Warning, craigslist rant!!!

I've posted about two dozen items on craigslist ranging from free to $500 in the last two weeks. I've driven 90 miles round trip to meet somebody over a pair of wheels that never showed, got offered stolen goods for my gokart, and just had to trash my garage to get my buried drafting table out to sell (for $10 whole dollars, natch) and the lady showed up in a Sebring. WTF!!?!?! I am soooooo sick of all of the flakes, time-wasters, tire-kickers, and general idiots!

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrgggh!!!

whew

Thanks!

Do as I do! ask if it will fit in there car,on there trailer and ask "are you bringing cash"I can rule out 90% of BS never meet someone,they will come to you if interested.But there was this one time a girl offered her self for a bicycle I had for sale.hehehehe.Glad she had cash.

I just had an ad for snow tires on CL. Someone texted, asking if I still had them, and when I replied affirmatively, they asked what's the lowest I would go. I was asking $300, so I replied with $250 (I'd take $200). He came back with "$150?" I didn't feel like bargaining with a lowballer, so "no, $250". Again, he lowballed "wouldn't take $175?" I had enough, so just said "no"

This happened after a different round of texting with someone that offered $200, but wanted me to deliver them. There's no snow on the ground, yet, so I'm not that hard up to still them.

I tried forever to sell my Konig Further wheels on CL. (Although those are atrocious.) My starting price was $800 for qty: 5, 18''x7.5''. I ended up at like, $350 or something like that. I had a lot of texts from weirdos. I also got emails from people and when i replied there were automated responses which didn't really coincide with my responses.

After over 6 months i finally got a guy who was a younger business type. He offered a lower price and i jumped on it-- i just wanted them gone.

I felt bad though, because i talked to a couple people on the phone but decided to give them the cold-shoulder after because they spoke bad english with a strong mexican accent and i was worried about being murdered, so i kind of tried to stick to white people. I know that's horrible but i'm kind of paranoid about meeting people from the internet when money and anonymity is involved.

Yeah, CL is generally a ghetto wasteland.

I've bought some bicycle stuff successfully, but in terms of selling, it's scams and flakes for the most part.

I don't think there are any real buyers on craigslist anymore.

I think it's just an evening of cheap entertainment for some loser with an e-mail address.

If it's too big to sell on eBay, I'd rather throw it out than deal with the bottom feeders on craigslist.

Shawn

Trans_Maro wrote: I'd rather throw it out than deal with the bottom feeders on craigslist. Shawn

This.

Probably why I have so much stuff around the house.

You guys really need to learn how to deal with people.

And this is why I've been hesitating for weeks to list whats left of my MX6 on CL. I might give it one shot next week and just settle for scrap money.

Zomby woof wrote: You guys really need to learn how to deal with people.

Most of the efficient ways to deal with them are illegal.

I recently bought the entire contents of a machine shop on Craigslist for $10k. The seller was liquidating the assets of a company she'd started with her late husband, and needed it all out, pronto.

I got in first, gave her a $500 deposit check which I stated was non-refundable in the event I decided I wanted out, and we agreed I'd have access for a full day to break it all down and palletize it for the riggers to move, and that I'd furnish teller's checks for the full amount once the riggers were there and the bay door was rolled up. It was back and forth - she's happy, she's not, she hasn't slept in god-knows-how-long...I tried to be patient and soothing. It was a screaming deal, and the lathe and mill had been the better part of $25k and were both like new.

A week-long white knuckle ride ensued involving a sudden demand for payment in cash - in a remote industrial park, in a crap town at dark:30 in the morning - which I declined. A wire transfer was mutually agreeable, but I wasn't willing to release funds before I had access w/ the riggers onsite. Also, the seller was not gifted at returning calls, emails or texts. Eventually, she called and asked me to "swear that the certified checks I'd pay with would cash" - which I immediately did.

I was given access the day before the move, and by 3 in the afternoon the following day, I was in my basement reassembling the lathe and mill and digging through the 5 pallets of tools and tooling in the garage.

It's as likely when I buy from CL that I'll beat someone down mercilessly as it is that I'll immediately pay their full asking price if it's fairly priced. I've paid higher than asking a few times when someone was way underpriced and a nice seller.

The majority of the problems are with 20 somethings and under.

Oh, and what's up with these kids "testing the waters" rather than just selling sh1t?

personally i dont take time to look for things on craigslist that are going to be a big time transaction like houses and higher priced items like ferraris or machine shops but I do look at cheap cars and stuff that is in a neighborhood I know because im not interrested in trying to find a trailer that will drive to nowhere to get a snoopy blimp or some weird thing thats just gonna be a headache so i just stay with stuff that i know is easy and stuff but i dont try to sell stuff because its easier if the only peopel in the transaction are me who i know and only 1 person i dont know like when ur buying insted of when your selling and its you who you know and a bunch of other crazies that you dont know so just buy stuff and dont sell it i think thats the best

Now I can't find the ad anymore but yesterday I saw a Kijiji post for a 300ZX with a "very minor" hole in the block. Um...

