It doesn't pay to look after things.

[Die Judicii]

As the subject/heading says, I've come to the conclusion that it doesn't pay to look after your belongings.
Regardless of whether said items be sporting gear, tools, machinery or motor vehicles.
For the better part of my life I've always strived to buy the very best quality gear that I can, even to the point of many times putting off purchasing
until such a time that I could afford what ever it may be.
And, once purchased,, look after it and keep it in tip top working order.

This conclusion has come about due to making the decision to wind down, and sell a lot of gear, especially equipment & tools that I now never
or rarely use.
Because I have always looked after my gear really well, I now find that is precisely what is working against me.

I find that so many prospective buyers get suspicious because,,,,,, It may be old in years but is in as new condition.

They always presume that there is something wrong with it, or I've fudged figures, or hidden some defect.
Even when you can demonstrate that is in fact pristine, unmolested and original, there are so many that just cannot accept that fact, and walk away
thinking that,,,,,,,,,, "They're so lucky they didn't buy it,, because there must be something wrong with it."

You just can't win cos those types will also turn their noses up at something that's been worked to death.

[Wapiti]

Well they must be either idiots, or trying to BS you mate, because any enthusiast of a particular type of gear, or a real tradie who knows good gear, can see when something's looked after or rarely used.
I reckon it's pretty easy to see a bloke that looked after his gear and appreciate that if you're buying good gear that you are prepared to pay for the privilege to own it.

[Jorlcrin]

As the subject/heading says, I've come to the conclusion that it doesn't pay to look after your belongings.
Regardless of whether said items be sporting gear, tools, machinery or motor vehicles.
For the better part of my life I've always strived to buy the very best quality gear that I can, even to the point of many times putting off purchasing
until such a time that I could afford what ever it may be.
And, once purchased,, look after it and keep it in tip top working order.

This conclusion has come about due to making the decision to wind down, and sell a lot of gear, especially equipment & tools that I now never
or rarely use.
Because I have always looked after my gear really well, I now find that is precisely what is working against me.

I find that so many prospective buyers get suspicious because,,,,,, It may be old in years but is in as new condition.

They always presume that there is something wrong with it, or I've fudged figures, or hidden some defect.
Even when you can demonstrate that is in fact pristine, unmolested and original, there are so many that just cannot accept that fact, and walk away
thinking that,,,,,,,,,, "They're so lucky they didn't buy it,, because there must be something wrong with it."

You just can't win cos those types will also turn their noses up at something that's been worked to death.

We are in the final days of selling the adjoining property to our main homestead block.
In preparing the sale brochure, we did due diligence:-
We detailed how we consider the house to be derelict,
And there is currently no option for power at the homestead,
And the fences are on the tired side(though not an issue with quiet livestock).

On the plus side, the property is VERY easy to manage/muster with minimal people, as it doesnt have many trees on it, and no scrub.
It has a decent cattleyard on it; configured to work around 700 head at a time.
It's located in the tick-free zone, and so no quarantine of cattle when sending to market.
It has a cracker of an artesian bore, drilled in 2007, and able to deliver water to anywhere on the place under pressure(no pump).
About 90% of the piping infrastructure was done in 2013, and the cost of adding the remainder would be well under $30k, and relatively easy to do.
It has practically no invasive weeds, and we've done regular inspections/cleanups for any Prickly Acacia or Parkinsonia that come up.
And we have babied the country the past few years, and especially so since we elected to sell it over 12 months ago.
So, there is over 2ft high grass, with excellent ground cover to retain any rainfall.

Of the 20-odd inspections, well over half of them were fixated on how the house wasnt liveable at present, and how there's no power.
Now, firstly, I'm not sure why they didnt READ that in the brochure before wasting our time with an inspection.
And I know the agent went to great lengths to ensure they knew exactly what was on offer, and what wasnt.

And secondly, MOST of the inspections were by people whom we know are desperate for grass for their starving cattle, and yet seemed to ignore they were standing in 2ft high green Mitchell grass while complaining about the lack of freshly painted mansions and white picket fences..

Yeah; I'm done with Tyre-Kickers, and I dont know how you can draft them off before they waste your time..

