telephone millionaires/flippers

[agtw31]

ok,ive had it.

i am so sick of these "telephone millionaires",that offer over 20k for car,but on the conditon i send them 400 pics of the car.

if you can afford to offer me over 20k for a car i have for sale over the phone,you can afford to hire somebody to come check out the car,or just buy a damn plane ticket,and come look at it yourself.

[nuch_ss396]

Andy,

Let me add this. I purchased a Cobra on eBay 3 years ago and
it looked great from the images of the car. Once the car
arrived, I noticed all the dings, dents, etc. and I was
pretty miffed. Lesson learned. Digital photos are notorious
for hiding certain details ( like paint issues ). I don't
think I'd buy another car without having someone look at it
first ( walk around ). If someone wants more images, send
them........

Steve

[agtw31]

i see your point,steve.maybe i am just spoiled by people that are serious buyers.

i just cant take seriously anybody that makes an offer over the phone,then has it contingent on receiving pics,after ive sent 20,instead of hiring a professional to inspect the car.

ive had 4 people hire somebody to inspect this car,and one guy flew down from Boston.all were sincere cash offers,and very close to what was an acceptable figure for me.

im glad i dont do this stuff for a living,like some of the guys on this board do.

[olredalert]

------I have been in this business/hobby for a long time and one of the things that has remained a constant all of those years is that pictures NEVER tell the truth. Anyone who doubts the validity of my statement is in for a rude awakening.........Bill S

[nuch_ss396]

[quote.... pictures NEVER tell the truth. .....

[/ QUOTE ]

Bill,

I'd actually like to know exactly why that is. After my
Cobra arrived, and I surveyed the minor paint & sheet metal damage,
I looked over the images again. It was almost impossible to
find the defects in the images with the car right in front
of me. http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hmmm.gif http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dunno.gif

Steve

[Jeff H]

[ QUOTE ]
------I have been in this business/hobby for a long time and one of the things that has remained a constant all of those years is that pictures NEVER tell the truth. Anyone who doubts the validity of my statement is in for a rude awakening.........Bill S

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree with that! I took some pictures of one of my old 88 Toyota 4Runners I had for sale and the lighting was perfect and the pictures came out looking like it was in mint condition! I even had a tree shadow in the perfect spot so you couldn't see the transition from good paint to faded paint. And I didn't even do it on purpose. I had to explain to people that the picture made it look much better than it really was. With that being said, I've bought a couple of cars based on pictures and assumed they weren't as nice as the pictures and I was pleasantly surprised when I got the car.

[Charley Lillard]

Jeff...Didn't you buy that JL8 Z based on pics ?

[Charley Lillard]

Of course he then tore it down to nothing....

[SuperNovaSS]

Let's keep in mind that people lie just as much as pictures do. If you advertise a car on the internet for a price that is not a give away, I would expect to take 100s of pictures of the car. This is so the potential buyer has an idea of what they will be looking at before buying a plane ticket or hiring a inspector. If you do not want to put up with the hassle then I suggest advertising locally. Even when advertising close to home you will get jacked around. It goes with the territory. I remember someone here saying recently that they cancelled looking at a 68 Firebird because it was sitting in wet gravel and they did not want to get dirty. Now that is jerking a seller around. http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Jason

[agtw31]

[ QUOTE ]
I remember someone here saying recently that they cancelled looking at a 68 Firebird because it was sitting in wet gravel and they did not want to get dirty. Now that is jerking a seller around. http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Jason

[/ QUOTE ]

i was the one who stated that,and im glad i didnt go see it,after seeing more pics of it by the present seller whodid buy it.

by the way,would you care to explain how i jacked anybody around by not looking at the car and not making any offer for it over the phone??

[olredalert]

Jeff,,,,You notice that I "didnt" say that pictures always make a car look better than it really is. I just said they always lie! I cant tell you why. I just know, as fact, that cars never seem to look the same in the pictures as they do in person. Kind of like those internet dating services that have you send in a pic of yourself. Which one do you send??? The one where you are picking your nose???........Bill S

[1970Bluel78]

I had a guy tell me the best way to view a car is on Film,not digital. Said warmer image can show flaws. Bullcrap or correct???

[njsteve]

[ QUOTE ]
I had a guy tell me the best way to view a car is on Film,not digital. Said warmer image can show flaws. Bullcrap or correct???

[/ QUOTE ]

Let's put it this way: whats the best way to view a lady: on film or in person... http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/naughty.gif

[ANDY M]

Depends on where your wife is at the time.

[Jeff H]

[ QUOTE ]
Jeff...Didn't you buy that JL8 Z based on pics ?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes I did and I have no complaints. I can honestly say I've bought 3 or 4 cars based on pictures and discussions with the owners and they have turned out to be what I expected or even better than I thought. But pictures usually hide stuff even if you're not trying to hide anything. It's just a lighting and resolution thing. The one car I had where pictures made it worse was the 93 Indy Pace Car. The multi color stripes confused the digital camera and blurred it. But I've found it difficult sometimes to try and get a well detailed picture of a bad area when people asked me to. It takes great lighting, a great camera and the perfect angle to show some stuff.

