(Not) haggling over a price

Not unless the ant is from congo. Or is that what you were hinting.

hint... hint...

Depends where the ant was from :)

lol... from a simple price haggling thread, it ended as usual about racism (?).. QL never fails to amaze me:-0

if i posted a thread about the sexual life of an ant, i'm sure it will also end up into a religion/ nationality slugfest. some posters of QL are just beyond my comprehension.

usapa na...

???

ARE YOU NOT EDUCATED? WHAT IS THE FAMILY BACKGROUND ANY ONE CAN UNDERSTAND FROM YOUR SCRAP.

a logical and fair answer to tallg question..

The thing is that most Indians want to check if a car is within their budget first, and then make a move. Most of the time, they set a fixed amount and never go beyond that. :-(

I want to add the following:

-because of the big number of gypsies in Romania, and because the high criminal rate of those gypsies (not only originate in RO) all around EU, most of EU countries associating the Romanians with gypsies to show that we are the main responsible for most of criminal acts done by immigrants.

Consequently I am kindly ask the moderators not to allow to a member of QL to use the name Gypsy because it is an offence to all Romanians in Qatar and shows the race segregation promoted by this site.

Thanks Xyned for reminding me that.

P.S. I think it will be better for all of us if you just return back to your homeland for not being agressed in such abominable manner. Or at least don't come into threads where you are not welcome..

my reiteration serves me two-folds. Firstly, the points. Secondly, I would like to enrich the tongue of all those involved in candy-floss race segregation. The word 'Curry' is a painful remark in sydney. Its modern day equivalent of 'negro' for Indians.

tallg,

Don't bother, you know that some have always something to say even if they just repeat themselves over and over again!

YES I EXPERIENCEDTHE SAME

I guess that's a weakness of mine lusitano. I just get infuriated by people who shout "racist" as soon as anyone dares mention a person's nationality. It happens way too often on QL for my liking.

Hey madhat

Just when I thought 'MAL-HIND' sickness was over (old-gen-qataris used to generalize the indian-sub-continentals till late nineties)

Its simple. Indian is a generic term used to poch mark indians, pak's, nep's, bang's, sril's, burm's etc

Open your eyes: They are not the stereotyping Curry-munching deodorant-phylic ferals. They are as capable and respectable race as anyone including mine and yours.

tallg,

My point is, it’s clear to all that you were never racist here, why bother repeating that to people that clearly want to tease you?!

lusitano - petty as it may seem, I don't take kindly to people accusing me of racism, and I feel it's my right to defend myself against such accusations. In my home country I'd consider further actions, but I don't think it's worth the hassle here.

uau, nothing of my business. I could just ignore but it’s too obvious to do so.

This threat is the living prove of how life can be so interesting (or not) in Qatar.

tallg, sorry mate, do you really feel the need too repeat several times a day here that you had no racist intentions my mentioning a particular nationality?!

verisimilitude,

Do you have a life besides annoying car sellers in QL?

May I ask you what’s you point here? Expose racism, mess up with tallg or just want kill time?

Has the world really become so sensitive that we can't mention someone's nationality in case it causes offence?

Nothing in my post is derogatory or offensive. I simply stated that I thought they were Indian. I didn't put them down in anyway or slight them.

All the other posters did is say that they'd also had the same experience, but again none of them said anything bad about Indians.

And I didn't say that what they were doing wrong. I just wanted to know why they were doing it and whether it was a cultural thing. How would people be able to answer that if I didn't tell them the callers nationality?

If they weren't Indian (which I made clear could be possible) then so what? Or perhaps that's what has upset you - that I implied that I can't always tell the difference between certain nationalities. Well unfortunately that's just how people made. I can go into the scientific reasons behind that if you like.

you should know better than to directly name the nationality based on your what u thought....made better sense if u had just left that sentence out but by doing so u have then invited others to join in and further join in the criticism of Indians as was evident in the posts after your posting....neither did u then refrain from asking others to avoid doing so.....since it was you who initiated the topic....i bet u still don't grasp my point that maybe it wasn't an Indian who called you....to you maybe we are all alike...no one needs your apology just you and others like you be a bit more discreet and more informed in your opinions.

relax this sort of things happens to us all the time..this is our way to protest and inform the mistaken party....we take it in our stride not sure others do.

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#3:

Did an early experiment in subliminal advertising at a movie theater increase sales of popcorn and soda?

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Thanks for clarifying. Your first comment at the top of this page suggested otherwise.

BTW... I want to make clear that I don't think you are being racist...

Probably the reason they refuse to talk any more is because they are too embarrassed to tell you how much they are actually willing to pay for the car :-)

If a car is advertised for 120,000 and I think a fair price is 100,000... I would not make an offer of 100,000 unless the seller starts off by dropping his ask a bit to say 110,000.... that's entirely personal... I don't want to be blown off completely... this happened to me once, I offered what I thot was a fair price and the seller replied very rudely... and I am sure he ended up selling it not very far from what I had been willing to pay for the car...

