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KBB books it at 2k in good condition. The ones I've found for 2k have over 200k miles and/or need a major repair and are definitely not in good condition. It's a 96, 5.0
I don't think my price is the issue or I wouldn't be getting so many responses. The problem are the people where half never show up and the other half have to ask their wife or their other car broke down this morning and spent $1k in repairs so they only have $1200 (I had a guy tell me that once)
Buyers often ask a lot of questions because they have been through the same thing on the other side. They do not want to drive out there to find out you lied about it being a smokers car, or your statement "it is a little dirty" or "It has a few stains" really means it looks like a scene form the movie "Hangover" inside. If I have a budget and the car is over my budget, i want to make sure the seller is willing to sell within my budget, before I go look at the car. Often sellers and buyers have a very different concept of what a reasonable negotiated price range means. If I see a car listed for $4500, I might be thinking $3,000 - $3,500 is a reasonable negotiation and the seller may bethinking well I can come down to $4,300 if I do not get many people looking. Frankly a lot of questions is a good thing, it helps both of you avoid wasting a lot of time. I ask a ton of questions. If I go look at a car, I am merely confirming the answers and then buying the car. I do nto go just to look but with an extra driver and expecting to drive it home (or to the mechanic for a check up). I usually give them a deposit and agree to buy the car if it passes the check up with no major issues.
It is funny that some sellers try to argue with the mechanic's diagnosis. ad says: "Air Conditioning just needs recharging" Mechanic says it needs a new condenser and $1100 worth of work. Seller says "No it doesn't. He is wrong. It just needs recharging" Do they really think I am going to take their wishful thinking over my mechanic's diagnosis and buy the car anyway? Those ads always crack my up anyway. If something is listed as wrong but they say 'Just needs a minor adjustment" BS. If that is all it needs, then you would have done it and listed the car as being fine.
Back to the OPs van. That is a mid sized van is it not? Those can be hard to sell. We looked as tome for a short time. Problem is people who want a minivan want a minivan and people who want full sized want full sized. We were looking at astros because we wanted all wheel drive - until we learned that many astros were death traps due to a design flaw.
If that is a full sized van you could still be running into the same problem. Many families who want a full sized van are looking for a converted luxury cruiser. A few families just want transportation for a lot of people, but not that many. A few people want it for a work vehicle, but again a limited number. Also with full sized vans people just looking for transportation are not likely to buy once they drive it. Some think full sized vans are not that different from driving a car. Then they learn this is completely wrong.
Also not too many families are looking for a $2600 beater to drive their family around in. For us, our van is always our nicest car. That is because we spend a lot of time in it as a family. We want it to be comfortable, safe and reliable. The beaters we buy are just for transportation.
Vans can be hard to sell because they appeal to a specific audience. Big vans get poor MPG, they are more difficult to drive and to park, not that many people need to transport 7 persons at a time. If you look around, you do not see a lot of non-converted full sized or mid sized vans on the road. their just it not that much demand for them.
However part of the reasons you may be having trouble is that it may simply be a difficult vehicle to sell. They have a very limited pool of potential buyers and the odds of hitting one looking in your area are not so great. Otherwise, you will get people who are just looking for transportation and most of them are going to decide they really want something else.
Last edited by Coldjensens; 05-05-2013 at 06:53 AM..
Buying/selling on Craigslist should never become personal. Don't get insulted, don't get frustrated.
1. Price it correctly - you can be slightly on the high end, but just slightly. Pricing it too high would turn off many potential buyers.
2. Have a good and accurate description with lots of good pictures taken with a good camera using a steady hand. Do not use your cellphone to take the pictures.
3. Put your phone number in the ad. People who call will typically be more serious than those who email, in my experience.
4. Simply ignore the low-ball offers if you are not in a hurry. Don't try to counter them.
5. Other than the VIN and carfax, I generally ignore all other questions.
I've had a great time selling vehicles on Craigslist following the above rules, the most recent of which was two weeks ago, where I got the full KBB private party "excellent" price for a used Toyota Prius. There were quite a few people who were interested, but most were flakes. Many offers of $2000 less than asking price with promises of "I'll buy it today with cash". I simply ignored them. It took a month for me to sell the car but I was in no hurry, and in the end found a buyer who was plenty happy with the car and the price he paid.
