Open Letter to Idiot Private Motorcycle Sellers

[smiling_bandit]

Some motorcyclists seem to be a little “different” from most other car or vehicle owners. The bike isn’t just a ride, it’s the bloody soul or something, or an extension of them. As such, they don’t react well to the idea that other people be in the same time zone as their baby.

[control-z]

Cars don’t fall over easily.

[Bongmaster]

@Tenebras

Yeah, if Bongmaster didn’t bring her back in good condition, the guy got to keep his bike!

Hehehe…might have been a good trade for me!

[PoorYorick]

@Lugubrious

On the topic of test driving vehicles, I’m shocked. Where are you guys from? I’m in Ontario, and the last time we went looking for a car, the dealerships practically PUSH you in to the vehicle. One dealership even went to far as to say ‘Its a beautiful day… put the top down, cruise around, and we’ll see you in a few hours.’ When we returned after 45 minutes or so, they were shocked we were back so soon. And we ALWAYS take the vehicle on the highway. Its part of the test. And the salesperson has never come with us. A photocopy of a license, and we’re free to drive off with $$$'s worth of vehicle.

A woman I went to grad school with used to be a successful car salesperson. She LOVED it when someone took the car home, showed the neighbors, and took the family for a ride. Depending on the customer, she’d encourage them to keep it for the weekend. Apparently, the longer you have it, the more ownership you feel. Kind of like a puppy I guess.

[bdgr]

heh…I had a friend who knew he was going to have to go pick up his brother in San Antonio on saturday so he went by the ford dealership on friday and let them talk him into taking a new mustang home for the weekend to show the missus.

So he drove the car down to San Antoine and back…Fort Worth is 268 miles away

So he brings the car back on Monday and tells them he didn’t want it…with over 600 miles on the clock. They were un-amused.

[Kevbo]

I know of three incidents where people crashed bikes on a test ride. In every case it worked
out badly for the seller. (and I only heard the “buyers” side in two of those cases)

So, when dealing with a stranger, I don’t allow test rides when I’m selling, nor expect one when I’m buying. What I do is negitiate a 24 hour right to return the bike after purchase, not valid if the bike is crashed or otherwise damaged.

Among friends, the “you break it, you buy it” rule applies, so test rides are common.

[BlinkingDuck]

@mhendo

On the more general topic of pricing second-hand goods, i’m constantly amazed by the prices some people think they can get for their used stuff. As far as i’m concerned, people can ask whatever they want for their shit, but it really does seem that plenty of people on the internet either (a) have no idea what that particular item can be purchased for, or (b) believe that there are enough rubes out there who won’t do any pricing or comparison shopping.

Early this year, i was considering getting a decent second-hand digital SLR camera. An ad for such a camera appeared in the classified section of my university’s online newspaper. It gave a price, but was not clear about exactly what equipment was included (how many lenses? batteries? memory cards? etc.).

I sent an email to the seller, asking what was included in the package, and she sent me back a list of items. I replied, thanking her for her time, and letting her know that i wasn’t interested, because i could buy exactly the same equipment, brand new, with full warranty, from one of America’s most trusted camera dealers (B&H in New York) for about $100 less than the price she was asking for her one-year-old used equipment.

Look, i know that electronic equipment doesn’t hold its value, and that the price of new stuff drops quickly, especially at the top of the technology curve. But the fact that you paid $1400 a year ago does not mean i’m going to give you $1000 now when the same thing can be purchased brand new for $899. If you find some moron willing to pay that sort of money, then good luck to you; but it won’t be me.

The OP’s experience rings true with my trying to buy a used car from a private sellers. I actually DID give up and refuse to even look at private sellers anymore…waste of time.

My theory is that people generally subscribe to the ‘just one fool’ theory. Sure I’m asking alot…but I just need ONE fool to buy it! Surely there is one fool out there! So they put up a high price and wait and wait and wait until they realize there is no such fool coming. Even when they ‘adjust’ their price down, it is still way too high. It seems to take a long time for a realistic price to be asked. I estimate 90%+ (for cars 99.999%+) of items being sold privately are way overpriced.

[Bongmaster]

I originally tried to get my purchase price ($3k) when I sold my bike but couldn’t get that one person to show up! Wound up selling it for $2k…not bad.