Going to Add to this here:

If your Selling anything please use the abbreviated terms to your Thread.

1) If Want to sell a part:
(Example FS: Item Name)

2) If want to sell an automobile:
(Example FS: Year, Make, Model, Mileage, Location)

3) If you are parting out a car:
(Example Parting Out: Year, Make, Model)
- Please include the parts that you are parting out in one post, and include prices for each part.

4) If you want to purchase an item:
(Example WTB: Item Name)

5) If you want to trade an item:
(Example WTT: Item Name for Item Name)

6) If you want to trade an automobile for another item or automobile:
(Example WTT: Year, Make, Model, Mileage for Item Name)

 

Out of curiosity, isn't it redundant to post WTB: in the "WANTED ITEMS" forum? Or FS: in the "FOR SALE" forum?

We all know that threads in this forum are Want to buy, and thread in the Trade forum are Want to Trade, and in the For Sale forum are For Sale.

So why the redundancy? For the benefit of people who are lost?

 

Regarding photos - its a good idea to have current photos! Its nice to see shots from a car show two years ago that everything got detailed for, but that's not what the potential buyer is going to find when they see the car in person.

So, current photos, as the car sits at the time of the sale = good, honest, accurate thing to do!

Regarding parts wanted - It would be a good idea to include the model of car in the title.

example: "WTB: 9000 center rear brake light" vs "WTB: Brake light"

I personally don't click on wanted ads unless I think I could help, and without the model of car I usually just glaze over it.

 

all excellent points, thanks for the input. This is all great stuff to do and should be expected by buyers.

 

Regarding pictures...


One easy way to give easy access to many pictures of a car that you are selling, is to open a photobucket account, and give the interested party the password for that portion of the account.

It saves you time from e-mailing, and is pretty easy to do.

 

There should be some leniency in regards to naming prices for each and every part when parting out a car, or selling individual parts. Not everyone knows what the current market value is for parts.

However prices should be required for selling complete cars.

 

I think there's a point at which arguing over the minutia of every aspect of the site's organization and rules does nothing useful whatsoever.

 

The value of things

So, I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but there's been some debate lately about the value of things here on the 'link.

Seeing as I've had some enlightened discussions with economists and auctioneers alike lately for my job, I thought I might pass along some of what they've imparted....

1. We are living in extraordinary times. Folks from the Federal Reserve LOVE to use this phrase. Love it! But what that boils down to is this: All bets are off, value-wise, on many things. If your car was worth $4,000 last year, there's a very good chance that it is no longer anywhere near that save some very extreme cases like the Geo Metro run-ups during the gas crunch and whatnot. Keep that in mind as you....

2. Do your homework. A lot of us have probably gone into a showroom to shop for a car. Don't you hate it when you know more about the car than the guy in the suit does? Yeah, me, too. Before you price something, run some comparables through eBay and Craigslist and Saabnet. Keep in mind that only one of those sites will actually tell you what something sells for - eBay. The time for potential buyers to swallow a listed price hook, line and sinker has passed. It is a buyer's market. If you have to sell something for hardship reasons, exercise flexibility. If you don't and are asking a price some might find incredible, well, post up something along the lines of what Jameson said about his Viggen.

3. There's a buyer for almost everything. Make sure you're posting where you'll hit your target audience. Pretty simple, no? If you really want, say, a vintage Saab gone, well, this probably isn't the only place you should post.

4. What's it worth? The true value of anything is only what the highest bidder will pay. It's that damn simple. If you don't like that number, don't sell. But also understand that if anyone can triangulate the value/deal/worth of a Saab, it's the combined knowledge (I know, hah!) of this board. So, trying to bullshit people into thinking you're giving them a deal is not worth anyone's time, methinks.

Just some observations from recent days. Have at it.

 

All that being said I do not think it polite, nor reasonable for other members to be allowed to put in their two cents of the value of the item up for sale.

Lately this has quickly spiraled and nothing good comes from this. I know if I was listing something for sale, I wouldn't want to have to read a bunch of posts from random people who would never actually buy the item say that they think it is overpriced.

If its above the market price, then it won't sell.

 

All that being said I do not think it polite, nor reasonable for other members to be allowed to put in their two cents of the value of the item up for sale.

Lately this has quickly spiraled and nothing good comes from this. I know if I was listing something for sale, I wouldn't want to have to read a bunch of posts from random people who would never actually buy the item say that they think it is overpriced.

If it's priced at market price, this won't happen. If it does, others will tell the person starting shit that they are crazy, people will agree and the car will sell.

If somethings posted above market price, it won't sell & the seller will know why.

Anyway, that's my take on it.

 

I see what you're saying, Seth, but I still think there is room for constructive criticism or pointing out some resources for people to consult.

