OMG seriously who are these people on Craigslist??

[lamajama]

i've sold at least 15 ski's, i've had ONE water test... (a wave venture and he thought it was scary fast, and then he asked me to deliver it to his house since it turns out he doesn't have a hitch. i've had Zero Compression tests.... yes... Zero.

but regarding water tests, i've been asked many times if I'm willing and I always say yes.... but here are my condition's and they are simple, come to my house, look at the ski, finalize the price and show me the cash. If you can meet those conditions then i'll tow it to my local ramp for a test ride, but oddly enough most people just want you to say yes, but don't really want to bother. Its weird. I still haven't figured out why nobody wants to do a comp test... but who am I to question... lol

Very interesting. My buddy and I (who is a 2 stroke marvel) have been pretty successful in picking up 2 strokes with issues (too expensive
to repair at a stealership), repairing, riding for a bit them selling them. It pays for the summer gas bills and our own repairs etc. In other words a profitable hobby (unlike my wife's golf.....). Of all the machines - and it has been over even your 15 I can't remember the last compression check and we've only had 2 or 3 test ride. Those ones did go to the free launch and test. The idiot I described above was
the only one so far that was a complete tool. We've had others but we weed them out during the phone stage pretty quick. I'm sure some were legit but I bet 90% were just wasting our time.

 

[Brian J]

I love this thread, glad to see it's still alive.

...Are we wrong here?

No I would have done the same thing. It's a good thing you did get rid of this guy because it sounds like he would have been a pain in neck for beginning to end and even after that. Low-ball offer, Wanting money off for every little thing, delivery, calling you a week after for a refund etc....

I too have sold a lot of boats and skis and only once have I had a buyer do a water test. On time on a $15k boat the guy didn't even take the cover the off! "No it looks good just like you've described, let's just hook it up" Speaking of which, most people do not count the money when I buy either. I must have an honest face.

 

[lamajama]

A followup to the original story - we decided to decline the twit's offer and returned his deposit, and spoke to a new
buyer the next night - who liked the machine and we accepted a "cash tonight and take it away" offer pending a demo
ride. He ran to home to get the cash and we met him at the free launch no issues and after we warmed it up with a quick ride,allowed this guy to test ride it - who then proceeded to rat bag it and do some 360's etc. I was SO p***ed off and was waving at the guy to return to shore. Hey asshole - buy the machine and do what you want to it then.

So he decides to take the machine (damn well better)...we go to connect up the trailer to his truck and he's got a 2 5/16 ball not the
2 inch ball. OK he promises to bring back MY hitch the following morning....and now his receiver lock is full of grit and will not unlock...
He's in the reno business and has a battery operated grinder so we have to grind off the lock....that done, I ask where is your plate? He
"doesn't have it with him"....so he keeps our plate and will return it with my hitch. Where are your straps? "I don't have any"... Fine
keep mine.... Then he says - "do you have a life jacket you can give me...?" NO.....then says "I don't have all the money I'm $300
short"....so we have to find an ATM to get the last $300.... ARRGH.

And the really sad thing here is that we know he's going to ratbag that machine and blow it up. :facepalm:

 

[ocod]

A followup to the original story - we decided to decline the twit's offer and returned his deposit, and spoke to a new
buyer the next night - who liked the machine and we accepted a "cash tonight and take it away" offer pending a demo
ride. He ran to home to get the cash and we met him at the free launch no issues and after we warmed it up with a quick ride,allowed this guy to test ride it - who then proceeded to rat bag it and do some 360's etc. I was SO p***ed off and was waving at the guy to return to shore. Hey asshole - buy the machine and do what you want to it then.

So he decides to take the machine (damn well better)...we go to connect up the trailer to his truck and he's got a 2 5/16 ball not the
2 inch ball. OK he promises to bring back MY hitch the following morning....and now his receiver lock is full of grit and will not unlock...
He's in the reno business and has a battery operated grinder so we have to grind off the lock....that done, I ask where is your plate? He
"doesn't have it with him"....so he keeps our plate and will return it with my hitch. Where are your straps? "I don't have any"... Fine
keep mine.... Then he says - "do you have a life jacket you can give me...?" NO.....then says "I don't have all the money I'm $300
short"....so we have to find an ATM to get the last $300.... ARRGH.

