Vent on DH - He stinks at negotiating!!!

[EllenFrasier]

We sold our van today. Actually Dh sold it. I was working when someone stopped by to look at it. We had already gone over how much we were asking how much we'd go down to, etc. The van had only been on Craigslist for a couple days. So I got home and found that Dh had sold it for $300 less than we were asking. He didn't even try to get the guy to agree to a higher price, just took what he offered. His reasoning - "so it's not sitting in the driveway for weeks". It's only been there a couple days. Now the pay off is that the guy was supposed to come back and pick it up this afternoon and he did not come back. He paid Dh in cash and Dh did not take any contact information from him - I'm not even sure if he has the man's name. Now the van can sit her a good long while before it's taken away!

 

[rapriebe]

I can totally feel for you. I think we are married to the same man. Mine will not negotiate but go along with whatever the buyer says. I've learned to always be there and to take all the phone calls. He's learned . . . . to hand me the phone when it rings.

 

[disneyfans95]

I don't see the big deal. If you were not clear about what you wanted, he handled it as well as he could.

 

[EllenFrasier]

I don't see the big deal. If you were not clear about what you wanted, he handled it as well as he could.

Are you my Dh's long lost twin brother? I said "We had already gone over how much we were asking how much we'd go down to, etc.", so yes I was clear - he just caved and took whatever the buyer offered.

 

[Hannathy]

How many calls or inquiries have you had? You said it was listed a couple of days so how many others had check into it?

If it has been listed a couple of days and this was the only call about it then I would say your DH got what it was worth or darn close to it and it is sold. How do you know if he had said no and the guy had walked you wouldn't have been sitting on it for a while? And then ended up selling it for the same amount or maybe less?

Sales of anything right now are not doing well. We were looking at used cars at a dealership and the salesman slipped and revealed a car we were interested in had been sold 4 times since July BUT none of the people could get financing and the deals fell thru.

 

[EllenFrasier]

How many calls or inquiries have you had? You said it was listed a couple of days so how many others had check into it?

If it has been listed a couple of days and this was the only call about it then I would say your DH got what it was worth or darn close to it and it is sold. How do you know if he had said no and the guy had walked you wouldn't have been sitting on it for a while? And then ended up selling it for the same amount or maybe less?

Sales of anything right now are not doing well. We were looking at used cars at a dealership and the salesman slipped and revealed a car we were interested in had been sold 4 times since July BUT none of the people could get financing and the deals fell thru.

I had two messages on my cell phone after Dh sold the van and we had one man stop by that saw the "for sale" sign we put in the window today before Dh sold it. It literally had only been for sale a few days. I guess I am more of a risk taker when it comes to things like this. Dh could have taken his name and number and told him if we didn't sell it by the next weekend we'd call him to see if he was still interested. Nah - "let's just take whatever they offer".....

It's done and nothing can change it. I will accept it and move on, but I had to vent.

 

[clh2]

Sorry - selling a car by owner can be a stressful/time consuming process. If you felt you could have done better in the price - then you should have handled the negotiation.

 

[kydisneyfans]

If the asking price was $400 and he came down by $300 then you can be upset. If the asking price was $8,000 and he took $7,700, that is nothing unusual. I price higher ticket items over what I want to give me room to negotiate.

I really don't see anything wrong with what he did either.

 

[cm8]

We sold our van today. Actually Dh sold it. I was working when someone stopped by to look at it. We had already gone over how much we were asking how much we'd go down to, etc. The van had only been on Craigslist for a couple days. So I got home and found that Dh had sold it for $300 less than we were asking. He didn't even try to get the guy to agree to a higher price, just took what he offered. His reasoning - "so it's not sitting in the driveway for weeks". It's only been there a couple days. Now the pay off is that the guy was supposed to come back and pick it up this afternoon and he did not come back. He paid Dh in cash and Dh did not take any contact information from him - I'm not even sure if he has the man's name. Now the van can sit her a good long while before it's taken away!

I hope he comes back to get it!

