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Selling
Tips
This
page updated February 23, 2007
Writing
Your Ad: the Comments box
Our Truck Description drop-down boxes make it easy to write your
ad by giving you a number of options to select from, and if you
decided to go no further, your ad would be complete. ToolTrucks.com
offers more - the Additional Information box is your opportunity
to elaborate on your trucks special features, options, and condition.
For example, if you bought it new and have “faithfully followed
the maintenance schedule – oil changed every 5,000 miles”,
this is a good thing to share with prospects. Maybe you bought
a used truck and since you have had it, have done things like
“New tires in January 2004, replaced alternator and water
pump at 50,000 miles, Honda generator has less than 1,000 hours”,
etc. Make your truck stand out with an additional description-
we give you up to 1,000 characters to do it.
Email and Telephone Contact with Prospects
Hopefully you will receive an email or call regarding your truck
within days of listing it. It’s very important that you
check your email or messages often and respond promptly to questions
or requests for more information. Your buyer prospect might be
looking at other trucks as well as yours, and some buyers need
to move quickly to buy their first truck or replace their present
vehicle. Plus, we will use email to check the sales status of
your truck, so we hope you will check it often. If you change
email addresses, please let us know.
Maintenance Records and Important Papers
Gather together your maintenance records, repair receipts, new
tire invoices, etc., and keep them in your truck folder by your
telephone. One of the first questions you will probably be asked
after describing your truck is “what does it need?”
With your documents ready, you will be able to provide the answer.
Good
Photos are very helpful, but any photos are better than none,
so please send us some. We have room to place up to 8 photos in
your ad – please use every spot! We have found prospects
are more likely to initially skip over the ads that are without
photos, and if they forget to come back later, you might lose
a sale. Help prospective buyers find, read, and return to your
ad by giving them something to look at, especially if there are
other trucks like yours advertised. Don’t worry about washing
your truck, a light coating of road dirt won’t show up.
Do pick up any boxes in the aisles, and turn your interior lights
on when taking photos. If you have any special features, send
us a photo. On the opposite end, if anything is less than satisfactory,
also send us a photo, this will help you avoid conflict later.
If you can only send 1 or 2 photos, send those. Any photo is a
good photo! We prefer photos sent via email, but we will also
accept them through the mail.
A Video of Your Truck Helps
Making a video tape or DVD of your truck for prospective buyers
is an excellent way to improve the chances of a sale to an interested
prospect. Truck builders use videotapes to show prospects, often
many miles away, the special features of their trucks.
Outside, do a walk-around, and describe the truck as you go. Explain
and show any flaws, such as dents, scrapes in the paint, etc.,
and show the tires and their tread. Inside, try a shot from down
the center aisle, then walk the camera lens down the shelves on
each side. Show the ceiling, and get a shot from back to front.
Just ask yourself what you would want to see if you were looking
for a used truck, then film and describe it, and you’ll
be all right. We also think it’s a good idea to make copies
and keep the original in case you have more than one potential
buyer.
Get a Deposit
If someone says to you “I’ll take it!” and wants
to pick up the truck later, first, congratulations! We also suggest
you ask for a small deposit, proportional to the selling price.
5% - 10% is usually sufficient. After all, you are taking the
truck off the market, shutting the door on other potential buyers.
If this is a serious buyer, you will have no trouble getting a
deposit. Conversely, if you can’t get a deposit, you probably
don’t have a deal anyway. In some cases, you will be paid
by the tool company's finance company, and you might not be able
to get a deposit. In these cases, make arrangements with the finance
company and get written assurances you will be paid.
Getting Paid
We suggest a cashiers check or money order as opposed to a personal
or business check, but the final decision is yours. If you already
have a deposit, just have the buyer bring the balance when he
picks up the truck, and don’t sign over the title until
you have been paid.
Because
of a scam involving phony cashiers checks (more on the scam below)
copied and printed on high-quality color printers by the criminal
element in our society, know your buyer when possible. Fortunately
this is relatively easy to do when selling a used tool truck to
someone in the tool business, even if they are your competition.
Within your own company, your immediate manager can confirm your
buyer’s identity. If with another tool company, you can
ask who their district manager or field manager is, and call them
if you feel it is necessary to ascertain their identity. You can
also call the Tool Company headquarters.
