Craigs List Rant

skrol

This has been a bad week for me and Craigs List. I had one deal where I was selling a Marantz PM5004 and a pair of B&W DM601 that the guy was all set to buy and backed out at the last minute. That's ok, it happens.

The ones that really get me are the ones where I have every intention to buy and the guy sells it out from under me. Last week I found a Carver THM-35x. I had flat out told the guy I wanted to buy it if it all checked out. He agreed but said that he needed to hold it until this up-coming week so he could use it to demo other stuff he was selling. I agreed. Today the dude sends an email that he sold it.:mad:

This has happened repeatedly ... there is no honor on Craigs List.

sucks2beme

Cash talks. Hold nothing. End of story.
People are a pain and CL is all about people and
the way they operate. Get used to it.

boston1450

Ive had alot of good dealings on Clist. But there have been a couple of bad ones also....today i picked up a mint Technics TT & 50 record for 50.00 ive been trying for 4 days to pick it up. It happened & went smooth. Gotta take the bad with the good

Systems

CL is horrible, everyone wants something for nothing, end of story!:redface:
Pathetic to say the least!
Total waste of time selling on CL IMHO!

I have these for sale locally $225 for all 3 Stereophile "Class A".

Not a nibble!
For a month.......

NHT m6's, I am sure there will be plenty of people chime in here, but remember each weighs 40 pounds, with a box, ect.......50 piounds each!

So we are talking about 150 pounds shipped!:redface:

$125 shipping cost, OR MORE?:redface:

boston1450

That is a great price. COME ON NOW. Will you take 30.00 for them..hold them till next month. Gotta love Craigslist

F1nut

there is no honor on Craigs List

You just figured that out....LOL

I stopped wasting my time on there years ago.

nguyendot

I have some rules that save me from disappointment.

a) always have them meet me at work or somewhere real near home. That way I lose almost no time if they don't show up.
b) I don't wait for them if they are late.
c) cash only
d) if I am the one buying - I go right away and don't wait until after work etc. If they sell it - oh well....that's part of it you can't control.
e) always use google voice

Systems

boston1450 wrote: »

That is a great price. COME ON NOW. Will you take 30.00 for them..hold them till next month. Gotta love Craigslist

How about $20 down, and you pay the rest over the next 30 years?

I actually had someone ask me if the "dual 12" aluminum sub bases" (4 12" subs total for 2 ch. 6-12" aluminum subs for 3 channel) with 3- 1000 watt sub amps were included for $225 for the 3 speakers?:redface:

I swear!!!!:redface:

nguyendot

I'd take those NHT's off your hands if you were anywhere close to here. I'm starting to hate living here since everyone on the forums lives...elsewhere.

tonyb

Like everything you have to weed out the bad ads from the good. First thing I do is look at the neighborhood an item is for sale in. Next is if it's the original owner and not someone who picked an item up out of a junk pile and put some spit shine on it.

Here's an example of a recent find on Craigslist. My crappy Craftsman lawnmower bit the dust last week so I went shopping. New mowers, self propelled of any quality cost some coin. I could buy another craftsman for around 300 bones but decided to see what I could find on craigslist. Found a guy in a nice neighborhood, moving to California, Asian, with a 6 month old Honda. This is an 800 buck lawnmower at the stores, he wanted 300. Told him I'd be right over, and that's key to good deals on craigslist. Cash and quickness. When I got there, this mower looked like it had never been used, plastic still on the handles from packaging. Not even exhaust marks on the muffler. One pull, started right up, I handed the guy his 300 bones. While I was there, 2 others pulled up wanting to buy it. Cash, quickness and some weeding out of the morons, you can find awesome deals.

Polkie2009

tonyb wrote: »

Like everything you have to weed out the bad ads from the good. First thing I do is look at the neighborhood an item is for sale in. Next is if it's the original owner and not someone who picked an item up out of a junk pile and put some spit shine on it.

Here's an example of a recent find on Craigslist. My crappy Craftsman lawnmower bit the dust last week so I went shopping. New mowers, self propelled of any quality cost some coin. I could buy another craftsman for around 300 bones but decided to see what I could find on craigslist. Found a guy in a nice neighborhood, moving to California, Asian, with a 6 month old Honda. This is an 800 buck lawnmower at the stores, he wanted 300. Told him I'd be right over, and that's key to good deals on craigslist. Cash and quickness. When I got there, this mower looked like it had never been used, plastic still on the handles from packaging. Not even exhaust marks on the muffler. One pull, started right up, I handed the guy his 300 bones. While I was there, 2 others pulled up wanting to buy it. Cash, quickness and some weeding out of the morons, you can find awesome deals.

