Favorite Stupid Craigslist Experiences

[Ken45101]

Years ago I called someone selling firewood by the truck load. A woman answered. I asked her how big of a load it was, she responded with "I don't know but the truck has a lot of gears." ?????????

 

[Ed of all trades]

We Had someone here selling the free Harbor Freight multimeter for $30. I got one for free and I think I paid to much. Anyone want a free multimeter? I'll sell it to you for $30.:laughing:

 

[mark02tj]

I have a question about the trolls. If you answer them, can they actually get to your email address or is it really protected by Craigslist?

They can only get the CL address unless you put your regular address in an email.

x2 on that, BUT.... if your email is set up as "Joe Smith", occasionally you'll see your name in the "from" as the emails go back and forth. Also, if you have a "signature" that automatically goes on your emails, that will go into the craigslist email. For that reason I've set up a Hotmail account that is anonymous with no identifiers in it. Just a first name. GMail, Yahoo, AOL all can serve the same purpose. If you really want to be careful, buy a MagicJack phone number that you only use for CL transactions.

I've had some good scores on CL. A couple of years ago I bought a Frontier RB2184 for $400. The paint wasn't even scratched on it. That poor guy was selling his 13 acre place to move into a suburb neighborhood so they'd be closer to his wife's new job. Personally, I would have gotten a new wife! :laughing: Picked up several other things on CL too - some good, some not so good. Any of the not-so-good has been my own fault for not really knowing what I was looking at. Shame on me for that!

 

[aczlan]

True. I have an email alias setup in Gmail that I use for Craigslist, it's something along the lines of email+craigslist@gmail.com.
That let me set it up to just have my first name in the "from" name and turn off my signature.
I also use a Google Voice phone number as it is set to only forward calls to me when I am likely to be awake (no 3AM "do you still have xxxxxx" calls that way).

Aaron Z

 

[Travelover]

We Had someone here selling the free Harbor Freight multimeter for $30. I got one for free and I think I paid to much. Anyone want a free multimeter? I'll sell it to you for $30.:laughing:

I get a kick out of the people selling Harbor Freight trailers for much more than new. Sure you have to bolt them together, but.........

 

[Garandman]

A guy arranged to look at a minivan we were selling. He wanted to come look at it in the afternoon so I took work off. He never showed.

I called up his wife, who mentioned that he worked at Woods Hole Oceanographic. Oh, I said, I know some people there, who does he work for? She told me, and I called up his boss and told him this guy was supposed to be coming up to look at a van in Boston and no-showed. That's not what he told his boss....

 

[weldingisfun]

Never offer anything for free on CL. We had a rooster we wanted rid of, so we offered it for "FREE". A woman called and asked if we would deliver it to her. Changed the ad and sold it later for $5.

Perhaps one of the reasons for the high prices on CL is the low ballers. I have dealt with quite a few of them, I always jack up my asking price so that I can get the price I really want.

 

[Country Geek]

True. I have an email alias setup in Gmail that I use for Craigslist, it's something along the lines of email+craigslist@[B][/B]gmail.com.
That let me set it up to just have my first name in the "from" name and turn off my signature.
I also use a Google Voice phone number as it is set to only forward calls to me when I am likely to be awake (no 3AM "do you still have xxxxxx" calls that way).

Aaron Z

This is the best advice. Burner gmail account + burner google voice number. Especially since all the craigslist deals I've successfully done over the last 2+ years have been exclusively conducted over text (using the Google Voice number). No calls or emails. That seems to be the most effective way to do business on CL these days.

Whenever I do that I get a few lowball texts that are easy to respond "no" to. Usually 1-2 of them then come back with a more reasonable offer, we go back and forth a few times, and then agree. Then the person comes and buys it. I've never had anyone back out at that point because I always advertise completely honestly, including the flaws. I've always ended up selling the item (including a car) to the first (and therefore only) person who made an appointment to come look at it, after the back-and-forth texts.

 

[farm boy00]

Perhaps one of the reasons for the high prices on CL is the low ballers. I have dealt with quite a few of them, I always jack up my asking price so that I can get the price I really want.

Yup that's the only way you can do it

 

[Ed of all trades]

We have sold a few things on Craigslist and everyone has had one person come and look and paid the asking price without a word except thank you Ed

 

[bdog]

I buy and sell a fair amount of things on Craigslist. My biggest peeve is people who email me asking if I still have the item and I reply yes and they never respond again. It is like they are conducting a survey or something.

Do you still have the lawnmower for sale?

Yes I still have it. Would you like to come see it?

No response.



I swear this happens at least once on every item I sell.

