I want to talk about honesty, your word, and your reputation.
When I was growing up, I was taught that a man was only as good as his word, meaning that if a man made promises/deals/commitments and kept to them, that man could be trusted. A man that didn't keep to his word was a man not to be dealt with and was a liar.
Somewhere along the way people have obviously forgotten this.
I can't begin to tell you how many times I've had people call, text or email about something I've had for sale and then not show up. I guess that's become the norm. Personally, if you do that to me, I keep your name and your number, and you don't get another chance to buy from me. Ever. Because to me, you've failed at your word and are not to be trusted.
The other thing I get a lot of, is low ballers. I understand that times are tough, but every time I list something I count on at least three offers of half or less of my asking price. Every time. Without fail. Now, I'm not saying that you should never offer less for something, but be sincere in your offer. What bothers me is that these people are honestly just trying to take advantage of other people. Think I'm wrong? Let me share this with you:
Last year I had some mixed breed chicks for sale. $2 each. Reasonable in my mind since purebred chicks in our area are $3 or better. A man calls me, offers me fifty cents a chick, and when I said no thank you he berates me and tries to brow beat me into giving them to him at what he wants to pay. Meanwhile, he's on a poultry board that I'm a part of too, offering MY CHICKS at $3 each. How do I know they were mine? Because when I refuse to sell them to him at that price he posted that the deal to acquire them had fallen through. (And, they were a pretty specific mix).
Needless to say, I have not and will not ever sell to this man. Period. He's called me many times and always offers 25% of the asking price. I know he's a reseller, and that would be fine if he didn't always talk to me like my prices are crazy high and lie to me about what he's planning to do with them. To me, honesty is everything.
Misrepresenting what you're selling is another thing that drives me crazy and will get you on my "no business" list. What do you thing of this scenario:
I was over buying some rabbits from a young gal and we got talking about chickens. She asked me if I would take a look at her flock and chicken house to see if there was something she was doing wrong since her flock of twelve were beating each other up and she only was getting 1-2 eggs each week. It took only a minute to see that her flock of twelve hens were really two girls and 10 roosters! She'd bought them from a guy just two weeks before that that had raised chickens for thirty years. The poor thing had paid $10 each for those birds! Distressed, she asked me to look over her pullet chicks and we went over to the pens. They were supposed to be pure barred rocks. Not only were they not barred rocks, most were roosters!
It's obvious that some people will take advantage of those who don't know any better. Other people will flat out lie to you, and when caught in their lie will try to make you sound crazy:
I've been after a stock trailer for awhile. There'd been one in our local Craigslist for the last month at $3200, which based on the photos and age was kinda high. I called and offered $2500, which I thought was more reasonable. The gal I talked to told me she just couldn't come down any lower because she had just put brand new tires on it and was into it $3200. Another month went by and I had some more cash saved up. It was still posted, so I called her again. When the lady went on to tell me all about how she had $3800 into it and it was a steal at $3200 I froze. I told her that I had called her last month and had offered her $2500 but she had said she couldn't because she had $3200 into it. She paused a moment. Then said, well, yeah, that's true, but then I put brand new tires on it. When I pointed out that that was the same story she'd given me to justify the $3200, she said I must be crazy and must have the wrong trailer. Needless to say perhaps, but I didn't go look at that trailer.
If you can't be honest about what you are selling, I'm not going to buy from you.
Anymore it seems like no big deal to agree to something then change your mind and back out; to miss an appointment, get something for nothing or engage in other questionable behavior. People do it because other people do it and its no longer any big deal because around every corner is another deal and its just not a matter of life or death.
Yet.
Consider this though - what happens if society falls apart and suddenly you are in the position where you have to buy, sell or barter to stay alive? The first time you back out or try to take advantage of someone may just be your last time.
Or maybe society doesn't fall apart, but the economy doesn't get any better (and gets worse). Bartering is already growing in popularity in many areas.
If you can't be trusted to honor your word you are going to be in for a world of hurt, never mind the moral implications that lying is just plain wrong.
I know that I have a reputation in our area for fair and honest dealing - the repeat business and referrals I get tell me so.
What does your reputation say about you?
Just some food for thought.
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