And the really sad thing here is that we know he's going to ratbag that machine and blow it up. :facepalm:

Oh no he didn't. You should of had cash in hand before that.................WTF! Didn't he go home and get cash first to know he was 300 short?

:facepalm:

Either way its gone now and its his problem if he's an idiot and blows it up on his first outing.

 

[lamajama]

Yeah maybe we should have....I don't know exactly how we would have stood had he did something. He almost fell
off doing one 360. And as far as the cash goes - yes he did go home for the money...he didn't have enough at home
but didn't go to the ATM on the way to the launch. Don't know the thinking - was going to try and talk us down more??
What a clown. I hope he waits to blow it up until at least a month or so.

We did learn another thing from this though....any test rider will be told no 360's, tricks etc, very brief WOT, 5 minute run
only etc. They want to abuse it, buy it and then fill yer boots. This is the first idiot on a test run that did this. I asked
him if he's experienced with seadoos - "Oh yeah I've ridden them lots"...and then proceeds to ask us some pretty basic
questions... "how do you operate the reverse..." and when we do get it back on the trailer he's asking where the operating
temp gauge is on the machine, where's the rest of the spark plugs (this is a 951)...WTF??!! what are "these spare parts here" (he was
looking in the engine compartment and referring to what i have no idea...)

:facepalm:

 

[ocod]

^ if I water test I will go on my other ski.
Can't stand when people think they know don't know chit when its not theirs yet!!!!!!!

 

[Spimothy Leary]

Fun thread lol
I do find it hilarious that other re-sellers are experiencing the same lack of attention to detail with their buyers as I'm having. I guess its good for the forum because you end up with interesting threads like the recent one about how the previous owner thought he knew more than the engineers and premixed, that stuff just cracks me up.

reminded me of one short story....

my only water test guy was the wave venture and he's the same one that called me two days later after buying it, all flustered, he had filled his oil tank with gas before it started spitting back out after 1/2 gallon !

he calls me in a panic all freaking out after he figured out what he did. had him come by the house and siphoned out all the gas & all the oil and had him heading back to the ramp about a half hour later,

he had a smile on his face as he drive away, I was smiling from ear to ear lol.

but we're not done yet...

15 minutes later he calls me again, this time from West marine, the salesman is trying to sell him 10/30 oil... so i tell him the right oil, (for the 3rd time) we're good to go....

not quite...

5 minutes later, now he's at the ramp, says... "i can't get the oil in the tank" and i'm like oh good lord go buy a funnel !

Hell of a nice guy but he wasn't quite ready to own a ski lol.

I offer to run new owners thru the paces, flushing, what oil, all that jazz, but sometimes they're too prideful to just come right out and say "i don't have a clue" most of them just say... "ya no problem, I know what i'm doing"

ok.. sure thing buddy....

 

[lamajama]

Wow! You've got more patience than me certainly but being so "new" to the purchase I would probably
have done the same. These are the guys you hope can make it through the first month so they aren't
tempted to phone back.

We had a sold a pair of matching doo's to a guy and we were heading up to the same area to holiday
a few months later. We knew him and he said one of the machines had a carb issue so we said we'd
correct it while we were there. The guy had left the batteries in both for 2+ months without running
them so they were both dead and we decided not to spend a half day of our holiday screwing around
with the batteries.

We called him and told him to charge the batteries for us and when exactly we were leaving. He phoned
us a day after we were home and said the one was ready to take out.....:banghead:

We're about 4 hours away from him and since he has buddies coming 10 min away from us all the time, asked him
to send the one down in the back of their pickup (it was a 93 XP - nice and small) sometime over this
past winter and we'd correct it and send it back up with his friends.

Yep....said he would and nothing at all over the last 7 months. You know he'll want us to fix it right in the middle of the
season or when we go there again - except we're not there this year until August. :facepalm:

 

[Spimothy Leary]

ok.. you guys will love this...

my ski has been for sale for EVER.... over 2 months.... i've dropped the price about $150 every couple of weeks, saturday night I dropped it from $3100 to $2900...

yesterday a guy calls me early in the morning 8am on a sunday to inquire... fortunately i was awake, answer his questions, he lowballs me 500 under my asking price, and I say no....
calls back at 10am,,, bumps up his price 200... i say no again.
calls at 11.. bumps up $100 and I say no, but we're getting close,, come by and lets talk...
he gets address, says he'll be there at noon...
no call, no show at noon, i forget about it.... standard craigslist stuff...
7:30pm calls again, wants to know if i'm home...
"yip" ok..
he's 20 minutes away...
8:45 he shows up... in a LIMO.... yes.. a full stretch lincoln..... and he has a truck with him as well....

