Stan's Blog

Negotiating skills

So I wanted to get rid of my gas-guzzling 2000 Ford Expedition. It's been paid off for some time, but it had so many miles (178,000+) that it had required significant mechanical repairs over the past year. I liked not having a monthly payment, but the repair bills were every bit as much as monthly payments would have been. It was in great shape - still pretty as can be - but it's only a matter of time with that many miles.

After a month of driving around Big D with "For Sale" signs taped onto my windows, I finally got a phone call on Thursday, August 21. Same guy called back on Friday morning and stopped by the house to take a closer look. I was hoping to sell the car for $5,000, since an internet website told me a dealer would ask $5,900 and trade-in value would be $3,000. His opening offer was $4,300. I stood firm, and he ended up giving me his phone number and telling me to call him if I wanted to sell it for $4,500.

Once he left, I thought about it and realized if I really want to sell the car, then $4,500 is better than I'd get if trading in to a dealer and/or keeping the car another month and piling on more miles. Plus I checked another website to find standard presumptive value of the car was $3,700. So, I called my wife and my dad, and - with their help - I talked myself into it.

Enter the negotiating skills.

I know $4,500 is his price. And I know that's more than it's technically worth. But I can't just let him win, can I? That's un-American. Just the night before, we'd purchased all the materials needed to give our flower beds a major overhaul, including the installation of a metal edge to separate the beds from the lawn. And the prospective buyer appears to be quite capable in the landscaping department. So I tell him I'll sell the Expedition for his price as long as he helps me overhaul the flower beds.

He agrees. Then comes the remarkable part.

We walk around back to take another look at the car, and he's got three other guys with him. He barks out orders to those three, speaking in his native Spanish toungue, and they immediately go to their truck and retrieve all the tools they'll need to work flower beds. Meanwhile, the buyer is walking out of my garage with all the supplies I had just bought. I had a deal, and I had no idea it would go down this quickly! Even better, I didn't have to lift a finger!

This all started with a ring of my doorbell at 5:30 on Friday evening. The flower beds were done at 6:04. Exactly 34 minutes to complete a chore that would have taken me two hard days. Another 26 minutes later and I've got cash in hand, he's signed the title and driven into the night. What a start to the weekend.

Thanks for the flower beds, senor Salomon. And enjoy that Expedition!

posted by Stan W @ 9:47 PM