In reply to Jay:

That means a few minutes with JB Weld will have it back in perfect running order. Sellers always have problems that they claim could be fixed in about 5 minutes with about $10 worth of parts. It kind of makes you wonder why they don't go ahead and do it.

4cylndrfury wrote: personally i dont take time to look for things on craigslist that are going to be a big time transaction like houses and higher priced items like ferraris or machine shops but I do look at cheap cars and stuff that is in a neighborhood I know because im not interrested in trying to find a trailer that will drive to nowhere to get a snoopy blimp or some weird thing thats just gonna be a headache so i just stay with stuff that i know is easy and stuff but i dont try to sell stuff because its easier if the only peopel in the transaction are me who i know and only 1 person i dont know like when ur buying insted of when your selling and its you who you know and a bunch of other crazies that you dont know so just buy stuff and dont sell it i think thats the best

Holy E36 M3. Were you drunk when you wrote this?

In reply to motomoron:

The kids are hoping somebody will offer them $10k for their drifto 240.

I've had good luck with Craigslist, but I'm also patient and have never been selling something I've been desperate to be rid of.

In my (limited) experience, there are as many "flakey" sellers as there are buyers. I've tried to get 3 or 4 different people to sell me what sounds like a decent car (1st was a low mileage Integra, 2nd was a low mileage SE-R, and 3rd a low mileage Volvo GT) but when I e-mailed them (they don't specify that I must respond by phone) they either don't respond back (are people really THAT afraid of spam or identity theft?) or in the case of the Integra, I never got a phone number and even tho the seller said they still had the car.. she.never got back to me after first exchange of messages.

Have never tried to sell anything, but why do folks ask "how low will you go?" when what they mean is "tell me what you want for your ____ and I'm going to make an even lower offer"

One major rant I have with CL: delete your pucking ad when you sell your crap and you won't have to worry about folks bothering you with calls or e-mails. It takes just a few mouse clicks...can't be much easier..

Brett_Murphy wrote: In reply to motomoron: The kids are hoping somebody will offer them $10k for their drifto 240.

Sorry. I'm not giving you 2000 for a 240 that ran great before the motor blew.

RealMiniDriver wrote: I just had an ad for snow tires on CL. Someone texted, asking if I still had them, and when I replied affirmatively, they asked what's the lowest I would go. I was asking $300, so I replied with $250 (I'd take $200). He came back with "$150?" I didn't feel like bargaining with a lowballer, so "no, $250". Again, he lowballed "wouldn't take $175?" I had enough, so just said "no" This happened after a different round of texting with someone that offered $200, but wanted me to deliver them. There's no snow on the ground, yet, so I'm not that hard up to still them.

Uh, really? As Mike said, you guys need to learn how to deal with people. You said you'd take $200, when he counters with $150, you say $200. When he counters back with $175, you say $200 is final, it's a good price and I'm not in a hurry to sell. That would have been so hard?

Of course, you could be a woman, in which case your position would be completely understandable

WIn reply to HiTempguy:

When someone lowballs that far, I'm not interested in dicking around. If he would have come back with $200 or even $175, I would have been more negotiable.

Reminds me of the guy who bought a set of my old Mustang wheels.

We haggled back and forth, settled on a price (which was a SCREAMIN' deal for him), and when he showed up he tried to offer me $10 less than we agreed on. Seriously? You drove the hour here and then you're gonna try and save $10?

Otto Maddox wrote:

4cylndrfury wrote: personally i dont take time to look for things on craigslist that are going to be a big time transaction like houses and higher priced items like ferraris or machine shops but I do look at cheap cars and stuff that is in a neighborhood I know because im not interrested in trying to find a trailer that will drive to nowhere to get a snoopy blimp or some weird thing thats just gonna be a headache so i just stay with stuff that i know is easy and stuff but i dont try to sell stuff because its easier if the only peopel in the transaction are me who i know and only 1 person i dont know like when ur buying insted of when your selling and its you who you know and a bunch of other crazies that you dont know so just buy stuff and dont sell it i think thats the best

Holy E36 M3. Were you drunk when you wrote this?

Apparently, youve never read a craigslist ad...the lack of punctuation, capitalization, and general utilization of the rules of the English language was meant to be a cynical joke made about the majority of Craigslist ads I have ever read...ever.

In reply to N Sperlo:

Trade for 370z, then?

That's probably the next offer, then.

In reply to 4cylndrfury:

I'd say that was a long-ass sentence, but without capitalization, punctuation or a period it's just nearly incoherent word soup.

Yesterday, I bought a bike rack off Craigslist.

The seller and I had gone back and forth a few times over the past three weeks, trying to find a good time to meet. Finally, he brought it to me while I was at work. I happily paid his asking price. It was brand new and half the cost of a new one. Can't get much better than that.