Question for experienced SMBers

[Twoxentrix]

A Deposit is placed on "good faith"...as stated already, make sure you have some sort of contract, but in it i would add "deposit to be refunded if the Vehicle has been misrepresented in any way". A confident Seller should not have any issue with this.

[TomsBeast]

Originally Posted by clicker44

These vans are in high demand! If I were your buddy I would do whatever it took to get to the van ASAP and make the transaction....

My $0.02 are that a deposit (albeit $5k or $500) has the potential to get messy.....

Having been on both sides of similar dealings, that's some good advice. So is making the deposit thru PayPal. I'd also insist on a contract spelling out what happens to that deposit should the transaction not take place. Conversation, agreement, written contract (nothing special, could be an email), then deposit sent.



Remember that a contract's sole purpose is to spell out in advance, what happens when things go upside down. It dictates how we settle this fairly, defines 'fair' up front.



$5k sounds like a lot, but for the seller to take it off the market, then relist it, most savvy sellers want the long distance buyer to 'have some skin in the game' in case the potential buyer has buyer's remorse a day latter. Every time I've done this, I do that.





If it's 'the one', I'd advise your friend to float the idea of him making a smaller non-refundable deposit, say $500 (to be applied to the sales price upon transaction)so the seller holds it, jump on a plane tomorrow and see it for himself now (vs two weeks), make the deal or pass, in person.

[Grampswrx]

I have always used my plane ticket confirmation as a sufficient deposit. $5k is way too much, in my opinion. The seller wants a sale. If he is willing to wait, buy the ticket and show him you are confirmed to get out there. Otherwise, hit the seller up when you can actually make it out there and give him the 2 weeks to try to sell it.

[SteelheadJones]

Why not ask if someone on the forum who's local to the van can take a look at it for him? Inspect it, do a FaceTime, take it for a test drive, etc. I sure wish I had when I bought my 7.3 from an unscrupulous seller.

[Jeffrey]

What clicker said. And a $200 PayPal deposit ought to do it. Get on the plane tomorrow.

[CactusJackSlade]

Yeah, if it means that much I'd be on a plane ASAP... when I found mine I was on a plane that afternoon....

[BrianW]

I’m sure a forum member would be willing to check it out for them. I get there is some worry that the sale might be “stolen” by the reviewer, but I highly doubt that would happen. What general area is the van located in?

For the deposit, I would NOT put down $5000. $500 maybe. And with clear agreement in writing that the deposit is fully refundable pending an in-person review by the buyer or his/her agent. I’ve been burned on this before by a eBay dealer that refused to give me back my deposit even though he did not fully disclose all the issues with the van. The ad stated “buyer may cancel purchase for any reason” but he hid the no deposit refund part.

[KyleC]

Not a smb owner, just a van owner. I looked at and got checks printed from my credit union after talking to three different vehicle owners. All looked wonderful on the internet, great at first sight in person, But the next day or a few days later. In the different lighting. Wow. Problems. Tore the checks up and wasted time.

But of course, three attempts later, the one I bought was 3 hours away, and by this time I was being very particular about the pictures I asked for. ( I told them to find everything possible thing wrong with it and send me a picture. Dents, dings, scratched up interior, broken parts)

That being said. Evey owner claimed it was the best vehicle and in excellent condition. And I was going to drive there and love it.... Three hours to mobile, three hours to Jackson, 1.5 hours to new Orleans. All to see crappers. One decided not to show me the part of the dashboard that I could literally put my head through...

Just be careful putting down that kind of cash...

[JWA]

I've bought 5 vans found through the internet and after deciding I wanted what was offered made very quick plans to visit them in person---typically less than one week. I'd offer a minuscule non-refundable deposit to show my real interest and most every time the seller accepted my "terms". Of course I think its important to mention much of this communication was via telephone, almost no emails back and forth and NEVER "texting". We can learn a lot about a person simply speaking with and listening to them.

Were I this seller I too would have an issue about a 2 week delay especially during this holiday season. Assuming the seller wants this van gone ASAP a promise to show up that's not accompanied by a cash deposit is ill-advised on his part, holidays be damned. For me that much time between the promise and a planned arrival is just too much where things can and do go wrong. I'd hate to lose a sale based upon a no-cash-in-hand promise.

As a buyer if I were convinced I wanted this van and needed a lengthy delay AND the van was desirable I'd fully expect to be asked for something more than a promise. $5K is a lot of money to spend if there's no chance of a refund should things go wrong but then it goes back to just how desirable is this van and how much do I really, really want it?

Needless to say this is a gamble only the potential buyer can make--I don't know we can offer any advice that'll be useful. Talks of contracts, paying via PayPal etc etc really are meaningless across state lines regardless how much we might want to believe otherwise. If something is distant enough it requires air travel what nightmare process would be involved getting a refund from a private seller that far away from home?

I'd suggest your friend offering $1K up front with the understanding it would be applied to the final price AND would be non-refundable if no sale. Your friend also has to keep in mind the $32K final price if agreed to before arrival could be a sticking point or deal breaker if there's an unknown or undisclosed issue. How does one re-negotiate a deal after settling on a "final price"? The worst case scenario is a lost $1K deposit (ouch) and a return flight empty-handed.

I'm too much a hard-line type when buying or selling---its my way or the high way and that's fine by me, confounds and pisses off quite a few as you'd imagine. OTOH I don't contact any seller if I'm not willing to pay their full price as advertised but that's also assuming I really, really want whatever they're selling at the price. "Kicking the tires....." isn't part of my process so........

Have your friend try taking the emotion out of of getting something new and desirable and more carefully decide how much money he's willing to risk on this potential purchase. Nice SMB's don't come up all that often, almost never where they're just a few hours drive so that has to figure in to the thinking about it time. "Hope" for the best, expect the worst.

[BenJJ]

Huge thanks to everyone who responded. I forwarded the thread along to my buddy and he has changed his plans to fly out this weekend to pick up the van if everything checks out in person and forego any sort of deposit situation.

He was actually amazed at how quickly people responded and the quality of the insight. Might even have convinced him to join the forum once he gets home with the van!