Marsattacks

This is short version for now. Long version would not add much. 1. Chris76M2 posts a console plus two spare surrounds in for sale section for $100. http://www.bmw2002faq.com/component/option,com_forum/Itemid,57/page,viewtopic/t,369343/highlight,console/ 2. I react same morning saying I'll take it. 3. Seller resonds affirmatively. We have an agreement at this point. My end calls for payment via paypal. Seller's obligation is to ship the parts to me. Pretty simple. This is legally enforceable. 4. Seller edits his post to say "sold". He also deletes the photo and description. 5. I pay promptly as agreed (within 24-30 hours). Either that day or next morning (Mon). 6. On Mon, seller refunds my payment with a note saying the console side (described as pristine or flawless or some such description now deleted by seller) actually has a tear. Seller says he is not selling now. 7. I say hold on a second. Send me a photo and let me decide. Seller says sure he will send it that night. 8. I see that the description and photo have been deleted. I feel like something sneaky is going on, but keep an open mind. 9. No photo arrives on Mon. 10. On Tues or Weds I tell seller fyi I am planning to post some feedback on this site. 11. Later that day seller says basically he has children and other demands on his time, he doesn't make a living from parts sales, he is a A-ok guy. Still no photos. 12. I say basically he might be the Prince of Monaco but he broke an agreement he had no right to do. At this point I conclude that the seller is in fact a sneak and don't want to waste any more time on him. Regardless of his other demands, he chose to post up a sale and ask me and others to respond. Once he broke the contract he had an enhanced obligation to communicate, not the right to write himself modifications and excuses. I have many other demands on my time. I dont make money buying parts. But I do keep my word. 13. Bottom line -- in my view you should avoid this seller or at least treat him with suspicion. In my opinion even 20 good transactions don't give you license to do as you please in another. 14. No photos yet.

Nice! Congrats! Want to hear some engine growl! Or is it more like a whoosh? Id love to explore your setup but would cost a fortune I think.

a. I think you are not likely to be listed on BAT unless you pay a commission. Their featured listings are pretty selective but oddly so. b. BAT comments are brutal and often ill- or uninformed. c. Cant hurt I guess.

Now for something a little different: 1. Great car, though idiosyncratic. 2. Ok, so what do you think it is worth? Using my Jedi powers I am going to guess that your reserve is set at about that price. Big mistake. You stifle bidding that way. Auctions involve risk for both buyer and seller and you really arent playing the game correctly if you peg your reserve at a "fair" price then hope for a premium. Sure you dont want to leave money on the table but really that increases the chance you wont see any money at all. 3. You say your car is for sale locally so you must have a price in mind. My "Jedi" guess is $11,000 reserve. Are my powers strong or weak? Assuming no bid fraud it looks like you had 10 unique bidders but six at the $3k+ or so level. Says to me the $8k price is prob pretty good as a market price, but see No. 6 below as a caveat. 4. Looking at your auction as aprospective bidder/buyer, I see some things that would alarm me. Foremost among them is that you "reserve" the right to end the auction off ebay and sell it to someone locally. That makes your offer to sell illusory. It is a bad practice and ebay should not condone it. Do the bidders have the right to withdraw their bids if they find another car locally? So this would make me very wary of bidding on your car. 5. You say you are picky. Did the odometer really roll over a "few" times? If so as you say, then we are dealing with a 300k++ mile car. If you don't know this then I would suggest a re-phrase to be more precisely ambiguous instead of being vaguely ambiguous. Think about it. 6. Do you fish? If you cast lines all day in an empty pool is it the fault of your fly/bait/cast that you dont catch one? Of course not. Your auction is limited to the guys/girls looking for an 02 in your stipulated 7-day window. That is pretty much a pig in a poke for a single auction cycle. Conventional car auctions are promoted and/or have existing followings. Ebay is just a gateway to a yard sale. You might need to list your car multiple times. 7. Lastly, your 02 is not an investment or if it is then it is a poor one. It is a wasting asset. We can perhaps convince our wives or girlfriends that we can recover our expenditures but it is a mistake to believe it. Maybe just maybe a very nice, very original desirable model will hold some value but dont put it up against the S&P 500. -- GLWS.

In certain instances it can be viewed as pretense to make a statement in the form of a question to which you are satisfied you possess the answer.

Um, if someone can build this then I think you can build that. Check out this video on YouTube: I could not build a toilet seat so I have no real say in it. Good luck!

Holy crap your Jedi powers are strong! Thanks!

Hi, I would be grateful for thoughts on what distributor this might be. No markings visible. Car is running well. Just curious. Thanks, John

Many thanks, I will check these out. Could not find a thread on deficient clips but I trust you. Regards, John