But even so, it doesn't hurt from your perspective to somehow extract what their best offer is lest it should turn out to be higher than the best offer you have in hand already or higher than what you end up selling it for

You should evaluate each buyer by the highest offer that he makes for the car and not by the manner in which he ends up making his highest offer...

This is the age of the internet, we are comfortable making online purchases without seeing, touching, feeling what we buy... I can figure out a lot things by talking to the owner of a car which I cannot even by seeing it...

Besides, if the seller says that the car is in pristine condition, I take the word of the seller to decide how much the car is worth... and if I do... then why should I bother to see the car until I decide to take the purchase decision to the next level?...

Any Accord or Camry or S class is more or less the same... all I need to know are the options available if it hasn't been mentioned on the ad...

I've bought three/four cars on QL... on all these occasions, I have bargained and agreed before hand with the seller with the price I am willing to offer... and have him agree on a price... but all this on one condition... that when I DO see the car, it would be in the situation as described by him... i.e. no scratches, noises, service history etc... so seeing the car was only to close the deal, not to re-evaluate the car...

It saves me and the seller a lot of time... Unless tallg changes his outlook, he would probably end up losing prospective buyers who go about buying the way I do...

verisimilitude - I don't have a problem with people asking questions about the car and negotiating before seeing it. That makes perfect sense.

It's purely the people whose first question is "What's your lowest price" and who then refuse to talk any more when I reply with "I'm open to offers" or something similar.

Why don't any Indians call me about my KIA ? :(

madhatfx - please quote which part of my post was 'bashing' Indians, and which part was 'blaming' them for something.

The reason I mentioned that I thought they were Indian was because I wanted to know if this way of negotiating was a cultural thing. It would be quite hard for people to answer that question without knowing which country the callers were from, wouldn't it?

Bloody Indians allover, what the hell, chase all of them away and lets bring in ethnic balance. ;)

______________________________________________

- Listen to Many...Speak to a Few -

how some frustrating guys try to reach attention by considering everything related to racism, terrorism etc. The mass-media has done a good job, mostly for the closed-minded people..

But is a nice experience to argue with those, even if you don't give a sh1t of what they are thinking.....

Please, FiX your HAT and dont't be MAD...

tallg is so full of himself....he cant even admit he is wrong....dude ur the one who made the assumption that they were indian(its easy to figure out what u implied even if u deny it)

.....dude u should have atleast called them back made sure where they were from and then u wouldnt have had a doubt as to their origin...but now you as with everyone have blamed everything on the indians.....for ur info there are Indians , Pakistanis , sri lankans, Bangladeshis and it could have been any of these people calling you but u had to go figure they were indians.

Stop the Indian bashing.

nice to see that the conversation is back on track to 'sales'

:D

planning to resell it to Laurana :-))

Sorry tallg, you know I was never interested in the car to begin with...

make me an offer

So what's you last price?

I fully expect to sell the car below the advertised price. That's how car selling works, in my opinion.

Apologies if you did not get our earlier humour verisimilitude. Perhaps it got lost in our cultural differences. Or am I being racist by saying that ;)

All I am saying is that the seller having to sell something below his or her expected price because there aren't other takers is not the buyer's fault...

Based on my experience, I don't think there are too many Indian Agents though... I just think there are lot of Indians who are on the look out for second hand cars...

a new car, no need for another one.... (can be a nice idea to buy it cheap and re-sell... have to think about this....)

Come on guys, I think Tallg just asked a rethorical question. There is no answer for this. It is just the way some people are ore are not used to deal..

Is like asking why someone is smiling when you say hello and others are turnig their head for not being obliged to answer...

It is how a clerk can answer your request in a nice way or in a pissed-off way.... People and people....Human kind is so diverse... (nothing to do with religion or nationalities.... :)

See you tomorrow, have a meeting,

By!!

verisimulitude - the last few comments have been tongue-in-cheek. laurana was joking about people taking advantage of me, I was joking about considering her offer.

No one is under any compulsion to sell off a car to any one else...

The seller sells to whoever is the highest bidder...

So in the example you've just taken Laurana, the bunch of presumed Indians is actually doing the wealthy Brit a big favor by offering him whatever price that they offer when he is in a hurry to sell... what other option does the Brit have... except taking it to some dealer who would probably pay even less

Its not the presumed Indians fault that the Brit is stuck with a car that is effectively dead stock cos he is not able to find takers on short notice... Its not the presumed Indians fault that the Brit found himself in a situation where he needs to sell the car in a hurry... probably if the wealthy Brit were more prudent, he would have just rented a car or bought a japanese car that was easier to sell in the first place...

your offer Laurana is spot on... goes to illustrate that in any culture, bargaining is just hard to resist :-)) LOL

read also the next post... I consider that all this story has nothing to do with nationalities. Probably the number of Indian agents working for used car sellers is higher than of other nationalities, like on any other activity around Doha. No offence, I've just shown how it looks this topic after some of nicaq25, comp and your comments...

tallg... I thot you had an offer which was 70% of your asking price... which if I do my math correctly is way above what Laurana has offered... so why are you considering it even... or are you being polite?

percentage of good/bad people is relative constant on each nationality and that major population in Qatar is Indian or Pakistani it should not be taken as an offence a situation like this.