 

I don't think anyone complains when people pop into a thread to say, "Great price!" or "What a deal!" To disallow the opposite would be inconsistent.

 

I propose a vote on the subject

 

The other option would be to make the "For Sale" section like craigslist or a bulletin board at the entrance of the local grocery store. Non-reply.


You can post a thread, but no one can reply, and if there is no edit-post expiration, the OP can edit the post to update the status, or close their own thread.


All communication regarding the sale would be done through PM's.

 

good idea ^

 

Amish's idea is a pretty decent one, however it will end up being more like a classified sections (a-la Saabnet). Not that this is bad, but I assume you would lose the bumping ability, so when you post it would be buried under any newer for sale "threads."

Not necessarily a bad thing, just something to think about.

 

Just a really stupid question but how do you guys determine Market Value of an Item?

 

That's not a stupid question at all!

Most of the people on here have looked at enough cars, in a variety of conditions, to be able to get a sense of what they're worth. Say, there's the mention of a "Saabsport" aftermarket exhaust -- that triggers a mental calculation to the added value of a car. As does info such as "needs engine work."...and geographic location (there are tons of Saabs here in the Northeast, relatively few in the central South and SW...)

In some cases, we've seen horribly modded cars passed off as "clean" when we know that previous owners were detailing the problems with the cars here on the boards.

In some cases, a car has an extremely high price but we know what has been done to the car and how it's been treated. In those cases, that car's pricing is pretty true to its market value.

In other cases, people are getting deals due to easily fixed issues that they can discover here on the boards.

 

Yes, like poor itsaviggen's car.

 

I've used SAABnet to sell maney cars over the years and for the non believers here they do sell over there. It's this forum where everyone low balls everyone. Every one here complains about resale value of their SAABs, it's because most on here are bringing the values down with the low prices they always talk about. As for the sale of cars on SAABnet tis year I have sold:

92 900S airflow with 78k $5500.
91 900T convert with 21K $7500.00

Last year I sold:
67 96 2-stroke $6500.
74 Sonnet $5500.
69 V-4 wagon 8200.
91 900T SE convet (Grey) $11,500.
91 900T SE convert (yellow) $ 6500.

So they do sell over there at a higher than reasonable price, But I would never list one on here because of the shit you get when asking a premium price for a good car.

 

To borrow a phrase from my Finnish friend Vigge, you're comparing apples and peas. All of the cars you cited are absolute "Saabnet" cars: out-of-the-ordinary examples and collector's cars that would only appeal to serious enthusiasts -- people for whom the value of a car means more than just the inherent physical worth. Someone who has always wanted a V4 wagon would easily pay $8,200 for it, and is probably willing to spend that much more to bring it to concours condition. ("Make sure those hose clamps are era-appropriate and free from oxidation, mmmkay?" )

This is more of a performance-oriented forum and those cars would get appreciative nods, but wouldn't sell here.

Now, to turn the question around: When's the last time you sold an ordinary NG900 with a cracked piston, and what was your price for it?

Every one here complains about resale value of their SAABs, it's because most on here are bringing the values down with the low prices they always talk about.

That's just pure bullshit. Low Saab resale values pre-date this forum, the Web and the fucking Internet. Drive an 09 model of the lot and you've taken a $10K hit. Keep it for a year, and the value will drop $20K. The same thing happened to Sven Svensson when he puttered off the lot in his 1950 two-stroke.

We all know why and we choose -- willingly choose -- to ignore the plain and simple fact that these cars simply aren't as good or as reliable as many others on the market. That's been proven by every relibility metric measured over the past several decades. We KNOW this. Yet we buy them anyway.

 

I have vary rarely seen a "good car" here for sale.

 

They are on here but nobody will pay and they pick everything apart.

 

Actually Jameson's sale of his dad's 9-2x to Cpenning was a good example of a good car going to a good owner.

 

I'm probably guilty of picking adds that say viggen and a price under 4grand.:mrgreen:

 

Well, as far as picking apart peoples cars, I think its not fair to try and get as big of a steal as possible when a very good car comes up for sale. Car and parts prices on this site are abnormally low when you compare to other forums (not just saabnet either) and part of this is because people here expect a steal especially after they have got something similar for a far lower price.

If something is in great shape, well cared for and has a clean record and service history, doesnt it deserve a premium over cars that are not necessarily kept at that high of a standard? I know that you can never really recoup costs from replacement parts and upgrades, but surely that should be factored in as well?

 

I think part of it is that prices listed here are more "friend prices" because we'll take a small hit to see the car/part go to a good guy. I don't think it is because we are cheap bastards. If I listed my car here, it would be for what I thought it was worth. If I listed it on saabnet or ebay, I would add 1000 to that figure.