Some people expect an explanation — but you don’t owe them one.
Aside from the actual process of buying one, the worst part about purchasing a car may be hearing from everyone afterward that you paid too much. Or that you didn’t get enough for your trade.
Or that you should have done it their way because you’d have gotten a better deal.
It was for me, at least until I learned not to engage in that conversation in the first place. And if I can’t avoid it, I just ignore it.
For one thing, I negotiate for a living. And given the size of my family, I’ve bought and sold way more cars than the average person. So while it’s possible that some random bystander could have squeezed out a significantly better deal, it’s highly unlikely.
Mostly it’s just bluster. You know how people are.
But more importantly, if I’m happy with the deal and decide to move forward, what difference does it make what someone else thinks?
There’s no need to explain.
It applies to real estate too. Just this week I got a call from someone an attorney friend had referred.
Her neighbor had proposed swapping some land that would reduce her road frontage and increase her back-yard depth.
On paper it sounded like a fair trade. But she worried the road frontage was worth more than what she’d get in return.
I told her that, in a vacuum, road frontage is usually more valuable. But there are always other considerations. And in her case the difference might be negligible.
Like my old professor said, the answer to almost any real-estate question is, “It depends.”
She didn’t have a sketch or map to show me, so I couldn’t give a definitive opinion. But assuming she wasn’t making a clearly bad trade, I told her this:
If you think your property is better off after the swap, do it. Don’t get paralyzed over a value difference that’s likely minimal.
And if you don’t want to explain to neighbors why you didn’t demand money as part of the deal, don’t.
It’s none of their business.
In life and in business, you don’t owe most people an explanation.
Your client, your wife, your boss—fine.
But you don’t owe strangers a PowerPoint about your pricing, your timing, or your strategy.
No matter what they say.
My experience is that whenever someone offers you facts you didn’t ask for, it’s pretty smart to ignore it as it’s usually wrong.
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