Selling used car parts through online classifieds is a real test of patience. You have to put up with grammatically questionable messages at two in the morning, offers to trade for broken electronics, and hagglers who demand an eighty percent discount before even saying hello. Yet sometimes, a buyer appears who seems absolutely serious, polite, and reliable at first glance. That’s exactly how my deal with Mr. Martin began.
I was parting out the well-preserved front end of a car that had been in a rear-axle accident. I had a complete set in grey metallic – the hood, both front fenders, and original xenon headlights in perfect condition with all mounts intact. I set the price for the whole set at a fair fourteen thousand crowns, which was well below the usual scrapyard prices. The ad had been up on Bazoš for barely two hours when my phone rang.
The voice on the other end sounded very professional. The man introduced himself, asked about the paint code and the condition of the mounts, and immediately said he would take the whole set without any haggling. There was just one complication: “Mr. Novak, I’m currently on a job in Germany and won’t be back until Friday in two weeks. I’m one hundred percent interested in these parts – I’ve been looking for this exact color for my car for half a year. Could I please ask you to hold them for me? On Friday, on my way back from the border, I’ll stop by your place at five in the afternoon with a van and cash in hand.”
I was used to fair dealing between men. He spoke politely, sounded determined, and emphasized that his word was his bond. I agreed. I didn’t delete the ad, but I added a big note: “RESERVED UNTIL THE 15TH OF THE MONTH.”
Over the next fourteen days, I received at least six serious offers on my phone. Three people were willing to come with cash that very evening, and one man from the neighboring district even offered fifteen thousand in cash if I loaded the parts up for him immediately. I replied to all of them in good conscience: “Sorry, the parts are firmly reserved for a gentleman to whom I gave my word. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll let you know.” I wanted to be fair and keep my promise.
On the agreed Friday, I took a half-day off work so I could carefully clean the parts in the garage, wrap the headlights in bubble wrap, and have everything ready for quick loading. By four in the afternoon, everything was prepared in the garage and I was waiting. At half past four, I sent a short SMS with the exact address and the gate code.
At five o’clock – exactly the time he was supposed to be in front of the house with his van – a message arrived. No apology for being late on the highway. The display read: “Hello, I won’t be taking the parts after all. Yesterday I found another guy from Poland on Facebook who sold them to me two thousand cheaper and with better paint, so I’m not coming today. Take care.”
I stared at the display, boiling with anger. For fourteen days, I blocked the parts for him, turned down six ready buyers, took a half-day of unpaid leave from work, and on the day and hour of the handover, the man cancels with a single sentence, without the slightest hint of shame or apology, as if he were canceling a bread roll order at the grocery store. I immediately dialed his number, but after the second ring he hung up and blocked me.
It was a huge and final lesson in online trading for me. Since then, I don’t hold reservations on classifieds sites for even two hours. The rule is relentless: whoever brings the money to the yard first, takes it. Any promises that “a man’s word is his bond” are absolutely worthless in the anonymous world of online marketplaces, and relying on human decency just means wasting your time and money.
