Talking to a guy selling a ZXR. Here’s the transcript:
Me: How much are you looking for?
Him: I’m not 100% sure, but have a rough idea. Make me an offer.
Me: Contrary to what your ad says, the work that needs doing is fairly extensive. If you have service history to indicate the engine has been serviced regularly, MOTs that show consistent mileage and a HPI check comes back clear, I could offer you somewhere in the region of £500. Lack of history and MOTs would lower it a bit.
Him: Sorry mate, but I have 2 previous mot’s, and no service history. I’d rather let it go via auction than except that anyway to be honest. Another ZXR sold on here that was smashed up, and needed much more work, and had more mileage sold for £748. I’m not expecting this sort of money for it, but deffo wouldn’t accept an initial offer of £500 with the amount of interest I have.Me: It’s an import rather than a UK model, it’s got a non-standard paint scheme, a broken front fairing that’ll need to be replaced as well as colour matched and painted. It’s got a hole in the exhaust that’ll need patching as well as the tyre, bearings and brakes. The above is just mechanical problems. Once you add the tacky blue bolts and screen that will be replaced you’re looking at easily £1000 worth of work.Him: If you don’t like the bike, feel free to F*** off, and look elsewhere.
Apparently, he didn’t like being told why his bike isn’t worth much…
Why? So because Columbo’s valuation got rejected he should make life difficult for the seller… seems a bit petty and idiotic, if you ask me.
The guy had his reasons for not wanting it to go for the price you want? He wants to let it go via auction (after all that’s what ebay is for) so why harrass him?
Columbo, I think the reason you got that response was because your follow-up was very direct. At the end of the day, he knows all of this so just stating that in the hope that he will come down is likely to get his back up. You should have ended that sentence with, ‘given these things, I will give you £525 cash for it’. That way he sees you are making an effort to move to the amount he wants but listing the reasons why.
Always go in lower than you’re willing to so you can go up a bit once someone’s back is raised
The way seller’s attitude to potential customers is disgusting. If you sell something and expect no negotiation what the point. The listing was started at 99p and does have a reserve. I have no idea what a 1993 400cc bike is worth but I wouldn’t pay £500 for that bike because of the state of it.
He gives away that he is expecting in the region of £750 but he didn’t expect to get that… If he wasn’t so arrogant and rude he may have squeezed £600 out of Columbo as he could have said my reserve is £650 but I’ll take £600 or something like that with a £50 non-refundable deposit to end early if you are serious. What kind of answer is fuk off? I certainly wouldn’t treat you like that Serrisan as things are only worth what people will pay for them.
He’s got a figure in mind, Columbo’s figure didn’t touch it. After that he got all his negative things listed to him (no negotiation) meaning that he thought columbo was just a timewaster. A negotiation works both ways… plus don’t forget he’s reading a cold PM on ebay, having never seen columbo or knowing anything about his hunt for a 400…
Which therefore means that the seller is aware of them and has taken that into consideration when negotiating…
Anyway, not going to take this argument further. I was just giving an explanation as to his reaction. My view still is that it is petty to **** up his sale because you didn’t like how he talked back, especially given the explanation…
Maybe I’m missing the point of Ebay but I thought an auction listing meant you bid what it was worth to you. Snag it for £500 or less and you can feel rightously smug. If you’re out-bid then he’s right and ££’s better off. :unsure:
He obviously expects to get > £500 for it & probably thought you were just wasting his time, as who in their right mind is going to do a 500 mile round trip to pick up a £500 heap on the basis of the sellers description & 2 small pics? van hire & diesel to fetch it would probably set you back the thick end of £200 :crazy:
The seller is obviously short tempered/ doesn’t work in customer relations saying unnecessary things like that, but eBay has a way to read between the lines - feedback.
He has 100% positive feedback for 253 transactions (61 as a seller) on an account which is 7 years old, so must be doing something right. Also, of the four pages I could be bothered to look at, he has left 2 neutral and 1 negative feedback for other people.
Perhaps you caught him on a bad day (we all have them) or just after he had read some stupid/ scam message pretending to be ‘interest’ in the bike or perhaps your message could have been worded a little better
In the end, what matters is that you get the bike you want at a price you can afford, might not be this one though
Stick your maximum bid on after a while and see what happens.
PS. it’s highly annoying when people end auctions early, that’s what BIN is for!
I’m with Serrisan on this. While his reply was a bit strong after he politely turned down your offer of 500 all you did was list the faults that were listed in the ad, no follow up offer etc… As I said his reply was a bit strong though
