How do you trust craigslist, without falling into a trap?

[crow01]

That question has been bothering me since I quit my recent band and I am on the look again.

Ok so I send email, they reply back, they seem pretty normal.

They give a phone number.

Although they are telling me to go around the alley cause the rehearsal is in a basement.

I mean a lot of people practice in basements. But I would prefer a studio.

How do you know when you start to become suspicious, due thanks to recent event of people getting mugged after meeting on craigslist?

[stflbn]

I'd be suspicious about meeting down an alley and in a basement. Especially if I hadn't met with them before hand.

I'd even be hesistant to bring a friend or something to that arrangement.

When going to new situations with new people I ALWAYS make sure I have contact info, names that i've verified, emails, phones, etc, and then finally make sure my wife knows where I'll be going and whom I'll be meeting.

IMHO you cannot be to paranoid anymore.

[Stumbo]

"Just because you're not paranoid doesn't mean someone's not after you"

You can do a phone number, email, username, name look up at: http://pipl.com/
Also, check out the address on Google maps and check out the street view display to get an idea of what's going on in the area.

Take two friends.(Hopefully two big guys)

[Thunderscreech]

Pack yo Gak


No, but, really, find a nearby coffee shop or something and meet them in the open. somewhere there are other people. Go with a friend, as others have excellently suggested.

[crow01]

great website that pipl!

Although I have a proposal for craigslist:
- partner with local police or security company, where you can hire them, when you want to go and meet with some stranger. It's gotta be cheap though!

[NKUSigEp]

Originally Posted by crow01

That question has been bothering me since I quit my recent band and I am on the look again.
Ok so I send email, they reply back, they seem pretty normal.
They give a phone number.
Although they are telling me to go around the alley cause the rehearsal is in a basement.
I mean a lot of people practice in basements. But I would prefer a studio.
How do you know when you start to become suspicious, due thanks to recent event of people getting mugged after meeting on craigslist?

Have they given you any reason to be suspicious aside from providing to you specific directions on how to get to the practice space? Do a little research - check out their myspace pages (do a friend search using their email address), browse through photos, ask them if they have a facebook or other website you can look up. It's all standard band-affair.

[Unrepresented]

Originally Posted by NKUSigEp

Have they given you any reason to be suspicious aside from providing to you specific directions on how to get to the practice space?

Call me naive, but setting up a craigslist listing under musicians wanted just to lure them into a back alley seems far fetched as a way of robbing someone. There are much easier ways for criminals to get your stuff, and criminals generally like easier ways.

If, however, there are other alarm bells going off, due diligence is suggested.

[Rattman]

Originally Posted by Thunderscreech

Pack yo Gak


No, but, really, find a nearby coffee shop or something and meet them in the open. somewhere there are other people. Go with a friend, as others have excellently suggested.

Yep.... That USA Telecaster I bought from a guy on craigslist was just like that.. conversation went like this: "Please bring your Fender Telly around to McDonald's next to Angels Stadium at 12:00pm.. and I'll bring my screwdriver". It worked out fine, which was great 'cause I inspected the pots/wiring on the spot. The next day, I bought it.

A 'pre-meeting' does seems to be an obvious precaution.

[DarkArwen929]

I agree with unrepresented. Not that we should be too lax, but most of the craigslist issues are under the "adult" services, pretending to need, or to be, a musician is going a bit out of the way. Why would anyone rob a musician? I'd pick someone with more money.

[NortyFiner]

The great thing about paranoia is that you only have to be right once to make it all worthwhile.

On craigslist, I only deal face to face with local buyers, and I pay attention to the alarm bells. If they're not willing to meet me in person, if they're not willing to meet me in a safe "normal" place to make a trade, or whatever, then it's no deal. I'm very picky about that kind of thing...

[seansbrew]

Originally Posted by stflbn

I'd be suspicious about meeting down an alley and in a basement. Especially if I hadn't met with them before hand.

I'd even be hesistant to bring a friend or something to that arrangement.

When going to new situations with new people I ALWAYS make sure I have contact info, names that i've verified, emails, phones, etc, and then finally make sure my wife knows where I'll be going and whom I'll be meeting.

IMHO you cannot be to paranoid anymore.

Same here. Someone always knows where I am going. And if I am asked to deviate at the last minute while in route, I give an update as to my destination.

Also, if I am dealing with an in home sale, I always set it up in my garage, and am always packing (if we're talking the thousand dollar range and up).

[jmattbassplaya]

As people have already said, make sure people know where you`re going, who you`re meeting, and make sure they have directions to the place.

It`s sad that people have to worry about crap like this, but it is the world we live in.

[McHaven]

Always get their name, phone number and email. Google all their information to get an idea of what kind of person you're meeting. I'm meeting a guy to sell my sitar this weekend. We've agreed to meet at a super market parking lot, where he'll do a small test of the instrument before deciding. That's ok with me. I've done my research and don't think that I'm going to get mugged. He's a little old Indian guy. Excellent.

[Munjibunga]

Sell only local, meet in a heavily-travelled parking lot, and cash only. Never had a problem. I just did it last week.