I am amused by how someone can hijack a post related to (not)haggling into a dispute regarding nationalities and races....

just for fun....

I'm not sure if you're mocking me or siding with me laurana! Either way, I enjoyed reading your comment.

To clarify, I don't think they're trying to take advantage of me, I just think there's a difference in the way negotiating works between my culture and theirs.

As you were good enough to make me an offer instead of asking what my lowest price is, I will give it careful consideration and get back to you soon.

You are a white British racist guy who was surprised why a bunch of presumed Indians (could be worse, could be Ozzies) are trying to take advantage of an wealthy UK who had to sell a car very very soon for being able to return home with his fortune. Anyone who can cheat an westerner is for sure a prudent financial Asian, any westerner who is asking for a certain price want to exploit the poor people as they used to do in the last 500 years.

Be extremely carefully, because the major part of the population will come to you for asking to live the same life they are living (this is the way terrorist are created).

Any how, I said I will conclude this story: I will buy your car for helping you to avoid any other problems. 20000QAR I think is a fair price considering the risks I assume. let me know from where and when I can take the car

I wouldn't go as far out to say that its racist... I call it subliminal stereotyping :-)

Yeah... true... most Asians don't part with their money easily...

But that's financial prudence

Its any day better than overspending, gathering huge debts on credit cards and going bankrupt...

Although ideally everything is best when taken in moderation....

You've completely lost me.

There are 3 types of people

#1 they tolerate

#2 they show intolerance or alienate

#3 they make peace and walk hand-in-hand

guess who's the worst???

I vote #1. This type causes grief for both himself and discomfort to person he/she is dealing with.

I was hired by asian HR. I have nothing but all good experiences to talk about.

********Canterbury bulldogs. Doggies Rulz*************

If my post had said that all Indian people negotiate in this way, then yes, I'd have been stereotyping. But my post doesn't say that, does it?

You are jumping to conclusions and stereotyping people too much.

Either way. Just to lighten the mood

A scene from russel peters (ugliest stand-up idiot ever)

A partnership b/w chinese and an indian is highly unlikely. chinese cant part with a cent (let alone a dolla..lol). Indians can't stop bargaining.

Its just FAR-OUT stereotyping.

Perhaps I'm missing something here. Can you please explain why using the word "Indian" to describe a person is insulting?

If the people who phoned me had all had Australian sounding accents I would have said "the 3 people all sounds Australian to my untrained ear". Is that insulting/racist also?

"INDIAN": Some racial tone you got there. Why not go all the way and call them ferals.

Its not so cultural. Specially when I get south-americans and mid-eastern people haggling over my latest sale (even without inspecting my ware)

I hate hagglers. Tell them Qrs 1 for pepsi.

As long as you haven't stretched the price to beyond insanity. Like everyone is doing these days. Cars, the likes of kias and subarus are donning huge pricetags.

What happened to all those toyota/nissan worshippers.

Ouch! That does sound like a bad experience. And yes, I'd say that this time you're right about a statement being racist.

Reminds me of being 'gazumped' in the UK when buying a house - you can have agreed a price with the seller, sorted out your mortgage, paid a solicitor to do all the necessary work, but right up until the moment you exchange contracts the seller can still accept a higher bid from someone else.

As for your previous comment about how you went about purchasing cars, I think it kind of just reinforces to me that this is a cultural difference. Where I come from, if you see something second-hand for sale there's an automatic assumption that there's room for negotiation. Emailing with an offer, as you did in some cases, would make sense to me, whereas just asking for the last price doesn't.

I'm sure there's a book out there entitled something like "Negotiating habits around the world". Perhaps I should find a copy.

Britexpat, Whats your point?? you have been taking advantage recently of sending a lot more pounds than earlier and splurging on cheap LCD TVs. Crisis rubs both ways. The price of your car is not what you think it should be or you proudly advertise and when you dont get the buyers, you blog and crib about it. Its the price that the market "thinks" is fair and the price that it will be finally sold.

And when you put your first sticker price which the market believes is high, a prospective buyer will certainly check if you are really into the sellers market or "doing a check on the current value of your product."

Its also possible that a non-serious buyer may check if bargain basement price is on offer or not.

Quiet lurker. Poor Contributer

was a very bad experience

I saw this post for what seemed like a good car and I send an email with my best offer

the poster replied to me after a couple of days and asked for a slightly higher price but I thot it was fair

I said over the phone,"I am willing to accept that price, but I need to see the car first".

I went to see the car and when I told him that I would like to buy the car...

THEN he tells me that someone else has offered to pay the price over the phone!!!

He wanted me to see the car so that he could keep my offer as a backup offer...

