hold it and wait or just sell???

dereksbicycles

dereksbicycles

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I was talking to someone about one bike on Friday. I told him I'll sell it to him. I was out of town. I would be back on Sunday. On Sunday, I asked him if he would come and buy it either today or tomorrow? I didn't hear from him on Sunday at all. So I went ahead and sell it to someone else on Sunday. So today, he asked me about it. I had to tell him I sold it. Let me know what I did wrong here. Just be honest.
 
If no promises, or deposit has been made then your fine since it is business as business.

Make sure you don't put turbo in promises.
 
dereksbicycles said:
I was talking to someone about one bike on Friday. I told him I'll sell it to him. I was out of town. I would be back on Sunday. On Sunday, I asked him if he would come and buy it either today or tomorrow? I didn't hear from him on Sunday at all. So I went ahead and sell it to someone else on Sunday. So today, he asked me about it. I had to tell him I sold it. Let me know what I did wrong here. Just be honest.
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You said you would sell it to him, but you don't state if he confirmed that he would buy it. Unless you made it clear that you wanted a decision or response specifically on Sunday, he did not know buying the bike was contingent on contacting you within a 12 hour range (assuming you called at 8 am and sold it at 8 pm).

If he confirmed that he would buy it (prior to the Sunday call). I would not have sold it to keep my word.

If he was still thinking about it and had not make a decision, I think it was appropriate to sell it.

It might be worth it in the future to let your customers know upfront that other people are interested in your bikes and you don't "hold" them unless the customer commits to buying it.
 
I sell reptiles from time to time and I have told someone I will be willing to sell him/her a snake/lizard on that specific day and if I don't hear back, I usually sell it to the next person that was interested. As long no promises or deposit was made, I don't think you did anything wrong.

Business is business, nothing else.
 
This is one of the reasons I REALLY hate selling stuff. IF (big if) I happen to put something on like say Craigs List, or something similar. In the ad I tell people, cash and carry. Same with a face to face deal. The person who pays for it first, gets it. A deposit should only be taken if you put a time limit on how long that deposit holds it. A day, a week ? I never give more than a week and that had better be a BIG deposit. I have learned over the years by getting burned on the "see you tomorrow, see you tuesday, see you payday" people, cash is king.

I know this sounds fairly harsh, but I still have stuff sitting around here that could of been sold to another, but I "held" it on someones word. If they do not have any $ in the deal, they hold the cards on a deal like that.

Also, no checks, EVER.

But that is just me.

He did not give you a deposit, you sold it. Simple. You did as you intended to, sold your product. Done deal.
 
Even banker check or money order too!

The only time I will accept money order is one from post office. They are easy for me to verify that the check is legit. The rest of money order is difficult to verify and can take up to 2 weeks for them to clear.

TubeTJ said:
Also, no checks, EVER.
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I am a property manager so I have to deal with similar situations regarding our rentals. Bottom line is that if it is not in writing, the best thing you can do is inform the buyer that it is a first-come, first-serve basis. That means you are not guaranteeing the product will be available. If they put down a deposit or agree to purchase the product in writing, make sure there is a time limit so that if they do not purchase it by X number of days, they forfiet all rights and you are no longer obligated to sell to the "buyer".
 
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