looks at the ski for 20 seconds.. says "i'll take it"
silly me I say... "do you at least want me to start it ? "
"ya sure" thats a good idea.... "
ok, so it starts.. he says again.. "i'll take it"

we go in house, he peels off $100's, talks me down $50...+ a gallon of oil...
(i said what the hell, the limo story is worth $50 alone)
he signs the bill of sale, title,,, and leaves...
no compression test, no questions about ski/premixing/flushing..
drives off with his family in the back of the limo... his buddy has the ski behind the truck....

WTF ??????

 

[ocod]

ok.. you guys will love this...

Good deal Spim!
Funny story too.
Thats one for the records as silly CL deals...........

So where are you going to burn those hundreds hundreds hundreds!!!!

 

[racerxxx]

Spim, that was worth the $50!

 

[nammer]

haha, awesome, glad you got it gone, for our sake that story was DEF worth the $50, but if I were you, i'd still wish i had another $50 in my pocket

 

[suke]

ok.. you guys will love this...

my ski has been for sale for EVER.... over 2 months.... i've dropped the price about $150 every couple of weeks, saturday night I dropped it from $3100 to $2900...

yesterday a guy calls me early in the morning 8am on a sunday to inquire... fortunately i was awake, answer his questions, he lowballs me 500 under my asking price, and I say no....
calls back at 10am,,, bumps up his price 200... i say no again.
calls at 11.. bumps up $100 and I say no, but we're getting close,, come by and lets talk...
he gets address, says he'll be there at noon...
no call, no show at noon, i forget about it.... standard craigslist stuff...
7:30pm calls again, wants to know if i'm home...
"yip" ok..
he's 20 minutes away...
8:45 he shows up... in a LIMO.... yes.. a full stretch lincoln..... and he has a truck with him as well....

looks at the ski for 20 seconds.. says "i'll take it"
silly me I say... "do you at least want me to start it ? "
"ya sure" thats a good idea.... "
ok, so it starts.. he says again.. "i'll take it"

we go in house, he peels off $100's, talks me down $50...+ a gallon of oil...
(i said what the hell, the limo story is worth $50 alone)
he signs the bill of sale, title,,, and leaves...
no compression test, no questions about ski/premixing/flushing..
drives off with his family in the back of the limo... his buddy has the ski behind the truck....

WTF ??????

Which ski is this? and wow WTF for sure. lol

 

[smc0922]

I just had a good one with my 92 GTS... The guy offers $100 on top of our agreed price ($100 below asking- so I "net" my asking price) to deliver it. I said ok, it was 30 minutes away. Never tested it, started it, etc. found the flush adapter in the front compartment and handed it back to me, said I must have forgotten it in there! No buddy, that's yours and you need it. Brought the ski to him, asked me to launch it on his ramp. He walked it over to his dock, tied it up and said thanks. I pushed my luck and asked why he hasn't fired it up and took it for a run, off the trailer was a perfect opportunity- he said he has no clue how to run it or ride it, it's "for the kids". I chuckled and said I'd be more than happy to show him, but he could have cared less. Thanked me and said he would figure it out. ooooooook then! Cash was in my hand before I even hooked it up to my car!

 

[Seadoobuddy]

Spim, maybe the limo for a day was a birthday gift or something and wanted to impress someone.
NOW, go buy the 4 stroke that you want so bad.

smc - I feel sorry for the kids when the first thing break on it or runs out of oil.

 

[lamajama]

I just had a good one with my 92 GTS... The guy offers $100 on top of our agreed price ($100 below asking- so I "net" my asking price) to deliver it. I said ok, it was 30 minutes away. Never tested it, started it, etc. found the flush adapter in the front compartment and handed it back to me, said I must have forgotten it in there! No buddy, that's yours and you need it. Brought the ski to him, asked me to launch it on his ramp. He walked it over to his dock, tied it up and said thanks. I pushed my luck and asked why he hasn't fired it up and took it for a run, off the trailer was a perfect opportunity- he said he has no clue how to run it or ride it, it's "for the kids". I chuckled and said I'd be more than happy to show him, but he could have cared less. Thanked me and said he would figure it out. ooooooook then! Cash was in my hand before I even hooked it up to my car!

