Craigslist Question - legit or not?

AsSiMiLaTeD

I've heard some bad things about dealing with people on Craigslist so wanted to get some input from you guys.

I decided to list my Samsung Captivate on Craigslist since I didn't get any bites here and don't want to bother with eBay.

About an hour after I listed it I got an email asking if it was still available and replied saying 'Yes'. Shortly thereafter, I get the following email from the guy

Thanks for your response, i'll offer you $350 including the shipping cost but that's if the item is still in good condition because am not local and am also paying you via PayPal payment, i'll be glad if you take my offer and get back to me with money request of $350 and as soon a i get your money request from PayPal, i'll transfer the money into your PayPal account immediately...

Best Regards

Are there risks involved with selling it to this guy if I'm using Paypal? I was hoping to sell it locally, but am open to shipping it if its safe. I'm just not sure what the rules are with Paypal and if I'd be safe or not.

Thoughts?

Theheadsn

I personally HATE paypal. Had some really bad dealings with them in the past and they tried to freeze my bank account over some not to legit reasons. I try to avoid using them as much as possible.

As far as the response. Hit him back up for his email and home address, and check it out. If hes serious and willing to drop 350 bones he wont have a problem giving it out. I myself have sold a lot of things on craigslist, but Im in southern california, and know the area really well. Also used to scams online so Im able to keep a keen eye out for people being shady.

Dont feel like you have to sell anything right away, take your time, and do you homework. Dont write off ebay right away either. As long as you put a reserve and a good description of the item youll have all your bases covered.

AsSiMiLaTeD

Nevermind, the guy wants me to ship overseas, so that ain't gonna happen.

Its crazy how hard it is to sell something and how paranoid you have to be in order to not get screwed over.

billbillw

EDIT: I guess you already decided.

shawn474

I wouldn't ever ship when dealing with Craigslist. It smells fishy to me and personally wouldn't be surprised if he paid you, received the item and filed for a chargeback from Paypal for a scratch or something. That may be the skeptic in me, but when dealing on Craigslist, I only do face to face transactions.

Shawn

w_coyote

Personaly I would not make the sell. Craigslist is for local sale-face to face-cash and carry. I don't deal with paypal so I don't know the rules but seems like you would have to give them you account info. At the very least I would give paypal a call to make sure you are protected. Everything could be legit but with that response just sounds fishy.

treitz3

AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »

Nevermind, the guy wants me to ship overseas, so that ain't gonna happen.

You a pretty smarts fella.

:biggrin:

Let me guess, Nigeria?

AsSiMiLaTeD

Actually he didn't say, just said a 'colleague' was on vacation overseas and I would be shipping to him.

Seriously, I should just be able to go through life and conduct business online without having to worry about getting screwed over.

I hate bad people.

Fireman32

In all my ads I say local pickup only and Cash only. I also see people ask to include phone number with response or place something specific in the subject line to try to weed out the spammers.

thesurfer

Yeah, ive sold there,,, always include my #, in my mind,, if they dont call,, there just trolling,,,,happens all the time,,

Theheadsn

Theres nothing wrong with shipping from craigslist, its just meant to be more of a local thing then anything else. If the buying is willing to send you a moneyorder or a check, and wait for you to cash the funds then yea theres nothing wrong with shipping it. Just dont be a fool and send anything out before you have cash in hand

treitz3

AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »

Actually he didn't say, just said a 'colleague' was on vacation overseas and I would be shipping to him.

Jeeeezze, man. I guess there are enough donkeys in America that fall for this s@#t that they actually make the time to do this for profit. Sad.

I guess there's some truth to the ol' saying that "there's a sucker born every minute" for them to keep up with this kind of stuff everyday.

cokewithvanilla

One paypal scam that I hadn't thought of until someone tried it on me is really simple. Be local, meet the guy for the item, pay him using paypal. The transaction looks legit, cause, hey, you've met the guy... however, you then have no protection with paypal, and the guy can simply request his money back saying he never got the item...

nguyendot

If they don't list, or give a phone number, generally it's a scam.

