Is it just me, or are people getting more flaky?

[Mike Magee]

My parents taught me the value of keeping my word. "A man's word is his bond," my dad said on many occasions. He said if you don't keep your word, not only will people stop trusting you, but you'll have trouble looking at yourself in the mirror.

Has this sort of thinking gone by the wayside altogether? Or are there some folks out there who still feel this way?

So, I thought I was buying a FG trailer from a member of the community. His trailer wasn't technically 'on the market' yet because he was waiting for the snow to melt so he could get it out of storage. Price was already discussed, though. I asked him to consider me "first in line" to buy, and offered to send a deposit any time he was ready. He wrote back, "Sure thing. Thanks. I'll keep in touch."

Today, despite my continued expressed interest and desire to follow through, he sold the trailer to someone else. I am really disappointed.

[Steve Carlson]

Yeah, it is frustrating. There are still some honorable folks out there, but too many that are not.

[Iowa Dave]

I’m sorry to hear that you were treated with less than honorable results in attempting to purchase a used trailer. It’s probably small consolation to hear that failed transactions occur every so often regardless of how speedy and honestly the buyer responds. For whatever reason, you just have to move on and promise yourself to keep trying and to stay an honorable course for yourself. Unfortunately there are buyers and sellers, both without ethics. I like to believe there’s a special place in Hell for these people. Best of luck in the future, don’t give up, your trailer is out there.
Iowa Dave

[MyronL]

Me, I'd just consider myself lucky I didn't put down a deposit on a Lil' Snoozy.

[Iowa Dave]

That too, like you said Myron, at least it wasn’t a scam or a bankruptcy. There’s a sucker born every minute and two to skin him. P.T. Barnum .
That’s what an old boss of mine claimed the full quote was. I never checked.
We were fishing and drinking one night. He cast in ten times in a row and threw his bait off every time. The tenth time he looked at me in desperate frustration. I said
“Yes Virginia, there is a free lunch. Mixed metaphor if I ever saw one. I taught him to cast that night. He was 35 years old.
Iowa Dave

[thrifty bill]

Flaky is not new. But between texting and the internet it’s a lot easier to be a flake. I’ve been an active seller on eBay for 20 years. About 10% of the time, buyers never pay. They will bid on your item, they will buy it now, but paying for it? That’s kind of optional...,

We already had a long thread on deposits, but I try to firm up deals I make with a deposit, unless I can pick up immediately.

[Justus C]

Mike, don't feel like you were the only one let down. He told me he was looking for a May/June sale, I said we would like to buy sooner but I'd like to be kept in mind...two days later it was listed for sale.

It's hard to fault a seller for getting the best price with the least overhead. At the same time, it's hard not to feel a bit cheated. We don't know his situation, but I'd bet someone was able to drive in, put eyes on the trailer, and pay on the spot. Guys like you and I, thousands of miles away, aren't nearly as sure a thing. Of course, if you're not really interested in a sale to someone so far away, why even lead them on? Some mysteries aren't meant to be solved.

[thrifty bill]

Sometimes sellers grossly underestimate response. This does not make it OK! But they think they need the widest exposure to ensure a sale then they end up inundated with local buyers (as well as the distant ones).

This is the reason when we sold our Casita, I didn’t list it here. I put it at a reasonable price, put it up on the local C/L and it sold locally in four hours.

[MyronL]

When I sold my first two trailers I did not do it here. Put them up on eBay. Made it clear (Chrystal) they were old trailers ("do not assume they work like one off the showroom floor...etc") because, each had issues, which I did my best to point out. I would only accept cash from the winning bidder, and said no one should bid before they came to the house and looked the trailer over.

With both sales... the winning buyer calls me up three weeks later asking for money back, because of some of them issues.

Some buyers, newbies, I have to conclude, get burned because they just don't listen, and/or because they have stars in their eyes.

[gordon2]

I would have to know more before I passed judgement. Often people only let go of their beloved fiberglass camper because of ill health. Perhaps the seller was one of these, and maybe even facing something like surgery or chemo-therapy, and did not have the time, strength, or ability to deal with the sale and therefore took the first cash-in-hand offer.

