D@mn Craigslist

[KC9KAS 4,741]

Actually the people on Craigslist....

Wife's brother texted her about a C-175 with deck and snow plow for sale about 45 miles from us. Checked it out on Craigslist.

It was listed for less than 2 hours when I called. I told the seller I was very interested in the tractor, as it was listed for $175. The lady female person said she would hold it until I got there.

I drove 80MPH (interstate almost all the way) to her house. When I got there another fellow said, "I just bought that"!

I looked at the lady female person and said, "you told me on the phone 45 minutes ago you would hold it for me", and she just shrugged her shoulders!

 

I have never treated anyone like that on a deal, and I hope none of the other fine Wheel Horse lovers have done that either.

Oh well, I also missed out on a cheap pop-up today too....Better stay home the rest of the weekend!

[JAinVA 4,619]

I have yet to have that happen on Craigs list .I know several people who have had the same happen to them.The seller has no idea who they are dealing with or how you will react to that kinda crap.If your word can't be trusted then neither can you.JMHO,JAinVA

[russellmc301 600]

you can trust a man as much as his first word.

[Retired Sparky 526]

                                       ( you can trust a man as much as his first word. )    Well she wasn't a man, and wasn't much of a female person either.

 

                                                 It's not much of a benefit, but it least you knocked the cob webs out of the family truck.

                                             And you were dam lucky, the Indiana State Police are not a fun lovin' bunch when it comes to speeders.

Edited April 10, 2016 by Retired Sparky

[slammer302 2,154]

That is one of the down falls of shopping CL. I had a similar thing happen to me as i started off on a 3hr trip to get a WH good thing the person i was dealing with was greedy and called to see if i wanted to offer more $$$$ than the other guy. I told him i wasn't interested anymore and turned around and went home.   

[JPWH 5,308]

I had an adventure with a CL user when I got my 854 with mower deck and wheel horse lawn sweeper. The ad said make offer so I emailed him to let know I was interested. He emailed his phone number so I called and made a deal for 100. He said he had 2 other people coming to look at it so It was first with money in hand and he would remove listing if sold. Fair enough. Still listed that Friday so I called to make arrangements and he would not answer. I went back to ad to email him and the listing was for 150. He still would not respond to me so I had a co-worker email him and had a reply in less than 15 minutes. Set up a meeting time and I used my company cell phone number to call  him.

Met that Saturday and he said about 5 people had looked at it but it needed too much work for them to tackle.  So I made an offer for 100. and he even loaded it in my pick-up for me. 

[JimD 3,345]

1 hour ago, JPWH said:

I had an adventure with a CL user when I got my 854 with mower deck and wheel horse lawn sweeper. The ad said make offer so I emailed him to let know I was interested. He emailed his phone number so I called and made a deal for 100. He said he had 2 other people coming to look at it so It was first with money in hand and he would remove listing if sold. Fair enough. Still listed that Friday so I called to make arrangements and he would not answer. I went back to ad to email him and the listing was for 150. He still would not respond to me so I had a co-worker email him and had a reply in less than 15 minutes. Set up a meeting time and I used my company cell phone number to call  him.

Met that Saturday and he said about 5 people had looked at it but it needed too much work for them to tackle.  So I made an offer for 100. and he even loaded it in my pick-up for me. 

Well good for you. You scammed him right back and he deserved it. But that's when you should have low balled him to 80 bucks, he might have taken it. LOL!

Edited April 10, 2016 by JimD

[JC 1965 1,528]

I don't even look at Craig's list anymore because of all the horror stories I've heard.      

[oldredrider 2,547]

Bad deals from Craigslist can leave deep scars. Maybe I'm lucky to not have had any yet.

I enjoy looking back at some of the awesome deals and great people I've met thru CL both as a buyer and seller.

My personal photo gallery has countless one of a kind finds that just make me grin when reviewed. Some of the deals were too good to be true but the sellers were motivated and I happened to be the 1st to respond.

Unfortunately, there are people who are not true to their word. Just grateful I haven't run across one yet.

[KC9KAS 4,741]

11 hours ago, Retired Sparky said:

And you were dam lucky, the Indiana State Police are not a fun lovin' bunch when it comes to speeders.

4 ISP troopers were here in our small town along with 4 County deputies chasing a fellow that dumped a dead woman in an adjoining county, shot a witness and stole a vehicle. They were too busy with big crime to bother with me!

Edited April 10, 2016 by KC9KAS
spelling

[Shynon 7,435]

34 minutes ago, oldredrider said:

Maybe I'm lucky to not have had any yet

 One thing I do is I always thank the seller for his honesty and honoring his commitment to me.

[squonk 38,968]

I've been lucky on CL. Never a bad deal yet but it seems the good deals have about dried up around here. I did give my card out at our steam show last year and got a call from a guy who said he had a 56 Wheel Horse he wanted rid of. Turned out to be a Lawn Ranger he wanted too much for.

[rmaynard 14,911]

The first words you see when viewing any Craigslist ad should read: BUYER BEWARE! This transaction could evaporate before your very eyes with no recourse. Sorry!

