Should I chew this Craigslist car seller out for not holding car like he said he would?

[Dennis S]

It's an hour and a half away. He gets off work at 5. Last night he said he would hold it until I got there although he was starting to get calls. I just got a text saying a guy had talked to him and was headed that way and was ten miles away and he would let me know if the guy takes it or not. Nobody keeps their word anymore.

[Randalls]

Would not do any good.

[PizzaGod]

Nah.
I've been a buyer many times and gotten the "Other people are interested" line-and my response is "Great. Let me know if they show".

They usually don't-it's Craigslist-and that makes my haggling position that much better. I may not want to pay your price, but I showed up, and bird in the hand and such.

[NewtonMP2100]

.....Forget it Jake.....it's Chinatown.....


....craigslist is full or flaky people both buyers and sellers......people who ask dumb question about items when the answer is already posted or who say they will hold but won't......nothing to do about it......

[mikebw]

PizzaGod wrote:
... but I showed up, and bird in the hand and such.

This is how people like Dennis S don't get to make a deal, because the seller has a solid chance to get a sale. Lots of times people say they will come but never do. Sellers don't have time to mess around either.

[clay]

sucks if he told you he'd hang onto it for you, but at least he let you know he is going to sell to someone else (or at least heading that way).

For better or worse, lots of folks who have no intention of actually following through on the buying side will indicate their intent and then not follow through. Cash NOW is king in these sorts of situations. As a seller, I'm happy to sell to anyone. But I generally won't hold something for somebody while turning away other interested parties that can get here more quickly. I sell to the first person who can follow through. That's the only way it makes sense on my end -- I've gotten stuck with something too many times because I turned away other interested parties while I waited on someone to show up, and they never did.

I think that's just how it works now.

[deckeda]

If you'd already seen the car and decided later to buy it, yes.

If you never even went there to inspect it, oh hell no.

[cbelt3]

Cash rides. All else walks away.

[rz]

clay wrote:
Cash NOW is king in these sorts of situations. As a seller, I'm happy to sell to anyone. But I generally won't hold something for somebody while turning away other interested parties that can get here more quickly.

That pretty much sums it up. Whether Craigslist, garage sales, etc, unless you give me a cash deposit, I will not hold something for you. Way, way WAY too many times have I had people express interest in something and swear they'll be by, and never show up. Several years ago, I had a guy say he wanted to meet me somewhere that was half-way between us. I drove there at the agreed-upon time and he didn't show. So I went home. Then he calls me back saying he was sorry and wanted to meet again. I told him he had to meet me much closer to my house, and he agreed. Again, he doesn't show. But he calls and asks if I can meet in 2 hours. I hung up on him. He called several more times (I didn't answer) before he left a pleading message saying he was on his way. I showed up, and then he had the nerve to try to negotiate the price! I started to get back into my car to drive away before he finally agreed to pay my asking price.

[JoeH]

cbelt3 wrote:
Cash rides. All else walks away.

That is how it usually works.

On the other hand, 40+ years ago I looked at a car and decided I wanted to buy it. gave the guy a $100 as deposit since it was the evening and banks were closed. Came back the next day with a bank check, and found he had sold it in spite of the deposit. He gave back the deposit, but it was a pain in the neck redepositing the check because he had to endorse it back to me properly.

Still ticks me off a bit.

These days I could get cash at an ATM and get a MO instead of a bank check, but hose options weren't available then.