Polkersince85

Tell them to meet you down at the nearest Police/Sheriff substation for the swap. That will weed out the riff-raft.

Putting your phone number in the ad is like telling someone you have these expensive items for sale and this is where they are located. Use the CL e-mail and have them provide you with their number. You are in control then.

RuSsMaN

I've shipped from CL a few times, but only with a money order or check after it clears. Forget paypal. I only use it between friends, or here on CP. I don't even do paypal on audiogon or stereolist anymore. I've stopped selling on ebay because they now force you to use it (or another form of online payment)

Agreed, never a phone number in the listing.

sucks2beme

90% of the time requests to ship on CL is a scam coming your way.
It's bad enough face to face most of the time.

RuSsMaN

I saw a 1994 Corvette (local) for $2K in mint condition the other day (yeah right, the old saying if it SEEMS....), no phone, sent an email - yadda yadda, divorce, she has the car, she is with daughter who is in the hospital, will only accept paypal, but will include delivery to my address.

WHATEVER.

Tony M

sucks2beme wrote: »

90% of the time requests to ship on CL is a scam coming your way.
It's bad enough face to face most of the time.

Yep, 90% of shipping requests are spammers.

I have shipped alot but I have always and I mean always heard a voice over the phone first. Then they pay after some corespondences.

I've even shipped before I received payment. It was going so far, I could've stopped delivery easily. He owned a wine and cigar store and after a little research, it was proven he did, and the speakers were even shipped to his store.( no brainer that he was ligit )

Now this has only been with audio gear.

I don't know about phone sales.

Tony M

nguyendot wrote: »

If they don't list, or give a phone number, generally it's a scam.

yep. I won't even sell to a texter...lol

newrival

I guess I just havent been burnt like some of you. The scams usually present themselves like you've all mentioned, but I don't know why people don't like paypal. I love it. It adds a lot of security to a purchase. I response to a comment above, a buyer cant just request a refund and get the money ad keep the item. The person demanding the refund has to prove that something wrong has happened, then they have to have of of shipment of the item back, and only upon the shipper's notificaion of delievery, do the issue the refund. pretty secure setup.

Tony M

newrival wrote: »

I guess I just havent been burnt like some of you. The scams usually present themselves like you've all mentioned, but I don't know why people don't like paypal. I love it. It adds a lot of security to a purchase. I response to a comment above, a buyer cant just request a refund and get the money ad keep the item. The person demanding the refund has to prove that something wrong has happened, then they have to have of of shipment of the item back, and only upon the shipper's notificaion of delievery, do the issue the refund. pretty secure setup.

I love paypal too.

I met a guy who sold an amp.700.00. he shipped it.
The man said it wasn't what he saw in the pics of an ad. He sent it back after getting a refund.
What he sent back was a piece of crap BUT was the exact model of amp he bought. He won his battle with paypal because the item returned weighed the same.
The guy I met, lost 700.00 mint cond. amp.

He only deals in person now.

Systems

CL is a total scam.
I have listed several things and everytime I was offered a scam.
I do not sell there anymore.
Could not begin to tell you the amount of emails I received saying:

I will overpay you if you will hold it for me.
I will send a money order and have my people pick it up in a week or so.
All I need from you is:
Your first and last name
Your address
Your phone #
Ect. ect.....

I think there are rooms set up in small suites in some strip mall, and all they do it try to gain personal info from the most people they can.
CL is a great idea, but never works in practice IMHO.

cokewithvanilla

Here's the thing, you're dealing with people. All the people, good and bad... cause its free. You will run into the problems that you'd expect to run into with people... but just because you get scam offers, doesn't mean it doesn't work. Maybe no one wanted what you were selling. I think a lot of the scam stuff is automated ("I will pay you x for YOUR ITEM").

