Craigslist, I give up

zarrdoss

I am pulling all my adds on CL as I am so sick of the retards offering me half of a ridiculously low asking price, especially when it states FIRM. Or saying they're interested and can come look at in in two weeks. I really try and work with people but WTF???? If I cannot even make a offer that is close to a fair asking price I do not even show an interest, and If I cannot come look for a week or so I do not respond until it gets within a day or so. And when it sells I remove my add then and there, I don't wait for it to expire because I'm too lazy to remove it myself.
Any of these problems plaguing any other forum members? I guess I will wait until this rebounds and people are not such tight a**es.
I apologize for the rant, you may now continue with your regularly scheduled day.

leroyjr1

I get it all the time but I usually don't even bother responding back.

Ender

I've had decent success on craigslist. But there is alot of hit and miss going on as well...

John30_30

Just put part of that rant in your ad upfront. Folks here do, and don't think twice. Also snide putdowns of overseas/Nigerian scammers go over well.

My daughter plays Craigslist so well, she could write ads for people. Her inlawfolks are just gape-jawed in awe.

Kex

I've never sold on craigslist, only bought (sigh ... will I ever have any money?!). I don't low ball. If the price seems unfair and I'm interested, I respond politely, express my interest, and explain my reasoning regarding the price I am willing to pay. I've never once had a seller react as though I was rude or unreasonable. I've actually met a couple of really nice people on craigslist, but I've probably just got lucky, and I've used it less than a half dozen times altogether anyway, so I'm far from ready to write a book on how it's done!

Sorry you're feeling frustrated. I think you should go and enjoy a few glasses of nice wine tonight and chill with somebody nice and some music (or a good movie).

nguyendot

I love craigslist. I have sold and bought probably $10,000 worth of stuff this year. It's like a hobby, and as long as the money is cyclical, it's all good! I'm afraid of the day that cycle dries up.

tcrossma

A very large majority of ads on Craigslist have inflated prices to begin with, so I think people are used to offering a low percentage of that as a starting point. If you are going to use Craigslist, just go with the flow and act accordingly. Post your items higher than you think you should, and play the game.

bklynNupe

OK, I couldn't help myself.
This little punk tried to low-ball me on my Rtia5's I just sold yesterday.
I was asking 400 and he tried to offer me 250, obviously not knowing anything about what he was attempting to buy.
Luckily, a young Audiophile came by and was glad to take the a5's off of me for 375. The lowball offer is at the bottom of this post.

---

Forwarded message

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From: Brad <brad.#####xxxxxxxx@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Jun 18, 2009 at 11:30 AM
Subject: Re:
To: Marcelo <marcelozepfan@gmail.com>


Marcelo:
Try not to be an idiot and read. I have a guy that is coming to get them today. He offered a little less, and I accepted because i'm reasonable. You don't low-ball folks, it's doesn't show a lot of class. The wrong person would set you up give you an **** whipping and take your little 250. Where I'm from, trust me when I say you wouldn't make it out of the neighborhood.
I would rather give them to someone that could not afford to buy them.
I suggest you try Canal street or maybe Best Buy, your little money will go along way towards buy some really big speakers so you can rock the house like you always wanted to. Good luck.

B

On Thu, Jun 18, 2009 at 8:39 AM, Marcelo <marcelozepfan@gmail.com> wrote:
** CRAIGSLIST ADVISORY --- AVOID SCAMS BY DEALING LOCALLY
** Avoid: wiring money, cross-border deals, work-at-home
** Beware: cashier checks, money orders, escrow, shipping
** More Info: http://www.craigslist.org/about/scams.html


Woul d you take 250 for the speakers? if you do email me i'll pick up.thanks

this message was remailed to you via: sale-anvpe-1223746044@craigslist.org

dkmuch

Fair asking price is what the market will bear. You want liquidity, you have to bear the price of liquidity. If you want to wait for someone who wants a specific item at any cost, that will take time or luck.