[budnate]

for what its worth, taking good pics of a car top to bottom dont take that long and put them on photobucket, and then vid the car all the way around and with vids you can show a ding or scratches pretty easy by moving around a little on the spot , then the buyer will see exactly what your refering to or least get a good idea if they want to live with it or factor in fixing it in the deal .

then swing by a shop with a lift and do some vids underneath the car and that only takes a hour plus at the same time I do a few driving vids. do this and life becomes way easier selling, basically cover everything you would want to see on a car you are buying...... then you dont get 500 questions, they can tell pretty much what you have and a good phone conversation will make the deal happen, people who go at it half ass or dont want to talk by phone have trouble selling there stuff, its a techno world now, roll with it man.

fact is seams like we dont sell our stuff locally anymore we all trade back and forth across the country, so long distance deals are pretty much the norm anymore.
http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beers.gif

[Xplantdad]

Couldn't agree with you more, Bud! If you don't want to make the effort to sell the car...then don't sell it!

Doing the videos and putting it up on the lift are great ideas... http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beers.gif And fairly easy to accomplish

[SuperNovaSS]

I agree also Bud. I have not gone as far as making videos yet but it is a fantastic idea.

Andy, I do not know the full story on the Firebird. It sounded like you had an appointment to look at the car and cancelled because the ground was wet. If the seller changed his schedule to show you the car, then he got jacked. Also, it sounds like you planned on going over an offering much lower than the asking price before even seeing the car. That is also jacking the seller around. I personally do not make an appointment to look at the car unless I am willing to pay the asking price. If I can negotiate a lesser price so be it.



Jason

[BBIGG BLOCK 396]

I agree with Budnate on his statement 100%! When you take the steps to take EXCELLENT PHOTOS and SHOOT A VIDEO! To me it is showing you don't have anything to HIDE!You can certainly take photos of a "NASTY" car and make the photos and car look much better than it is.I personally had this happen to me a few years back.I looked at the photos really close of what appeared to be a really nice car. I contacted the seller and after talking to him ,I decided to drive to Dallas Texas and look first hand.Well to make a LONG STORY SHORT!I did not bring the car home I let it stay in Dallas.Photos and discussion with seller made the car a 8 out of 10 and a personal inspection made the car a 4 or 5 out of 10 at best.If I had bought the car based on what was told to me and the photos I would have been very MAD when it arrived!I will NEVER NEVER NEVER purchase a car without either looking at it myself or have a trusted set of eyes look at it!Now I think a lot of sellers are being upfront and just don't know how to take NICE photos.I am no photographer.But there are NUMEROUS sellers that DECIEVE people on purpose,we have read about many of them in posts on this site and other sites.Now that last statement did not mean that MEMBERS on this site are trying to decieve anyone! It means we have read about dishonest Sellers,Dealers in posts on this site that have ripped people a new one! I just wanted to make that clear and not have anyone misunderstand what I was trying to say!I certainly do not need to get into any trouble! http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/no.gif Sometimes it is difficult for me to find the correct words to use! And it is those times I wish I had went a little further than the 3rd grade! LOL http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif And it is those DISHONEST SELLERS that ruin the hobby for a lot of people.

[k92]

Andy, If you want to sell the car and want to represent it as accurately as possible then what is the big deal about sending some pictures? A lot of people don't have the resources to hire a pro to look at a car. I think good communication protects the seller and buyer,last thing that I want to do is drive for several hours to pickup a car that has issues that would have been revealed on film.

[Zedder]

I've bought them both from pictures and with inspections. If it's a project car or I know or have a good feeling about the seller, I'll settle for GOOD pics. If it's a bigger dollar car or the seller seems to be hiding something, I hire a friend to set eyes on it for me. I used to fly to look at cars and it just takes to much time and costs too much money... been to Texas, Idaho, Ohio and Florida on wild goose chases...won't do that again!

I also view a co-operative seller with good quality pics much differently than someone that you have to pull teeth from to get info. I had it happen to me this week with an '03 Z06...nice car, fair price, and about 6 hours away one-way. I ask for some pics to ensure that the car is as described before making the trek to see it and buy it. I get two side shots....ask for a few more to show more details...I get two more - one hood and one rear bumper...how about the interior?...I get one pic of the driver's seat and the guy seems a little miffed that I want pics??? There are too many cars out there for sale for this BS, so I pass. Car is still for sale http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/scholar.gif

[Chris396]

I don't see what the big deal with pictures is anymore. In the digital age it's easy to take 50 good pictures and burn them to a CD. Much easier and cheaper than the old days of having film developed and prints mailed out.