I think that the point here is that the unit is not her's to sell. She saw the add or found out about it and approached me to make an easy 5k or more.
Guys and ladies, I am all for making a buck, however, she should have approached the owner of the rig and made a financial agreement with him that she would make the 5k if she brought someone over to buy it.
Look it ... its like when I bought my 2nd home. I went through a real estate agent. She found the home before it went on the market. She did not raise the price so that she could make extra money on it. The house was not even on the market yet, but she found it and the sales price was already to be announced the next day. The next day I made the offer for 35,000 below market price. She did not raise her commission up 35k. No, instead she got her 3% of the final sales price from the seller of the home.
When I give 10% to anyone who gets us a garage at .24 a ft, I do not raise the price to the client because I have to pay a commission. Their commission comes from the sale and is not added onto the agreed .24 price. It is already included.
If Cathy wanted to make a buck, that’s fine. That is not the issue here; instead it’s the approach that’s in questioned.
However, this could be that Cathy had an agreement already. That if she was to help sell the unit for 70k, that she was to get a cut from that, but then the seller decided to advertise it for less. If this is the case, then it needs to be known for Cathy’s sake.
Lesson learned; don’t try to make a buck off someone else’s equipment. If that’s the case, buy it at a reasonable price, keep it for a while, and then sell high. It’s cleaner for everyone concerned.