Sales/pricing method

[Octaneforce]

If you list something on craigslist, letgo, marketplace, or any other classifieds for selling items, how do you come up with a price?

1) do you price it high and offer room to negotiate?

2) do you pick a conservatively low dollar amount and state that the price cannot be negotiated?

I buy and sell cars on weekends as a hobby because i like to torture myself, and ive found that there doesnt seem to be much of a difference. When you go with route 1, people may glance right over your ad because the price is just too high. But the potential buyer will feel like a hero when he chews you down 500 bucks (even tho you left room for that when you listed it)

When going route 2, i feel like im dismissing people immediately because i sound like a jerk when i demand a certain price with no chance for discussion. However the low price gets alot of viewers because everyone wants shit as close to free as it gets.

Anyone experience this or maybe have a totally different angle? Im in new york so i encounter some really wacky individuals when im selling shit.

[almostgone]

I generally ask for 40-60% of the original cost depending on the condition of the item and if there is an absolute minimum I have to have, I put a reserve on it.
Personally, I never price high. I feel it pushes away potential sales and people tend to get turned off on dealing with the seller.

Conversely, if I am buying something, I try to be straight up and ask them what is their best price/ least they will take for an item. I explain that I prefer not to haggle, and that I feel my trying to beat them on a price is disrespectful and a waste of their time and my time. You'd be surprised how many people appreciate the straight up approach.

My only exception is if I have something that is a collectible that has been appraised by a professional service and have an accompanying certificate of authenticity and valuation. Then I never sell for less than 80-85% of the appraised value unless it is something I have a minimal investment in and just want to get rid of it.

[Couchlockd]

I go with say 1999 lumina, 90-100k miles decent body runs great always up to date on routine maintenance.

Price about 200 over what is needed.

1300, you come today with 900 you can have it.

[Windex]

I use to flip iphones and I would go back and forth from your 1 and 2. Basically some small wiggle room. My philosophy was that someone is always breaking a phone, dropping it in a toilet, etc that the demand is decent. However, so many people constantly sign new phone contracts and sell their old phones so supply is up and down. Don't know how applicable that is for vehicles.

Do you have to claim the profit as income? In Canada you do and you pay a bunch of nonsense fees.

[Octaneforce]

I generally ask for 40-60% of the original cost depending on the condition of the item and if there is an absolute minimum I have to have, I put a reserve on it.
Personally, I never price high. I feel it pushes away potential sales and people tend to get turned off on dealing with the seller.

Conversely, if I am buying something, I try to be straight up and ask them what is their best price/ least they will take for an item. I explain that I prefer not to haggle, and that I feel my trying to beat them on a price is disrespectful and a waste of their time and my time. You'd be surprised how many people appreciate the straight up approach.

My only exception is if I have something that is a collectible that has been appraised by a professional service and have an accompanying certificate of authenticity and valuation. Then I never sell for less than 80-85% of the appraised value unless it is something I have a minimal investment in and just want to get rid of it.

What kind of stuff do you normally move? You sound like you do alot of volume

[Octaneforce]

I use to flip iphones and I would go back and forth from your 1 and 2. Basically some small wiggle room. My philosophy was that someone is always breaking a phone, dropping it in a toilet, etc that the demand is decent. However, so many people constantly sign new phone contracts and sell their old phones so supply is up and down. Don't know how applicable that is for vehicles.

Do you have to claim the profit as income? In Canada you do and you pay a bunch of nonsense fees.

Im gonna plead the fifth on the profit question. But heres what somebody might hypothetically do with vehicles;
Buy the car cash. Get the title, dont sign it. Re sell the car for cash (with profit), and hand that unsigned title over to the buyer. Bam. Youve made a cash profit with no paper trail to you. Keep that cash aside for regular purchases (groceries, meals, going out, car repairs, etc), and dump your taxed income from your regular job paycheck into your bank for bills that require a debit card/checking account.

But again this is “hypothetical”

[Octaneforce]

I go with say 1999 lumina, 90-100k miles decent body runs great always up to date on routine maintenance.

Price about 200 over what is needed.

1300, you come today with 900 you can have it.

Its funny. Whether i buy a car for 5000 or 500, the profit margin doesnt seem to change much. Cheap peices of shit are the best angle because its a low risk low cost investment. Percentage wise its a better investment.

[Couchlockd]

Its funny. Whether i buy a car for 5000 or 500, the profit margin doesnt seem to change much. Cheap peices of shit are the best angle because its a low risk low cost investment. Percentage wise its a better investment.

