OT tyre kickers etc.

Nick,

this is why I like Ebay for selling stuff. When I went through the local ad route for selling the Fergie, I had 6 or 7 visitors to look, each taking 1/2 to 1 hour of my time, and none of them wanted to pay much.

With Ebay, I had one guy to call (the buyer), he stayed 1/2 an hour to an hour, paid cash, and we both came out of the deal pleased. Admittedly stuff to be sent through the post is a little dodgier, but I've had no problems so far.

You also avoid the dealers!

Regards, Arthur G

Yes, I really should get my finger out and give ebay a try.

If you do wander over the uk.people.consumers.ebay FAQ first so you stand decent chnace of avoiding most of the basic mistakes and eBay gotchas that lots of people fall into early on.

I would also give Ebay the thumbs up, never really had any problems other than the odd no-show buyer. I always seam to get a good price too which is a bonus!

Not so with the free ads route though....

Regards

Chris Bedo Kent UK

Thanks for that, I'll have a read.

BTW prospective lunchtime today viewer now can't make it till Wed eve, but, as he phoned first, I've now got to put the other guy off until he has said yea or nay!

Nah, I used to make that mistake. First person to turn up with cash gets it these days! Tell the first guy that someone else is interested. His response will give you a good idea of whether or not he's genuinely interested.

G.

I was accosted by a visitor to Welland and persuaded to sell him a 6hp Calibrater M type. Dug it out, sorted it and it now runs superbly. However he does not reply to emails so if anyone wants one let me know. ttfn Roland

Agreed, first come to the door step, first served (assuming amount of cash is sufficient...)

Aye, why should you mess someone else about because A.N.Other can't get their act together. It's laudable that you feel that the first enquirer gets first refusal but the chap you are putting off this evening may well have bought and if he can't make another time and the first enquirer doesn't buy where are you? No Sale...

You've got a lot more patience than me Nick! I'll hold A Thing for 24 hours for the first caller - then it belongs to the first man through the door with the cash.

My pet hate are the previous inhabitants of the Chinese province of Wan King who genuinely think they have bought a Roll-Royce from a franchised dealer - the ones that think all the tyres should be new and everything ought to function as it did when it left the factory.

"- but it's second hand!"

"That isn't my problem." is a short version of a conversation I had with a customer of mine years ago. I stopped and thought for a moment before I upended him over the degreasing tank close at hand.

"So you are not satisfied and are bringing it back under complaint." "Yes." So I took the keys off him and went out the back of the shop, counted out the £150 he'd paid me for the Yamaha FS1E (and it was in good nick, too!) he'd bought for his son and gave him his money back saying something like (I had it off pat in those days against just such an occasion) "Under the sale of goods act, I acknowledge your complaint and herewith give you back in full the money you paid to purchase this motorcycle. The contract of sale between us is hereby at an end."

He took the money by reflex, thus sealing the contract.

"No, you don't understand " he said "I want you to correct these faults"

"And I will not do that, neither are you entitled to request such a thing. All I'm required by law to do is return the purchase price if you are not satisfied and that I have done. Please drop the logbook and MOT in next week. Good day to you."

And I refused to discuss it further and asked him to leave the premises or I would call the Police and have him arrested for trespass.

God, it felt s-o-o-o good watching him walk away up the road, helmet in hand to face his 16 year old son who had been in and out of the shop for weeks sitting on it, cleaning it, painting the tyre walls black and all the other little signs of the sincerely smitten.

Within the hour, the son arrives and profusely apologises for his father sitting in the Reliant Robin, red faced and not looking at us, outside the door. He produces £150 and asks for his bike back. I take the money, solemnly count it and write out a fresh receipt, naming the son as the vendee. Off he goes, fuming at being made to look a richardhead.

Over the next few years, I sold him a 125, a 250 and a 400 4. He was happy and so was I, reasonable men all.

We never mentioned the little incident with his dad again.

Regards,

Kim

I'm afraid I don't even hold something that long. Strictly first come, first served. The only exception is if someone is coming a long way, I will hold something for a reasonable journey time. Incidentally, I sold a car some years ago to a guy. I told him that I would not let him have the car until the cheque cleared. "No problem" he says, "we go down to my building society, I instruct them to make out a cheque to you in your presence and you give me the keys". I wondered about this but since my then GF was a building society branch manager, I asked her about the security of the transaction. She confirmed that it was safe so that's what happened.

John

I knew it had to be a Reliant. Have you noticed that they ALWAYS have a purse ?

It's got to be a general footnote on my adverts now.

"No tyre kickers, no time wasters, no Reliant owners"

-- Regards,

John Stevenson Nottingham, England.

What an 'ard 'earted lot you are - I'll remember that if we ever have occasion to trade ;-)

And no, number two never called back (sounded so keen too), so we wait to see what happens on Wednesday.

Its interesting isn't it :-) I've given up advertising in our Club Newsletter. People ring and say something like "great - I'll be along on Wednesday about 7:30pm". Which translates as: "drop dead you swine, I'll see you in Hell first!" I never respond to wanted ads as when you do ring (often a mobile these days) they seem to want it for free and promises to ring back are never kept. ...and my three attempts to get parts for sale ads in SEM via email resulted in: no response and no ad. Is it any wonder I'm resorting to giving stuff away :-) ttfn Roland

It has to be said that the few dealings I have had with others in this group (all swaps, gifts etc, no money involved) have been entirely aggro free :-)

All, I've had fairly good results from SEM in both Parts Wanted and Parts for Sale, though a few time wasting phonecalls along the way. Psychology can be a problem, if people have something for sale they think it's worth the earth, and if they want something, they think they're doing you a favour by taking it off your hands. Echoing what Nick says, I've had lots of help and bits here, thank you to all concerned. I've noticed commoner parts sell well on ebay.

As for the problem of sending ads by email, I think that the world is still adjusting to email. I know that if I receive a customer email and a customer fax at the same time, I normally deal with the fax first, as then I can get rid of (file) the piece of paper littering my desk. With email it can sit there unobtrusively on the computer and after a few days, slips down the list, becoming less and less visible, before disappearing off the screen. In fact, if I receive an email which is important, but I can't answer straight away, I print it and leave it on my desk to haunt me.

Drifting off the subject slightly, has anyone ever placed an Engine Wanted ad in SEM? If so, I'd be interested to know the results. I've pondered it, but thought that the respondees would be asking big money in this situation.

Regards, Arthur G

What about Reliant owners in bike shops ? They might be building a trike.

There are far better things out there for building a trike than a Reliant. A Scania artic or a RB 22 dragline springs to mind

-- Regards,

John Stevenson Nottingham, England.

Agreed. I've always fancied a go with one of those mini-diggers and making a Kettenkrad.

Do you mean like this? Top left and 3rd down on left.