Favorite Stupid Craigslist Experiences

[davesl708]

I use CL from time to time and had the most perplexing offers when I sold an 8" fully computerized 3 year old telescope that retails for $2,000.

Had a very low price on it since I did not use it and wanted it to go to someone who would get good use from it.

One guy wanted to trade a WWII Mosin Nagant rifle for it. Another guy had a early eighties jet sky that had been sitting outside all its life and need new impeller and seals. The third guy said he only had $200 so wanted to know if I would take that for it.:confused2:

 

[Jstpssng]

Everybody expects to negotiate the price, and prices the original price accordingly. I never offer to pay the full price. Everybody will come down some.

I hate dickering. If I have something for sale it means that I'm done with it and I price what it's worth. While I may come down when somebody looks at it, if the first question you ask is "will you take less" the answer is always "No." I once stood waiting while somebody walked away from a good deal on a canoe... As they were getting into their car I walked up and forked over the cash. I then turned around and sold the canoe for what I paid for it, and kept the two like new Stearns life jackets anda pair of brand new Old Town ash paddles.

 

[Deere Dude]

I had a 47" 2 stage snow thrower with drive shaft that was in super shape, and dings taken out and repainted. I asked $1200 which I thought was fair. Got a few interested. One man from 50 miles away asked my bottom dollar over the phone, I was moving and it had to go so I said $1100. He came out and looked it over for and hour or so while grilling me about how I should go down lower. Finally I said I will throw a quart of JD yellow in with the deal. He eventually said it is still to high and I was getting steamed from all the time wasted so he took off.

An hour or so later he called back in a very different tone. Very nice and giving, unlike our first encounter. He must have gotten home and his kid must have chewed him out for blowing a good deal. He came out and started to dicker again and I said I would drop to $1075 even though he was really pushing originally for $1000.

He asked if I could hook it up on my tractor that was sitting there with a mower on it and I rolled my eyes and told him just forget it. I was done with him. He wanted to see how it ran supposedly. He then said he would take it for the $1075, I never rementioned the $150 driveshaft again even though it won't do me any good.

After loading it he asked if he could have the quart of paint. I said no, it was on the $1100 deal and then we got to talking like old lost friends.

 

[Ford850]

I love dickering, but when selling something to an unknown person who will be coming to my house, I just want a quick sale and get them out of here. So I check prices of other similar items before listing mine. Then I price it on the low side, post plenty of pictures revealing any defects, and add a comment like "first $150 cash takes it". I only use email to communicate at first to weed out the trash. I've had great luck and moved things out very quick, all at the asking price. Most of my stuff looks better in person than what I show in the pictures so they make a quick cash exchange when they get here, we get it loaded, and they are out the drive within a few minutes. I'm happy, and they leave happy.

 

[downsizingnow48]

I had a fellow ask me to deliver a $40 item to his residence about an hour from here. On the grounds that he was eco-friendly and only used a bicycle. I told him that his request would result in the same amount of vehicle pollution as if he came to my place so that was BS. Quite apart from the notion that I would spend 2 hours in the pickup to simplify his life.

That said, 99% of my Craigslist experiences, buying or selling, have been positive. Like Ford850 I find email works well to sort out the screwballs. Most buyers here want to agree on a price via email before driving, that's OK with me. I always let the buyer talk me down a little. Makes them happy and doesn't make much difference to me.

 

[check]

My biggest problem has always been coordinating schedules. Everybody is so busy that it takes five emails and rearrangements to get the person to come and see it.

So the piano recently for $3500, but the negotiation process with the eventual purchaser was six months long! Mostly due to the fact that she lived in another city not too far away, and she did not have friends that could move the piano for her. But, I was patient, and turned down several lowball offers during that time, because I wanted her to have it. She was a piano teacher and would make good use of it.

 

[Industrial Toys]

This was more of a pictured "Supper Shopper story.

I was looking for a 3ph backhoe and this guy had a JD for sale. No mistaking the JD decal! Drove some distance, only to find out it was some home made thing with green paint and a JD Decal.

The kicker is, that maybe a couple of years later, I drove even farther and got fooled once again by the SAME backhoe, different seller!

 

[farm boy00]

This was more of a pictured "Supper Shopper story.

I was looking for a 3ph backhoe and this guy had a JD for sale. No mistaking the JD decal! Drove some distance, only to find out it was some home made thing with green paint and a JD Decal.

The kicker is, that maybe a couple of years later, I drove even farther and got fooled once again by the SAME backhoe, different seller!

Had something similar. Sold a farmall M on craigslist and saw it a few years later on sale again

 

[Ford850]

This was more of a pictured "Supper Shopper story.

I was looking for a 3ph backhoe and this guy had a JD for sale. No mistaking the JD decal! Drove some distance, only to find out it was some home made thing with green paint and a JD Decal.

The kicker is, that maybe a couple of years later, I drove even farther and got fooled once again by the SAME backhoe, different seller!

Ouch! "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice..."

 

[Jstpssng]

This was more of a pictured "Supper Shopper story.

I was looking for a 3ph backhoe and this guy had a JD for sale. No mistaking the JD decal! Drove some distance, only to find out it was some home made thing with green paint and a JD Decal.

The kicker is, that maybe a couple of years later, I drove even farther and got fooled once again by the SAME backhoe, different seller!

I did that with an F250 once, although not on CL.
It was advertised as " no rust"... the cab was sagging on the frame, the bed was replaced with a half-donkeyed flatbed, and there was duct tape covering the holes. I knew when I pulled in that I had seen it before, 10 miles away with a different owner.

"No tire kickers", or " Serious inquiries only"...
Yet they don't say how much they want.
Then there are those who put $1.00 for the price... I always feel like saying I'm calling about the 50 acres you have advertised, I have four quarters right here.