In our community, we have a limited supply of parts and cars. The parts we can buy elsewhere are often expensive on their own, and then you have to tack shipping and possibly duty on top of them. When parts come available in the local area, it is a good idea to get them because you can save a lot of time and money that way. I appreciate everybody who does sell their parts on here because it enables us to function better as a community as well.
That being said, more than once I have tried to purchase things off of the board unsuccessfully. Understandably, there will be times when the item has simply been sold already. They are still the seller's items and they are at liberty to do what they want with them. I would like to recommend a few things, however, to avoid unnecessary frustration and a bad reputation on the part of the seller, because I have been through a runaround lately and I am a bit jaded. Were this EBay, this person would be receiving a bad rating and a few not-so-nice comments which would hurt their attempts to sell anything in the future, but in the interests of the group and to avoid conflict, I am simply going to post some things that should be some kind of a code if you want to successfully sell your parts and not tick people off.
1. DO NOT list your parts for sale until you are actually ready to sell them. If you still may need to use it, take parts from it, or aren't sure you even want to sell it, DON'T post it (or, post a feeler thread, so people know you aren't entirely sure).
2. If you post a for sale ad and do not give contact information, expect a reply or private message via the forum, and be prompt with answering them (ie. don't sell the item privately and wait a week to come back onto the board and never reply). If the item sold already, delete the post, or reply sold, or at the very least, reply to the messages, apologize and say it's been sold.
3. If you do provide contact information like a phone number or e-mail, the same applies. Answer people, or they may try to contact you further. Ignoring them is rude, and will probably result in you getting annoyed with the continued attempts to contact (especially if the part is something somebody needs).
4. Do not say you will sell the item to the person, then become unreachable, until the day you announce you sold it somebody else. This is dishonest and downright rude. Don't then try to sell them something else similar and sell that, too. This is a good way to lose business completely. Unless of course you don't care at all.
5. Try to be flexible when you can meet with people. Sometimes they don't have transportation to get the parts. If you do, offer to bring it to them for an extra cost of gas plus some time. Make yourself available if they need it ASAP. Going the extra mile will ensure that people have good things to say about dealing with you.
6. Don't be vague. Detail your description of precisely what you are selling (pictures almost always close the deal), and your asking price. If people contact you, be straight up with them and try to be somewhat flexible on price. You will be appreciated more for this effort.
That's really all I can think of that would need to be said. I thought these things were obvious, but to some people they are not. Pardon my sour attitude, but this is the result of a few weeks of failed attempted purchases resulting in me scratching my head going "now what I am going to do?". I hope nobody else will experience this as a result of these tips.
Feel free to add more, I think I feel better now
