More fun in sales

I’ve received a few comments about a previous blog about selling kayaks. No, it isn’t all sweetness and light. You have the same issues inherent in selling almost anything through classifieds, but that goes with the territory.

One guy from Indianapolis “bought” one of the boats. The punctuation is because I don’t consider it sold until I have the cash in my mitt. He may have considered it bought with his assurances and confirmations, but I have some experience in this. He didn’t show up at the appointed time and didn’t respond to the followup email. Not a huge surprise as his previous correspondence had the whiff of a weenie about it.

That kayak must attract a certain breed because the on-deck buyer started out by pleading poverty as a college student and coupled that to his lowball offer. There are college students driving cars and living in houses better than mine. I will take a hit for people I know, but not someone who might be a trust fund baby. I gave him my bottom line.

He was still interested and asked when he could come get it. I responded that my schedule was flexible. Then, he wanted to know how far I was from (town in northern Ohio). He’s a college student and can’t use a mapping program? He’s majoring in hospitality management, so that skill might come in handy.

I Mapquested it and told him it was about 250 miles. That floored him. He had no idea I was that far away. Let me get this straight; you respond to an ad on a Cincinnati classified board and are surprised to find that the item is located in Cincinnati? The ad even specifies which township. I weep for our future.

Just one of the challenges, but also a source of entertainment.