Made Mistake in Price quoting...what to Do or Not to Do?

Simply tell her that you miss quoted the price and after some research you discovered that the car is worth more. Apologize for the mis-information and explain you guys need to raise as much as you can in order to meet the expenses you will have in NYC.

I would go back and tell her you were wrong. If she is not interested, she will not buy it. But I still think you should tell her. You will probably resent selling it for almost half of what it is worth later on...that's my thought :).

I would be honest with her, tell her you made a mistake and ask for at least $2,700. Hopefully she will be understanding. If not and she's mad, I would reiterate that you are sorry, you made a mistake and go on to sell the car to someone else.

Since selling his car is either his decision or your joint decision, be honest and tell her you should not have given her a price without consulting your husband. (That would be true even if your original quote had been dead-on.) Apologize that you were wrong and explain the situation--the car's value, that you should have waited, that you will need to try to sell it for what it is worth, etc. I was going to buy a chair and couch from a friend when she and her husband moved out of state and she was going to sell it to me for a great price, much less than it was worth. I had some delays with financial issues in paying her early and would have paid her before we picked them up, but by then she was honest with me and said they really needed to sell them and her brother had offered her more. I decided to let it roll off. She was not responsible for getting me a good deal on a couch and chair, and I refuse to feel annoyed that we missed out on it. Your friend will realize that you getting her a car is not part of your friendship. Do not feel guilty, but be honest.

Update:

I am surprised that nobody else (that I have read) has pointed out that you should have asked your husband first. (I am not criticizing as I do this all the time) but it is his car and you and/or your friend should have suggested he be consulted. What if he had offered it to somebody that day as well? It is not greedy to apologize for a mistake, in this case not discussing a joint decision ahead of time, kick yourself a few times and feel like a jerk, and learn from it. I would not be offended by a friend telling me she should have checked with her husband before agreeing to a price for HIS car.

Your looking at this like you HAVE to ask her for more money. You just have to tell her the price changed and its up to her if she wants to spend that. I would just tell my friend that I didn't know what the actual value is and thats what I need to try to sell it for. If she's still interested in it thats awesome but if not thats ok too. Tell her if it doesnt sell at that price you will notify her and see if she's still interested. Good Luck!
BTW, I almost had a heart attack when I saw how much the rent in new york is! Oh my gosh thats more than 2 of our mortgage payments. =) Good luck with school too!

I'd immediately tell the friend exactly what happened, apologize profusely, and, if he'll agree to this, say your husband doesn't want to sell it for the original quote. Don't give her a new price as if you expect her to pay it. Tell her you'll understand completely if she doesn't want to pay more for it, and that you're terribly sorry if she's disappointed or angry.

If you were a business and advertised it at this price, you might be required to stick to your quote. But you're not a business, and this is not an intentional bait-and-switch tactic. Your friend might be upset, but she'll probably get over it.

Unless you've already handed the title over, I'd fess up to the mistake and tell her what you really are selling it for. So you made a mistake, big deal. Your hubby needs to chill out. What kind of a friend would dump you over something so practical? I would understand and if it was out of my price range, I'd say, "Oh, OK. Well, I don't think I can afford that right now," and I would start looking for another car. While I might be a little disappointed, I would never expect you to sell it to me for a thousand bucks less than what it is worth. That would really be foolish.

Good luck to you.

Depends on how strong a relationship you have with this friend and what her personality is like. There are diplomatic ways to talk with her about this. If this were me with a friend I would be able to say, "I talked with my husband and he's upset because the Blue Book says the value of the car is more like $3500. My good friends would say, "OK, I'm disappointed but I understand." They would then say, let me think about whether or not we can afford $3500. They might come back with an offer somewhere between the 2. So might I.

Or more likely, we'd put the car on the market and if it didn't sell for $3500 give the friend first option on making a bid. I would give her the inside track.

Because she's a friend, I think it's important that you're honest with her. I also think it's important to get more money for the car if you can. If not selling her the car for $2000 ruins your friendship then the friendship was not strong enough to withstand what is really a minor glitch in communication. She should understand that you were talking off the top of your head and without thinking. If she didn't think of it at the time, she should've later realized that you cannot sell the car on the spot without your husband's input. If I were her, I would also have gone home and looked up the value and gone back to you and said, "are you sure about that price?"

If you don't talk with her you will have feelings that will interfere with your relationshiip. Best of friends stay best of friends because they are honest with each other.