This man was wasting my time, if he had another man accepting the price, then he shouldn't have asked me to come see the car

As I tried rationalizing with him saying that I have brought the advance and that I am willing to close the deal then and there and pay ready cash... things got worse...

He tells me that he did not want to give me his car bcos its a luxury car and it should be driven by a certain kind of people and I did not match the profile.

The conversation was very cordial and continued to be cordial even after but if this last statement was not racist, I don't know what is...

This guy was Italian... there are bad apples every where...

tallg... your exception is not just about people asking for the last price up front, its also about them not seeing the car before they start negotiating...

Well that's simple really... they are gauging your willingness to negotiate... And if they see that you can drop your price more, only then do they want to see your car...

Why waste your time and theirs coming to see your car if they know that you are not going to drop your price to a level that they expect...

I've bought three cars from QL

Each time, the first thing that I do is either send an offer by email to the person who posts the ad with my best offer. Or else I call up the guy and I get a feeler as to how much the person is willing to reduce the price, i.e. I ask for the last price...

I do not go to see the car unless I feel the seller would be willing to come down to what I am willing to offer for the car...

And on all the three occasions, I was in no hurry to buy a car... So I did this with quite a few sellers before I closed the deal... And till date I've found out enough about the car and negotiated the price before hand so that whenever I have seen a car, I have ended up buying it... except one, that got away...

#2 :Did an early experiment in subliminal advertising at a movie theater increase sales of popcorn and soda?

Quite how this turned into a discussion about whether I've overpriced my vehicle, and whether it's even a good vehicle or not, is beyond me!

Anyway, I think it's clear from the responses I've got that this is indeed a cultural thing. I thank you all for helping me reach this conclusion. If that makes me racist in your eyes, or if you think I'm racist or generalising because I passed on to you the fact that the people who'd asked me this question sounded Indian to me, then so be it. I can live with that.

And for those who seem to care a lot about whether it's priced correctly or not, I promise I'll post here with the final selling price.

I think the author is making a big deal out of nothing, really, why waisting my time and your time if the price is much over than the market price, so yes i need to know before i come and see the car if you willing to be reasonable on the price instead of waisting both of our time, then if we agree on the price then the car must be taking for inspection, that's the way it works

http://www.watchislam.com/videos/video.php?vid=3

Sorry, but I am still with tallg on this and feel that its not really cultural , but people trying to take advantage.

Your link to "edmunds" was excellent, but the actions it lists are after seeing the car.

"If a person comes to look at the car and it passes their approval after a test-drive, you can expect them to make an offer. Most people are uncomfortable negotiating, so their opening offer might take several forms...."

At the risk of generalizing like the subject post, I generally believe Indians shun American/Korean cars like Plague.So even if they sounded Indian, they may not be.

I have said earlier, the current price demanded is hope over reason.

Here is what your buddy thinks of American Cars:

http://www.topgear.com/uk/jeremy-clarkson/clarkson-euro-2002-01-02

I hope you would be honest enough and will post your final sold price.

Quiet lurker. Poor Contributer

verisimilitude - your last comment is more the response I was looking for when I posted this thread; i.e. someone posting useful information to help me understand something I had never encountered before.

The car has been advertised for just over a week. I assure you this thread had nothing to do with my frustration at not selling it. I have 3 months left to sell it, I have a dealer willing to take it so, and money is not an issue as the car has already been paid for through company car allowance over the past 18 months. So I'm far from frustrated.

It was simply a question asking for an explanation of something I didn't understand and had not encountered before. I included the fact that it was Indian people doing this as it pertained to my query of whether it was a cultural thing.

I struggle to see how anything I said can be considered racist, and I thought you at least verisimilitude would be intelligent enough to see that.

For those of you who aren't familiar... Edmunds.com is one of the best sources of information when it comes to cars...

They have a case study on them done by Harvard Business School and they are the recipient of many Webby awards

Their comparator tool is so impressive that even Toyota has a direct link to their website... its an awesome website

Anyway, I present to you their tips when it comes to negotiating prices for a car... they've given four approaches... the second one being... "What's your best price"

which is not very different from what's your lowest price... i.e. the question that tallg seems to be taking exception to...

http://www.edmunds.com/advice/selling/articles/93820/page007.html

I didn't want to say it... but yeah I agree with you in some ways...

It does seem like the author is trying to single out a certain nationality and vent his frustration for not being able to get a good price for his car...

I wouldn't call it racial, but its a kind of stereotyping/profiling

If the ads been on for so long and has a featured article associated to it and STILL hasn't been sold... why blame the callers?... the car is over priced...

The callers asking the last price is a polite way of saying that the price that the seller has asked for is too high...

comp - to date 4 people have done what I described in the original post, and all 4 sounded Indian to me (though it's possible some were from elsewhere on the sub-continent, as I alluded to in my original post).

At no point have I 'pounded' on a certain nationality or made a generalisation about a certain nationality. I merely stated the facts and asked if this was a cultural thing.

If you find this racist then I think that's more of a reflection on yourself than on me.