[ztnoo 2,298]

12 hours ago, Retired Sparky said:

And you were dam lucky, the Indiana State Police are not a fun lovin' bunch when it comes to speeders.

 

Yeah, they can be a pretty stern bunch of hombres, no doubt, but they do a d@mn good job of keeping this a generally very safe state to reside in.

 

12 hours ago, slammer302 said:

That is one of the down falls of shopping CL

 

35 minutes ago, rmaynard said:

The first words you see when viewing any Craigslist ad should read: BUYER BEWARE!

 

The principal of caveat emptor definitely applies when dealing with Craigslist

 

I've been a looker and viewer of CL for a long time, but never listed anything myself until last fall. I had a 1975 Yamaha RD 125 street bike in very reasonable condition, but not running, that I wanted to sell. Offered it along with a NOS gas tank, manuals and literature worth about $150, and some NOS parts valued at over $100. The tank itself was worth, $250-$275 to the right buyer. Everything split up, would probably have brought $1100-$1200, but I figured I'd have a better shot at sell everything as a package with a reduced price tag of $950 cash only, rather than splitting it all up and dragging everything out longer. I stated that was my fixed price.....no bargaining or dickering.

I requested email first contact, but did put my number in the ad. Initially I ran the ad on 4 Indiana CL sites. I then expanded to 5 or 6 more cities in the region, but in other states. I also advertised in a couple of motorcycle specific sales formats. I loaded the ads with really good pics......I think I had 17 pics in total.

 

Suddenly, I'm besieged with what I would describe as the Nigerian fraud scams from all over the place......FL, NY, VA, almost anywhere. I was asked questions that flat out told me they really hadn't read the ad. Everything they were wanting to know was basically already in the ad text. They said for me to hold the bike for them and would send me a check, cashier's or otherwise, and have someone pick up the bike later. About 90% of the individuals who contacted me were total BSers and scammers. They were trying to tell me what was going to happen and essentially leave me out of the decision making process. Hey, its MY PROPERTY, I'll make the decision.

 

Wound up with two guys who were actually serious about the bike. One (the first looker) was from Ft. Wayne about 45 miles away. He was truly a bike guy, and said he owned about 75 vintage bikes and with his son they had well over a 100. We talked bikes for two hours while he was here. He was impressed with what I had, especially the "extras" being offered, but the overall bike wasn't quite as sharp looking as what he wanted, at my price. He turned out not to be my buyer, but we've talked and emailed a couple of times since he was here last October.

My second looker, first emailed me on a Saturday morning, and I replied to his questions and told him to call if he had more specific questions or wanted to schedule a time to come look at it. He called in the afternoon as asked if he could come on Sunday and told me were he was located. He was from Mount Vernon, IL, in the southern part of the state and had seen my CL ad on St. Louis CL. That's FIVE HOURS away from me. I said that would be fine and we set a general time he would arrive. I stressed to him before we hung up that $950 was my price, and there would be no bartering and dickering. He was not obligated to buy the bike once he arrived, but if he was interested the terms were $950 cash on the barrel head. He said no problem and that he fully understood. He showed up on Sunday with a van, we talked for at least two hours and discovered he owned over a 100 vintage bikes! When I heard that knowing the guy drove 5 hours to "look" at what I had, I figured he was probably my guy. Finally he said he wanted it for sure, went to the van, came back into the garage with the dinero, counted the Greenbacks out, and we loaded the goodies up and he drove another 5 hours home.

The whole process for me to sell took about 7 weeks, and I had a good ending to my story, but having to deal with all the jackers and scammers was a real PITA.

Edited April 10, 2016 by ztnoo

[RedRanger 1,468]

I've had issues when listing my phone or text on a CL sale ad.  Never again.  Email only as a contact.  At least you can screen the scammers that way.

Lot's of ****** bags out there.  Not everyone owns a Wheel Horse.

[DougC 2,641]

It's been my experience if the seller says excellent condition it really, really won't be even close when you arrive to inspect it and then act shocked when you point out all of the problems...................

[Pullstart 59,753]

Unfortunately I'm the seller of a CL listing currently, I made plans to show my truck to a lady last night and after she was an hour late she wouldn't answer my phone call to see if she was still coming or if I should go be with my family inside.  It works both ways, on CL and off I suppose.  You just hope that the next person you come across has some decency in any place or time.

[WHX?? 46,821]

I have never bought anything off of CL but do keep my eye on the horse listings there tho "just in case". Did find a steal on a 318-8 once but I was too late. I have sold everything I have ever put on CL tho. Many low ballers but I stick  to my guns.  I recently sold my peco lawn vac on CL, this guy who was in the lawn business wanted it bad but didn't wanna pay what I was asking. He called just about every week asking if I still had it & I finally came down a franklin just because he was persistent, seemed like a decent guy and I needed the room for a !

[ztnoo 2,298]

1 hour ago, WHX61/3 said:

a franklin

 

I like the sound of that phrase.

