eBay/Craigslist Ok, Actually I am SELLING!

[rockyridgefarm]

I have a nice Deere 4310 that I want to sell.

I have ads here and at CL for several months. I have had only one party showing interest, and of course, they are a lowball buyer.

What works? I used to eBay quite a bit, but it seems to eat up everything in fees. And lotsa grief for sellers.

 

[bigtiller]

Lower your expectations or enjoy meeting new people for a few months.

 

[ericm979]

I got a good response for the Kubota B7100 I sold earlier this year by posting on a local rural folks mailing list.
The people responding from there were serious buyers. On Craigslist I mostly got low ballers.

This local community mailing list predates Nextdoor and Facebook but you're likely to find local people there.

 

[Grandad4]

Craigslist is a decent place to sell IF - really big if - you can figure out which communities are best for posting your listing. I initially listed a Kubota in our local community and got a few nibbles but nothing serious; after a week of that I also listed it in several larger cities within 100 miles and immediately got multiple promising inquiries. Within a week the tractor was sold to a cash buyer at a good price. I had always expected equipment shoppers would use one of the "metasearch" tools that let you search through multiple CL locations, but none of those who inquired had done so... it was all a matter of getting the ad into the right city where people would search. Just my experience.

 

[RyeThomas]

A buddy and I buy, maintain, sell a few machines on the side each year. We do most of our business thru CL. I use a few other search engines to help me search CL like Tempest. The issue is market value doesn't always apply to CL. If you do a broad search (within a couple 100 miles of your location) you will likely find a few similar machines priced below market value. People get to a point where they need cash, or dont know the market (paid for the tractor 5-10-15 years ago and just want it gone) and put up a similar machine for a very low price. We have pulled ads and sat on tractors for a while till the low tractors disappear, only to turn around and sell for our original asking price.
The tractor sales business is a big risk and gamble, they are only worth what someone pays you not necessarily market value and that's a tough pill to swallow. Best of luck.

As stated don't just list it in your area, broaden out and list it in other local-ish locations. Just make sure to put in the body of the ad the city or zip the tractor is actually located in. This will avoid a lot of inquiries that just lead to "oh I'm not traveling that far."
If it's a fair enough deal I've had people show up from over 600 miles away with cash and a trailer.

Happy hunting, Rye.

 

[EddieWalker]

I look on CL all the time for stuff, but I'm mostly just browsing and hoping for a deal. I also joined a bunch of FB groups that have tractors and farm related stuff. I've found great deals on both sources. If selling, I would list everywhere I could. Probably the most success that I've had with selling bigger items, like a truck and a big cargo trailer, was parking it in front of my place with a for sale sign on it. People drive by, stop and look at it and then call my phone number.

 

[isenbed]

I also sell quite a bit on Craigslist and agree with RyeThomas. A lot of times you just have to be patient and wait for the buyer to come along. I sold a tractor on Tuesday that has been listed for 5 months. I try to price fair, and I don't reduce the price unless a buyer actually shows up ready to buy. Especially on nice, newer equipment it can be hard to compete with 0% financing at dealers.

I have tried Ebay a little, but in my opinion EBay does not police well enough. Buyers don't always pay, and I have won a few "no reserve" auctions where the seller backed out when they were not happy with the price.

Good luck!

 

[RyeThomas]

Yep great point and I agree 100%, the dealers with 0% for 60-84 months make it very hard. The 2 hardest machines i find to sell are near new ones, or older in showroom condition with little to no hours. People would rather get a new one with a warranty and easy financing than save thousands, it is what it is.

Good luck, Rye.

 

[paulfun9]

A buddy and I buy, maintain, sell a few machines on the side each year. We do most of our business thru CL. I use a few other search engines to help me search CL like Tempest. The issue is market value doesn't always apply to CL. If you do a broad search (within a couple 100 miles of your location) you will likely find a few similar machines priced below market value. People get to a point where they need cash, or dont know the market (paid for the tractor 5-10-15 years ago and just want it gone) and put up a similar machine for a very low price. We have pulled ads and sat on tractors for a while till the low tractors disappear, only to turn around and sell for our original asking price.
The tractor sales business is a big risk and gamble, they are only worth what someone pays you not necessarily market value and that's a tough pill to swallow. Best of luck.

As stated don't just list it in your area, broaden out and list it in other local-ish locations. Just make sure to put in the body of the ad the city or zip the tractor is actually located in. This will avoid a lot of inquiries that just lead to "oh I'm not traveling that far."
If it's a fair enough deal I've had people show up from over 600 miles away with cash and a trailer.

Happy hunting, Rye.

Basically my experience as well.

