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What did you pay for it?

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J

JHaydon

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No, not conducting a survey and I'm not asking you to tell me.

I'm asking how you handle it when a stranger asks you that question.

Do you take offense? Do you snap, "None of your business!"? Do you gently inform the curious soul that you wouldn't ask someone how much they paid for their house or how much they make an hour? Or do you just answer (honestly or not) in hopes that this person is simply trying to gauge whether they can afford to get into the hobby?

My father taught me that it's crass to ask; unfortunately, he didn't have any suggestions for how to respond either. Apparently the majority of the world won't hesitate to ask a total stranger what he paid for his car. It's usually one of the first three questions, right after "This yours?" and "What is it?"

I had always felt OK sidestepping with answers like "I got really lucky," "You can find them for between $xxxx and $xx,xxx," or "Less than I paid for my truck." But a young man attending his second-ever car show asked me on Saturday and I felt like a jerk trying to be coy about it. Certainly more of a jerk than anyone could have accused him of being. (My wife finally came to my rescue and joked, "It's not a good idea to ask a guy that in front of his wife.")

Am I being too old-fashioned?
 
If it's a hobby car, I tend to give an honest answer for the reason you suggested. Usually it seems to be someone maybe interested in joining the hobby and most of them really need to know. Now if I'm embarrassingly too deep into it I'll probably lie at least some. Other subjects I may not be so forthcoming. BTW, that was a very classy answer by your wife. Smart woman that.
 
Old fashioned? Not at all. Since I've reached curmudgeonhood, I've been a bit more... direct... with responses to inappropriate questions.

Not sure who it was - maybe Ann Landers - but a great response is something like, "Why would you want to know?"
 
My dad once turned to his car-show neighbor after speaking with someone and said "isn't it rude when they ask!" and the neighbor, commiserating, said, "yeah, you want to answer, 'how do you wipe your ***?' "

Not exactly the response I'd use...
 
Depends on the attitude of the questionee. Simple $3000 not running. Then if they ask what I have in it, might say $10K. If I have seen what they were driving, always cheaper than theirs.
 
"Dunno. Got a big stack of receipts but I never toted them up." More than that, I don't care if they are allowed to know. Price of our stuff is just something we're accultured to be tetchy about, but everybody knows what you paid for your new Dodge Ram and your I-phone, etc. Don't really see the harm, malice or bad etiquette.
Bob
 
I try my best to not get my dander up about what other people say. I also try to be direct and honest. So I'll answer as closely to the actual number as I can.
 
I usually don't get "What did you pay for your car?" I usually get "How much do these cost?" (We're talking Austin Healeys here.) My answer is "it depends on the condition and model. It varies from about 2,000 to over a million."
 
Answers I've used in the past:

"Before or after the bloodletting?"

"It's been so long, I've forgotten."

"Initially, or as you see it now?"

Depending on the cut of their jib, some have received similar answer as Brer Mick's curmudgeonly responses. Like: "What's it to ya?!?" :devilgrin:
 
I don't often get that question about my LBC's, but I get it all of the time when it comes to my 67 Corvette. I just tell them the truth, $3,400. I don't always mention the rest of the story about how that was 51 years ago.
 
I get the question a lot for Camera gear. "What did you pay for your R5?" I'll just tell them what I paid, but add that I got it when it first came out and y9u can probably find them for less now.
 
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