Selling a 2nd hand car, drowning in a sea of .....

[littlebasher]

Ikemi said:

Also, it's tales like the OP that shows you why 'We Buy Any Car' and other such places, are so popular ...

He'd tried that route and they massively low balled him. It was my Mrs that first suggested i sold it for him, he's no good with that sort of thing!

You're right though, there has to be a point where you just give up and move on!

[Ikemi]

hairyben said:

Please don't I've got a sofa up at £75 on gumtree, the amount of texts asking me dumb st, offers, can I deliver (ad states collection only), can I reduce the price as they have to hire a van, etc etc etc. one fat couaaaaaaaacil slag turned up, lifted and looked under all the cushions (??) then stated it wasn't big enough (despite measurements and photo's being online). Is it these peoples mission in life just to waste peoples time? It's a £75 sodding sofa ffs. Bring back work houses.

Charities want fire labels (is only 5 years old but none on it) and robbing council want £40 to collect and I can't go to the tip because all I have is a van and council logic states that no-one ever uses a van unless they're a business and I'm automatically a criminal trying to commit fraud if I drive it to a tip.

And they wonder why people fly tip. serious question, how much unleaded will a 236cm corner sofa need?

I might be missing something, but why not sell it for less, or for free? Saves you time, cash and hassle of transportation etc. It'll be gone fairly quick too, I reckon!

[Ikemi]

littlebasher said:

Ikemi said:

Also, it's tales like the OP that shows you why 'We Buy Any Car' and other such places, are so popular ...

He'd tried that route and they massively low balled him. It was my Mrs that first suggested i sold it for him, he's no good with that sort of thing!

You're right though, there has to be a point where you just give up and move on!

I'd never use WBAC - It's convenient, but their offers are low. They're a business, so out to make money! However for Joe Public, you can understand the popularity ... Quick, guaranteed cash towards something else!

[Hol]

I think ive been lucky with cars as ive never really had any messers.

Ebay is good for some things though.


I had an old fireplace I wanted rid of, but didnt want to scratch my car lugging it down the tip.
We stuck it on ebay for 99p start and it got £40 and they came and took it away on time in a van.


The same trick worked again on a worn and saggy 2 seater sofa and recently on an old 17in PC monitor. Both fetched over £20, yet I was going to bin them.

Edited by Hol on Wednesday 25th November 13:54

[mrpee]

Go with Autotrader, a bit more money but worth it.
No emails asking " how many mm's are left on the spare wheel " or " what does the drivers seat smell of ".
If they are interested then they have to ring up and speak to you in person which tends to seperate the wheat from the chaff.

[hairyben]

Ikemi said:

I might be missing something, but why not sell it for less, or for free? Saves you time, cash and hassle of transportation etc. It'll be gone fairly quick too, I reckon!

TBF my first idea was to freecycle it but even that has it's timewasters, but the mrs said it has to be worth a curry, and I'm open to a cheeky offers from someone willing to cart it off.

[chr15b]

hairyben said:

and I'm automatically a criminal trying to commit fraud if I drive it to a tip.

And they wonder why people fly tip. serious question, how much unleaded will a 236cm corner sofa need?

I'd take it out of the house first

[J4CKO]

I dont think there is anything wrong for the "selling on the behalf of", that is if you ring and politely ask why, I have sold cars for

Elderly relatives, who dont want lots of callers and know little about cars.
Relatives who live out in the sticks, who dont want people to have to find them
A Recently widowed friend of my wifes
Deceased relatives
Single ladies who dont want men turning up
A mate whose mum is a bit "Local" and wont have people coming to the house.


One that backfired was the merry widow, the buyer was very canny and suspicious so he insisted on meeting her, she was ok with this as it wasnt exactly the same day, a month or so on, so we go round and there is a bloke there making the tea, we signed the car over, she got the cash and off we go, he asked he who the chap was as she thought the husband had passed away, I said I thought it was probably her brother, mentioned it to my wife, she doesnt have a brother, it was her new bloke who had been "comforting" her all the time her husbang had been ill !

[littlebasher]

mrpee said:

Go with Autotrader, a bit more money but worth it.
No emails asking " how many mm's are left on the spare wheel " or " what does the drivers seat smell of ".
If they are interested then they have to ring up and speak to you in person which tends to seperate the wheat from the chaff.

Indeed, once they get to the call stage they're generally better - still don't show up despite promises though.

Trouble with giving out your number though, it means you're at the mercy of text messaging.

