You keep the deposit... period.

Hear you. I would take the high road as well, but it's not really what a deposit is for. I just put a 1k deposit on a cl600 that's 1400 mi away in NOLA and am going to drive it home. Fully anticipate losing the cash if I get there and don't like the car.

Would you not be equally pissed if you put a deposit down and the seller sold to a higher bidder?

And yeah, the requests now for 1000 photos and service records etc on used cars is why I don't sell often.

Give the deposit back. You don't need the hassle and you'll be done with it.

Some people think I'm too detailed in my Bill of Sale language - particularly the portion regarding deposit - but I'd prefer to lose (or further negotiate, if necessary) the sale at that point than to see a transaction drag out like the one in this thread. The Bill of Sale, of course, reflects the overall terms of the sale and provides a signature line for both Seller and Buyer, but I always include a separate section for the deposit, including its own signature section. Even if no deposit is tendered (depending on the transaction value, the buyer, etc.), that portion of the BoS is still acknowledged by both parties.


"Seller acknowledges receipt of a (insert $$$ amount here) deposit from Buyer. In return for this deposit, along with Buyer's promise and assurance that Buyer will complete the transaction as noted in this Bill of Sale, Seller will inform other potential buyers that the subject vehicle is not currently available due to a pending sale and will hold the vehicle for Buyer under the terms agreed to above. If Buyer fails to complete the transaction as noted herein Buyer will forfeit any or all of the deposit amount, at Seller's exclusive discretion. In addition to reading and signing this portion of the Bill of Sale, Seller and Buyer have verbally discussed it, and the parties acknowledge, understand and agree to these deposit terms."

Whether or not the language would hold up in court isn't the point. It's designed to separate strokers, who will quickly find a reason to "think about it", from real buyers, none of whom have ever objected to it.

_

Business is business. I'd keep his deposit until you sell it to someone else and that money is in your pocket. At that point you could decide to refund all or part of that. I can't believe his wife was unaware of the color. It does smell of a scam.

Largest point here is it's his problem now, not yours - you have his money on his word, he has changed his word

If the deposit is refundable, what's the purpose of it?

what is it that you seek
 

If you need the $1,000, prepare for the fight. If not, give it back. Life's too short and there are too many a-holes.

^^^ this

Deciding to not give back the deposit and ignore all future correspondence with this guy seems like a lot more work.

I hate selling things so much so that I actually give them away instead.

Once in a while I wonder why I haven't heard from those guys who know walked themselves away with deals of the century.

After the effort Richard invested so far I can understand the desire to keep the deposit. That said I agree with the above, I would return the money in full immediately and move on with life. Who knows what sort of mess the prospect buyer is willing to create for $1K.

I too would be worried the Paypal money is a scam. But assuming it isn't, I would do like some others have suggested and hold the deposit until you are able to sell the car for at least what the buyer agreed on. Then refund the deposit.

Reading the replies, I am changing my mind and I would go with keeping it. If he is an old phart with no huevos he will blink if you tell he gets his money back AFTER you sell the car he committed to as Plan "A", if that what you feel like doing.

See what he says.....you can always pay him later. You could also call PayPal and register your concerns and document the issue. I assume you have more than a few transactions w/o any major disputes? It would be fun listening to him squeak....

I have only kept one deposit in the four or so times I have taken one. I hate taking them! The only time I haven't given it back was after two weeks of running the car to several different places, sending endless pictures, his mechanic talking to my mechanic, I talked to his mechanic, scanned receipts, and moved a flight to visit family, all for him to decide he wanted a C2 instead of a C4. The guy wasted close to 15 hours of my time, so I told him the deposit is mine for the inconvenience. He whined and such, but I felt no guilt in this situation.

The "wife doesn't like the color" is a BS excuse. I would refund half at best. Lesson learned on his part and the internet gives plenty of images to see colors of cars. Time is money and I don't have time to waste on indecisiveness. They should have that figured out prior to wasting your time. Hope you figured something out as this is always an annoying issue to deal with.

This

Certainly he does not expect 100% of his deposit returned. He ought to lose at least half, if not all of it.
This is excellent

The entire episode reaks of shenanigans.

The obvious answer is, "what does it say about the deposit in the contract for sale?"

I'm sure your next comment will be "you have no contract." So, refund the deposit and move on. Do not send him a Paypal payment, instead refund his payment to you with a note describing the reason. It's a minor distinction, but worth noting.

JR

The reason the car 'looks bluish' on his computer is because the paint is reflecting the blue sky it was photographed under.

I think I'd give him his deposit back only AFTER I've sold the car to someone else for more than what he agreed to. If he has a hard time with waiting tell him you had a hard time turning down other buyers who were ready to buy it.