When I was pregnant with my son, my husband surprised me with a new car. The only bummer was getting rid of my old one because I really loved it. But, we needed a 4 door and something easier to access the baby.
I sold my car for way less than I could have gotten for it. We met all these people that tried to talk us down from our original price and were quite shewd and rude about it. One day, a man called wanting to buy it for his wife as a surprise and he never even argued about the price. It was an excellent car! When he brought her over, and she didn't know where she was going, the look on her face made it all worth it.
Like I said, we could have asked for more and it could have still been sitting in our driveway. But, the perfect, sweet people came along and I was so happy for them to get my car.
I have a friend who had her awesome minivan on the market for almost a year after her dad died and she got his new one.
They were thinking, "we've got this bill and that bill and we need X amount of money...." They ended up practically giving it away because they couldn't afford the insurance and registration and everything.
$2000 in the hand now, or hanging on to see if you can get more for it later.
It's always a gamble.
Your friend may be willing to pay more...or you may end up with a ton of people trying to talk you down to that price anyway.

I hope it works out for you.

You made an offer and she accepted means valid contract. Since she is your friend she may understand but in reality you made an offer and she accepted. Just because your haven't closed the paperwork part doesn't mean the contract is not pending. Also because you made a unilateral mistake, doesn't void the contract either. If push came to shove, you would have to follow through. About the only thing that would save you, would be the statute of frauds but that's iffy at best.

Hope that makes sense.

Good luck.

Jen

Did you put anything in writing yet? Or was it just a brief discussion?
Especially if it's a good friend, I would get together with her and say "I feel absolutely terrible, but when I told hubby that I told you $2000 he said he had looked up the value of our car and it is $3500! I hope you can understand that we really need the money and cannot sell it for $1500 less than the blue book value of the car. Here, let me show you what the blue book value is...then move forward with "since I totally messed this up, I'd like to offer you the car for $2700 and I completely understand if you aren't interested anymore, but that is the best deal we can do knowing our car is really worth $3500. I hope you understand and can forgive me for speaking without thinking, but rent in NY is $2700 per month, so that would at least cover 1 month's rent!" But, before you do anything, please check your blue book values. Make sure you put in all the features and that it's private seller (not resale through a dealer) and that you've entered the condition of the car correctly (only a small few cars are really in excellent condition, the rest are good or fair, step back and really take a candid eye at your car and not a "I need the most for my car" look and see what the true value of the car is. If this is a good friend like you said, you should be able to be honest with her and she should realize that $2000 is not a fair price for that car.

Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn’t.

P.

I agree with the other posters - apologize and ask for more (but I wouldn't bother asking for the whole blue book value - you probably won't get it). You could always tell a little white lie and blame it on your husband (just make sure he's on board). I'd say something like "when we were talking, he mentioned $2000, so I thought that was the final number, but it turns out he was just talking, and now wants to list it for $3500, but I told him that since I had said $2000 to you that we had to give you first crack at $2700." She might be bummed (I would be!) but if this ruins your friendship, it might not be worth keeping anyway). Good luck!

Make sure you are looking at the value for a private party sale not a trade in..... usually private party sale prices would be higher so if the private party price is the higher amount, look at what the trade value would be.....it might be around 2K anyway so if your other option is to trde it in, just sell it to your friend.

I'm sure if she is your friend she will understand that the blue book value is what it is. Tell her you didn't really know what the car was worth and you're not sure why you said $2000 without researching it first. Then let her know that she still has first dibs on the car if she would like to buy it at low blue book for $2700 (or $3000 or whatever you feel you can get for it). But also let her know that she is in no way obligated to buy the car at the higher price. That way she has an out if she doesn't want it at the higher price.

I'd apologize for telling her the car would sell for only $2000. Let her know that after discussing with your husband and a bit of research you found the car was worth $3500 ($2700). Inform her that you understand if she is no longer interested in purchasing the vehicle but you wanted to be sure to give her the first opportunity to purchase it since you'd mentioned it to her first. and maybe even work out a payment option for the extra amount.
that's just my first thought. hopefully, she'll understand that you need the funds and you're not just trying to wiggle more money out of here. maybe say it with a offhand chuckle ( i don't know why i told you $2000).. I don't know..
i hope you can use some of this thought. sorry about the sticky spot.

I would tell her that you thought that was the amount but when you talked to husband and went online for bluebook you found it was worth more. if she is your friend she will understand you needing to sell it for what its worth and if not then she is not really your friend.

if you already sold it to her (i.e. she paid u the $2000 and the car is in her possession), chalk it up to experience and move on. however, if she hasn't paid you yet and you still have the car, it's not a real sale yet so go back to her and said you spoke without speaking to your husband, doing research, etc. and say you need at least an x amount of dollars for it. apologize profusely and say you feel like an idiot but you guys need the money. if you lose a friendship over this, like someone said it wasn't a real friendship.

