General 96 Roadmaster thread

Non-repair car talk
Post Reply
Adam
Posts: 2270
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 9:50 pm

Re: Caprice engine swap?

Post by Adam »

kevm14 wrote:
Adam wrote:Really low mileage base sedan in TN, sold for $5500
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1995-Buick-Road ... 2194866224
It says $4300.
It says $5500 when I look at it.
kevm14
Posts: 16016
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Caprice engine swap?

Post by kevm14 »

wp_ss_20170811_0001.png
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
kevm14
Posts: 16016
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Caprice engine swap?

Post by kevm14 »

I do prefer those Limited seats.
Adam
Posts: 2270
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 9:50 pm

Re: Caprice engine swap?

Post by Adam »

Screenshot from 2017-08-11 20-50-56.png
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
kevm14
Posts: 16016
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Caprice engine swap?

Post by kevm14 »

Ebay, you got some 'splainin' to do.
Adam
Posts: 2270
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 9:50 pm

Re: Caprice engine swap?

Post by Adam »

Unless it was re-listed at some point and we are looking at two different versions of the same auction. The one I see says re-listed due to non-paying bidder.
Adam
Posts: 2270
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 9:50 pm

Re: Caprice engine swap?

Post by Adam »

kevm14 wrote:Ebay, you got some 'splainin' to do.
Either way, you get the idea of recent pricing on sales by region.
kevm14
Posts: 16016
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Caprice engine swap?

Post by kevm14 »

Adam wrote:If you offer him $2k, best case he comes down to $2500 (unless he is super desperate). He might not like that, but since he is reaching back out to you there might not be a lot of interest in the car. You might be able to haggle another couple hundred off the price, but he is really not going to be happy at that point. "Taking advantage of" pricing is relative to the asking price, not the real value. He's lowered the asking price to $2995.

The traditional "low ball" offer is 1/2 the asking price, which generally upsets people. $2k is 67% of the asking price. $2200 is 73%, $2500 is 83%.
If I decide it is worth buying, I would probably give him a take it or leave it offer of $2k.

I don't think I agree with your assessment of what constitutes taking advantage of someone. I think there are two things - one is "insulting" offers and the other is "taking advantage of." An insulting offer, to me, really just means it is way lower than the asking price, regardless of market value. If someone has a car worth $11k but they are asking $20k, and I offer $10k, they will be insulted, rightly or wrongly.

On the other hand, if someone has a car worth $10k, asking $9k, and I offer $7k, now we're getting more into the taking advantage category imo. I don't think this happens too often but I think the point is it could be going down that road with this RMS based on his circumstances. Then again, if I am the only offer and he needs to sell, not sure how I am taking advantage - when the alternative is he gets zero dollars and doesn't sell the car that he wants to sell.
Adam
Posts: 2270
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 9:50 pm

Re: Caprice engine swap?

Post by Adam »

kevm14 wrote:Then again, if I am the only offer and he needs to sell, not sure how I am taking advantage - when the alternative is he gets zero dollars and doesn't sell the car that he wants to sell.
Isn't that the definition of taking advantage?
kevm14
Posts: 16016
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Caprice engine swap?

Post by kevm14 »

No, because he has the right to refuse and keep the car and not get my money. I am not forcing him to make a transaction.

I think a free market transaction is weighed more or less like this:
When Person A is equally satisfied with obtaining a good or service for an offer as Person B is for taking the money in exchange for that good or service. The resulting transaction is therefore referred to as "fair."

Therefore, you can never be taking advantage of someone unless the transaction is polluted by external forces. Like I lie to him and say "no one would pay more than $1000 for this heap" and he believes it. That's not really a moral thing to do imo. Then again, if I am not physically stopping him from receiving more competitive offers, regardless of what I say, if that is the best offer he's received to that moment, and he agrees, then I still don't know if that is taking advantage. I mean, knowing that you could better market their car and potentially draw from a larger audience and get a higher sale price doesn't mean you took advantage of someone who did not do those things.

Or, if someone is more desperate for money, and is willing to take $1000 less than someone who is willing to better market or wait for a higher offer, is that taking advantage? No. I'm there with my money at that moment.

I guess what I am saying is, barring highly immoral or illegal actions, I don't know if you can really take advantage of someone in a free market transaction.

Because there is no reasonable social expectation that the person with money has any obligation to inform the seller "hey, you could get way more for this, here, I will give you more than I wanted to offer. Or, I think you should hold out and wait for a better offer."
Post Reply