+!, good point tony, when it comes to CL, you snooze,you lose. Same thing goes for our CP flea market, there are some ridiculously great bargains over there from great CP members who you can rely on to help you. With a combination like that, it's hard to justify buying anywhere else for used equipment.

boston1450

tonyb wrote: »

Like everything you have to weed out the bad ads from the good. First thing I do is look at the neighborhood an item is for sale in. Next is if it's the original owner and not someone who picked an item up out of a junk pile and put some spit shine on it.

Here's an example of a recent find on Craigslist. My crappy Craftsman lawnmower bit the dust last week so I went shopping. New mowers, self propelled of any quality cost some coin. I could buy another craftsman for around 300 bones but decided to see what I could find on craigslist. Found a guy in a nice neighborhood, moving to California, Asian, with a 6 month old Honda. This is an 800 buck lawnmower at the stores, he wanted 300. Told him I'd be right over, and that's key to good deals on craigslist. Cash and quickness. When I got there, this mower looked like it had never been used, plastic still on the handles from packaging. Not even exhaust marks on the muffler. One pull, started right up, I handed the guy his 300 bones. While I was there, 2 others pulled up wanting to buy it. Cash, quickness and some weeding out of the morons, you can find awesome deals.

how did the others who showed up find out about mower. Did seller tell more than one person to come buy it ?

tonyb

boston1450 wrote: »

how did the others who showed up find out about mower. Did seller tell more than one person to come buy it ?

Don't know but would imagine so. He had no idea if I was going to show up or not. That's the thing too with craigslist, as a seller you get a lot of people who say they will be right over and never show up. Are you going to tell a few other buyers it's sold before the first guy shows up ? Of course not....first come gets the rewards. Having sold stuff on craigslist myself, this scenario happens more times than I care to admit.

The guy had some awesome deals too on brand new snow blowers....brand spankin new. More than half price. This was one of those corporate guys who moves every other year. Won't need a lawn mower or snow blower in California and he was looking to lighten the moving load. Funny....he told me in California nobody cuts their own lawn, and I believe him. I have a relative, has less than 100 sq. ft. of lawn and hires a lawn service. Whats up with that ?

boston1450

Wish theyd mow my lawn. It needs it too. Yes i hate the no shows. But i dont think id be telling to many people to come. Only to show up and its sold. But darn good deals for sure

heartystatue

Never sold anything on CL yet. Bought a couple things. I think knowing what part of the hood your going to is a must. I've had people tell me never go alone. I was alone both times just because of what part of the hood I was going to. Just my .02

Systems

nguyendot wrote: »

I'd take those NHT's off your hands if you were anywhere close to here. I'm starting to hate living here since everyone on the forums lives...elsewhere.

178 miles!:cheesygrin:

I have actually been working in OKC wiring houses!!:cheesygrin:

Haven't been there in 2 weeks, but was born and raised there, around Hefner!:biggrin:

112th street off May ave! "Quail Springs Mall" area, born and raised:cheesygrin:!!

Systems

pepster wrote: »

178 miles!:cheesygrin:

I have actually been working in OKC wiring houses!!:cheesygrin:

Haven't been there in 2 weeks, but was born and raised there, around Hefner!:biggrin:

112th street off May ave! "Quail Springs Mall" area, born and raised:cheesygrin:!!

My whole family still lives there.
With alot of family in Bethany, and Yukon/Edmond......

What a City!
OKC!

The most vibrant moving city I have ever seen, and I lived in California for about 10 Years!

Constantly on the move, Oklahoma City is bigger than Los Angeles area wise!

Take you ALONG! TIME! to cross from Midwest/Del City/Tinker/ through OKC/ to El Reno!\

Unreal!

Unless you have experienced such a LARGE CITY you have no idea how large I am talking about here!!!

Oklahoma City if FREAKING HUGE!

Take you 2 hours to cross it on the Interstate!!!:eek:

jim 249

I would much rather deal with CL than ebay any day. You got to be fast and have the coin with you. The problems come with the territory. Found my 2.3TL's on CL. Just found a pair of Speakerlab 7WA's for 100 bones. I watch that site like a hawk.

tonyb

jim 249 wrote: »

I would much rather deal with CL than ebay any day.

Agreed, at least you can touch and physically see the item and person selling it. Ebay your completely anonymous.

badchad

tonyb wrote: »

Cash, quickness and some weeding out of the morons, you can find awesome deals.

this.

I've found that CL is (usually) about speed. When I sell items, I'm completely honest with people and tell them that due to no-shows, first person that shows up with the cash gets it.