I wonder why this post promoted as a featured post.

The author is trying to pound on a certain nationality by his own guess.

This leads to have a general opinion about all the people in that nationality.

Price Bargaining could be seen any where in the world.

You could find many reasons why some peoples ask for their lowest price without even seeing the item.

I believe this site should not promote such racial comments

I guess ur right. I had the same problems selling my 2 cars. Its a typical Indian culture, where they make as if your car is not worth anything and then offer you 50% of price. I had about 30-40 calls of the same nature. Real pain in ......

If they haggled so badly that made you post it on Qatarliving, then they must be Keralites. Keralites are notorious for this, not all Indians.

Yep, they're free to do how they please. I'm just interested to know why they do it that way, cos I don't consider it bargaining. That's the point of the thread.

Yes, there are several similar vehicles for sale around the same price, some better than mine, some worse. This also reinforces my believe that it is priced competitively.

People are free to bargain which ever way they like... And frankly I do think the car is over priced, considering the time of the year and the general state of the economy. But hold on to it long enough and may be someone might just come by...

the mod deleted my insightful comment on the EXTRA SUPER DUPER WHOPPER SPORT, but tallg did you see the other Extreme Sport? Stiff competition for you...

And of course, if someone thinks the car is overpriced, they can make me a lower offer. That's called negotiating (or haggling!).

Coming straight out and saying 'what's your lowest price' is not negotiation. But perhaps that's how some people do it. That was the point of this post - to try and understand why some people do that. Whether I'm 40% or 5% over the market value of the car is neither here or there!

I'm not offended, and I appreciate your direct approach.

My price is 30% over what a DEALER has offered me (actually nearer 25%, but whatever), but it's only 5-10% over the current market value.

So hence my query of where your figure of 40% overpriced came from - if a dealer is offering over 70% of the value, having taken into account the profit he'll want to make, then there's no way it can be 40% overpriced.

I do agree that now is a bad time to sell, but sometimes we don't have get to choose when we need t sell things!

Thanks for giving it away, that kind of reinforces my point. You know that your first demand is already 30% over of what has been offered to you. I would not doubt that a dealer might have offered you 70% of your first demand but try a second dealer and you would be surprised. The Second hand market has come to a grinding halt, if its news.

I am surprized that you have not grabbed the 70% offer with both hands, its gonna get worse as the summer approaches and people put more cars on the market. Six weeks is a long time in this situation.

PS: I am not looking for a car, just writing in good faith. I know all sellers get offended, specially when they maintain their cars well and think of its value highly.

Quiet lurker. Poor Contributer

lamb - where are you getting your figures from to say that I've overpriced by 40%?

A car dealership has already offered me over 70% of the price I'm advertising it at, and the price he said he'd sell it on for is over 85% of my current asking price.

I've had to people PM me (presumably dealers or people looking to make a quick buck) saying the market value for my car is between 40 and 43000 QR (and then asking if I'd sell it for much, much less than that!).

I also know two people who've sold the same or similar vehicles for around the same price as mine in the last 6 weeks.

The Current Second hand car market is down the drain. Everyone is in the business of preserving cash. The expectations of current buyer is bargain basement prices. Surprize!! the owner wants to sell and Urgent!! but his prices neither reflect the market nor the current recession. Result- what you face, Cheapest Price Phalessssse !!. You are 40 % over the current value of your car and that too a brand which hardly inspires confidence in Qatar. Lots of my friends complain of no enquiries at all. I can't be direct with them. On the net I can be!!

What else you would expect?? Sorry for being direct. The buyers knows that the price (first demand) is way over the top so he would like to know if you are real about selling or teasing the market.

Quiet lurker. Poor Contributer

you know in my opinion it's a time saver (if the buyer doesn't like the price he/she wont bother you by seeing the car), to be honest most people don't like to be reasonable when they sell things,so it's better to sell by the book, (first year 20%. then 15% for each year, and in case of shape change cut off other 10%) it's like your renting a car with cheep rate, if your not doing this expect anything from the buyer,

http://www.watchislam.com/videos/video.php?vid=3

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thats the way things go here ... what i do ,if someone call and ask about the price first thing,is i would tell them to come and take a look at the car .. and if they still interested we negotiate the price ... so dont worry my friend ;)

and hey btw a lot of people will call you and sometimes take a look at the car and tell you that they are going to think about it and call you back .. dont keep your hopes on these people ;)

good luck

Regards,

Somo El Fuego

why is this a 'feature' on the main forum :-/

and in English is the 'only' language to be used on the main forum then it probably should be put up as a rule on the community guidelines...

[mod note: Thanks that is a good point. We will add it as a rule soon.]

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Did an early experiment in subliminal advertising at a movie theater increase sales of popcorn and soda?

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curious... why do you have the IBM logo on your comments?

I cannot track your post:(. Anyway, you can PM me at least?

I don't know really what to say, but for sure there is nothing wrong with what you are doing. You posted the price right?

