gmbh6
May 19th, 2007, 16:05
It amazes me that people think all cars sell at blue book value.
The car market is not a perfect marketplace....it's not like the stock market per se. The stock market is extremely competitive...you have people studying each and every stock from all over the world...the price is very reflective of the value (for the most part). In contrast the Real Estate market is highly imperfect. There are super values all over the place. There are also very overpriced pieces of real estate. If you sent 5 people out to buy a condo at a specific beach you would come back with 5 different opinions of what the "real" value of those condos are. And guess what? All 5 of those people would be correct because they are the buyers and that's what they're willing to pay.
It's sort of that way with cars......we know the basic value of any car.......yet we don't know the specific value to specific people. And unless you "have to sell" a car for financial reasons then a car is worth what it sells for. And the people who don't sell their cars value their cars for more than their worth. (or they just don't want to sell)
And the larger your network the larger your market.
I've sold 6 cars (3 trucks 3 cars) in my entire life. And none of those 6 were ever advertised. By the time I was ready to sell each one I already knew who wanted it and who had the means to buy them. And I don't think I run in such a different circle than everyone else. If you are on this board then you probably are a car enthusiast who takes care of your car. And you probably have a pretty cool car. And you probably take care of that car pretty well.
Don't you guys have friends (family, associates, etc...) that keep really nice cars? Haven't you ever told someone ..."let me know when you get tired of her and want to sell"... well that's another way of marketing and selling.
Forgive my rant, but in preparing to sell my car, I've been aphauled by the apathy people have that they cannot sell their cars. Be it audis or any other cars. Be it this forum or any other forum. For God sake if you can't sell your car then lower your price or keep it. But don't go around and cry bloody murder, and talk yourself into believing that your car is worthless. There are lots of reasons cars don't sell. The market get hot the market gets cold. You're not hitting your target market. You have the wrong color exterior...wrong color interior....wrong options....too many miles...etc. etc. etc. But whatever the reason don't let people bad mouth you into selling your car for nothing.....it's just low ball technique.
Guess what? Cars sit at the dealers for a long time too. And guess what else? People rarely pay sticker price.
So do what do you do?
If you're the seller you
set your price (ask friends, look around, evaluate your car),
advertise-advertise-advertise,
wait for offers,
no offers?
re-set price,
too may offers?
u priced to low,
seperate the serious buyers,
and then you negotiate :argue: a price that you can live with it.
If you're the buyer,
decide what color/options you want,
you check inventory,
you contact the seller and begin to tell them that the car they have (the one you really want) is not the your fav choice but that it is "convenient" or some other word that doesn' t make you seem anxious.
And then you indirectly let them know that you are in no rush and have other options.
Then you make an offer.
Then you either buy the car,
make a counteroffer,
or move on to the next seller.
Selling cars is extremely simple......when you really need to sell you'll do it for whatever price you can get (i.e. the dealer, carmax, etc...) .....when you really don't you wont.
In the end......."You get more with honey than you do with vinegar".......you'd be amazed how much more you can get out of life when you rub people the right way.
p.s. No hate mail please. This is just 1 man's rant :cheers:
The car market is not a perfect marketplace....it's not like the stock market per se. The stock market is extremely competitive...you have people studying each and every stock from all over the world...the price is very reflective of the value (for the most part). In contrast the Real Estate market is highly imperfect. There are super values all over the place. There are also very overpriced pieces of real estate. If you sent 5 people out to buy a condo at a specific beach you would come back with 5 different opinions of what the "real" value of those condos are. And guess what? All 5 of those people would be correct because they are the buyers and that's what they're willing to pay.
It's sort of that way with cars......we know the basic value of any car.......yet we don't know the specific value to specific people. And unless you "have to sell" a car for financial reasons then a car is worth what it sells for. And the people who don't sell their cars value their cars for more than their worth. (or they just don't want to sell)
And the larger your network the larger your market.
I've sold 6 cars (3 trucks 3 cars) in my entire life. And none of those 6 were ever advertised. By the time I was ready to sell each one I already knew who wanted it and who had the means to buy them. And I don't think I run in such a different circle than everyone else. If you are on this board then you probably are a car enthusiast who takes care of your car. And you probably have a pretty cool car. And you probably take care of that car pretty well.
Don't you guys have friends (family, associates, etc...) that keep really nice cars? Haven't you ever told someone ..."let me know when you get tired of her and want to sell"... well that's another way of marketing and selling.
Forgive my rant, but in preparing to sell my car, I've been aphauled by the apathy people have that they cannot sell their cars. Be it audis or any other cars. Be it this forum or any other forum. For God sake if you can't sell your car then lower your price or keep it. But don't go around and cry bloody murder, and talk yourself into believing that your car is worthless. There are lots of reasons cars don't sell. The market get hot the market gets cold. You're not hitting your target market. You have the wrong color exterior...wrong color interior....wrong options....too many miles...etc. etc. etc. But whatever the reason don't let people bad mouth you into selling your car for nothing.....it's just low ball technique.
Guess what? Cars sit at the dealers for a long time too. And guess what else? People rarely pay sticker price.
So do what do you do?
If you're the seller you
set your price (ask friends, look around, evaluate your car),
advertise-advertise-advertise,
wait for offers,
no offers?
re-set price,
too may offers?
u priced to low,
seperate the serious buyers,
and then you negotiate :argue: a price that you can live with it.
If you're the buyer,
decide what color/options you want,
you check inventory,
you contact the seller and begin to tell them that the car they have (the one you really want) is not the your fav choice but that it is "convenient" or some other word that doesn' t make you seem anxious.
And then you indirectly let them know that you are in no rush and have other options.
Then you make an offer.
Then you either buy the car,
make a counteroffer,
or move on to the next seller.
Selling cars is extremely simple......when you really need to sell you'll do it for whatever price you can get (i.e. the dealer, carmax, etc...) .....when you really don't you wont.
In the end......."You get more with honey than you do with vinegar".......you'd be amazed how much more you can get out of life when you rub people the right way.
p.s. No hate mail please. This is just 1 man's rant :cheers: