A Special Birthday I Won't Soon Forget

Heading to the bank yesterday with a whole envelope stuffed full of brand new, crisp Benjamin Franklins ($100 bills) in my pocket from the sale of my Skeeter SX-170 made an otherwise ho-hum 72nd birthday rather special. I even may have had a little bounce in my step, but who wouldn't under the same circumstances? After all, there were enough Benjamin Franklins in that envelope to repay me one for every year of my life, with some extra to grow on, which is pretty doggone nice, as far as I'm concerned.

This sale came after only five months but not without its share of low-ball offers--like $5,000 and $5,500, to be specific. If I had any doubts that people will try to steal you blind, right under your own eyes, I certainly don't have them any longer. If anything, they're more hellbent on getting something for nothing than they were a lot of years ago when I posted a "For Sale" sign on my very first old car--a 1940 Chevy (similar to one pictured below).


I had paid $75 for that "jewel" when I got it and only was asking $25 for it, now that I was ready to move up a ways--to a 1948 Chevy. Turned out that the sign wasn't in the window very long at all before another fella from my high school said he wanted to buy it...but, of course, for less than I was asking. We went back and forth a few days before he agreed to pay my original asking price, with a small down payment, followed by weekly installments. I knew he had held a job as a bagger at a local grocery store for some time--just like me. So I knew he could--note: I said "could," not "would"--meet our agreed-upon terms.

Come the day we decided to make everything official, he had the down payment, and for the next couple of weeks, delivered his payments on time. But then he started getting tardy with his payments and eventually missed a couple all together. When I confronted him about the situation, he gave me one of those oft repeated "times are hard" stories and said he was gonna have to change the terms of our agreement. His proposal was to drop his weekly payments to 50 cents, which I wasn't buying.

Some weeks of spats back and forth followed, with absolutely no resolution, and then came the day when Pop asked me how the deal he knew I had made was progressing. Experience had taught me that I'd better not lie to him, so I fessed up to the problem, knowing full well that he was going to take a hands-on approach that would bring results of some kind.

Ultimately, I accompanied Pop to an unsolicited visit to the parents of the fellow high schooler, and you know what? Less than 48 hours later, I had all the rest of my money--just as those parents had promised would happen. And I walked away from it all with a lesson I haven't forgotten to this day.

Getting back to those low-ball offers for my boat, I had some people say things like, "I've checked the blue book on your boat," as though they would think I hadn't checked the NADA Guide for myself. The only problem with the figures they kept quoting me, however, was that they didn't take into consideration all the add-ons, such as boat cover, onboard battery charger, depthfinder, power tilt/trim, stainless steel prop, trailer, spare tire and carrier, and trolling motor. Those same low-ball offers didn't even come up to the "low retail" value described in the NADA Guide, which summarized that term as follows:

"A low retail valued boat will show excessive wear and tear, either cosmetically and/or mechanically. This boat may or may not be in running order. The buyer can expect to invest in cosmetic and/or mechanical work."

In the final analysis, I'm just happy I was raised with a different set of standards than a lot of other people. For example, when the current boat I've owned since December went on the market, one of the first things I did was to check the NADA Guide. I quickly learned that the buyer's asking price matched up with what was listed there. Armed with that knowledge, I contacted the buyer and asked to see the boat. Simultaneously, I inquired if he minded my mechanic coming along to go over the outboard.

He didn't object, so on the agreed-upon date, we assembled, my mechanic checked everything, and I test drove the boat. I then handed the buyer a check for his full asking price, with absolutely no haggling whatsoever. The boat was fairly priced, and I wasn't about to try and insult him with a low-ball offer.

I didn't come from a well-to-do family, in terms of material wealth. However, I did come from one that believed in and taught me nothing but honesty and fairness from the time I was old enough to distinguish right from wrong, and that lesson has stayed with and served me well for a lot of years now.

And I was fortunate enough to find an individual, whom I believe was raised with similar standards, to buy my SX-170. I further believe his agent, acting on the buyer's behalf, also comes from the same background. It was all good from the very first contact.