OK that was as bizarre a story as I've ever heard. :facepalm:

On a different note, is there a reason that many CL posters don't even have the courtesy to respond to emails? :cuss:

 

[Spimothy Leary]

OK that was as bizarre a story as I've ever heard. :facepalm:

On a different note, is there a reason that many CL posters don't even have the courtesy to respond to emails? :cuss:

that always drives me a little buggy, it takes 2 seconds.
just yesterday our cordless phone died at the office, we don't use it much but its nice to have it.
they wanted like $20 bucks for a new battery at radio shack so I said screw that and bought one off CL.
sent two emails, first guy responded AND delivered for $15...
got a response on #2 about 9pm. just a little late on the draw, they offered to take it to work because they work close to me, save me the drive.. ... but on a $15 dollar item I still replied, "already bought one"
it was so easy just to be nice and let them know the status, how hard is that ?

 

[lamajama]

Yep, but the reply I want is when I ask about the item they have for sale....I buy a lot from the USA (I'm in Canada)
and if a trailer is part of the package it's an absolute MUST to have the title in order to get it back into Canada.

Since most are 2-4 hours away, when I see something I might like I have to do my homework - titles, hours on machine, specific
questions perhaps based on comments made in the ad - otherwise I just write it off.

I've sent 2 emails so far on one just asking if the guy has a title for the trailer - and no answer whatsoever and the ad still
remains as does a phone call to him remain un-returned.

Very annoying. I try and make sure the email's do not sound like a phishing expedition too. Very aggravating.

 

[Brian J]

I get the same thing, chasing titles is the worst part about this flipping. I'll ask do you have the title for both the trailer and ski, are they in your name, are there loans on them. Seems pretty strait forward to me, but I rarely get a strait answer to those questions.

Another theory I have on why people don't respond to ads is that they are fake ads, guy wants to buy a specific boat cheap so he puts up a couple of fake ads with cheap prices to make it look like that is the market value for that item.

 

[chucked]

I went to buy a dirt bike, asked the guy if he had a title, said yep, so I drove 2.5 hrs to pick it up. He handed me the finance paperwork from the original owner

 

[nammer]

lamajama, for trailers do u mean registration? i know that trailers down here don't really use titles, i know there are certificates of origin, but those aren't necessary for us either

 

[lamajama]

lamajama, for trailers do u mean registration? i know that trailers down here don't really use titles, i know there are certificates of origin, but those aren't necessary for us either

In BC our proof of ownership on a trailer is just the Certificate of Insurance. I've come to understand (thru personal experience that
almost morphed into a free colonoscopy..) that in the State of Washington trailers have an actual Title document that proves ownership. If you don't have that when you try and import it into Canada you're hooped and turned back into the USA....that's why I don't get
my behind off the couch unless I know that the seller has the title of the trailer. The same is for the seadoo but they care a lot less
at the border about the seadoo. In actual truth the seller really can't even sell it to a local without this Title but it blows me away that
so many "can't find it", "it's not in my name but <insert someone> (that's a big issue too unless that person is present), or "Yah it's here I just have to find it". I got burnt by that once as the seller couldn't find it so I had to leave it.

 

[racerxxx]

I'll let you guys know that it has taken me 4, YES 4 different email addresses to land the last 2 FREE 95 XP limited hulls I got. I tried my work email, my Gmail, AOL, and MSN. Finally hit on then MSN address for one of them. The other one I actually noticed the same "ski" showing off a cover for an X4 on Ebay, contacted the seller thru Ebay about the free hull on craigslist. The guy was very impressed with my detective work, turns out he was a cop, LOL. Sometimes you gotta think outside the box. So keep that in mind, if you're not getting a reply, try a different address.

 

[chucked]

Also, your messages might be vauge, which is what spammers use to get your email address

 

[lamajama]

Also, your messages might be vauge, which is what spammers use to get your email address

No I've thought that too and believe I've made it specific enough that it's believable. The email address contains my name
and not a "bigdawg45@gmail" kind of address. Thye can tell it's a Canadian email address so maybe they think I'm gonna pay in
Canadian money - which actually up until about 3-4 months ago was worth more vs the USD...In any respect, show
some damn courtesy and reply.