 

[arihillfarm]

We sold our van today. Actually Dh sold it. I was working when someone stopped by to look at it. We had already gone over how much we were asking how much we'd go down to, etc. The van had only been on Craigslist for a couple days. So I got home and found that Dh had sold it for $300 less than we were asking. He didn't even try to get the guy to agree to a higher price, just took what he offered. His reasoning - "so it's not sitting in the driveway for weeks". It's only been there a couple days. Now the pay off is that the guy was supposed to come back and pick it up this afternoon and he did not come back. He paid Dh in cash and Dh did not take any contact information from him - I'm not even sure if he has the man's name. Now the van can sit her a good long while before it's taken away!

You said you sold it for $300 less than the listed price, but also that you had agreed what to go down to, so that was obviously a point in between the $300 difference between asking and what was accepted. Even without knowing what that point was, in your husband's mind, that smaller difference (less than $300) was probably worth not having to hassle with more phone calls and people coming to look, test drive and haggle. The guy had cash in full in hand, which always talks over someone having to get a loan or leaving a deposit and coming back in a couple of days with the rest, hoping they will be coming with the rest instead of excuses about why they don't have the money yet and meanwhile you're holding other buyers at bay without losing them waiting for someone else to come through. We've sold lots of stuff here, cars, livestock, misc. items and I do all of the negotiating and selling and I would have done the same thing your husband did. A bird in the hand (or in this case, cash) as the saying goes.... Unless this was a $600 van that he sold at a 50% discount, I have to side with your husband.

-Astrid

 

[disneyfans95]

Sorry - selling a car by owner can be a stressful/time consuming process. If you felt you could have done better in the price - then you should have handled the negotiation.

Bingo.. Really no need to come to a message board and blast your significant other over this.

 

[gules]

Haha. Your DH and mine could be brothers. Like another poster, I learned to do the negotiating if it needs serious doing. On the other hand, my DH is dead terrified of the puppy-dog-eyes look that I give him if he doesn't follow through on an agreement we made, like yours about selling price. Now he'd rather tell someone he'll wait for his wife than deviate. Don't get me wrong, he's a great husband, but he's a soft guy and will cave if you give him a sad story. Not great for a bargainer!

I get your frustration, as $300 can mean a lot. I also see what people are saying about high-price items. To me it would boil down to disappointment that my hubby agreed upon something and then went and did something completely different without so much as talking with me. But chin up! I'm sure he's regretting it now that the car is still sitting there, and in a few more months this will be just a little glitch in the past. You could always do what I do and tell him he owes you $300 worth of kisses.

 

[Kellydelly]

Nobody pays the full listing price, I think your husband did good to accept an offer only $300 below.

 

[sdzman]

Just like I tell my lovely DW when she is critical of the way I did or didnt do something. "You are welcome to do it yourself next time"

 

[Kay1]

Sorry it didn't work out the way you wanted it to, but you're right that there's nothing you can do now except move on.

 

[Abbie]

Just like I tell my lovely DW when she is critical of the way I did or didnt do something. "You are welcome to do it yourself next time"

 

[Purseval]

Believe it or not, the person who bought the car probably feels worse than you do. Put yourself in their shoes. Someone is asking $5000 for a car. You offer $4500 and they immediately say yes. Do you feel great about your purchase? No!! You are probably sitting there thinking that you could have offered $4000.

When I am dealing with someone who is meeting my target price I always ask for something else, even if it's just a small concession like waiting until monday so we can make a trip to the lumber yard over the weekend. That way the buyer walks away thinking they made a good deal rather than thinking they bid too high. It's a psychological thing.

 

[EllenFrasier]

OP here. It ended well. The man came with another man today and picked up the car. They chose to drive it away - with a plate they got somewhere (maybe they own a used car lot, I have no idea).

As far as the price goes, we were only asking $900 because it has some mechanical issues and we listed it as such. The person offered $600 and Dh took it. In retrospect, I suppose it is off our hands and there is no way to know if the other four or five people who called and came by would have offered even $600, so I am over it. I would have hung on a little longer waiting for a higher paying customer, but that's just me.