Is craigslist getting un-usable?

hidesertwheelin

hidesertwheelin

Adventurist
I swear, for every deal I make, I get the run around from at least 10 people. I contacted someone yesterday about something for sale, and told him I would be in his neighborhood on Wednesday if he still had it. He offered up that if I was willing to pay his asking price, he would hold it for me. I said I would. I just texted him tonight and he said he sold it. That's fine, but don't offer to hold it for me if you aren't going to. It's getting to the point where it's almost a waste of time.
 
No the list is perfectly fine if you are ok with being lied to, conned, scammed, cheated and threatened. The fact that police departments are offering their parking lots for craigslist deals should tell you something. Lowest common denominator----
 
Similar issue when trying to purchase a small table top saw. Made the deal for just under asking price and said I'd be able to pick it up in two days. Same problem as noted above...he sold it to someone else and didn't have the courtesy to let me know until I called to say I'd be out that day to pick it up!

I've been procrastinating putting an electric lawn mower 1 year used and a similarly aged Stihl gas string trimmer up for sale. With artificial grass I don't have a need for either any longer. Procrastinating because I'm not looking forward to all the craigslist scammers. Will set price knowing full well I'll be low balled with offers.

All that being said, I did purchase a brand new tire for the trailer via craigslist and that went very well.
 
A guy I know on another forum has been quite successful at selling stuff on Craig's List. His tips:

Do a very complete ad with lots of pictures. Try to think of any possible questions and answer them in the ad.
Don't post a phone number, email only.
State clearly that the price is FIRM and not negotiable. (You can always re-post with a lower price later if it doesn't sell.)
He ends his ads with the following statements:
Your email must include your phone number or I won't reply.
If you ask me a question that is already answered in the ad, I will ignore you.
If you can see this ad, the item is still available
 
I've had good luck with it, but only used it a few times. Dani's mountain bike sold that way, to keep things safe I set the meeting place at a bike shop and arranged to have a full servicing for them...made things go nice and smooth.

I had an odd...good but odd one when I was shopping for a string trimmer. Found a good deal, but I had to take the blower and hedger too. When I went to pick them up the trimmer had been used maybe twice, blower and hedger were brand new (there was still oil from manufacturing on the blades). Crazy good deal at $40.


I still prefer setting up deals on forums. Craigslist is a little too anonymous, a forum shunning is serious business. :D
 
I pirise Craigslist a lot but have never bought and sold there.. I have heard too many bad stories. Most of the time I am looking for camping gear or knives or ammo.. Although after my last grab of a sweet selection of knives from this forums marketplace (thanks @Chazz Layne ) I won't need to look for knives for a while.

Sent from my LG-H810 using Tapatalk
 
The issue isn't Craig's List, the issue is "people." That said, there are good deals to be had on CL you just have to sort the wheat from the chaff. The above tips about price firm, dealing by email, meeting in public place if need be, etc are all smart tips.

That said, I'm lucky to live in a rural area with relatively low traffic on CL so most of the deals are legit. I can only imagine how bad it would be in a populated/urban area with a high traffic CL site.
 
Had the same experience when I was looking to purchase a road bike. We had a deal and I will be picking it up later that day because of work. Then found out later that night that he sold it. They can just be honest and say who ever shows up with the money gets it. Its a good thing because I found a much cheaper and nicer CF road bike the same day at craigslist too.
 
I sold my last rig on craigslist. It was the first and last time I will ever use it. Too much hassle, too much b.s. I had the same issues everyone else has mentioned. For me, time and effort are worth money too, craigslist costs too much of those.
 
We use CL all the time. It is how we bought my jeep and countless other items. You can tell a lot by the ad and then by talking to someone. We have done a lot of trading this way also. Contrary to most stories, we have been blessed to run into some really great people... often folks who are not well off and are appreciative of a good offer and polite interaction. It is remarkable to me how may good people are out there just trying to make it.

However - we never have someone come to our house when we are selling something, we always go together, one engages in conversation, one on watch, both armed.... it is what it is.
 
I've had mostly positive dealing on the list, but then I also scavenge Ebay a lot as well. Both require a bit of sort and wading and dealing with scum. On the other hand, I've met some stand up people too
 
I just sold the OEM Ram bumper on CL.

Seemed a little sketch. Met up in a neutral spot. I may or may not have brought a little friend.

He brought his brother. They were obviously sketched out as well and visibly paranoid about me, they were driving a new Ram without the OEM fogs.

A few laughs and 15 minutes later I was headed home. Seems I met just another regular guy trying to pimp his ride.

It's not all bad on CL. Just be smart.
 
Dave said:
I just sold the OEM Ram bumper on CL.

Seemed a little sketch. Met up in a neutral spot. I may or may not have brought a little friend.

He brought his brother. They were obviously sketched out as well and visibly paranoid about me, they were driving a new Ram without the OEM fogs.

A few laughs and 15 minutes later I was headed home. Seems I met just another regular guy trying to pimp his ride.

It's not all bad on CL. Just be smart.
Click to expand...
Who was on overwatch? :D
 
I've had people sell gear from under me, but most of the time people are honest. I picked up a Dell server two weeks ago from a guy, and things were fine. Girlfriend was in the Taco watching. Shes always carrying, but I dont have my license yet.
 
Just sold a Stihl string trimmer w/o any issue or drama. Now if I can sell the electric lawn mower too!
 
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:stir
 
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