Why do people feel the need to do this

I know I have the car priced high, I've just been dropping the price some every few weeks to see if someone will bite. But I've had several angry people pop in to tell me that I'm asking too much and then immediately leave. If you don't like the price, just... don't buy it?? I've listed literally every flaw on the ad to try to be honest, just let me try to sell my car in peace :(

For the record, I'm hoping to get 8.5 to 9k for this thing eventually, but maybe I should just take away my big long description in the ad and just say PM me for details.

Because people like to feel self-important and they lack any other satisfaction in life.

Have you met people? Have you seen how they act when they can hide behind a keyboard?

Dunno the full details on the vehicle. Your price may or may not be reasonable. I always assume that private party sellers are open to negotiation. Anyone seriously interested will assume the same.

I would prefer a full description of the vehicle condition, warts and all. It means less dancing around later. As a buyer, I know what I'm getting. As a seller, it disarms people trying to talk me down. "Well it's got this problem... Do you think you could come down..." I was very transparent about everything and asked if you had any questions or concerns. Why are you bringing it up now?

I'd either ignore these people or give an unnecessarily kind response. Like, "Thank you for your kind words. I hope you have a good day."

In reply to Beer Baron :

This is the car: https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/cars-sale/1998-boxster-10000-mine/248121/page1/

Anytime someone does this and sends a lowball offer, I just say "Looks like you're the lucky buyer, when do you want to grab it?" and watch them backtrack because they have no money  :)

I will laugh with you and not at you.  In short, people are jerks and most of the ones responding probably have no interest in your car.

Ignore if you can.

Don't torture yourself.  

And you can always ask them how much cash will they bring RIGHT NOW to buy the car.  And when they say X, tell them it is not enough.  Then give their phone number to an extended warranty company.

But KBB values are always correct, no matter what!

I view KBB as a good reference, but for enthusiast vehicles, it's only a starting point. In the same vein, aftermarket mods often lower the price I'd pay for something, unless they're done *very* well. 

In reply to Brett_Murphy (Agent of Chaos) :

I had one guy send me a string of angry emails because he claimed the KBB value was $3500. I told him that if he could find a running, driving Boxster for $3500 I'd love to see it. He did not find one.

Why engage with them? Turn comments off and wait for a serious buyer to message you. Everyone on Facebook knows better than you what your stuff is worth. 

Block and move on. Not worth your effort. 

No one likes someone to tell them their baby is ugly...

If they really need a reply- "so you are not interested, then...." 

"I think it's very important that you do not buy my car."

Easiest to not engage and ignore them. Everyone likes to think they are a master negotiator and are going to convince you to sell the car for half of what it's worth. 

After selling dozens of cars on FB marketplace I can say the people that will actually buy it won't talk price until after seeing the car anyway. If nobody schedules to see it within a week or two your price is likely a bit high. 

EDIT: After reading the ad, I would say probably leave off the justifications and history of lowering the price. Sort of opens the window to immediate discussion about lowering the price further. Having recently sold a 2001 Boxster I would probably expect to sell that car for 7-9k...at least in my area. 

Why I never sell cars I drive them until they are a smoking pile of junk or rust and then give them away or call the junkyard.  I have junked cars just because I did not want to deal with sellers.

Streetwiseguy said:

"I think it's very important that you do not buy my car."

Hahah.  I think I have a deal on my V70R.  A local guy (who owns FIVE MT BMWs including a 530xi Touring MT) gave me a deposit but needs to find room.  I suppose it could still go sideways.

Anyway, here is my ad:  https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/981579709696170/.  Text below (it's formatted better in the real ad)

This thing is a mess only suitable for the true Volvo nerd. Fix it, part it, use it for a MT conversion. Cut the roof off. Whatever. Second owner, I've had it for 8 years or so. I bought an AWD 6MT VW Sportwagen in late '19 and threw a bunch of parts at it. It's fast and doesn't break. You should buy one of them.

Anyway, some crazy stuff happened in early '20 and the Volvo has been mostly sitting since. It does not like that. So, it's a heap. I'll start with the bad stuff so you can move on to a good car:

⦁ Windshield cracked to hell ⦁ Alternator not charging. ⦁ A few degrees of slop in the steering ⦁ A/C clutch worn out (yes, I already did the bread clip thing) ⦁ Suspension computer down because I didn't clean my sunroof drains and water got in on driver side ⦁ Some water was found on front, passenger side just last week. Sweet. ⦁ Rusty bits behind driver's rear door and bottom of passenger door. I'm guessing it had some (exceptional) paintwork but prep was not the best. ⦁ I think a front CV joint is bad ⦁ Random clunking in front end. Drivers side? Hard to tell. ⦁ Hood is dented to hell (but spare included!) ⦁ Driver headlight has moisture in it ⦁ Right side of front bumper is not properly attached. IIRC, the plastic bracket underneath is damaged.

