Thread: Down payment 50%?

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From a pure business point of view this scenario would give me the willies. A '32 3 window is going to be a quality body builders second or third most popular style. That means he shouldn't be too worried about you backing out because he'll have another customer come along in short order, especially if he's "so busy" that he can't start til December.

Without knowing who we're talking about it's hard to pass judgement, but requiring 50% up front tells me this is someone who's underfunded, unless he's just a hardnose guy. That means he's living on cash flow. In other words, your deposit could very well be spent for day to day operating costs (payroll, tax revenue, lights, water, rent, business taxes, etc, etc) before they even start working on your body. You could get lucky if enough people are in line behind you to keep his game going, but if you're unlucky enough to be one of the last couple in line for a while, he could be closing his doors very soon. And no contract you want will squeeze blood from a turnip. And think about this. There's a lot of panic out there right now about gasoline pricing. That means that all these type of suppliers have a very high likelihood of seeing a significant slow down in revenue. If this guy is on that cash flow game edge, your deposit is history.

Preferring to be an optimist overall, there could be some good bargains out there in a few months if the panic continues. It might be worth it to find one of this guy's dealers (if you're dead set on his body only) and see if any of them have one in stock. You might have some pretty good leverage, as these guys are reading the tea leaves too, even if they don't want to tip their hand. Or, if you like gambling, offer to put the money in escrow at a mutually agreeable institution. Run it like a custom house and authorize releases as he PROVES he's making progress. e.g. release for raw material purchase, release for 20% complete, etc. Personally, nobody's body (well, maybe Brookvilles) would be worth that much hassle to me, and a flakey won't do it for obvious reasons, while a successful operation won't want to mess with you.