The last time I tried to sell my car I fell victim to a technique known as low balling. Low balling (as it applies to car sellers its slightly different if you are a buyer but the general idea is the same) is one method that used car dealerships use to wear you down in order to get you to take their offer. It starts with them offering you a more than any other dealership is likely to give you. When I attempted to
sell my car the first dealer that offered me a deal too good to be true ended up low balling me.
I told the dealer I had a few other dealerships to visit before I accepted his offer. I tried to sell my car at several other dealers and each time the price was lower than what the low balling dealership offered. I ended up going back to the dealer that offered me the great price and told him that I would accept his offer. He then proceeded to tell me that he might not be able to actually pay that price after all. At this point I was distraught. He told me that he would be able to give me seven hundred pounds less than the first offer he gave me. This was actually less than some of the other dealerships had offered me. At this point I was physically drained after trekking across town all day and I just wanted to sell my car. I had fallen into his low balling trap.
I tried to haggle with him. He told me it wasnt his fault and that he would have talk to the manager if he was able to offer me a better deal. I figured that I may as well wait for him to find out what the manager said as the day was getting short and I hadnt been able to sell my car already. He went away and I waited for around twenty minutes for him to return. On further reflection he was probably out the back having a smoke and a coffee while chatting with his work colleagues. At this point I really wanted to just sell my car and be gone. He told me he couldnt persuade the manager to offer me the first price, but he could sweeten the deal with an extra fifty pounds.
