Craigslist SUCKS!!!!!

[launderess]

Well, Yes

If payment was tendered and received, then things would be different. However in the above example up-thread poster stated that someone said they were going to send payment via USPS, but another person paid first via PayPal (or some such). In that case long as the former's payment is returned promptly, he doesn't have much to cry about, aside from not getting the item that is.

You do see in many eBay auctions, CL listings and such that sellers cleary state unless payment is received within "X" amount of time, item will be relisted and the deal is null and void, or first person who arrives with funds in hand takes the item. In each of those cases it is made clear what interested parties must do to complete the transaction.

Many people simply have wants larger than their money supply, and will try and get merchandise "held" while they either make up their minds, or try and scrouge up the funds. Meanwhile a seller could loose several serious customers wating around for the flakey person to get their act together.

What is the old line?

Money talks, BS walks.......

 

[polkanut]

Lee Jenkins,

The nasty email you received didn't by chance come from a fellow named Bob did it?

 

[perc-o-prince]

Of course, eBay is another matter, as you have won an auctio

It only counts if the "wronged" party pushes it. A friend won an auction with Buy It Now for an item at something like $19.99 + shipping. The item generally sells for $150 or so. Though the item was paid for immediately with PayPal, the seller refunded it, saying there was an error in the listing (obviously did some homework since the item sold so quickly). The "winner" didn't push it to the limit they could have, and lost.

Chuck

 

[speed_queen75]

to Polkanut

I don't know, it did not leave a name, only this so called return email, [email protected] and this is what it said
"Dear Asshole:

Having sold or given away over 45 items on Craigslist since 2001, I know
exactly why you have a buttplug up your butt as to why sellers won't sell
to you:

"i have sent all three sellers emails letting them know i was very
interested in buying their machines"

Next time, write that YOU WANT TO BUY THEIR MACHINE! Tell them you have
the cash and will BUY as soon as they get back to you, given them your
telephone number or ask for theirs with a promise to call and BUY. Being
"interested" is just another way of saying you are a flake. Also
email with
your real email address, not some ridiculous yahoo email address like the
one I had to use to send this message to you."

And the header of the email was

buying machines on craigslist.

Here is the header and the mail address

Gelding Services [email protected].

 

[launderess]

Get those sometimes as well, always simply chuck them into the "rubbish" file and not give them a second though.

IIRC, member email addys are easily found in the group profiles, so any "nut" can and often does find a way to bother us.

 

[rp2813]

So there is no way to block non-member access to user profiles? If there is and it's definitely a member who sent it to you, then he's a coward with a serious endowment issue.

 

[charger]

My partner made a deal for a dog on CL, the guy took the money then sent the money order BACK, said he had someone offer to take 2 dogs but one had to be the one he had sold to us...THEN a few days later he calls us back it seems that the deal with the other person blew up and he tried to get us back on the hook!!

I have found that you can get rid of things that you dont want for little or nuthing but other then that I see little value in CL too many FLAKES just as speed_queen75 noted.

 

[soapnsuds]

Two wrongs don't make a right..

I've bought and sold on CL before so I speak from some experience..Part of being a 'retailer' is putting up with people..don't show up, change their mind, whatever. They could have had an emergency to deal with. You never know. But still, a phone call to say you can't come or you've changed your mind would be nice. But it is not required. On the other side of the coin, to say "yes" to someone, make a deal to accept their deal/payment by mail or whatever and then to turn around and sell the item to someone else?! I'm sorry, that's just wrong. All that creates is and ugly cycle;

Buyer: "why show up? Their just going to sell it before I get there anyway"
Seller: "Why wait, their not going to show up anyway."
Bottom line; if you say you're going to do something, you do it.
If I was the guy who bought something, took time off work to go get a money order, which cost money, mail it off, which cost money...and then turn around and get it sent back to me because someone didn't keep THEIR commitment...I'd be pissed too.

Sorry, I don't mean to sound like an ass..but really, not showing up and making a deal then not honoring it, are both pretty lousy.

