No matter what anyone is saying about the economy and the GFC, stuff just isn't selling ATM.
I've been trying to cut back my fleet of cars recently. I know the market is shitty, and I always try to price stuff so that it actually sells - but even so, its been super tough going.
The one car I have sold (a 1995 Volvo 850 FWIW) was a good clean thing - just serviced, road-worthy certificate, etc. Most similar ones are advertised at $3500+.
I started at $2700, thinking I'd get a quick, easy sale.
I wish! I didn't get a single call until I dropped the asking price to $1800. It finally went to the third caller for $1500... And the two earlier callers were very hard work, and clearly expected a hell of a lot for their $1500 (I told all of them straight away, that $1500 was the price).
The other stuff has garnered basically no interest - even the stuff that I was fending off offers for a year ago, and that the leg humper on AusRotary were all telling me was worth double what I'm asking...
Looking around, a lot of things are suffering from the same lack of buyer interest - even big bore 2-strokes must be feeling the pinch.
And, as a buyer, I'm rapidly realising just how much its a buyer's market at the moment. While lots of things are advertised at the 'normal' price, they're just not selling - and if you look beneath the surface/time it right, you'll find a lot of sellers willing to take a lot less than their asking price. I recently bought a clean, running IT175K - when the seller jumped on my offer of $600 (from an $800 ask), I knew I cold have gotten it for considerably less...
Oh, and the thing with relisting with a higher starting price, is because the seller thought they were going to be swamped with bids the first time around. When that doesn't happen, they give up on the hope of a bidding war, and just aim for what they want (and obviously make it much less likely to sell, which is their choice, I guess).