I'd probably say that this is the best advice so far.
I sell and buy our family cars on craigslist.
I do not flip them, I simply buy used. But because we always keep a spare car, I am never in a rush.
Opposite to what was suggested here, I do NOT put my phone number up online. Bad experience. I tell them to email me and we can take it from there. Works.
Suggestion to you is - if you get "interested" folks, simply ask them - are they ready to buy and have $$ on hand. If they "need to sell their car" to buy yours, bow out. Ask them, if they read ALL of your ad and understand, what you sell. Most of them are simple deal hunters that will email or call anyone for anything.
Learn how to stop and say Bye. You will know it's a lowballer or not ready to buy person in about a minute. Simply tell - I do not want to waste your time, this is not working for me. Bye.
Don't build your life around them. They don't show - tough. 10 minutes waiting, go on with yours. Do not call them and ask "are you coming?". They will think you are deal hungry.
That's a Ford van, right? You know, how bad a reputation those have? No offense, you may have the lucky one that runs forever, yet...
You MUST have interior pics. And make sure it does not stink inside. Good idea is to create a dedicated album on say Photobucket, and simply link it to your ad.
You ad will likely to be flagged several times. Standard craigslist practice. Simply keep reposting.
Good ad is short, concise, has 4 pics, not too large, as many are still on dialup, with very honest description, and "more pics available upon request". Add "Please, buyers ready to buy only", but this should be up at the top, they never read it all the way through.
You may try placing link to your pics album but it may be considered against craigslist rules, and force flagging. You won't believe, how many fat lazy slobs is there, doing nothing but sitting on computers all day long, flagging ads out of shear meanness.
Oh, and do this. If you price too low, everyone will think it's junk. If you price too high, no one will look at it.
Scope craigslist for similar cars, and price yours in upper price range. Ads are good for week. If you start getting responses - you priced it "about right". Then discount price person to person. I normally do 10% off my asking price.
If you do not have responses, next ad simply lower price some, until you start seeing interest.
But, like I said - it all goes down to how much you are pressed to sell.
I don't understand people who put "O.B.O." on their add. Has anyone ever got what they asked for, with that included?
When I bought my newer car, I sold my old car in half a day (on a Sunday), still people were calling after I sold. I put few pictures and price right and emphasized its treats: only second owner, clean (car was so clean inside you won't believe it is more than 20 years old), the reason for selling, and my firm price. That's it. Gone in few hours. Believe me people who are looking for used cheap car are in the market for quite sometime and they know a reasonably priced car when they see one. If many people come and test, the price may be the problem.
BTW, I did a quick search and your price seems reasonable compared to my local market but it is your market that matters. Check your market and prices slightly less (not more as some suggest) and be firm.
No CJ that is not a mini van, that is a full sized van. IDK what the value on one is. I'd say do as the others have said....look on CL and even ebay and see what similar vans are selling for.
I wouldn't be reluctant to put my cell # on a CL ad as long as I have a lan line. In my experience, leaving an email on a CL ad invites the tire kickers and others to ask all sorts of questions from "Is it still for sale" to "whats your bottom dollar" to "need help selling your car? I can help for a fee".
When they're forced to call you on the phone, it tends to weed out all those except the real serious buyers
I concur on the flagging. It's usually a competitor selling the same van who happens to have flagging software that re flags your post under different i.p.'s every second. Or it could be a group of nerdy pimply faced geeky kids at the local library who decided to be jerks and mass flag a post. Either way just re post. I link my CL acct to my smart phone so it alerts me if a post gets flagged.
As long as it has no big issues and runs well the price seems right. Around here I think it would sell quickly. I think craigslist is not the place to get your price however. Try autotrader and you will get a higher caliber of buyers over all. The 50 bucks to place the add should be well worth the price. Tire kickers and low balling time wasters prefer craigslist to autotrader. When I sold my truck I asked top buck and placed an add in autotrader. I made sure it was 100% what I advertised and got my price from the 3rd person that looked at it. He didn't even try to get me to lower the price.
There are definitely price points at which you will get more interest. My son had a car listed at $1200 and got only bs responses. He lowered the price to $1000 and had six people contact him the first day. Some seem to be legitimate buyers.
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