Same is true for buying. Nobody is going to hold an item until the weekend, next week, or whenever its convenient for most people to pick something up. Gotta be ready to move on an item the same day if you want it.

jim 249

Gotta be ready to move on an item the same day

Gotta be ready to move on an item the moment you read about, like right now.

nguyendot

pepster wrote: »

My whole family still lives there.
With alot of family in Bethany, and Yukon/Edmond......

What a City!
OKC!

The most vibrant moving city I have ever seen, and I lived in California for about 10 Years!

Constantly on the move, Oklahoma City is bigger than Los Angeles area wise!

Take you ALONG! TIME! to cross from Midwest/Del City/Tinker/ through OKC/ to El Reno!\

Unreal!

Unless you have experienced such a LARGE CITY you have no idea how large I am talking about here!!!

Oklahoma City if FREAKING HUGE!

Take you 2 hours to cross it on the Interstate!!!:eek:

I still own a house in Bethany still - the one I had the theater and full Klipsch Heritage setup.

I lived on 104th off Western - in the Village (Ghetto). Now we live in Edmond once again in a place I can have a theater. If you're down in the city some time, bring the NHTs and I'll take them off your hands.

zingo

sucks2beme wrote: »

Cash talks. Hold nothing. End of story.

That's it, and I can't blame somebody for selling out from under me if I can't pay cash right away.

nguyendot

Agreed. I just hate when I head there immediately or they stall you until someone else sells it. If I'm willing to go at a moments notice - don't make the same guarantee when I'm already en route. Hence, I make them meet me now. If not - oh well it's not worth it.

jeremymarcinko

Craigslist is for all sorts I buy/sell something there about once a month. I found good deals and have been ripped off. The good bad neighborhoods had nothing to do with it. Some guys are honest some are not regardless of where they live.

maximillian

Helped my dad sell his truck on CL (he doesn't have Internet access). It gave him more exposure than simply putting the vehicle on the lawn. Payment was done by both my dad and the buyer going to the buyer's bank, having the bank write a cashier's check with my dad present, and handing the check directly to my dad. Deal went smooth.

nguyendot

I've made a wicked amount of money on CL.....it has its ups and downs unfortunately.

boston1450

I hate Craigslist because i just gotta keep looking on it

sucks2beme

Dallas CL has been overrun with small time dealers.
They ignore posting rules, and run the same ads over and over.
If you have 10 items, and run 10 different ads repeating every
2 hours, it's flagging time. 90% of ads for cars for sale by owner
are small time dealers reselling auction cars. And too many of them
are crash rebuilds. I went out hunting for an older car for son #2 and
looked at ONE car that was a normal owner selling it. The rest were
either salvage titles or auction cars. And NONE of them will tell you
that they have a dealer license. Hint: search their phone number
on CL, if it has more than one hit- it's one of these guys.

GospelTruth

I'll admit, selling stuff there can be a pain in the butt sometimes. People want to try to bargain you down to nothing on items. Sometimes it takes me a few months to sell things there, but eventually they sell for the price I am asking. I don't command a high price for things, but it's always fair. I just realize that not everyone looking for a particular item is going to be looking for it the first week I put it out there. So rather than sell to someone initially for a big discount, I wait until someone who really wants that item contacts me. And yes, there are a lot of people who write and say "I'll come after work to take a look" and never show. I think that's why more often than not, if I have to sell something, I take the first person with cash on hand. I've had way to many people say they were coming and never did. However, I usually honor someone saying they are coming and if there are other parties interested I'll let them know they are next in line. All depends on what's selling and the number of responses.

Buying stuff goes the same way. I've gotten a lot of good deals on Craigslist as long as I contact the seller as soon as I read the ad. I've also lost out on a lot of stuff as well by not being quick on the trigger, but that's life. It's hard to judge how people will behave when buying and selling stuff so I try to go with the flow. I just got a nice Parasound 2250 amp on Craigslist. The seller had so many no shows and people trying to lower the price that he finally said he would sell it to me because I was willing to pay his asking price and it seemed like I genuinely wanted it. He lives in SF and I'm in Reno, so it would have been an 8 hour round trip for me to get it. "No worries" he tells me. "I'll just wait until we can meet up. I'd rather sell to you and wait than deal with the crap I'm getting here". So two months go by and I get a email. He's coming to Tahoe and he'll bring the amp. Just got it last weekend. Sometimes people will wait to deal with you. I'm glad he did.

It's a free service. You get what you pay for. Personally, I like the price of admission and I usually get to touch and see what's for sale before I buy. Add to the fact that I can buy large items like furniture or speakers with no shipping - you don't get that with eBay.

boston1450

Very true. Hope your enjoying your parasound now. Nicely said