You know you're an adult when...

"DUCK-HAMS" (Hippy-Dippy)
03/10/2015 at 11:47 • Filed to: None

I'm late to the game to comment on !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! so I'm telling my story here :p. I sold a set of wheels to someone on "kijiji" a little while ago and agreed to meet at a Walmart close to me. He's already beat me down on the price through email beforehand. I get a call 1hr before we are to meetup asking if we can meet somewhere closer to where he was coming from (about 20mins east of me), mentioned something about needing gas. I agreed because I was happy to make the sale. ... 30mins later I get another call, "can you take $20 off the price, I'm almost out of gas and can't make it home 'cause I'm out of money." I say I guess, and pack a jerrycan with me with the plan to give him gas to get home with no price break. It's feeling like a typical craigslist/kijiji situation.

He arrives in a shitty broken civic (obviously) and is around 17.

I give him the price break and the gas, and honestly feel good about doing it. It's $20 and I'm happy to see the wheels go. The way I approach hobby cars now is completely different than when I was his age. I'd rather just enjoy playing with cars and not haggling prices.

Not a very exciting story. I've got a bunch of kjijiji/craigslist ones, but I like this one for some reason.

p.s. what the one commenter said about mentioning you'd accept trades just to see what people offer is spot on. It's great!

DISCUSSION (17)

$kaycog > DUCK-HAMS
03/10/2015 at 11:49

You're a good person.

Roadster Man > DUCK-HAMS
03/10/2015 at 11:50

Hahaha, do not open up Pandora's Box with those forbidden words: "Trades accepted"

Your story might not be good, but this kid's sure is! He beat you down on the price AND got some free gas out of the deal. I hope you don't mind me saying (and you're probably aware), but I think you got suckered.

Coty > DUCK-HAMS
03/10/2015 at 11:52

I feel like a lot of people know my green Beetle, but if I hadn't of been offered two dogs in trade I probably wouldn't have it. It was such a stupid offer I took the ad down, haha.

1337HPMustang > DUCK-HAMS
03/10/2015 at 11:59

I hope karma finds you... and gives you a warm hug

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > 1337HPMustang
03/10/2015 at 12:05

But most likely Karma will find him and try to hit him up for some spare change and some other freebies.

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > $kaycog
03/10/2015 at 12:05

... to get freebies out of...

LOL

DUCK-HAMS > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
03/10/2015 at 12:07

Consider that happened!

DUCK-HAMS > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
03/10/2015 at 12:07

I LOL'd.

DUCK-HAMS > Roadster Man
03/10/2015 at 12:11

Oh for sure he's got a better story, though it was pretty obvious this kid was not rolling in it. I hope his story is like this:

"I was abandoned at a Timmy's in Mississauga and the nice man filled my tank and gave me some extra money to get a double double and a maple glaze for me and my lady. I hope to grow up to be like him!"

Truth be told, I guess it was a selfish move on my part. I still feel good about it almost 2 years later, I probably did it more for me than for him.

DUCK-HAMS > Coty
03/10/2015 at 12:12

Was there at least a sled with the dogs? Then it's trade for another form a transportation.

I remember one where I was selling some strange 80's Japanese car and was offered a 70's dragster. I almost took that one!

thebigbossyboss > DUCK-HAMS
03/10/2015 at 12:19

I have been trying to offer my engagement ring (no longer engaged, make sure that happens first haha) for cars. I bet I will get one someday.

DUCK-HAMS > DUCK-HAMS
03/10/2015 at 12:30

I've actually bought and sold quite a bit through craigslist/kijiji/forums and it seems to always be good transactions (almost). Being nice to people is usually what makes the experiences positive and memorable. Maybe I'll write about some more later on, the negative experiences too.

I think I'm better at finding the best deals than the haggling (but there's always haggling!).

This wheels example is kinda boring, I usually buy and sell much more interesting things. Like buying a broken trailer park "Ivan Stewart's super off-road" cabinet for $200 and then fixing it for $100 in parts.

Coty > DUCK-HAMS
03/10/2015 at 12:31

Just some dude's pets.

Clay Smith's Revenge > DUCK-HAMS
03/10/2015 at 12:55

Good on ya, mate. As an adult and father of a son (likely quite close to the age of a lot of commenters) your response was commendable and understandable.

Great story and reminder that even the slightest bit of community is something that makes us all a little more empathetic (and remembering my own personal walk of shame with a gas can at 18)

Roadster Man > DUCK-HAMS
03/10/2015 at 13:46

Hey man, you gave some gas to the guy who prioritized wheels over gas. That's a good deed!

My CL deals have all been totally smooth, I've bought or sold 4 sets of wheels. Two of the deals were the standard, well-lit parking lot deals and the guys weren't knocking me down on the price on the spot, only over email beforehand.

One of the deals was awesome. I was getting some winter tires for my Miata, and the guy had me meet him at his house. I was cool with it because it was a nice town and a nice neighborhood.... He had a full Miata race car garage! It was super cool seeing all of the gear and a fully caged and race-prepped Miata. I think he did wheel-to-wheel SCCA racing. We chatted about it for a bit and his piece of sage advice to me was: "Never build a race car, buy someone else's."

DUCK-HAMS > Roadster Man
03/10/2015 at 13:55

Great story with some good advice I have never taken and will never take! lol, I'm too much of a romantic. The idea of building one from scratch is too attractive to me.

Roadster Man > DUCK-HAMS
03/10/2015 at 17:25

Me too... My Miata will become a race car at some point. Probably once the engine hits 250K or if I blow it up, whichever happens first.