Every Wednesday, we get a small weekly newspaper that covers about six local towns. They have a tiny classified section, and on any given week, there are about six ads in there. I glance at it every week, but have never found anything of interest.
About two months ago, the paper came in the mail on a typical Wednesday and I didn't get a chance to look at it until Thursday night. I spotted an ad for a car that I thought might make a nice replacement for my Miata. It was in better condition, had a little more power, fewer miles, and was being sold by the daughters of the original, elderly owner who had recently passed away. It was being offered for $3000, which I thought was a fair price, as these cars had been on my radar for a few months.
I called the seller (son in law), told him that I had the next day off, and asked if I could see the car the next morning (Friday). We met at the assisted living facility where his father in law had lived, I checked the car out and took it for a short ride. I wasn't in love with the car, but I really liked it and could see myself owning it. I told him so, and then he said that someone else had looked at the car the night before (probably before I had spoken to him on the phone for the first time). That guy told him that he could get him a check for the full amount on Saturday.
I had $3000 in cash in my pocket and offered it up. The guy said thanks but, "I don't want to be a dick. If the other guy shows up with a check tomorrow, I feel that I need to sell him the car. If he doesn't, it's yours."
I was a little annoyed that he didn't mention any of this on the phone, but I said that I could respect the fact that he was trying to be fair to the first guy and asked that he call me the next day if the guy didn't come through.
My attempt to lure him with $3000 in cash on the spot was probably dulled by the presence of a fairly new Rolls Royce parked nearby...
Anyway, he contacted me the next day and told me that the other guy had showed up with a check and the car was gone. I was bummed, as it was a pretty nice car for the price, but it really wasn't a great time for me to buy a car anyway, as I was having knee surgery a week later.
I more or less forgot about it for about a month, though every once in a while, I would kick myself for not having checked the paper immediately. I screwed up and I lost.
So now, six weeks later, an ad pops up on Craigslist in the next town over. It looks an awful lot like the $3000 car that I looked at, but the asking price is $6500. I contact the seller and ask a few very specific questions pertaining to the car, without letting on that I have seen it before. It is clearly the same car, and he has done nothing to it since he purchased a few weeks earlier.
Now I'm pretty annoyed. I get it. I've flipped cars before for a profit (though I've always done a tone of work on them first) and he beat me to it fair and square. I almost feel bad for the original seller ("I don't want to be a dick...").
I think I still want the car, but the fact that I got beat on it may be contributing to that. There are better examples out there, but most are around his $6500 price or more. I haven't contacted him again.
A few nights ago, I check the ad again and he has dropped his price to $5500. It's pretty clear that he didn't really want the car and was just looking to turn a quick profit. I sense that he is starting to panic.
I'm thinking about going to look at the car, take it for a ride to confirm that I want it and offering $4000. Sure, it's $1500 below his new asking price, but at that point, I will mention that I know that he paid $3000 for it a few weeks earlier and can turn an easy $1000 profit without expending any effort on the deal. He runs the risk of sitting on a rear wheel drive car that he will have a hard time selling in New England as winter approaches. If he counter's with $4001, I will probably walk away.
What would GRM do if you were in his shoes?