Happy Friday Everyone. Have a great day if you want to! -Laurent

 

[travis]

While I've had great experiences on CL, my worst experience is still etched in my mind.

There was a Maytag 806 set in Rockport, IL last year. I called the lady, told her I would come get them on Saturday, they're 5 hrs away. I asked her to take my number and she replied that it was on her ID.

I drove all the way up there to find out that she sold them the might before! It's bad enough to make that trip when you get something, but when you just took a 10 hour joy ride. I wanted to attack her.

CL is like any other means to buy and sell. It working well depends on communication and a certain amount of trust. Had a buyer offered to send me a money order and I accepted, I would've waited a few days before I worked with another buyer. That's only fair, since I verbally accepted payment was coming.

 

[whirlcool]

There are a great many flaky, strange people out there who don't get out much due to their socially unacceptable strange behavior. And 85% of these are on the internet! They do stupid things.

A friend of ours has a husband who delights in using Ebay. What he does is he looks for auctions with a lot of bidders. He puts in his own bids into those auctions. He has no intention of honoring his bid, he does it just to raise the price of the item. Then he'll snicker "Today I made somebody pay $1,000 more for a car than they would have without me, the seller should thank me!"

On my Dual-Reference Website, I got an e-mail from a character who is an alcohol counselor on an indian reservation in Arizona (or so he says). He sent me an e-mail telling me to watch out, that former President Clinton has ganged up with the gays to turn the men in this country gay through pop up adverts on the Internet. How in the hell do you answer that one? I just deleted it without comment and the guy kept writing me asking me what my opinion was on the subject! I told him I was not qualified to answer that concept. He then told me that he fell off his motorcycle and broke his neck so therefore he couldn't write to me anymore.

The examples are countless!

 

[jeffg]

Middle America seems to have no shortage of people who live in these tiny psychological boxes.. Gays, liberals, feminists, illegal aliens, terrorists, and on and on. The world must seem like one relentless threat to many of them.

But there may be a light at the end of this tunnel, e.g. during this campaign, Barack Obama has maintained a 10+% lead -- in Iowa.

 

[sudsmaster]

I've also had mixed luck on Craigslist.

I found that posting a good photo and description, and not making any false claims, can move something faster. Also, listing it for free always seems to work.

I found my '58 KA KD2P portable dishwasher on CL here a couple years ago. I lucked out on that one. The ad was already a month old when I sent an email. Turns out the seller forgot about the ad and then when he saw my email he responded after a few days. $50 for lovely classic, what a deal.

The thing to remember is that CL sellers are generally not pros, not even like eBay sellers, so they tend to just want to get rid of the stuff without a lot of hassle and waiting or holding customer hands. I've missed out on a number of "deals", esp freebies, on CL, by just being a few minutes late with my email, but then you get what you pay for. I've stopped browsing the washer/dishwasher ads because I'm full up with stuff and couldn't possibly squeeze another one in my work shop. I'll probably winnow down the collection soon enough anyway. Right now my main hobby has been getting the '67 Chevy van road-worthy.

 

[a440]

Craigslist is what the public makes it....

I have had very good luck on Craiglist for buying, selling, and just getting rid of junk for free.
It is totally the luck of the draw if you are looking for any collectible. All of the other stuff is like a scavenger hunt. Most of the items that I find are totally titled wrong and not even close to what the item really is.
When I was a kid growing up in New Orleans there was an AM radio station that had a program called "Swap Shop". It ran from 11 AM till 1 PM. My mom and I would listen to this program Monday - Friday for years! It truly made me the collector I am today. When I got my first portable cassette deck at the age of about 8 years old, my little brother and I would play "Swap Shop". I would be the announcer and he would be the caller. And we would switch. My mom kept all of those tapes. It is so much fun to listen to all of the different characters we created as kids.
So, Craigslist stirs me up a little while on the daily hunt.
I bet a live AM radio version would be fun these days. I think people would love it.
Brent

 

[polkanut]

Brent,

Merrill, WI which is 17 miles north of Wausau has an AM station that still does "Swap Shop". It's a riot listening to some of the people that call in, some of them call with the same items every week.