €7,550

At the end of the day at he kept saying to me "it's business" so I wouldnt feel bad returning his deposit. it's still MY car until I get the full amount. right ? let's be paranoid now: ould he suer me for not completing the sale ?? dont think so but I like to take on board other people's advice

Appreciated. thanks

colm_mcm

A bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush

There's nothing to say the new prospect will actually buy and its a bad way to do business.

jaffa20

Just say you changed your mind about selling and give the deposit back. Is the other offer much more? The guy might just match it too.

Avns1s

I'm with Colm on this one. Conclude your deal and get the rest of that money as quickly as possible would be my advice in the current climate.

spoonface

falabo wrote: »

HI all

just seeking some advice on the situation

My car was for sale @ 7,950. accepted an offer of €7,550 took €200 deposit
Buyer supposed to collect car most likely tomorrow

Somebody has been ringing me offering more let's say €7,750

What would you do? I am a private seller, can I give the deposit back to the 1st bidder?
Forget about moral and all, your man was very business like, a bit of a shark, felt pressurised to accept €7,550

At the end of the day at he kept saying to me "it's business" so I wouldnt feel bad returning his deposit. it's still MY car until I get the full amount. right ? let's be paranoid now: ould he suer me for not completing the sale ?? dont think so but I like to take on board other people's advice

Appreciated. thanks

While it's tempting to do, it shows a lack of integrity. But putting all that aside you can do it alright, just get the 2nd guy's money quickly or you'll lose the first guy as your backup plan.

166man

If the figures you are giving are correct and the other guy has offered €200 more then no I wouldn't take a risk like that for €200. You could end up with nothing. Depends how much you want to take the risk, and as the others say it's a bad way to do business.

I mean it wouldn't be very nice if it happened to you would it?

CJhaughey

Is this not gazumping?

bazz26

Has the person offering the higher amount actually viewed/test drove the car and willing to leave a deposit or just offered that amount over the phone? I'd take an offer over the phone with a pinch of salt to be honest. Unless they come up to your door and give you a deposit then their offer carries very little weight.

Thread carefully here though because if you are not careful you could end up with no sale at all.

Anan1

Reminds me of one of Aesop's Fables:

wrote:

The Dog and His Reflection

A Dog, to whom the butcher had thrown a bone, was hurrying home with his prize as fast as he could go. As he crossed a narrow footbridge, he happened to look down and saw himself reflected in the quiet water as if in a mirror. But the greedy Dog thought he saw a real Dog carrying a bone much bigger than his own.

If he had stopped to think he would have known better. But instead of thinking, he dropped his bone and sprang at the Dog in the river, only to find himself swimming for dear life to reach the shore. At last he managed to scramble out, and as he stood sadly thinking about the good bone he had lost, he realized what a stupid Dog he had been.

barura

Aesop knew his stuff about car wheeling and dealings.

OP, don't be that type of seller. What's the difference of 200euro over someone who will probably sing your praises if you do the deal with them and spit on your name if you don't?

dr.fuzzenstein

It's a private sale, as long as nothing was signed you don't have to honor it.
Of course there are risks.
First of all, the original buyer won't be too impressed I might imagine, but you're not a shop and you owe him nothing, except of course the E200 he gave you.
Second, if you do decide to cancel the sale to the first buyer and the second buyer decides he doesn't fancy it, you've lost both buyers and end up with naught.
If you decide you do want to go through with it, make sure you get the money from the second buyer, before telling the first one the deal's through.
But consider this:
The second buyer is offering you E200 more.
Has he seen the car? Is he definitely going to fork out that money?
he might turn up and find some dents and scratches and start bargaining hard and you could still end with up the same or less.
For the money you're getting and the time you have left, I'd go with the first buyer.
He's agreed a price, paid a deposit and is definitely going through with it.
If you're going to undo all that you're going to end up with hassle and maybe no money.

shawnee

Have had that situation before, where someone without even seeing the item offers more money ??? Ignore them , ,, when you do a deal and take a deposit, be happy with your price and stick by your word , if you haven't a word , you have nothing. An either way most of the others are timewasters

L-M

Edit; Completely wrong thread

headmaster

You have agreed to sell the car, if you are an honourable man you'll keep your word, if you're not, well.......?, maybe the next time you have a bit of bad luck, you'll know why.

-Chris-

Sell the car to the first buyer. No you won't be sued, but it's bad karma to be doing sharp practice like that.

If you were messed around like you're thinking of doing to someone else, I'm fairly sure you'd be on here complaining about it.

Honour your deal and move on.

slave1

Exact same thing happened me a few years back, I had our Scenic for sale and a few folk looked at it, third or forth guy offered asking (€5k) so I agreed the sale, texted the first few folk back to say it was gone (curtosy) and one of them phoned me straight back and offered me €500 on top of asking.
Stuck with my deal and turned the higher bidder down but told him I'd let him know if the other deal turned in any way sour, it didn't.
I've never considered myself down €500 and I sleep well.

mgbgt1978

It's possible that the 2nd offer (over the phone ????) is the 1st guy trying to back out of the deal.;)
He could be hoping that you will make an excuse and give him back his deposit, leaving you without a buyer or deposit.
Apart from that you got quite close to your asking price and should be happy with the 1st deal.
Tell the 2nd caller that you will give the 1st buyer until tomorrow at 6pm (or whatever) and if he hasn't returned by then the car is his.......but you want a €500 deposit tonight to let him keep his next-in-line status....

Jimmy Bottlehead

Stick with the first buyer - if he backs out, you have a backup in the second buyer.

For the sake of €200, it's better to keep your word and be seen as an honest gent. You never know when you might run into these people again, be it car-buying, work, or otherwise.

Anan1

mgbgt1978 wrote: »

Tell the 2nd caller that you will give the 1st buyer until tomorrow at 6pm (or whatever) and if he hasn't returned by then the car is his.......but you want a €500 deposit tonight to let him keep his next-in-line status....

I think you, like the OP, are missing the point of a deposit.

MetzgerMeister

I wouldn't do what you're thinking about if I were you OP. I know for a fact that if someone did that to me after we had agreed on a sale, I would be less than happy.

Treat others as you would like them to treat you.

Keith in cork

IF he fails to buy the car, you'll keep his deposit. What do you propose to give him as compensation for turning back and being tight?

alias no.9

Ring the first buyer to agree a date for completion of the sale if you have not done so already. If the sale is not completed by this date, sell to the second guy and return the first guys deposit.

Keith in cork

alias no.9 wrote: »

Ring the first buyer to agree a date for completion of the sale if you have not done so already. If the sale is not completed by this date, sell to the second guy and return the first guys deposit.

No, if its not completed, OP keeps the deposit. That is what deposit is for.