[Jon in AZ]

I have seen several supposed classified ads that included the phrases “just testing the waters” and “thinking about selling my trailer.”

Could be “flakiness,” ambivalence about selling a much-lived trailer, or a calculated attempt to measure demand before committing to a listing price.

I wouldn’t get my hopes up on something like that.

[Glenn Baglo]

Tried to sell a Ford Explorer on Craig's List. Tried to sell a tent trailer on Craig's List. Had numerous people say they were coming to see it. Some called to say the weren't coming after all and some just didn't show up. One guy started it up and revved the engine even though I had written that it had a blown head gasket. Blew my gasket.
So, frankly, if somebody walked into the yard and offered me money on the spot, I'd sell it.

[thrifty bill]

Long distance buyers are always at a disadvantage over locals. Someone in person, cash in hand can “jump the line”. Sad but it happens all the time.

[Mike Magee]

I had been keeping an eye out for the past several years for an Escape I could afford. Back to the search, I guess.

[John in Santa Cruz]

Hey, I drove to Texas to buy my 2nd hand Escape 21 was an epic rush trip, couple days after Christmas.

[Mary F]

Originally Posted by gordon2

I would have to know more before I passed judgement. Often people only let go of their beloved fiberglass camper because of ill health. Perhaps the seller was one of these, and maybe even facing something like surgery or chemo-therapy, and did not have the time, strength, or ability to deal with the sale and therefore took the first cash-in-hand offer.

Or maybe a close friend decided they wanted it. That's what happened with our Casita; it never even went on the market.

I understand the disappointment, but...

[cpaharley2008]

Change of mind or a relative/friend piping in for an inside deal, all could happen. with used fg trailers, the owner is in the driver seat. That said, you could have offered the owner a price what you feel it was worth, maybe it was higher, maybe not with a check for deposit to hold, contingent upon it passing your inspection. This can shift the variables to your favor.

[Tom Haberski]

I've been hosed also like this. A late winter notice of an Escape 17 near Toronto by a widowed farm wife, moving up to a 19'er. Had to wait until April for the snow to melt to get to the shed and the rig. Probably a 700 mile drive for me to get it. In frequent contact with seller before time, pictures and agreed upon price. I added air shocks and brake controller to minivan, in the cold, and a few days away from leaving to pick it up. Starting talking about money transfer to her and the weird old gal freaked or something and stopped the deal and correspondence. I was flummoxed by the poor, erratic,deceitful behavior of another.
I later learned she did the exact same thing to a buyer from New York. Weird, at best.


Been there, as they say, and had that done to me. It smarts, and one wonders how others can do that. I ain't no snowflake and know very well there are lot's of nasty folks out there, but it usually surprises me to see how many there are.


I'm sorry for your distasteful experience.

[steve dunham]

We has two strangers stop on our road and ask about our FG trailer.
They both said that if I ever sell it to give them a call first
I did not agree to ,or contract to ,or promise to do anything.
I lost one phone number and can’t read the other .
When we put our trailer up for sale this Spring we plan on selling it to the first person who meets our asking price .
Someone expressing possible interest in buying our trailer does not obligate us to anything
It’s strictly business and has nothing to do with manners

[ZachO]

Sorry to hear about that.

There may or may not be less people who stick with what they say, or take what they say seriously. There are, however, a lot more people out there, more and more every day, and we're actually connected to all of them. So you get to see the whole spectrum instead of just people close or with the same values.

I can see them not thinking they were making a deal, but just talking. I don't hold others to the same standards as I hold myself, but am still disappointed when people make commitments lightly. I tend to look at all my "transactions", not as business transactions, but...as reflecting on my values. If I say I'm going to do something, I'm either going to do it, or I'm going to let you know I'm not going to do it, and why. And when I screw up, I apologize.

In business and personal life, there are different levels of integrity, I guess. If I owned a business and made a habit of telling people I'd hold something for them, and not live up to that, I wouldn't be in business long, or at least would lose a lot of customers.