Give him $750 back and keep $250 for your troubles. Life it too short to deal with A-holes.
Hell one time I paid in deposit ($1k cash) for a Unimog that I was only going to part out. Drove 2 hours to see it, and then was there for two hours, then two hours home. So the day was done. Next day the guy calls me and said he changed his mind, and was not going to sell the truck, and was going to restore it. I told him I have a contract but did not want to push it. But he wasted my time, so I said I would take my deposit plus $250 to rip up the contract. Just was not worth the effort to deal with it in court, and said I would be glad to sell him parts when he got around to fixing it. He has called for advice, but has not got anything from me yet, but hey, you never know!

JR, I disagree. All he as to do is dispute with Paypal, and they will reverse charge. If you send it in another manner, Paypal will not know it was returned.

I believe you can include comment with paypal transaction.

Give him the money back. Sell the gd car and move on.

Or just sell the car and move on.

Or send him $500 and a dildo with a letter stating if you want the rest you can go ... yourself. :D

You entirely missed my point. What I suggested is the only way to prevent him from doing what you suggest. He can't dispute a transaction that has been refunded to him.

You log on. Select his payment, then hit the refund button.

JR

I took your post as not to send it through paypal. "Do not send him a Paypal payment..........."

We agree....... SmileWavy

Yeah, maybe my statement was not entirely clear.

PayPal, yes. New transaction, no.

JR

is hanging on to it until you finally do sell the car for your asking a possibility?

i would probably give it back, but i do understand you probably fended off some real buyers while holding onto the deposit..

Been buying and selling cars, for many years not as a profession, more as a result of having a hobby cars selling them and then replacing them. Over 40 years it's become a very long list. I decided way back taking a deposit was a waste of my time. Either one person buys it or another. I subscribe to "stomachmonkey's" earlier post & stated the position well, so I won't repeat it.
I say give the deposit back. The sooner you get this guy behind you the better! Put your energy into selling the car, not the idiot buyer. Don't lose sight of your goal....this idiot is just more noise at the end of the day. Learn to just shut it down before it drives you nuts.
Good luck with the sale; there's another buyer waiting, go find them.

I'd refund him the money after I sold the car. Make him squirm a bit

I don't know you, but you are a bad man.

I like it.

OK, I am colorblind. Seriously colorblind.
I put a deposit on what looked like a 'grey' Carrera on CL,
then after traveling a fair distance to view the car, I put a $500 deposit
down on the 'grey' Pcar until my mechanic could do a PPI.

- next day my mechanic told me it was Granite Green w/ greygreen interior.

The seller told me he was offered more than our agreed price by several callers,
but he would honor our deal. Truly a gentleman. Turns out it was an exceptional Pcar.

I fully expected to lose the $500 deposit if I backed out of our deal. That's what a deposit IS.
Being an colorblind Art Director, I realize that computer display colors vary ALOT.
Good news, I LOVE the color even though I only see 5% of the green.

Keep the $1000, or $500 if you feel sorry for the scmuck.
(I like the idea of asking him to drive to you to pick up the deposit.)

Bottom line, it was described as GREY in the description, it is grey, and
everyone KNOWS that colors on internet photos are not accurate.
Everyone knows that 'grey' covers a wide range of shades in auto paint.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1483583583.jpg

You lost alot of time and potential sales to others due to this wavering Puzzy,
you could have sold at a higher price, but potential buyers have moved on...
It's his mistake, not yours.

Loser will learn, but only if you don't give him a 'participation trophy' aka refund deposit.

EDIT: ha ha, your last line in the CL ad nails it: No excuses.

Make him squirm but give most of it back after you've found another buyer.

Jesus Christ just give the guy back his deposit and put your energy into positive endeavors. You travel light, don't take on his baggage. Don't give it another thought.

C'mon, is a measly grand all that important to you?

Nice car for 16.9K. Sorry this guy is a dick. Send him back the money via PayPal and move on. The less you deal with jerks, the better 2017 will be.

werd!

You could say the same thing to the ass hole who just wasted all his time and prevented him from selling his car to someone else for a week. "Forget about the grand, ass hole." :)

Yes, yes I could...I'd give the grand back and move on. But then, I may not place as much importance on money as some here seem to.

It's not about the money.

What he said.
It gets unbelievably old getting hit of the head time and again by the realization that giving your word means nothing but add to that the fact that putting down a deposit to hold something so someone else doesn't buy it means nothing at all and it just becomes too much.

I get the feeling that the color thing is just an excuse...the unheard from wife is probably the major factor in this. So, I feel for the deposit guy...but he has to live with her, right?

Nothing really lost but time...move on, give the money back, sell the car...why suffer any more hassles?

Best answer in the thread.

So what did you do?