 

[FTG-05]

This is the best advice. Burner gmail account + burner google voice number. Especially since all the craigslist deals I've successfully done over the last 2+ years have been exclusively conducted over text (using the Google Voice number). No calls or emails. That seems to be the most effective way to do business on CL these days.

Whenever I do that I get a few lowball texts that are easy to respond "no" to. Usually 1-2 of them then come back with a more reasonable offer, we go back and forth a few times, and then agree. Then the person comes and buys it. I've never had anyone back out at that point because I always advertise completely honestly, including the flaws. I've always ended up selling the item (including a car) to the first (and therefore only) person who made an appointment to come look at it, after the back-and-forth texts.

I got a GV number the other day. It immediately forked up my phone, which wouldn't ring when my wife or so would call. Had to get rid of the number and even uninstall GV from my phone for it to start ringing again like it should.

If I start selling on CL, I'll just buy a 'by the minute" burner phone from Walmart.

 

[4570Man]

I have had pretty good luck on Craigslist. I have only sold two things. Both buyers were elderly gentleman. I helped them load, and they paid my asking price in cash. I bought a lathe of Craigslist last week. It was as advertised, but he failed to mention it weighed 850 pounds (I knew that), and it was in a shed about 150 feet back in the woods with no way to get a vehicle close. I see ads that are way too high all the time. Some are more than double what the tool cost new.

 

[Travelover]

........
Perhaps one of the reasons for the high prices on CL is the low ballers. I have dealt with quite a few of them, I always jack up my asking price so that I can get the price I really want.

People always expect a discount, so I jack up the price over what I want about 10% and then let then "bargain me down" to my price. A few just pay full asking price and I can live with that, too.

 

[aeblank]

I bought my tractor, front mount blower, LPGS, forks, and Grapple all on CL.
Drove from MI to CO to get the blower. I've always managed to develop some sort of mutual trust between me and the seller.

Need to sell a Boss plow/mount though, so that should be "fun" to be on the other side of the transaction.

 

[TomSeller]

Earlier I said I have always paid the asking price when I bought something off of CG, but now I recall one time that I did not. A guy was selling an old John Deere 524 rototiller for $75. I did not need it, but it said John Deere on it so I thought it would be cool to have. Before I drove there I asked in an email if it was running, was able to rototill and if I had any leaks, etc. I was assured it ran, worked the garden well and did not leak.

I get there and the guy can't start it. I see the carb screws are all the way in. I unscrew the screws and gas leaks all over. There is no oil in the gearbox. The belts are shot. I ask him why he told me it was in good working order and he swore it was operating yesterday. I told him I would give him $10 which he reluctantly agreed to. So I wheeled it over to my pickup and dropped the tailgate. I asked if he would mind lifting one side of it into my truck at which time he said he would not help someone who lowballs him. I told him that I haven't given him the $10 and won't unless he helps me. He did and I gave him the $10. So sometimes a low ball is in order, but not if the seller is honest.

 

[4570Man]

Everybody expects to negotiate the price, and prices the original price accordingly. I never offer to pay the full price. Everybody will come down some.

 

[sixdogs]

Everybody expects to negotiate the price, and prices the original price accordingly. I never offer to pay the full price. Everybody will come down some.

Actually, I rarely come down in price and can recall only one time when I did. When they try to low ball me I explain I have already had more interest than expected, if true, and that I could get back to them on price if it doesn't sell. The ones that are genuine buyers tend to buy right then while the tire kickers drift away. That's my take on it anyway.

Because I don't care if I sell an item or not, if a buyer wants it they will find few in better condition than what I own and likely none that have been better maintained. Very often I state firm (price) in the ad and that seems to keep most of the low ball people away.

When I am a buyer, however, I usually asked if they will take something less. Maybe if it's $250 I will ask if they will take $225. Almost everyone will.

 

[Beltman60]

this spring after getting my new zero turn I put my 1986 Ransomes front mounted mower on CL
I thought it being spring and I not needing much out of it (advertised $2000) that it would sell quickly
only got 1 call and no one even came out to look at it
did some research and found it was worth about 3-4k
relisted at the beginning on June for $3600 with the same pictures and ad
1st evening guy calls comes out tries it out and buys it for the $3600 if I deliver it about 20 min away
figure I would leave the ad up until I would deliver it 2 days later as I didn't want to loose any potential buyers if the deal fell through
got 7 other calls and emails for that thing when I couldn't get anyone interested in it when I was try to darn near give it away :mur:

 

[Garandman]

I was selling a BMW airhead [motorcycle] and I had three people en route with their cell #'s in case the first buyer fell through, and four others on call behind them.

The first guy made an offer $200 less than asking and I started dialing #2. He took the deal.....