 

[Creamer]

Craigslist is a decent place to sell IF - really big if - you can figure out which communities are best for posting your listing. I initially listed a Kubota in our local community and got a few nibbles but nothing serious; after a week of that I also listed it in several larger cities within 100 miles and immediately got multiple promising inquiries. Within a week the tractor was sold to a cash buyer at a good price. I had always expected equipment shoppers would use one of the "metasearch" tools that let you search through multiple CL locations, but none of those who inquired had done so... it was all a matter of getting the ad into the right city where people would search. Just my experience.

Can you explain how to use "metasearch" tools on CL?

 

[Grandad4]

Can you explain how to use "metasearch" tools on CL?

The one I've used is called "Searchtempest.com". It lets you pick a zip code and do a search of all the CL cities within X miles of that zip code and it also looks on Ebay at the same time. It is slow and kind of clumsy sometimes, but it is great if you are looking for something very specific and not found just anyplace.

 

[Creamer]

Thanks Grandad4! I'll give it a try.

 

[Goose69]

As far as searching Craigslist, you can search as far away as you want, and as many cities as you want.
When on Craigslist, go to search options, and can choose lots of search parameters
... You can search nearby cities, and go out as far as you want to search, just keep adding cities.

 

[Creamer]

How do you search more than one city at a time? When I search I get the "local' as well as nearby cities but what if want more without going to each one individually?

 

[Goose69]

So I was searching in "farm and garden"
Clicked the search tab
Then clicked options.
Then Nearby cities.
Then checkmark any cities you want.
Screenshot attached of cities I search

 

[Luke'sScreenName]

A buddy and I buy, maintain, sell a few machines on the side each year. We do most of our business thru CL. I use a few other search engines to help me search CL like Tempest. The issue is market value doesn't always apply to CL. If you do a broad search (within a couple 100 miles of your location) you will likely find a few similar machines priced below market value. People get to a point where they need cash, or dont know the market (paid for the tractor 5-10-15 years ago and just want it gone) and put up a similar machine for a very low price. We have pulled ads and sat on tractors for a while till the low tractors disappear, only to turn around and sell for our original asking price.
The tractor sales business is a big risk and gamble, they are only worth what someone pays you not necessarily market value and that's a tough pill to swallow. Best of luck.

As stated don't just list it in your area, broaden out and list it in other local-ish locations. Just make sure to put in the body of the ad the city or zip the tractor is actually located in. This will avoid a lot of inquiries that just lead to "oh I'm not traveling that far."
If it's a fair enough deal I've had people show up from over 600 miles away with cash and a trailer.

Happy hunting, Rye.

Not trying to be contrary, but I'm pretty sure "market value" is what people pay not what you think it should be worth.

 

[Grandad4]

As far as searching Craigslist, you can search as far away as you want, and as many cities as you want.
When on Craigslist, go to search options, and can choose lots of search parameters
... You can search nearby cities, and go out as far as you want to search, just keep adding cities.

Didn't know that - thanks for pointing it out. Seems faster than Searchtempest, however, unlike Searchtempest it has a 200 mile limit from the zip code you provide.

 

[Creamer]

View attachment 516210

So I was searching in "farm and garden"
Clicked the search tab
Then clicked options.
Then Nearby cities.
Then checkmark any cities you want.
Screenshot attached of cities I search

Thanks so much! I do not know how I missed that!

 

[stuckmotor]

Yep great point and I agree 100%, the dealers with 0% for 60-84 months make it very hard. The 2 hardest machines i find to sell are near new ones, or older in showroom condition with little to no hours. People would rather get a new one with a warranty and easy financing than save thousands, it is what it is.

Good luck, Rye.

After reading some horror stories, on this site about tractors sitting at the dealers waiting for parts while the warranty ticked away, I think I'd rather save thousands.

 

[RyeThomas]

Not trying to be contrary, but I'm pretty sure "market value" is what people pay not what you think it should be worth.

Well that is true, but market value is not as simple as just what someone pays you in my experience. I can sell a tractor tomorrow for a low price, or I can list it even with local dealer inventory and have to sit on it awhile or I can be in the middle and sell it in a reasonable timeframe. All will net different values.
True market value is a very complex ever changing number based on supply, demand, comps, and local high and low values. It isnt as simple as what a machine sells for.

Anyway if people don't see it that way that's fine, that's how I look at it and I'm not saying I'm right.

What I will say is how I have been pretty successful pricing used equipment.

1- find local dealers (within a couple hundred miles) numbers on comparable machines.
Remember most people will pay a dealer more (for whatever reason) than they will private party sale.
2- use tractor sales search engines and check your model to others
3- check Craigslist for local comps and within a couple hundred miles
4- Lastly based on the supply and pricing decide if it's a good time to sell your machine and if so what the number is going to be to get it done.

Anyway not trying to get into semantics or disagree with anyone, everyone views and terms things a little different.

Anyhow I've been fortunate using CL to move a few machines and put a little food on the table for my family. Best of luck to you all, Rye.