positive craigslist experience

[mattbass6945]

i know there is a lot of negative things that happen on craigslist between sellers and buyers, and i've met my fair share of weirdos and flakes on there. i figured i would switch things up and share a good one!

i sold an old 4 string alvarez bass to one man several weeks ago, he was polite, on time and i sent him an email afterwords telling him thank you. when we met, he asked the history of the bass, what kind of music i had played on it and such. in the email, i told him a couple stories about some of the gigs and how i'd miss it and i'm glad it had a good home since i just don't play it anymore.

today i received an email from him saying thanks and letting me know he had done some setup work and it was going to be gigged in the near future.

why this isn't a big deal to anyone but me, it was a nice experience and a needed change from the normal cl experience!

[pedro]

I've not had any problems with Craigslist, either buying or selling.

[mattbass6945]

my issues have just been with flaky people or the "hey, i'll trade you this $20 mp3 player for your $500 amp!"

if you haven't had any negative experiences, that's awesome! i didn't want to focus on the bad ones, i just hear a lot about the negative, thought i'd be positive!

[Ric5]

Back about 5 years ago I bought a mapleglo Rickenbacker 4003 off of Craigslist for $1100 and took it home gave it a good setup and flipped it on ebay for $1500 a month later. A very positive experience.

I have also found some musicians to play with on CL.

My experience is pretty good on CL.

[mattbass6945]

cool! yeah, i've found some great and not so great musicians on there. some i'm still good friends with, even if we aren't currently jamming together.

[klejst]

Because Craigslist allows you the option to physically meet up with the buyer/seller (at a neutral location if need be) and physically see and test out whatever you may be looking to buy or sell. I have had pretty good results selling and buying using CL.

[notchuck]

That's great that you've had a good experience - most of mine were good, honestly. The one that wasn't was buying a RROD XBOX360 without testing it first (but it was $15) - I can fix RROD but I can't fix a missing video card!

[rtav]

I've never had a problem with Craigslist either, whether buying, selling or hiring band members. In fact, our entire band met through CL!

[dalkowski]

CL is great once you get past the spammers, scammers and dopey offers. I've sold snowboard gear, furniture, sporting goods.

I bought an EBMM Bongo on CL 4 years ago, and the seller turned me on to TB. Can't be bad, except that if you put a dollar value on all the time I've spent here, then that was one very costly bass!

[Fair Warning]

I do everything through CL.....goods and services at half price! Plus get rid of stuff that you dont need.

Got rid of a leaky water heater one time. Put an ad out for "free - come and take it" and an old dude came by and loaded it in his truck a half hour later.

I frequently buy and try, and flip amps and basses. However, I am having trouble wanting to let go of some of these basses. I think i am up to 9 now....

[MetalcoreBP]

My experience on craigslist has been positive. The only thing that I notice a lot is that people over value their stuff. A peavey combo amp you bought 8 years ago for $400 isn't going to sell for $350. Normally I just wait a person out and they lower the price.

[bassinplace]

Last time I used Craigslist on a transaction I had fine results. I had been scouting around for a T-40 and I totally scored on one, 1979, ohsc, near mint, $325. When I wrote the guy and told him I wouldn't have the dough 'til Saturday, he told me no problem, he'd hold it and it was mine if I wanted it. I said yeah, hold it, called him on Sat. morning, went out and saw how super clean it was and bought it, no fuss, no muss.

Then I wanted to sell my first bass, my Ibanez SG for $150 to get some money for a setup for the T-40. I mentioned this in the ad and a guy who had his own shop responded and offered to trade me straight across. Did that deal with him, he did an excellent job, so I discovered a good repair shop to boot. Went off without a hitch.

I also traded my Stingray for a Pearl drum kit complete with hardware and cymbals from a guy on CL, good deal, no bs.

Come to think of it, when it comes to gear all my deals on Craigslist have been great. It's only when I've tried to find other players on there that it hasn't been so hot.

[mattbass6945]

glad to hear there are some good experiences happening, it's easy sometimes to focus on the negative, little annoyances sometimes.

[two fingers]

Yep, it's funny. We loooooove to fuss but rarely post positive experiences. Nearly every time I have bought or sold on CL it has gone well. I usually find out that the person with whom I am dealing is a TBer anyway.

[psp742]

It's hit miss with CL, sort of like ebay, I got my 86' Washburn Force ABT B-30 MiJ Metallic Red with original case for around $75, the case was dented in one corner but still protects the bass well, the power for 9volt battery was loose, a little soldering and perfectly working bass. Can't beat that price and got to meet 'I am Fighting' band member.

[P. Aaron]

Sold an old Fuji 10-speed on CL. A '72Fuji Finest. The new buyer was enthused.

He sent me pics a few months later of the bike restored. It looked beautiful.

[willop]

CL isn't bad, you just run into the most, um, interesting people sometimes.

I bought a bass this week, a yamaha RBX375 for $160- great deal, great playing instrument. Took me nearly 10 days to get enough responses to meet up - 'when can we meet up' was responded to with 'any day before 4'...ok...so why did it take a week more to get a response to 'tomorow at 1 - where?'

I have a camera listed for sale... got 5 emails from 5 different people - 'still got it' type things - yes, I do...and nobody has emailed back.

You do have to watch out for the lowballers though - they show up on your $200 item and say "Ill give you $50 right now!" Idiots.

[homey]

My CL experience is 99.9% positive. But I keep telling myself every time, it only needs one wrong turn and I am dead. Yes, I am that careful about it. There are plenty of good people out there and I met them. But it only needs one bad one.

I buy, sell, trade a lot with CL. As a matter of fact, all my bass gear are from CL. I have held quite a few DOs and DON'Ts. One of them is, always meet at a public place. I even used a power invert with my car battery to power up gear for a test.

[Kmonk]

I have had great luck buying and selling on Craigslist. I usually meet the buyer or seller in a public location.

The only problem I had was with a college student who responded to one of my ads when I was selling a Spector. The ad clearly stated NO TRADES. I met him at his house because he wanted to try the bass through his own amp. I drove 45 minutes and spent over an hour with him. Then he tells me that he really likes the bass but doesn't have any money. He said he was "kind of hoping" that I would take a trade. I told him that I was "kind of hoping" that he had money. I advised him that some people might not appreciate having their time wasted and if he does it to the wrong person things could get ugly. He sent me an email later that day apologizing.

[smeet]

I've had good luck. A few flakes but that's to be expected. I just picked up a mint Carvin B1500 in a rack for $280. Nice guy with tons of great equipment (including an Anthony Jackson Fodera ), knowledgeable and open. We had a nice talk about music and gear.