This guy saw already the price, he knows that he can afford that or would ask for a 2000 Q.R or 3000 Q.R or more discount based on the car condition when he check it out.

Asking like that before even seeing the car would give you an idea about how serious these guys are.

Gypsy ... I would've asked that guy to sell me his car for 10,000 Q.R and if he would not agree I would pay him 1000 Q.R to stay away from me ... That was indeed a very nice way to haggle, he did not even say 30,000 and try to go up until he reaches 34,000 or 35,000 ... No he lay all his cards down and was so honest with you ... I'm sorry girl, but I can't pay anything but 10,000 Q.R ...

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment. (Gautama Buddha)

hi nicaq - I don't want to get moderated for advertising in the main forum, but if you look at my track tab and should be able to find the advert.

are you really selling your car? And what type of car is that?

They like the bling bling and stuffed toys :-))

I wonder if a Filipina drives a Hummer...

would she still have the stuffed toys on the back..

okay... sorry for hijacking the thread

tallg, I meant your mileage is low considering how old your car is, its been sparingly used

You've been on QL so long that you aren't going around enuff :-p

I still don't see whats wrong with what's your lowest offer question... its a fair bargaining strategy... just keep your buffer with you... that's all..

have a buyer who told me that he will buy my car even without seeing it (less 5k of the selling price) because i am a filipino and he knows how we took care of our cars and blah blah blah.

it seems that we are known here for our car vanity.

Lancer 2005 Brand new ! - No it's not.

One lady owner - Have you seen them drive here !

Never raced - Yes it has

No accident damage - That you can see

Never been off road - Like that can be avoided

Owned by expat - But still driven like Jensen Button

Photos available - From speed cameras

tallg,

As we all know, logic and common sense generally applied in the west, is not the same one applied here.

What you are experiencing is what everyone has and will when advertising for a sale.

These calls are either triggered by cultural instincts, boredom (very well spread here in Qatar) or both, definitely not by an interest to purchase what is announced.

As an advice, don't waste too much time on those who would like to chat with you about your bargaining skills/limits.

Good Luck!

with you tallg,i sold my japanesse car to have a jeep cheeroke, i bought it from my european officemate.

Jeep is popular among expats for some reason. I see loads come and go through the QL classifieds.

Dunno why, they just are.

shoeaddict - you say haggling is cultural, but I don't class saying "what's your lowest price" as haggling!

veri - is that mileage considered low? I thought it was above average, for Doha at least.

You can't teach experience...

nope "tallg" i was not sayin that the price you asked for your car was high...was just talkin in general...as we all can see on QL classifieds for cars...but the people who put reasonable price for their car on QL classified they hardly have to post it again bcoz the find the buyers to whom the price is reasonable and they simply buy it,they don't actually waste time...and anyways there is difference between people who need the car and buy it right away and there are people for whom buying and selling is a business so they bargain and waste your time..

And by the way, selling an american car in Doha is not easy.

I have sold a couple of cars without QL and there hasnt been any problems , bought a few without any either.

The problem on QL is that there are lots and lots of second hand car dealers that pose as genuine sellers and put up quite high prices.

4 cars thru QL classified (im using another nick cause it needs contact details)i get used to these kind of calls, what's your last price even if they didnt see the car yet. so i will just tell the caller im busy right now, can you please call back after a few minutes if youre interested.

only few who will call back and ask me how can they see the car, so no more price negotiation over the phone.

I see the quandary...

the mileage is low but the car is 5 years old...

plus its an American car...

when someone asks you for what the last price up front... don't give your lowest price... If the person doesn't accept your lowest price, then ask what is that persons best offer

then if you desire, you can lower your lowest price and then the iteration continues until either one gives up or accepts the offer... Negotiations 101

Negotiation is an integral part of my career and the buyer or the seller never gives out their best ask or offer initially, there's always a buffer...

In very tight situations, the deal doesn't close until one finally convinces the other that they want to back out completely i.e. they've reached the absolute limit... that's when finally the deal is either made or broken....

What's your last price

If you give discount I'll take it

One day I advertised my PDA for 1100 someone sent me message what's your last price mine is 650!

A real pain when you put your mobile no in the web

one time I just provide my email address but to my surprise I received a PM from a moderator saying if I don't put a valid contact no. my ad will be deleted.

But since you have plenty of time just hang on you will receive a good offer

another way to just advertise it in qatarsale for 100 riyals it worked with me before with a nice price

good luck

It's not cultural. You can get time wasters in any country that you might try to sell your car. A friend of mine in London got so fed up of bogus callers that he wrote in his car ad 'no time wasters, dreamers or tyre kickers'.

everybody haggles for the lowest price.try going to our shop where our lovely customers shout and scream whenever we say the prices of dresses we intend on making for them.dnt forget that they threaten too.call the shurtah if the dress doesnt fit right,or not give a single riyal if the dress is ugly.whatever,in the end they pay!

That what people do...

You can't teach experience...

I still can't believe that its cultural.