I say be honest with here and explain the situation, if she is a good enough friend she should understand. I know I would, especially since you really need the money!

Or you could blame it on your hubby as long as he would go with it.

I would tell her the truth! When you were talking to your husband you MISUNDERSTOOD that he was going to sell it for $2000. That what he is really asking is ......... Apologize. Tell her it was YOUR mistake speaking up before talking it over with your husband (whose car it is!) Give her first chance at it at the price your husband wants. And forget about all this.

HOWEVER, if the truth is that you and your husband agreed on $2000, you sold it at that price AND THEN learned you could get more, suck it up and sell it for the $2000. Education isn't cheap!

I didn't read any of the other answers, but they probably checked the average selling price and knew it was a great deal and I think they are taking advantage of you.

I'm late with my answer, but if you have a nearby CarMax, they'll give you a quote on it - you're not obligated to sell it to them even after they give you a quote. We did this and used their quoted price to negotiate with a dealer on trading it in on a new one. This was several years ago, so they may not still operate this way, but it's worth looking into. Good luck with whatever decision you (AND your husband) make. :-)

I prefer to do everything in writing even and especially with friends so it is understood what everyone has agreed on. But you did it verbally. IMO, you can't go back and ask for more money. What if a dealer did that to their customers? It would hit the news and or online reviews, "do not do business with XXX".

At best the only way to clean this up is to let her know you need the money right away and can only hold that price for 3 days since the agreement and it is a cash deal, pay in full. Hopefully she doesn't have the cash laying around. As well, request if she chooses not to purchase the vehicle to let you know as soon as possible. You should make all communications at this point by email.

As for price. Many of the others are right. I am assuming you are getting your prices from the Kelly Blue Book. Beauregard you have entered everything correctly. Know that asking price is sometimes difficult to get. My daughter was selling her car for it's Kelly value and no one would respond. She had to lower the price and even then the guy showed up with $500 less than what she asked for. She wouldn't accept less at that point and he had to go into the store and take a cash advance on his credit card.

If you need cash right away, your friend may be the right customer.

I like to give people a chance to think things through before responding, especially when it's a major thing. $ is a very difficult issue for most people right now and should not be thrown away. I would forward her a copy of the estimates you found online, explain that you did not realize the value and really should not have made the decision without 1) estimates and 2) your husbands approval. Take into consideration a realistic "true" value, most people think their car is in "excellent" condition when reality is quite different as far a car standards go. Also by selling to a friend you have eliminated the hassle and cost of advertising, showing the car, etc. time is $ too. I would give her the information without making a request and see what she says. True friends want their friends to do well and would not want them to lose money; which applies to both sides here. Good Luck!!

I would tell your friend that after your conversation with her, that you had told your husband about it, then he went online and found out that HIS car is worth $3,500 and that he got upset with you. It is HIS car that you decided to sell. See if they would be willing to work with you on the cost. They just might, if you are honest with them. Maybe all of you can work out some kind of a deal where they can still get it from you and you won't be missing out on much. Good luck.....

I personally would not risk hurting a friendship over $700. I firmly believe that once a deal has been agreed on that is a verbal contract, and to back out because you now want more money is wrong, and somewhat immoral. I would chalk it up to a lesson learned, and remember in the future to do your research before you quote a price. I can not believe how many people are telling you to screw a friend and break an agreement over a few hundred dollars! Greed really does run deep in this nation.

If you need the money now, sell it to her for what you said. Online values are just a guide and generally car dealers go by The Black Book and not the many others we can look up. Look at all the cars for sale on Craigslist, do you think people are jumping up and handing them anywhere near what their car is worth? If you have time to try to find another buyer at a higher price, then go ahead and renig on what you said and take your chances messing with a lot of no-shows and tire kickers. But if you tell her you made a mistake because of not consulting your husband, then I would certainly let him handle the sale of the car. That way if it doesn't get sold, he can't blame you ;^) Actually now that I'm thinking about it longer, just let him decide what to do since it's his car.

I think you should tell her you spoke without consulting your husband about HIS car that HE needs to sell and HE decided that $2K is not a fair price. If you lose a friendship over something like this...it wasn't a real friendship in the first place. IJS Gook luck!

I would go to my friend, tell her that your husband had already offered the car to someone for 2500, ask her if she can beat that...and if she can't, it makes your husband look like the bad guy and you get to keep your friend.

OR (before I get bashed) you can simply tell her that you were wrong and that your husband says that it has to go for 2700 and you are sorry and that you hope she will forgive you for the oversight.

Good luck to you and yours.