The people who have bought the property, have since commented that we were offering far, FAR more than any of the other properties they had looked at in the district, and are pleasantly surprised/impressed/appreciative that we have spent the past few weeks before handover tidying up the homestead complex and clearing crap out of sheds.
It took well over 20 inspections, but I think we finally found a decent buyer.

I just wish I knew a way to easily draft off the half that were a waste of time...

[alexjones]

I don't sell things second hand because dealing with peoples stupidity is annoying.

I sell my old cars to a dealer. Yes I could make more if I sold it privately but sometimes it is better to lose a few thousand dollars than to deal with time wasters.

Time is money. It actually works out cheaper to take 5grand less from a dealer than to spend weeks of my own time selling it.

[Die Judicii]

Jolcrin,,,,, Exactly right Mate.

I'm guessing those people hung up on the no power, and no white picket fence, couldnt see their way clear to make a silk purse out of their sows ear.
Two feet of Mitchell Grass and almost nil invasive's would have been a selling point for me,,, not to mention the water.

[Die Judicii]

alexjones,,,,,,,,

[on_one_wheel]

Iv got a mate who fastidiously takes care of his new motorcycles (he buys a new one every year)
He runs them in, services them thoroughly, kits them out with all the trick bits, keeps them squeaky clean then dumps them at a loss typically below market value for an easy sale. He often remarks that he shouldn't bother even checking the oil and just ride it hard and put it away wet and dirty.

Personally, on selling cars, I'd never trade my old vehicles in at half market value. The half hour spent putting an advertisement up on gumtre and a few minutes spent here and there dealing with f wits from all over the country is well worth the $5000 gain (or more) per hour it equates to, that's a pretty awesome hourly rate if you want to consider your time as having a value.

I have given up on trying to sell things of no great value though, it can be a frustrating process with the no shows, low ballers and idiotic pointless messages from morons who treat gumtree messages like random Facebook comments... you just want to reach out through your phone and strange them

[Die Judicii]

Iv got a mate who fastidiously takes care of his new motorcycles (he buys a new one every year)
He runs them in, services them thoroughly, kits them out with all the trick bits, keeps them squeaky clean then dumps them at a loss typically below market value for an easy sale. He often remarks that he shouldn't bother even checking the oil and just ride it hard and put it away wet and dirty.

Personally, on selling cars, I'd never trade my old vehicles in at half market value. The half hour spent putting an advertisement up on gumtre and a few minutes spent here and there dealing with f wits from all over the country is well worth the $5000 gain (or more) per hour it equates to, that's a pretty awesome hourly rate if you want to consider your time as having a value.

I have given up on trying to sell things of no great value though, it can be a frustrating process with the no shows, low ballers and idiotic pointless messages from morons who treat gumtree messages like random Facebook comments... you just want to reach out through your phone and strange them

Yep, I think they just like posting/messaging for the sake of doing so.

I've lost count of messages/queries that ive had sent to me that Gumtree have obviously decided were scammers,,,,,,,, cos you turn on the computer, and see a new message is there,,, but you can't reply because Gumtree have stepped in,, and the window says "This user is no longer available"

And,,,,,,, the Low Ballers,,,,, always want your bottom $$$ price,,, and then want to cut that in half.

[on_one_wheel]

And,,,,,,, the Low Ballers,,,,, always want your bottom $$$ price,,, and then want to cut that in half.

Even of your asking price is well below market value, they'll still try, they probably hit the freebies section suggesting they'll charge them to take it off their hands.

[Die Judicii]

And,,,,,,, the Low Ballers,,,,, always want your bottom $$$ price,,, and then want to cut that in half.

Even of your asking price is well below market value, they'll still try, they probably hit the freebies section suggesting they'll charge them to take it off their hands.

That's about the "bullseye" of it Mate,,,,,,
Unfortunately I think that whole scenario is yet to become a whole lot worse,,,,,,,, within about 12 months.

[bigpete]

Certainly doesn't pay to look after some people thats for sure. Gratitude and respect have a short half life. As for guns....I buy them to use,make sure they're operational, and expect a loss. And always go through my LGS, he does me very fair deals.