How can you value a car without actually seeing it ?

My Pink KIA has slicks, air scoop (fake), brembo brakes, Air Brake and pront spoiler. I advertis it as a KIA though.

Yeah, spoke to dealer who said he'll take it. That will be our last resort. No need to start panicking yet though, plenty of time left.

maybe best just to take it to the dealer so no worries...

You can't teach experience...

That's what I say Vegas; they usually refuse and hang up. As for the best time to sell, some of us don't have the luxury of choosing when.

rebel - Not sure what your point is. Are you saying I set to high a price on my car?

Verisimilitude - clearly it must be a cultural thing. However, if I just came out a revealed my lowest price to whoever asked it, I might as well just put that price on the advert in the first place. Is that what these people do in their home countries? There would seem little point putting anything else, as everyone would just ask for lowest price anyway.

You can't teach experience...

"tallg"....offer is made on a reasonable price.not on a high price like this...even i would like to call and make fun of the guy who is selling his 2005 honda civic for 35000 which has done almost 150000 when there is another guy selling a 2007 model for 41000 which has done almost 50000 kilometers...ofcourse if i am not mad i will prefer the new model even if em paying few thousands extra...means why to pay 35 for a 2005 model and why not to pay 41 for a 2007...these kind of stupid things happen on QL classifieds...i dunno what people think before they post this kind of adds

there is anything wrong with wanting a bargain. To go and ask for the cheapest price is cheeky.

_________________________________________________

Man makes plans...............God smiles ;-)

Might as well ask your lowesst to see if your interested.

You can't teach experience...

deleted

I guess its a cultural thing but I don't see anything wrong in inquiring about the lowest asking price

I thought that was acceptable in any culture... until I came across this thread...

You can't teach experience...

Or post your ad bottom line no negotiation...

I'm on my 4th car here so I know how it goes...

Just say I won't go lower than ????

If not sell it to the dealer

You can't teach experience...

Thanks for the advice. Hopefully we've got enough time left to find a buyer, and if not there is a dealer who said he'd take it (for a lower price obviously).

I'm also hoping we sell it before the pound get's any stronger!

worst thing you can do is leave it until the last minute. We had our cars on the market well before we were due to leave and went through the usual low offers but sold one to a genuine guy (Canadian) looking for a car for his wife. I eventully sold mine back to Honda, who had maintained it and knew the true value. I know they made a profit when they re-sold but so what. I was happy with the price.

Beware of those agreeing to buy the car, bailing out at the last minute and then trying to hold you to ransom. That has happened on more than a few occasions.

hmm. Qatar Muskhil...

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Reality is a Illusion Caused Due to Deficiency of Alcohol

I'm happy to negotiate. But saying "What's your lowest price" isn't negotiation or bargaining. That's the whole point of this thread.

Adding a "not negotiable" clause in your ad would have avoided such a negotiation.

Unless this clause, the local custom, especially for "used stuffs", is to bargain for a good offer. As most of the used cars are put for sale from expats leaving Qatar, any savvy person (not only Indians but most of the nationalities) will do the same (bargain) due to the simple Economics of an inelastic supply (fixed).

Buying and selling are very much influnced by cultural upbringing. I don't mean this in any offensive way, but this is the reality. Therefore, you should not feel offended when this happend. It is certainly a bit annoying when you are from different culture, but this is the reality in a multi-cultural society.

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Success is a journey .... not a destination

I totally agree with tallg, whoever uses that opening line just wants to check if they can get away with a bargain if not to resell before they check the car out..

Come out of the closet - You indian you!

We know your real name is Tallipuram Golaram.

Rofling Indians are very good at bargaining when it comes to buying, they will bargain on anything you put a price on. You could sell something for 1 riyal and they'd still ask u for .50 dhs. Its an advantage when people think you come from a poor country and we have POOR written on our faces, they have also perfected the art of not using deo so you'd think we cant even afford deo spray! IN turn you rich people will feel sorry for us and give us whatever u have at the prices WE WANT. I'm proud to be part of India woohoo!

Tallg would you be interested in becoming Indian :p

Good Fortune always comes knocking at your door...when you are sh*tting in the toilet!! :)

_[]~SMoKE~[]_

niceguy is my personal stalker. I feel honoured to have one. I have a nice collection of all the insults he's thrown my way. I've still never had a response from him regarding what I did to upset him, and why he thinks I'm Indian.

Considering all his other comments consist of either 'hmmm' or 'hmmmm' (I'm haven't worked out yet how the number of 'm's affects the meaning), I must have really done something bad to get him to talk so much.

lol brit...

usapa na...

niceguy - What do you have against Indians, and why do you think I'm one?

Dang, and the mod is also Indian.

[my note for mod- please re-read my post. It is a commentary on Indian posts]

I sold my Suzuki in KSA. Advert said SR35,000 or near offer.

The first guy to phone said "What's your best price?"

I said SR40,000

"Ok", he said, "I'll come and look at it"!!!