zarrdoss

Yeah I know what everyone means, It was going rather well but here recently if your not "giving it away" people are just not interested besides the low ballers. And they do this because they know how desperate some people are right now trying to feed their family's, Those vulchers!
I am not in a position to have to sell anything at this time so to hell with them, what comes around goes around I guess.

bklynNupe

I have no problem with a fair market. I just think there is simply a lack of "community" that was once commonly experienced on Craig's List. I remember a time not too long ago that folks would warn one another on CL about scammers, now you have to sort through the scammers to do fair business. I know that it is just a reflection of how large and popular the site has become. In the end, it's just a larger and more accurate sampling of the larger population. Having said this, I continue to sell/purchase plenty of things on CL with great satisfaction. After all, I did find a good home for my a5's yesterday and recouped a little bread towards my upgrade.

gtu2004

believe it or not i've met a guy who sold his pair of mint Rti A5s for $220. i had a chance to buy them too, but since his asking price was $400, which was more than what i could afford, i decided not to low ball. I thought $300 would be too low to offer to him. I was in deep pain after he told me he sold them for $220. I did buy a Csi5 from him though, but no where near as slick a deal as the RTiA5s.

Airplay355

There are some idiots out there, just ignore them. I put up an ad looking for a room mate that stated I wanted a college student only and the condo was available from Sept until June. I get an e-mail from a 45 yr old guy looking for a place to live from July until August. Ugh.

vlam

The best way to deal with these types of responses on CL listing is to ignore them. Half the listing on there are bogus so expect the same in term of responses when you post.

bklynNupe

gtu2004 wrote: »

believe it or not i've met a guy who sold his pair of mint Rti A5s for $220. i had a chance to buy them too, but since his asking price was $400, which was more than what i could afford, i decided not to low ball. I thought $300 would be too low to offer to him. I was in deep pain after he told me he sold them for $220. I did buy a Csi5 from him though, but no where near as slick a deal as the RTiA5s.

I believe it.
However, if I've done the research and I see a person selling something with in range of the the going price, nothing is wrong with asking for a better price. I do it all of the time. The kid who purchased mine gave me the "struggling student" line, and I told him I was also a struggling student. I asked for 400, he countered with 350, we agreed at 375. Unless the seller tells me " how much do you want to pay?" I just wouldn't think to counter with an almost 50% reduction. The exception is bidding on travel with Priceline.:D

sucks2beme

Half of CL buyers are there looking for EBAY fodder. Buy low and sell high.
Get used to it.

dkmuch

Don't forget this successful 'low ball' documented here:
http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84637

ohskigod

I used to have that problem with audiogon. I used to ignore the low bidders, it was the ones that would email me and say

"what is the lowest price you will take?"

Like apparently i was not even worthy of lowball figures.....I was just to do the job of giving him the lowest price myself. I used to email them back 50-100 bucks higher than the asking price. eff them

Poee7R

ohskigod wrote: »

I used to email them back 50-100 bucks higher than the asking price. eff them

Haha Ive never thought about doing that, which from now on will be my regular response to lowball offers, Thanks.


Dave

Kex

^^^^ Me too! ^^^^ That was a perfect response, ohskigod!

danger boy

zarrdoss wrote: »

I am pulling all my adds on CL as I am so sick of the retards offering me half of a ridiculously low asking price, especially when it states FIRM. Or saying they're interested and can come look at in in two weeks. I really try and work with people but WTF???? If I cannot even make a offer that is close to a fair asking price I do not even show an interest, and If I cannot come look for a week or so I do not respond until it gets within a day or so. And when it sells I remove my add then and there, I don't wait for it to expire because I'm too lazy to remove it myself.
Any of these problems plaguing any other forum members? I guess I will wait until this rebounds and people are not such tight a**es.
I apologize for the rant, you may now continue with your regularly scheduled day.

the next time someone low balls you... ask them if they would sell you their car for $10 maybe then they'll get the point.

I hate most craiglisters.. some have been cool though. few and far between