rtk11
Pattern Altitude
How do you know you've sufficiently offended the seller of an aircraft?
I mean, I've read articles on the internet that says that you should offend them, and if you haven't offended them, then you've offered too much. Since it's on the internet and it's published, it must be true, right?
Then there's the rationale that sellers overprice their aircraft expecting to have to haggle, or luck into someone willing to throw full price cash at them.
In terms of haggling, I love to haggle like the next guy. Scratch that... I love to haggle more than most. It's the Asian in me. And it's all sorts of fun so long as you've got the time. (And yes, I'm ethnically Asian.)
But if you don't have the time, or if a seller needs coercing via justification on why you've insulted them, then that means homework has to be done. Getting value references, convincing third parties (especially those semi-official, semi-impartial third parties) into agreeing with my "bottom-up" valuation strategy for pricing... well, that kind-of takes the fun out of it. Because, y'know, I had to do the extra leg work.
Basically, I like the knee-jerk, shock-and-awe approach to offending an aircraft seller with an offer for their aircraft. If they're not stammering, I've not done my due diligence.
Besides, I'm doing them a favor by taking their problem aircraft and making it MY problem aircraft, right?
OK, so for all those that were not amused by the above, understand that it was all tongue in cheek. Well, maybe not all. And only kind-of sort-of.
It was cathartic to rant.
In all seriousness, it's really amazing to me to see the pricing on aircraft I'm interested in. I compare values for retail and wholesale, and I see at least +25% markup from the retail value. It's almost comical to see a 7 year old aircraft list for a price that's within $25K for a nearly new aircraft with much more modern avionics.
I'm pretty sure the market isn't that strong for LSA aircraft... especially with the advent of PBOR2.
Having said that, I did research into one aircraft that's nowhere near a cream-puff. It will require work, but I don't mind paying for some of the deferred maintenance and cosmetic issues, because I will know which A&P did the work, and if it was to my satisfaction. There's some value in that. I've discounted the offer price based upon the condition, hours on the airframe, damage history, and work that I would need to do immediately to the aircraft.
And in doing so, I think I royally insulted the seller to the point of a non-response. Probably doesn't help that my offer was 56% lower than their asking price.
Just wondering how many of you folks have done your fair share of insulting the seller until you found a willing player to sell you their airplane at a realistic price?
I mean, I've read articles on the internet that says that you should offend them, and if you haven't offended them, then you've offered too much. Since it's on the internet and it's published, it must be true, right?
Then there's the rationale that sellers overprice their aircraft expecting to have to haggle, or luck into someone willing to throw full price cash at them.
In terms of haggling, I love to haggle like the next guy. Scratch that... I love to haggle more than most. It's the Asian in me. And it's all sorts of fun so long as you've got the time. (And yes, I'm ethnically Asian.)
But if you don't have the time, or if a seller needs coercing via justification on why you've insulted them, then that means homework has to be done. Getting value references, convincing third parties (especially those semi-official, semi-impartial third parties) into agreeing with my "bottom-up" valuation strategy for pricing... well, that kind-of takes the fun out of it. Because, y'know, I had to do the extra leg work.
Basically, I like the knee-jerk, shock-and-awe approach to offending an aircraft seller with an offer for their aircraft. If they're not stammering, I've not done my due diligence.
Besides, I'm doing them a favor by taking their problem aircraft and making it MY problem aircraft, right?
OK, so for all those that were not amused by the above, understand that it was all tongue in cheek. Well, maybe not all. And only kind-of sort-of.
It was cathartic to rant.
In all seriousness, it's really amazing to me to see the pricing on aircraft I'm interested in. I compare values for retail and wholesale, and I see at least +25% markup from the retail value. It's almost comical to see a 7 year old aircraft list for a price that's within $25K for a nearly new aircraft with much more modern avionics.
I'm pretty sure the market isn't that strong for LSA aircraft... especially with the advent of PBOR2.
Having said that, I did research into one aircraft that's nowhere near a cream-puff. It will require work, but I don't mind paying for some of the deferred maintenance and cosmetic issues, because I will know which A&P did the work, and if it was to my satisfaction. There's some value in that. I've discounted the offer price based upon the condition, hours on the airframe, damage history, and work that I would need to do immediately to the aircraft.
And in doing so, I think I royally insulted the seller to the point of a non-response. Probably doesn't help that my offer was 56% lower than their asking price.
Just wondering how many of you folks have done your fair share of insulting the seller until you found a willing player to sell you their airplane at a realistic price?
