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tractor selling lesson learned


littlemarv

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I put my 611 Hydro in the "whats it worth" topic. Nobody had any advice on that. I didn't know either.We have a HUGE block garage sale every spring, I had it sitting there for $500 obo, nobody even looked at it. Meanwhile my walk behind snowblower and John Deere rear engine rider sold immediately.I like the tractor, but once I tried blowing snow, with all my heavy clothes on (and a four year old on my lap) I realized that no matter how nice it is its just too small for me.I need the room, and my missus needs me to not have so many tractors. So, on Saturday night at 11:15 P.M. I put it on craigslist for $300 obo. I thought that was a fair price considering how the deck is completely torn down, and it IS a 20 year old tractor.I had one response by midnight, 7 more by Sunday morning, and 11 total by the time I sold it this afternoon. I had people offer $200, $225, and several say $300. I went down the list on a first come first serve basis.So, that lucky buyer got a good deal, I guess.Maybe I should have asked more, but I've found theres two ways to price things when selling- you can price them to make money, or price them to get rid of them. Guess which one moves product....I didn't think anyone would be interested at all.Tonight I called a guy to tell him it was sold, when I told him what I was calling about, he interrupted me and said "I have 20 Allis tractors and I need that lawn tractor- I'll be right over to get it." I told him it was sold and he wanted to know where it went. I told him it went about an hour and a half away. He said "Do you have any more?" I told him yes, I have four more, I am working on restoring them. He said "When you get them done, call me first and I will buy them." Lesson learned. Well, now I have room in my shed and cash in pocket.

allis 001.jpg

The fun is in the restoration, it was almost too nice to be a working tractor.Well, on to the B-10 resto. Suffice it to say, I won't be letting that go cheap....if at all.Last summer I had a blast working with my B-10 and 416H. I like them both, and think the B-10 will be for show and the 416 will be the worker. Time well tell, and I can't wait to find out.

57e05783804e0_allis001.jpg.ccef47d75c907a2487a335c75dcb3291.jpg

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The thing I have found about Craig's is that no one wants to pay full price because the ads are free

I put my snowmobiles on last year not one call, this year I put them on for the same price and had 40 calls

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I wouldn't beat yourself up too bad regarding your price! As you stated yourself, you wanted to move the tractor anyway.You still got a decent price for your tractor.

I know how you feel as I have sold over 30 tractors on C.L. It's always easy for a would be buyer to talk big after the fact. I have had several similar instances and they almost always turn out to be buyer remorse on not being quicker on calling the seller and just missing out on something. Talk is cheap and when it comes down to buying time, that's when you separate the would be buyers from the true buyers.

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One thing I have learned about selling things, especially on craigs list is people love to waste your time. I always put in my ads that I will not take email or phone offers, not haggling over the phone. If you are interested and want to come see what I have and then haggle, awesome! It cuts down on tire kickers a whole bunch.

Dave

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$200-$300 is all I ever could muster out of those stamped frame tractors when I was selling stuff. Even had a few nice ones like yours pictured.

Only exception was a 5116 ( or something like that) that had a great running engine, super clean, a spotless 42" deck and excellent 42" blade & chains. I donated that to a benefit auction for a friend of mine who was fighting cancer. I believe the package brought $650 or something like that. Never messed with that style after that.

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It might sound silly to some, but I don't shoot to sqeeze a sale for all it's worth on CL. I put the price on it that I feel it's worth, and let her fly. Everything has sold, so far, sometimes it takes a few weeks for the right buyer. Fair pricing has also generated some great conversations, and even leads on other equipment for me. I haven't had a 'bad' experience yet with CL.

If selling within the club, I generally like to price more towards 'get quick cash and free up some space', considering that I've had some good deals from other members, and don't mind passing along the same good fortune. I like to think that I'm not just selling to a stranger, but building relattionships with people who appreciate this 'stuff' like I do.

I occassionally go the ebay route, and typically it is more or less to see what the market determines an item is worth.

It's all just fun for me. I dont' think I would enjoy trying to milk everything for all it's worth. I can be fickle, and decide that it's just time for something to go, or time to bring something new in. Limiting my storage space helps keep me in check.

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I use Craigslist from time to time with mixed results. I don't try to rip-off anyone and usually ask less than a fair price - or better yet, less than what I would go out and buy the same thing for - as it seems I always pay top dollar for everything...sm02 I hardly recover the $$$'s I have in my tractors or parts, so why prolong the agony of keeping them and the space they take-up - so it's usually a fire sale.

Having said that, I'm glad to get stuff I sell in a person's hands that can use it and will even let them haggle me down a bit on price too.

HOWEVER - every sale I put on CL, there are these slimy creeps that low ball your price, talk to you like you got to have the $$$'s else you are going to have your car repo'd. I can understand someone wanting to buy something and flip it for a profit - hey, that's capitalism, no harm done. But these creatures that overly low ball and try to make you feel like YOUR ripping them off - I will haul my stuff to the scrap yard rather than sell it to them.

OFF MY SOAP BOX... sm01

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I like the little tractors for mowing. I have a 5216H that cuts circles around my large frame - a Sovereign. That 5216 pulls a 48 deck around and is so manuverable its the only way to go. Your Allis looks very nice. Too bad you couldn't keep it for mowing and use a bigger tractor for snow.

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Yeah, I'm with you. There are two ways to sell things. One way sells and one way turns you into a collector or dropping your price low. I've never had luck selling things for what I believe they are worth. I have just about sold my Kohler equiped fleet. This will free up space for working on my Briggs powered fleet.

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