Buyer frustration

[fatsurf]

When I have sold vehicles online I never accept any negotiations from the buyer by phone or email. I only negotiate after the buyer has inspected the vehicle. My experience is, if you indicate up front acceptance of a lower price before meeting the buyer that lower price becomes the new negotiating point in person and I am now at a disadvantage. If long distance ask the seller what they will offer for a non-refundable deposit for me to hold the unit for them. MHO

[Dutch Star Don]

Originally Posted by ak-snopro

Appreciate all the input and agree to most of it. The last few attempts to buy was plagued with communication issues, I’m guessing because we live in Alaska and dealing long distance is just a hassle even though I’m ready to fly out and finalize the deal. When it came to offers they were far from being low balls, the owners were obviously looking to get what they could and can’t fault them for trying. I based offers paralleling Nada average retail with what info was described. I believe some look at the Nada guide and think everything on the rv is an option when it actually is standard to the rv, JMO. Oh well I’ll keep trying!

Two things.....first, when I put something up for sale, I don't negotiate on the phone. You always get the bozo that wants to trade his boat or offer you half of what you're asking. Now if you've seen and driven the coach and call me later and want to negotiate on the phone, no problem. It just rubs me the wrong way, especially since I take very good care of my stuff and sell at a reasonable price, to have someone try and negotiate sight unseen.

Second.....I understand it's more difficult to find an RV in your situation. Years ago, someone asked the forum members if anyone lived near an RV they were interested in. They lived in Alaska and the RV was about two miles from me. I went and inspected the RV and it had a family of cats living in it, evidenced by the destruction and smell. The prospective buyer's wife was highly allergic to cats. They passed. I did it a second time a few years later for a Canadian buyer. The coach was nice and he bought it.

So........it may be an option to ask the forum if someone lives nearby to a prospective coach, to have a quick look. They can give you an idea if it's something you should pursue.

I know you can't hop on a plane every time something comes available, but I think trying to make offers sight unseen is going to be difficult, as sellers won't take you seriously.

[SergioP]

Originally Posted by Dutch Star Don

I understand it's more difficult to find an RV in your situation. Years ago, someone asked the forum members if anyone lived near an RV they were interested in. They lived in Alaska and the RV was about two miles from me. I went and inspected the RV and it had a family of cats living in it, evidenced by the destruction and smell. The prospective buyer's wife was highly allergic to cats. They passed. I did it a second time a few years later for a Canadian buyer. The coach was nice and he bought it.

So........it may be an option to ask the forum if someone lives nearby to a prospective coach, to have a quick look. They can give you an idea if it's something you should pursue.

I know you can't hop on a plane every time something comes available, but I think trying to make offers sight unseen is going to be difficult, as sellers won't take you seriously.

That’s the best option for someone being as far away as Alaska. Car forums usually do this too. I’ve done it for my brother, drove the car, sent him pictures of what he wanted, gave him my opinion of it, and done. He didn’t buy it.

[DerekF]

Hate to say it but in your situation might be best to use a dealer or broker. Until sales slow down it’s still a sellers market and difficult.
As long as I had time I’d be willing to try to help.
Pay it forward, good karma whatever.

[wolfe10]

And, my response would be to ask if the seller is on any of the RVwebsites you are on.


THAT will establish some creditably.


Have sold three high/higher end DP's. All to out of state buyers. It is a "make me fell good that you are a bona fide seller AND a bona fide buyer.


Worked three out of three for us.


Also bought long distance-- same quandaries-- again no issues.

[Gary RVRoamer]

If it was a car Id say an NADA average price is always credible, but on an RV it is often well off the market price. NADA RV is not based on actual selling prices, nor any particular region or season. And right now we have a seller's market, so the online NADA RV value could well be nearing low-ball territory.


Hard to assess your complaint without looking at a specific sale ad and your reply. Certainly there are arrogant sellers and vastly over-priced ads out there. If the seller thinks he should get $100k and NADA average says $50k, your offer still looks like a low-ball. As someone said, the seller's price is his price, whether a reasonable expectation or not.

[Hpozzuoli]

I bought my new rig this past July via a private sale. I saw the rig the first day she was on rv trader. I immediately placed a full price offer sight unseen. When I finish with the offer this guy tells me someone else has already placed an offer pending financing. I told him I was a cash buyer and would kick in an extra 2k. He was very hesitant to bump the other guy. He takes the ad down then 2 weeks later it’s for sale again. I make the same full price offer and this time he accepts and I run down, write a check, and get it out of there before he changes his mind…again. Come to find out he didnt sell it to anyone the first time. He got cold feet on the sale and used the other buyer as a cover. He didn’t think it would sell so fast.

[IND2SLC]

I think this explains the appeal in selling via Pop RV or any other such outfit. Completely filters out tire-kickers and the less-than-serious for the sellers; and facilitates responsiveness for the buyers.

[ak-snopro]

Offer was 12% below asking price. Problem solved-buying new.

[Teamfoxy]

Sold a few items online. Many people waste your time and there are a lot of scammers. I refuse to negotiate with anyone who won't come in person to look at the item. I have held an item for a few days for an interested buyer, but I have to be convinced that they will be able to complete the purchase when they come.

[Cuda67bnl]

I can’t even get “sellers” to answer simple questions, like engine size, mileage, etc. They won’t include basic info in their ads, and only post a couple of crappy pictures. Then they act like you’re bothering them when you ask something. Never mind the outrageous prices some are asking. I’m not opposed to someone trying to get all they can get, but some are clearly dreaming.

[Keith55]

Originally Posted by ak-snopro

Offer was 12% below asking price. Problem solved-buying new.

That doesn't mean anything. The seller may have priced it to sell. If I had a $100,000 RV priced at $102,000 and you offered me $90,000 then I probably wouldn't respond to the email.

Respectfully you sound like a buyer that is upset the sellers won't sell you their RV for your price. Like anything else it is supply and demand.

Now if you want to be really frustrated take a huge attitude into a dealer with practically no inventory and tell them what they are going to sell the RV to you for!

[mokurt]

Originally Posted by Teamfoxy

Sold a few items online. Many people waste your time and there are a lot of scammers. I refuse to negotiate with anyone who won't come in person to look at the item. I have held an item for a few days for an interested buyer, but I have to be convinced that they will be able to complete the purchase when they come.

My BIL and I were just talking about the buying process last night.
The normal way use to be you would contact the buyer,look at the item for sale, test drive if applicable then negotiate.

Now you get these these low ball offers, scammers and people that want to trade just using E-Mail.Even if you give them your phone number they don't call.

I can see negotiations over the phone if long distance but some locals want to negotiate without even looking.

I did sell our Trailer and a VW bug recently via CL and the buyers actually showed up negotiated and bought.

[Ldubs]

Originally Posted by mokurt

My BIL and I were just talking about the buying process last night.
The normal way use to be you would contact the buyer,look at the item for sale, test drive if applicable then negotiate.

Now you get these these low ball offers, scammers and people that want to trade just using E-Mail.Even if you give them your phone number they don't call.

I can see negotiations over the phone if long distance but some locals want to negotiate without even looking.

I did sell our Trailer and a VW bug recently via CL and the buyers actually showed up negotiated and bought.

When I sold some large woodworking machinery & accessories via CL, I never provided my email or phone number. I made it clear in the ad I would only make contact to those who provided their phone number. I still got a few of the low-ballers. Fortunately I had legit buyers. And they always showed up to check things out before buying.