Now,
more about the scam. If you make a deal with a prospective buyer
who offers you a cashiers check for more than the amount you agreed
to, and says you can just give them back the difference in cash,
beware! Or should we say, RUN, don’t walk in the opposite
direction. THIS IS A SCAM. For example, you agree on $25,000,
for some reason the buyer wants to send you $30,000. They ask
you to refund the $5,000 difference by cash or check, and you
deposit the $30,000 cashiers check in your account. A few weeks
later your bank informs you the check is a forgery and charges
it back to you. Your $5,000, and maybe your tool truck too is
gone.
There
is another version of this scam that surfaced recently. An overseas
"buyer" wants to send a delivery agent to your house
to arrange delivery to wherever. The delivery agent wants to be
paid upfront for delivery and you get reimbursed by the buyer.
Yeah, right! The buyer and agent are the same person, and he has
come to take your money and maybe your truck.
So,
other than getting paid in cash, what do you do about getting
paid good funds for your truck? Ask those who are used to receiving
large sums of money for vehicle sales, such as a trusted car dealer.
Ask your local bank how they confirm that funds are available
for a check they are presented, ask your attorney, accountant,
ask your customers in the car business. Above all, use common
sense and know your buyer. The old saying “if it sounds
too good to be true, it probably is” applies.
Closing the Sale Paperwork
Closing the sale and transferring ownership isn’t as difficult
to do right as you may think if you’re careful and organized.
Complicating the process is the probability that the sales transaction
will be conducted over a weekend, so you will have to be ready
ahead of time. If you can make some advance preparations it will
be much easier when your buyer comes in to pick up your truck.
For example, examine the vehicle title and make sure it is in
your name. In most states, you will not be able to transfer ownership
to another party until your name as the owner is on the front
of the title. If you bought the truck used, and all you have is
a title with the sellers name on the front and their signature
signifying they are selling it to you, you do not have what is
called a negotiable title. Titles with liens and leases are different;
we’ll cover that in a moment. Unless you are a registered
used car dealer, in most states you will have to have your name
printed on the title as the owner before you can assign it to
another person.
The
easiest scenario is when you own your tool truck free and clear.
Usually you will be transferring only the title and vehicle registration.
Suggestion: if you’re not sure what to do, ask your customers
at a car dealership or used car lot for the necessary documentation
and procedures in your state. Considering paying someone a fee
to handle the paperwork for you if you’re unsure how to
do it. We suggest you have the title and registration documents
ready so when the buyer pays you, you can sign over the title
and registration, write out a bill of sale, make a copy of everything
for your records, and hand over the keys.
Slightly
more complicated, but still do-able, is when you have a loan at
a bank or other financial institution. You probably won’t
have the title in your possession, or if you do, it will have
a lien on it, and the lien will have to be released in order to
transfer the title. To be safe, ask your bank the correct way
to handle the sale of your tool truck, and to make sure everything
is clear, get their instructions in writing. We suggest you, your
buyer, and the bank talk together on a conference telephone call
and agree on the procedure. If your bank will not talk to your
buyer, just you, ask for a letter to you and your buyer detailing
the process. Unless your banker is Jimmy Stewart in “A Wonderful
Life”, most banks these days are not going to give you the
lien-released title until they are paid in full. A letter from
the bank on their letterhead to you and the buyer assuring him
he will receive the title once payment is made is usually sufficient.
Also, your buyer will probably be making the check payable to
you and your bank. In this event, you will sign the check and
turn it over to your bank for processing.
A
leased tool truck is handled almost the same way as a bank-financed
vehicle if your buyer is paying off your lease. Contact your leasing
company and get their procedure in writing. The burden is on you
to make sure the sale is completed correctly, and if you have
to push them along, do it. After all, they were happy leasing
you the truck until you decided to sell it to someone else and
it’s you they are going to hold to the terms of the contract
if something goes wrong. If your buyer is going to assume all
or part of your lease, the surest way to know the lease will get
out of your name and into his name is to make sure he signs the
lease documents in your presence and leaves them with you. Make
copies of everything and follow the leasing company instructions
in sending the lease to them. Always remember, mail gets lost,
please keep copies! The only way the lease is transferred out
of your name legally, ending your obligation, is to make sure
the lease is transferred properly into your buyers name.
Finally,
you’ll need a vehicle bill of sale, which you can purchase
at any office supply store, or draw up your own. You’ll
want to include your name and address; your buyer’s info;
the make, model, and VIN of the truck; the date and amount of
the sale; and the time of day the sale is completed. Also include
any special conditions you have worked out with your buyer. If
it is a lease, we suggest instead of a vehicle bill of sale, you
write out a delivery receipt showing when, where, and at what
time the buyer took possession of the vehicle. Again, get your
finance company’s advice early and often, and you should
be OK
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