Had a massive text the other day, basically asking me to sell him the car for half the price its up for. Why?...well, he's skint, can't afford to buy presents for his kids at Christmas, is disabled, oh and his dog needs an operation.
So how is he going to find the £500 to tax the bd and afford to run a car that averages mid 20's mpg !

Edited by littlebasher on Wednesday 25th November 14:20

[anonymous-user]

littlebasher said:

Indeed, once they get to the call stage they're generally better - still don't show up despite promises though.

Trouble with giving out your number though, it means you're at the mercy of text messaging.

Had a massive text the other day, basically asking me to sell it to him the car for half the price its up for. Why?...well, he's skint, can't afford to buy presents for his kids at Christmas, is disabled, oh and his dog needs an operation.
So how is he going to find the £500 to tax the bd and afford to run a car that averages mid 20's mpg !

I'm about to sell a car with similar mpg and tax figures, but a relatively low market value, I'm dreading the pond life that it's going to attract.

[treetops]

Put it on Gumtree.

[rallycross]

It is difficult to believe how stupid the general population are becoming.

I listed a cheap car a few weeks ago on ebay it was due an MOT and I didn't want to spend any more money on it so listed it at £350 no mot.
In the text of the ad I repeatedly stated, MOT runs out next week, you will need to get the MOT done and it will need work including welding and I finished the ad stating

"did I mention this car will need a new mot"

The first 4 enquiries all wanted to know if it had an mot. Unbelievable!
I sold it to someone for spares at £300 - he didn't even bother to test drive and just took it away.

[marcosgt]

rallycross said:

It is difficult to believe how stupid the general population are becoming.

I listed a cheap car a few weeks ago on ebay it was due an MOT and I didn't want to spend any more money on it so listed it at £350 no mot.
In the text of the ad I repeatedly stated, MOT runs out next week, you will need to get the MOT done and it will need work including welding and I finished the ad stating

"did I mention this car will need a new mot"

The first 4 enquiries all wanted to know if it had an mot. Unbelievable!
I sold it to someone for spares at £300 - he didn't even bother to test drive and just took it away.

You're assuming these people can read (or be bothered to spend 30 seconds doing so), that's where you're going wrong...

M.

[anonymous-user]

I imagine the type of person who can't be arsed to read ebay adverts, looking like a caveman, only able to communicate in short bursts, hitting the keyboard with a clenched hand.

'Me want car'

[mx5ian]

Try doing it for a living! I get those questions and even more stupid ones all the time one of the best I have had is someone trying to swap his two pet snakes for a Astra! or they the other is "will you do swapz" the cheaper the car the worse it gets! And this seems to come up more and more "Can i take the car and pay you monthly" now anything worth less than a grand (unless its really nice low mileage etc) I tend to just throw it through the local auction. Like someone said eBay is really bad for it Autotrader is a lot better

[catman]

I couldn't see any mention of the car's value in the OP's post. It's hard to know how tttish the offers were, if we don't know what the car is.

Tim

[SuperHangOn]

hairyben said:

Ikemi said:

I might be missing something, but why not sell it for less, or for free? Saves you time, cash and hassle of transportation etc. It'll be gone fairly quick too, I reckon!

TBF my first idea was to freecycle it but even that has it's timewasters, but the mrs said it has to be worth a curry, and I'm open to a cheeky offers from someone willing to cart it off.

They are surprisingly easy to chop up with a saw. An angle grinder would be good fun.

[InitialDave]

I did quite like being told a Citroen AX's suspension was broken because it didn't rise up when they turned the engine on.

[Jasandjules]

hairyben said:

TBF my first idea was to freecycle it but even that has it's timewasters, but the mrs said it has to be worth a curry, and I'm open to a cheeky offers from someone willing to cart it off.

Oh you will also get people on freecycle asking if you can deliver it etc...

I find the best way to get rid of stuff you just don't want to throw in the bin (landfill and all that) is a 99p start on ebay... Sold a few things for 99p but it meant I didn't have to lug them to the tip and it meant that it didn't go to landfill

[hairyben]

Jasandjules said:

Oh you will also get people on freecycle asking if you can deliver it etc...

I find the best way to get rid of stuff you just don't want to throw in the bin (landfill and all that) is a 99p start on ebay... Sold a few things for 99p but it meant I didn't have to lug them to the tip and it meant that it didn't go to landfill

good tip thanks, but YAYY- the only person who actually read the ad and CALLED as opposed to the 20-30 hilarious half hour texters just turned up, said it's allright and left with it! Intelligent people do exist!