I've had good experiences on craigslist... I've gotten some good deals, and I've sold some things that would have cost me more to sell on ebay. Hey, I met this guy who let me test out his preamp and speakers for a week before I decided to buy them... its not all bad

Systems

cokewithvanilla wrote: »

Here's the thing, you're dealing with people. All the people, good and bad... cause its free. You will run into the problems that you'd expect to run into with people... but just because you get scam offers, doesn't mean it doesn't work. Maybe no one wanted what you were selling. I think a lot of the scam stuff is automated ("I will pay you x for YOUR ITEM").

I've had good experiences on craigslist... I've gotten some good deals, and I've sold some things that would have cost me more to sell on ebay. Hey, I met this guy who let me test out his preamp and speakers for a week before I decided to buy them... its not all bad

Agreed,
It seems there are more scams when buying/selling vehicles/parts.
Good money in those '80 model Toyota 4wd parts!:eek:
Everytime I dealt with vehicle related items or vehicles, the more the scammers burned up my email link.

Saw a pair of mint RT7's about 6 months ago $75/pr. locally, but really was not in the market at that time.
Wish I knew then, what I know now!:biggrin:

love2listen

I will probably be listing some of my H/T gear on Craigslist..so besides not posting a phone # in the add, is there anything else I should do or avoid?

Tony M

I list my cell phone #.

If they don't call it, they don't get directions to my house. I also hear how serious they are and their age by their voice and tone of conversation.

How else eccept typing skills will you be able to tell?

I've bought stuff in parking lots and sold one item in a parking lot(because she demanded that I meet her to sell her my chess set there) .The parking lots were close by so no problem.

jcandy

CL is very useful and has its place, but the basic rule-of-thumb for CL is FACE-TO-FACE only. There are loads of CL scams. Ebay is the appropriate way to buy something if you are not local.

On the other hand, there are lots of people who try to scam the scammers.

Tony M

jcandy wrote: »

CL is very useful and has its place, but the basic rule-of-thumb for CL is FACE-TO-FACE only. There are loads of CL scams. Ebay is the appropriate way to buy something if you are not local.

On the other hand, there are lots of people who try to scam the scammers.

You got it.

CL=Local.........but can be like Ebay if your careful.

Ebay=Distance involved...but can be local if your lucky.

Toolfan66

Thats a scam!!!! Avoid any emails like that one. I email them back telling them I just reported it..

decal

I was just killing time and found this thread and had to add my experience. A couple of years ago I had a listing on my local CL for some equipment and a gentleman contacted me to see if it was still available. When I answered yes to his question he sent the following(names and numbers omitted by me) .............


Re: Adcom PreAmp/PowerAmp Combo - $300 (XXXXXX,FL)
Friday, June 26, 2009 3:03 AM
From:
"XXXXXXXXXX@sify.com>
Add sender to Contacts
To:
"XXXXXXXXXX" <XXXXXXX@XXXXXX.net>
Thank you very much for your swift response and for telling me the
item is still available.I am satisfied with the conditions has you
have stated in the ad.
I have a schedule already,for i need to attend an important seminar in
Iowa so i wont be able to come to check it at your place.Since i am ok
with the condition,i will be sending you a certified check that will
cover the amount of the item and the moving funds.You are to take your
money for the item from the check after cleared in your bank within
2-3 days and have the rest sent to the mover via western union money
transfer or money gram.For your inconvenience,i will add $100 with the
payment to be your running
around fee.I'm always a busy man and i will not like to miss this
item.The information of the mover will be sent to you after the check is
received and he will be at your location for the pick up with a signed
note explaining that he will be assuming responsibility for the
property on my behalf.
Kindly get back to me with the following information for issuing of
the payment........
NAME:
ADDRESS :
CITY:
ZIP CODE:
PHONE NUMBER:

Have a Great Day


I particularly like the part where he was going to send $100.00 for my running around fee !!!!! The sad part of this whole thing is, someone will eventually fall for his scam.