Cars with them 3100 engines run forever.

Bodies, eh not so much

[Obs]

I price it at what I gotta have, get a bunch of calls or messages lowballing and bitch to my gf about the sudden migration israelites to Missouri.

Then I say, "Fuck em I would rather scrap it!"

Then some elderly guy comes and looks at it and says it is just what he needs and hands me the money.

Then I do an internal happy dance and go inside and tell my gf, "Damn... I can't believe he bought that piece of shit! So glad its gone! Lets go to sonic!"

[Obs]

Cars with them 3100 engines run forever.

Bodies, eh not so much

Oldsmobile... Ffs... I sold that damn thing and it was about 80% weld.

Damn rear strut mount rusted through! How in the hell!? I had to stack giant thick washers toether and weld them to the hole.

[Couchlockd]

Oldsmobile... Ffs... I sold that damn thing and it was about 80% weld.

Damn rear strut mount rusted through! How in the hell!? I had to stack giant thick washers toether and weld them to the hole.

Lol.

Round these parts the 1995-1999 lumina and Monte Carlo rear strut towers rot out all the time.

There's a 75 year old welder named Nick downtown that does them fir 200 a side. He has templates for them ready to go.

Had s 1994 lumina, the order style ones with the single leaf spring running horizontal for rear suspension.

Sold on Craiglist for 400.

20 minutes later i see the car come flying up over my devil strip and into neighbors yard.

Every brake line rotted out. Kid came back tripping thinking I tried to burn him

I didn't know it was all that bad underneath

I gave him his 400 back and extra 20 for his troubles as car could have killed him

So next day I went to master cylinder and pluged off rear lines with a crossman pellet.

Stated in add it needed totally relined in rear.

Week later a guy came piece of shit.

His mom dropped him off and he met a dude at my house that I knew as a pill head

He asked me to write receipt for 700 so he could keep 300 of his mom's money.

That car was Soo rotted, he pilled 4 people inside and the body just collapsed on itself. They spent 3 hours at end of my street with 2x4 trying to get that thing off it's tires so they could go find dope with the 3xtra 300

[almostgone]

What kind of stuff do you normally move? You sound like you do alot of volume

Comes and goes as I run across off and ends. Usually old signage, vintage measuring instruments and tools. Not really high volume, just been doing it for a while.

[Obs]

Lol.

Round these parts the 1995-1999 lumina and Monte Carlo rear strut towers rot out all the time.

There's a 75 year old welder named Nick downtown that does them fir 200 a side. He has templates for them ready to go.

Had s 1994 lumina, the order style ones with the single leaf spring running horizontal for rear suspension.

Sold on Craiglist for 400.

20 minutes later i see the car come flying up over my devil strip and into neighbors yard.

Every brake line rotted out. Kid came back tripping thinking I tried to burn him

I didn't know it was all that bad underneath

I gave him his 400 back and extra 20 for his troubles as car could have killed him

So next day I went to master cylinder and pluged off rear lines with a crossman pellet.

Stated in add it needed totally relined in rear.

Week later a guy came piece of shit.

His mom dropped him off and he met a dude at my house that I knew as a pill head

He asked me to write receipt for 700 so he could keep 300 of his mom's money.

That car was Soo rotted, he pilled 4 people inside and the body just collapsed on itself. They spent 3 hours at end of my street with 2x4 trying to get that thing off it's tires so they could go find dope with the 3xtra 300

The scary shit is I know exactly what you are talking about with the pellet at the master cylinder.
Hard times you adapt or get trampled. Failure is not an option.

That olds was the oly car I ever saw do that but we dont use the amount of salt on the roads you all do

[CA_DXB_85]

Well, you always need to consider the cost and how much markup you want to add to come up with the final price. Keep a 5% margin there so you can play with the price and offer a discount. Don't price it too low to the point you are breaking even or forced to go down more just because you want to get rid of the item (even breaking even is a loss if you consider your time).
Also, it would be a good idea to check the price of comparable to make sure your markup is not too high leaving potential buyers thinking "I could get the same for a better price".
I used to sell and buy stuff off ebay big time when I was younger. I did play around with Craigslist for sometime also before I moved out of Canada for work. I used to buy cheap stuff, better the condition without spending too much so it looks/works better, add the cost plus a markup and then sell.
We have a shitty website called dubizzle here but it's a fucking hassle and half selling anything used on it lol. The first thing they ask right away is "what is the final price" then offer you HALF PRICE!