August 25, 2006

• Learning the Ropes

  I hit a home run with the first Craigslist posting and sold my motorcycle to the first person that came over to see it.  He paid me the asking price with a check and said that he would come over to pick the bike up after the check cleared the bank.  I guess I got spoiled with this first time experience in being a seller.
  
  The surplus tires for my truck are a different story.  I got a call on Wednesday from a guy that wanted to see the tires and I told him that I would bring them to work with me on Thursday and that he could come to my office to see them.  I called him back Thursday morning to make sure he was still coming and he told me that it was actually his brother in law that was wanting the tires.  He said that he would call his brother in law and have him contact me directly.  A few minutes later I got a call from the brother in law.  He said that he would come to my office around 5 pm to look at the tires.  I gave him directions to the office and his response to them should have told me something right from the start.  He seemed somewhat less than attentive to the directions but I always give people the benefit of the doubt and try not to judge based on first impressions, although they are seldom wrong.
  
  I told the guy that I had planned on leaving the office right at 5 but that I could wait around if he needed me to.  This was my second mistake.  5:15 rolled around and I called his cell phone which went to voicemail.  15 minutes later I called it again and he answered.  He said that he was at a road that I recognized and the beltway which would have him arrive in approximately 20 more minutes.  I decided to wait another 20 minutes.  At 6 pm I started calling his cell phone again and it went voice mail after 5 rings.  I really did not want to give up on this lead but finally headed home around 6:20 pm.  I now know that the seller does not go out of his or her way to accommodate a “buyer”.  If you do so, you give up the upper hand in the negotiations.  It makes you seem desperate to sell your goods.  I realized that the tires have been sitting in my garage for 8 months and they can sit there another few weeks until the right person comes along and realizes what a value they are.
  
  Meanwhile the check for the motorcycle cleared the bank and the buyer called me yesterday to get the VIN number so he could add it to his insurance.  This will be the last night that the KLR-650 sleeps in my garage.  Now to find some more stuff to sell.

  • 2:54 pm
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