Private Party BUYER's and SELLER's BEWARE !!! Appliance Tech's experience private party buying and selling problems DAILY! It's usually a result of moving them and having them bounced around that will cause a service problem, but there is a long list of installation and repair problems associated with private party sales, transportation, installation and operation ! Most private party buyers and sellers aren't aware of these problems, except in hindsight. Buyers: The cost of professional Service Work by an experienced repairman is not something you will want to add to the price of a used machine after you think you've got a great private party deal on a used appliance. Sellers: Selling a good running appliance to a private party can be trouble. Your appliance may have worked great the last time you used it, but, hard water can freeze up the pumps and valves when the appliance has sat for a while. How do you explain that to a buyer after a stuck valve flooded their house. Who's going to take care of the damages? Many appliance repair problems tend to happen between private buyer and seller transactions... after they've sat, been moved, improperly installed. But that's not all that happens... When the screw's are loose in the Drivers. Used appliances don't usually come with an operators manual and if they did most people don't read them anyway. It's probably why tech's run into so many problems we call... "A screw loose in the driver"... It's probably one of our most common calls. Some of these problems are obvious, some not and some tech's take advantage of people for their lack of understanding by beefing up the charges with something that wasn't really needed. Operator mistakes... like putting regular soap in a dishwasher are all too common... (Some washers take special soap) How many people know that the suds in regular soap will make a dishwasher flood the kitchen? It's a mess !!! Hooking up a new garbage disposal without pulling the plug to the dishwasher. (the dishwasher can't drain out... duh?) Who's going to pay to resolve these problems? Who will be responsible when a improperly transported or installed appliance floods a buyers house? Who will be responsible for a $500.00 (and up) compressor replacement job on a refrigerator after it's been bounced around in the back of a truck or laid down on it's side? A lot of good old machines end up in the dump that could have been recycled. Unfortunately, the cost to repair most of them, advertise, sell and deliver them is more than the cost of replacing them, especially when someone does not have any experience with appliance service, repair, recycling etc. It's not like the Auto Salvage business, because Appliances don't get into traffic accidents and there's no value in used appliance parts. Sell it AS IS !!! Some appliances are running and really nice. If that's the case, we recommend that private parties advertise and sell them their self if they want to get full value out of the process. A smart seller will sell an appliance AS IS. On the other hand, Smart buyers will test the machines they are buying before they finalize a transaction. Many used appliance dealers and independent techs deal with them to fill up their schedules during slow times. When a service tech or a company hauls away or buys an appliance for resale they don't pay much for them. (because they have to eat) When used appliances have potential cash value an appliance tech might (if it's worthwhile) haul them for free or pay something for them that is much lower than what most people think they might be worth. After most appliances have sat some place long enough people tend to want to get rid of them. They'll call a company who recycles them to get them hauled off. They exchange the cash value (if there is some) for the convenience of not having to pay advertising, dump fee's, time, gas, transportation and they don't have to deal with all of the potential problems that a tech is experienced and equipped to deal with in order to resell the machines. (cont. next column) |
| Get the Picture? |
| (Selling it AS IS !!! cont. ) A used appliance re cycler may be interested in hauling away some brands of recyclable and resell able washer/dryers and refrigerators for free, but they have to be selective. Otherwise, they cost us the same gas, time and dumping fee's to dispose of them that anyone else would have to spend to dispose of them. Many used or most broken appliances, including dishwashers, stoves and other appliances do not have any positive cash value. Sears and other large companies charge expensive removal fee's of up to $50.00 each or more to remove an old appliance when they deliver new appliances. How OLD is it? That 's probably one of the dumbest questions you can ask a private party seller because appliances don't usually show their age like a car does. You don't find many good old '63 Kenmore's sitting in peoples laundry rooms or kitchens lately. Ironically, most private party sellers do not know the age of an appliance, especially if they bought it used... and it's all too often that a private party selling an appliance will not tell you or they will exaggerate the truth if they even knew. |