There are actually good points to this car: ⦁ AWD works. Really. I put a 30k mile take-off angle gear and new coupler in it a few years ago after the original went PING! ⦁ Runs strong. Original clutch still good. Shifts well. ⦁ I have a ton of records back to the first owner. ⦁ Timing belt/water pump done at 105k ⦁ Eurosport cat back. I have the turbo back too but the flex pipe has failed so I put the stock converter back on. ⦁ 17" pegs are 99% mint. I took a pic of the worst one. Find the scratch. ⦁ Scraped up Pegs with snows included. ⦁ Un-dented hood of correct color comes with car. ⦁ Interior certainly has patina but no rips in the leather. ⦁ New battery. The damn alternator died (maybe a fuse? no idea) 10 minutes after I started it with the new battery. ⦁ Sweet-ass OEM NAV still works. I put the latest possible rev of the DVD in it too, because I'm an idiot. '12? '13? I don't recall. ⦁ Front bumper has one scrape but is not all torn up like they usually are. I put new OEM front/rear bumper covers on it when I bought it. ⦁ VITA/Dice hardware included but you don't need it because you are one of those crazy Volvo guys and have one already.

Objectively, it sucks but every time I drive it, I think "I should fix this thing". I'm currently administering hammer blows to the head until I come around. I have a bunch of other stuff to maintain and just don't have the time. Anyway, I priced it at 'why not?'. Give me some money and you can have it.

Anyway, there were a couple people where I just said "this is not the right car for you".  "I'm at the Coast Guard Academy and I'll work on it at the base hobby shop!"  Then there was the father/son who drove an hour to see the car the night I put it up.  Kid's a Porsche/Audi tech.  Dad's driving a clean older Cayenne.  Lots of compliments after driving it.  Then "Hmm...we're not sure where we could put it."  Isn't that a conversation you might have had before a 2hr round trip?

I could have sold it for full price easily but I gave the guy the 'buddy price' (not quite the 'direct relative price').  Put the ad up at 5AM, went for a bike ride, and was answering real questions 2hr later.  Got a deposit the following afternoon.

I'd be money ahead (aside from the lawyer for the arson charges) if I had lit it on fire after I bought the VW rather than let it sit and pay insurance/registration for 4 years but I'm dumb like that.

dean1484 said:

Why I never sell cars I drive them until they are a smoking pile of junk or rust and then give them away or call the junkyard.  I have junked cars just because I did not want to deal with sellers.

It's why I love buying cheap cars to begin with. 

Market Average is $5k? Find something for $1k. Drive it a few years. Market average is $4k? Ok, I'll sell it for $2k. 

I'm still well below market average. People falling over themselves to pay what amounts to a profit for me. 

The internet has empowered the douchebags of the universe.  Alas, there are still places on the internet with legit humans, cough cough GRM.

Buddy of 20 years shat all over me when I gave him dibs (as promised years ago) on my '77 Squarebody.  He thought I was completely out to lunch with my buddy price.  I sold it for 65% more than he was willing to go.  He subsequently blocked me on FB.

I'm siding with Agent Smith and his take on Humanity.

Try your best to pay it no mind.

On FB Marketplace it doesn't matter what car or how much I list it for, people will message an offer of half the asking price. If I give a very detailed description of the flaws, people will still ask all of the questions that I preemptively answered.

I ignore or have fun in replying. Eventually a legit buyer comes along. Want to get some real shiny happy people to reply? Post some pictures taken at night with a flash, list the price as $1234 and write "Looking for serious offers." in the ad.

Based on past experience, Boxster buyers are the worst.   Back in 2007, I sold what was probably the lowest-priced clean-titled no-rust, good condition 99 boxster on the internet (or at least on 986forums.com) .   It had 100k on it, and it was a street car all its life.  The 986 paint really sucked as you know, so every panel had normal 100k wear and tear (no accident history that I knew, just chips, swirls, minor scratches, poorly done bumper repaint, etc). 

I detailed that all in huge (for 2007!) pictures, like 100 of them.    I actually had a guy fly in to inspect the car, and decide that "The paint's too rough to be a track car." 

Good luck is what I'm sayin' :)

Happens on the marque forums too.  I've listed a set of two piece brembo rotors on rennlist.  Description has what they are, what they fit, what they measure out width wise, etc.  Guy interested in them has literally asked me every question that I answered in my ad.

Fine since I'm always the bad guy here anyway.....

people are tired of being fleeced on literally everything we purchase now. Those people that are responding may have just hit that ledge of what they can take of what they feel is yet another overpriced fleece job. I see it all the time, hell it's why we bought two new cars rather than our normal lightly used cars because it was cheaper. 
 

you don't know what they're going through. You don't know that maybe they've been trying to grassroots purchase one like this and all they are seeing are what amounts to overpriced trash. 
 

look, I'm the first to say that people suck. Humanity is a chore to be around any more. But if you're getting repetitive comments about being sky f'n high maybe it's not them? I'm could see one or two but to have many? That's not a them problem but a you problem imo. If everyone in the room is an shiny happy person, it may not be them. 
 

let the flaming begin. 

I bet it's because he thinks your price is too high.

In reply to bobzilla :

No flaming needed. You may be wrong for all I know.. but you may be right. 

..Facebook is a crappy hell hole but it does get eyeballs on marketplace items. I wish I fit in these cars because this one seems to have had a lot of work done and seems ready to enjoy. Or possibly suffer from.