Can't say I've ever heard it before, but I like it. It triggered my imagination and sense of history.

It has a somewhat poetic and lyrical tone to it.......

I imagine Ben might be amused, and perhaps astonished that we distant offspring of the colonialists of his era, still refer to and discuss him, 310 years after his birth & 226 years after his death.

Born: January 17, 1706 in Boston, Massachusetts

Died: April 17, 1790 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Education: Honorary degrees from Harvard, Yale, University of St. Andrews, University of Oxford, University of Edinburgh

Founding Father: One of five men who helped draft the Declaration of Independence

Author: Published "Poor Richard's Almanac" in 1732

Famous Firsts from Ben Franklin: http://www.brighthubeducation.com/history-homework-help/101237-interesting-and-fun-facts-about-ben-franklin/

11 Surprising Facts About Benjamin Franklin: http://www.history.com/news/11-surprising-facts-about-benjamin-franklin

 

[muz123 1,191]

Sorry bout that. Yea when i was selling my B-165 someone emailed me saying he would come pick it up and no-one came and he never got back to me.   You just never know about this craigslist people. 

Edited April 14, 2016 by muz123

[WHX?? 46,821]

13 hours ago, muz123 said:

You just never know about this craigslist people

 

So very true Muz...goes to show it takes all kinds to make a world go 'round...

 

I use the dead presidents thing alot ztnoo... like ... had to fork out a "Jackson" for that on Ebay or honey have you got an extra "Grant"?? Kids always asks me if I got any extra "Lincolns"!!!

 

Interestingly enough I think old Ben is the only person who is on our (printed) currency  who was not a president?

 

Can't imagine the day people will be asking "how many 'Bama's did that set you back" or "that cost me a couple of Trumps"!!! Heaven forbid that will never happen or hopefully I will be dead! Could be worse I guess tho....kids could be askin me for a couple of Hitlers!!!

 

 

But then again.....

 

 

 

Edited April 14, 2016 by WHX61/3

[RedRanger 1,468]

3 hours ago, WHX61/3 said:

 

Amazing!  The same exact cost to get a blue dress cleaned!  

[TDF5G 2,051]

I'm enjoying reading all the CL stories.  IMO, it's not necessarily CL people that are bad, it's just some people that are. Before CL we used the classified ads in the newspapers and magazines or bulletin boards at the grocery store.  Same bad people there too. 

 

I've bought and sold on CL and I've not had any real problems.  Advertised a GMC pickup and had 2 no shows.  I hate waiting around for people to come and then they don't.   I did sell a banjo and shipped it out of state with no problems.  The guy was real tickled with it.

 

A couple of years ago I ran an ad on CL to sell some old model car and truck kits I've had for many years.  I got one response and the guy came over (about 25 yrs old, I'd say)  from out of town to my house (during a garage sale we were having), picked out what he wanted and we agreed on a price.  He didn't have enough cash on him for everything he wanted to buy.   So we both just stand in silence for a moment looking at each other when I suggested where the closest ATM was.  He said he couldn't spend more than what he had on him for the week, (something about upsetting his wife )  but he would buy the rest after payday the following week.  I said no problem I'll save 'em for him.

 

So he payed me for what he took with him that day.  We agreed on a price for the rest of what he wanted and I told him I had another similar car kit he that he wanted in my folks attic and it would be $20 dollars for it.  I made him a real good deal on the stuff too, just to get it out of my basement. 

 

A few days later I went and got the other kit, boxed everything up and took it all to work with me so he could meet me there during the day and save him some driving.  He calls to see if I found the extra car kit and then tries to get me throw in the extra car model for free now.  I said no, we had already agreed on the price of the ones he had picked out and shook hands on it and I want $20 more for the other car like I had told him previously.  He called once more about and hour later to get directions and again tried to get me to throw in the extra one for free. I stuck to my guns, he says he doesn't think he will come and buy any of the rest now.  I told him politely that I was disappointed in him and sorry that he's not going to stand by his word and handshake.

So as I was prepared to haul all these boxes back home, he shows up about an hour later and had cash for all of it including the extra $20 for the extra car. He never mentioned anything we had discussed on the phone.  You can't blame him for trying, I reckon, but a deal is a deal, especially when you shake on it, in my book! 

 

 

[ztnoo 2,298]

Well, the news this afternoon is we will soon be calling "a Jackson" ($20 bill) a "Tubman"

Say What?????

That's right a Tubman!

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2016/04/20/report-lew-considered-anthony-10-bill/83274530/

 

Now I know for sure this country has completely lost its mind.........

[RedRanger 1,468]

16 hours ago, ztnoo said:

Well, the news this afternoon is we will soon be calling "a Jackson" ($20 bill) a "Tubman"

Say What?????

That's right a Tubman!

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2016/04/20/report-lew-considered-anthony-10-bill/83274530/

 

Now I know for sure this country has completely lost its mind.........

So a woman who was once currency herself will now be currency again.  I somehow doubt she'd approve of her image on money.  There must be a better way to honor her life than this.  But as you stated, this country has lost its mind........