He eventually 'beat me down' to SR35,000 thinking he's done well.

Honest, you can't make this stuff up!

Well Oryx, I did consider just dumping it the desert before we leave, but the cash would be quite nice!

this is why i haven't upgraded my car AKA the garden shed on wheels

I just cant be bothered with the stress of selling it.

Do not waste your time with them. Used card dealers always have their trciks to make you sell you car for half of the price at the best.

I knew tallg was Indian , but GAY also ?

Does his wife know ?

Geese, not again. These posts are so Indian and gay and shouldn't be allowed on the front page. how about we have an Indian corner for Indian stuff like this.

In case, someone did not look..... cars are sold in the classified section.....

[mod note - please re-read the post. It is NOT a car for sale but a commentary on peoples stupidity]

I'm looking 4 a car, but looking for a good deal. So, I would ask about the "lowest price" to be able to compare it to other equivalent cars offers

Usually most sellers here would raise the price "a bit" above the actual number they have in mind, to allow for bargaining.

You are right...it will be more profitable to sell to a regular customer...as long as their opening line isn't "what's your lowest price"...LOL :D Resellers are useful though when you want a quick disposal or can't find regular customers with a good offer. Also, you needn't say 'yes' unless you are happy with the offer.

Slip - if he buys and sells cars then he's going offer me significantly less than the market value, otherwise he's not going to make a profit, is he?

rebel - but they're not bargaining. They don't even make an offer!

well no one can be blamed ..there are people like this who tell you that they will pay 10 fo a car or anything that is worth 40.but other issue is as i have seen on QL classifieds is that the sellers keep their prices way to high..they don't acutally know how much is the market value for their car or product so they simply assume that as they purchased it for 50 and will sell it off at 40..ofcourse then these kind of people will contact with the lowest offers and will waste ur time simply.. people should atleat confirm the market value before they post anything forsale.then i don't think buyers will keep bargaining for hours...

same thing happend to me and my friend .The say what is last price and dont want to see car.

Say them ok come and see the car we can negotiate when you will arrive here before preparing the docements ready get some token money to know who is seriouse buyer.

decide method of payment . Dont deliver and transfer untill you have money .

These guys are shrewd and have a fairly good idea of what an expat owned vehicle of certain make and model would fetch on the open market.

Whatever they are, an opening line of "What's your lowest price" is just silly, in my opinion.

As for them being resellers...it doesnt make sense. Most resellers would inspect the car thoroughly to make sure the car is saleable for a good profit...and then offer you a dirt cheap price :D

So he should have said "I only have this much money". The onus is on the buyer to make the offer.

Plus the advert carries a price. My lowest price isn't going to be much below that, is it?

tallg...maybe they were trying to decide whether it was worth the trip to come and see your car. If your lowest price exceeded their budget then it would be a waste of time for them to come, wouldn't it?

The last time i sold my car it was a living hell, the guy bought the car transfered it to his name and drove off peacefull but i was the one running after the money till a month later. More than once i got pissed off on the guy who bought the car as he made payment through some third party second hand car dealer, in the mean time i was paying money through my pocket for renting a car...needless to say the little profit i made outta it went into renting the car. Oh well lesson learnt now i dont sell anything without complete cash in hand..take it or leave it.

Good Fortune always comes knocking at your door...when you are sh*tting in the toilet!! :)

_[]~SMoKE~[]_

Selling a car here is an absolute nightmare, Its soo much easier in England, They turn up look at the car if they like it they give you the money and drive off in it...sorted!!

Keep Smiling :-) you never know who is looking

My friend who is soon to leave qatar had to sell her care in a hurry.

She got an offer from a guy for QR 30K and when she got all the papers ready and told him to write a check, he said he didn't have a bank account and he was planning to start one after he bought the car.

Needless to say, selling and buying cars is very troublesome here.

Good luck with your selling,

AP

I just tell them that they can come and see it and then make me an offer, or make me an offer over the phone if they really want to. They usually hang up then.

they are definitely thinking of reselling it. if they are interested to own it, they would have see first the car and its condition.

usapa na...

Gypsy QR10K for a QR40K car now that is what I call taken the piss..

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HE WHO DARES WINS

I ain't any Aurther Daily, but selling second car's here to certain nationality is pain staking.

My answer to them is come and have look at the car only then we can talk about the price, over the phone just stick to your Price and if there is a genuine buyer he surely will come.

Just out of interest Tallg what car is it? Now Brits has put some ideas in me head.. quick profit..lol

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HE WHO DARES WINS

I found the same thing when I was selling my car here. At one point I put an asking price of 40,000 QR and a guy called and said he'd pay me 10,000 QR in cash. I said no.

I've noticed the same thing here. Quite surprising, since they haven't seen the item.

Perhaps :

They are only interested in "reselling" the vehicle for a quick profit and so want to know the lowest price.

or

They have a specific budget and are trying to get you within it.

I had one guy call me and said.. "You are selling your car. I will give you X amount. Is that acceptable ?" :)