Deal gone wrong

Hi guys.

I'd like to get some other peoples thoughts regarding a bike I sold the other day.

I had my 1986 Honda VFR 750 listed on Craigslist for several months for $2500 o.b.o. This is a nice bike I basically brought back from the dead and owned it for 6 or 7 years. Many hours into restoration and upgrades as well serious dollars into this, maybe double what I was asking. Not much serious interest from a Craiglist ad that had run for months until last weekend. This guy presented himself as a serious VFR enthusiast and offered me several hundred dollars less than the asking price but he seemed sincere, wanted to ride the bike and do some upgrades (17" wheels, etc.) So I agreed because I felt good about passing the bike along to someone who was serious about it. 24 hours later I see the ad on Ebay:

Honda : Interceptor in Honda | eBay Motorcycles

Most of the extras and spares I passed along to the new owner are listed in separate auctions. If I would have known about the guy's real intentions I may not have been so generous.

What do others make of this? Should I be pissed? Why the misrepresentation? This guy is active or was on this forum by the way. Would it be appropriate to list his name for future reference?

 

Afraid I have to agree. It was up to you to take his money or not, once you did it was his to do what he wanted to with it. Not cool that he sold you a line about being an enthusiast and all though. I guess we live and learn.

 

You're making some simple observations that anyone would make. The beef here is the misrepresentation and lack of good will. I would think that if someone was in a position to do business with this guy in the future one would want to know about this crass behavior. I would anyway.

 

The guy is a friggin douchebag. but..... You did sell it to him.

I read something on the internet news the other day about the RB Hernandez for the Patriots. It seems that since his arrest his jerseys are selling like hotcakes on ebay for up to 500+$. One guy looks for these jerseys and bids on them no matter how much they cost.... Then refuses to pay for them and sends the seller a shame on you email for trying to make a profit off of a killer and victim. There really hasn't been a legal precedence like this (so I read). The people that are selling cant go after Ebay because of the selling agreement. The guy has a bogus email account so unless the seller wants to go after the guy they have to spend more money to look for him..... Not at all what Im suggesting you do, but if you do at least update us lol.

 

Why not out the person? Just as he owes you nothing you owe him nothing. Sure, you could have done the same thing and put it on ebay and listed the other parts separately, but he could have told you the truth.

 

There are people that troll craigslist for free puppies and kittens and then turn around and sell them.
Nothing wrong with buying a vehicle to part out or flip, shame he had to be a dbag and lie about it.

 

I mean this constructively - not to disrespect you or your feelings.

I don't think you have a"Deal Gone Wrong". A deal gone wrong is when you get stiffed by the buyer or the seller can't produce a title or otherwise mis-represents the item.

The two of you agreed on a price, you got paid, he now owns the VFR and you have no further claim on it. If he wanted to paint it pink, light it on fire or immediately resell it; it is, after all, his motorcycle now. You sold it - don't look back. After all it is a motorcycle not a pet.

Whether you choose to me mad is entirely up to you. I would not escalate this further by naming the buyer. I don't see how it would help you or the situation.

 

NLYP = No Longer Your Property, which means NLYC = No Longer Your Concern.

That said I can see why you are miffed, but talking the talk with a seller is a great way to get a reduced price. If the guy had rocked up & said hey I want to buy it & part it out, then you would either have said OK $2500 no offers, or said NO way & stopped the sale there & then.

Bummer, but that's the commercial reality we all live in. One mans love is anothers bread & butter. At least it wasn't stolen, which is what I was expecting to hear !
Find another bike & move your focus there.

 

The guy lists two phone numbers on the auction so anyone could "out" him easily. I don't know if he'll end up getting much more for the bike than what he paid, but if anyone needs some accessories check out his other auctions!

I guess I'm just feeling a little abused. I bought a 98 VFR late last summer from a guy who failed to disclose a serious mouse infestation. Crap and urine rained down on the injectors and intakes and essentially shellacked them but the guy simply cleaned out the airbox and changed the filter. The power seemed ok so I was none the wiser until I had the valve clearance checked early this spring.

I'd like to remind any private property rights absolutists and "buyer beware" apologists that honest dealings and good will form the basis for our free market economic system. It really doesn't matter if were talking about legit business or private dealings, does it? Really, in my business if I did business like this my reputation would not be what it is.

And I always liked to think there was some camaraderie among riders.

 

Oh man who wants to be the first to throw his number on a craigslist personal ad?

 

You have every right to be pissed off. If the guy said he was taking it to Sturgis, hang it from a tree and charge $1 a whack with a sledge hammer, you would have said no deal, correct? Instead, he said he was going to ride it and work on it and presumably take good care of it. Clearly a lie to sway(trick) you into selling. This is called fraud. I don't agree that since you took his money you should be fine with what he does with it. If you sold your dog to someone who says they'll take good care of it and 24 hours later you find out it's a toothless sparing partner for a pack of pitbulls, you shouldn't be upset? Come on.

It's a bummer for sure. At least some of the parts will help others to keep their VFR's up and running. If there is a next time...never sell a VFR!

 

I don't wanna harm the guy, just venting for the most part. But when you nurture and baby a nice ride like I did here it hurts a little.

 

I agree with those who are saying that what happens to the bike now that it has left your hands, should not longer be a concern of yours. Looks like you had quite the attachment to this bike and in hind sight, maybe you should have kept it. But hind sight is 20/20 and you can not go back.

Let it go. Find yourself another bike or car or hell, even a lawn mover to get passionate over all over again and let this one pass.

I sold my first car 23 years after I bought it. I spent money to bring it back into good shape. Only a few years later I wished I had not, but the old girl is gone. I have no idea what the purchaser did with it, nor is it any of my business. But I admit, I still would like to know.

 

It sucks but it is best to just acknowledge and move on. I can't say the same for the cupcakes though.

 

You sold it to him. That is officially the end of the file. BUT that does not excuse bad behavior. On other private boards I'm on that shit would not fly and he would be immediately outed.

 

As I look at the Ebay pictures it almost looks as if he took off the braided brake lines I installed and put rubber hoses back on. If you look at the master cylinder the line out looks like the stock rubber hood instead of the double banjo fitting. He definitely did remove the fork brace. I wonder if he swapped the forks to get the Racetech parts? What a nut.