This is another likely explanation.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
a recent potential deal that fell through over nothing...
- Thread starter joebar
- Start date
This is another likely explanation.
I always meet in a public location like a store parking lot and we park right up near the entrance where people are walking back and forth.
The only time I had someone come to my house was to test out a cab before purchase. My best solution was to take the cab out to the garage, lock the house door, and holster my gun. I then stood way across the garage while he checked it out. If he wanted to grab it and run, so be it. He wasn't going to touch me or get in my house. He turned out to be a really nice guy and didn't try to rob me.
I guess it's just me but if I wanted to rob someone, I don't think I'd go through all the trouble of setting up a fake CL ad on a chance that they're loaded with music equipment, especially since etiquette seems to be that the buyer goes to the seller's house, not the other way around. I would just burgle some house when nobody is home and settle for electronics and jewelry. It just seems easier. I guess then I could sell all that stolen stuff on CL to fund the legitimate purchase of new music equipment!
Then again I've never robbed anyone so maybe I don't know how to do it correctly.
Just get a headphone amp like others have said and call it a day. Oh, and anyone who uses the term "fresh money" is obviously a mobster.
The only time I had someone come to my house was to test out a cab before purchase. My best solution was to take the cab out to the garage, lock the house door, and holster my gun. I then stood way across the garage while he checked it out. If he wanted to grab it and run, so be it. He wasn't going to touch me or get in my house. He turned out to be a really nice guy and didn't try to rob me.
I guess it's just me but if I wanted to rob someone, I don't think I'd go through all the trouble of setting up a fake CL ad on a chance that they're loaded with music equipment, especially since etiquette seems to be that the buyer goes to the seller's house, not the other way around. I would just burgle some house when nobody is home and settle for electronics and jewelry. It just seems easier. I guess then I could sell all that stolen stuff on CL to fund the legitimate purchase of new music equipment!
Then again I've never robbed anyone so maybe I don't know how to do it correctly.Just get a headphone amp like others have said and call it a day. Oh, and anyone who uses the term "fresh money" is obviously a mobster.
I was out for a coffee one day, pulling back into my driveway I saw a couple guys loading up a Honda 3 wheeler (I had one like it as a kid so pretty familiar looking) into a truck with ramps.
Don't really know the neighbor much, didn't think much about it.
Half an hour later the neighbors wife knocks on my door wondering if I saw anything.
He had posted it on Craigslist for sale and was coming back from work in an hour to sell it. The arrived, saw no one was home (probably showed up early) opened his gate went in and just took it.
---------
Never give specifics if selling stuff like 'I can leave work at...' Keep it simple 'meet me there at' and be there first.
Still, make me very skeptical about putting anything on Craiglist. I bought an amp awhile back but the guy had me meet him at his work, other people around and all that.
Don't really know the neighbor much, didn't think much about it.
Half an hour later the neighbors wife knocks on my door wondering if I saw anything.
He had posted it on Craigslist for sale and was coming back from work in an hour to sell it. The arrived, saw no one was home (probably showed up early) opened his gate went in and just took it.
---------
Never give specifics if selling stuff like 'I can leave work at...' Keep it simple 'meet me there at' and be there first.
Still, make me very skeptical about putting anything on Craiglist. I bought an amp awhile back but the guy had me meet him at his work, other people around and all that.
Yeah, something about that deal just doesn't smell right. You did the correct thing by cancelling once the son flaked. I'd be very wary of anyone I didn't know being adamant that we go to the bank first for a withdrawal.
- Aug 3, 2007
- 1,678
- 2,146
- Disclosures
- Current: Blackstar, DR strings, Nady. Previous endorsements with: GK, Rotosound, Ernie Ball, Cleartone, EMG, Dean, Dava Picks, Rebel Straps, Dickies
This has unicorn written all over it. A deal that sounds too good to be true, and the information from the seller is too skeptical.
I've had at least 5-10 transactions over craigslist, and every one has had me a bit nervous (two were in bad parts of Oakland) and every one has worked out where the seller is just about the most down to earth person.
I've had at least 5-10 transactions over craigslist, and every one has had me a bit nervous (two were in bad parts of Oakland) and every one has worked out where the seller is just about the most down to earth person.
It hasn't slipped away - the deal is still there.
He is feeling uneasy about dealing with a stranger from a crap website - can't criticise this.
You canned this deal; he is very cautious but hasn't done anything wrong.
<<
I said "I have the cash in my cupboard". he goes on to say he wanted us to go to my bank and pull out fresh money.
>>
How strange! I guess he thought you were a counterfeiter or something. I would have to wonder if the bass was stolen or something wasn't on the up & up given how skittish they were with the straight up cash and carry deal that you proposed. I had an unusually bizarre internet buying experience one time. (this was many years ago in the pre-PayPal days) I ran into a good deal on the internet for a Demeter VTBP-201 rack mount preamp that I wanted. I emailed the guy and told him that I wanted it and sent him a USPS money order for his asking price the very next day and then notified him that "the check was in the mail". A week passed and he emailed me that he got the USPS money order and I replied that I would appreciate it if he would pack it well, insure it for the selling price and notify me when it shipped out and include the tracking number. A couple of weeks later I got a letter in the mail from him saying that he was nervous about doing bizniz with me due to "trust issues" and included a personal check reimbursing me for the sales price. For the life of me, I still can't figure out how I could've possibly screwed him given that he had my money in hand before sending out the preamp plus the forum I saw his ad on had no feedback mechanism where I could've given him a bad review. His refund check eventually cleared so I just chalked it up to "one of those wacky deals" and moved on with my life.
I said "I have the cash in my cupboard". he goes on to say he wanted us to go to my bank and pull out fresh money.
>>
How strange! I guess he thought you were a counterfeiter or something. I would have to wonder if the bass was stolen or something wasn't on the up & up given how skittish they were with the straight up cash and carry deal that you proposed. I had an unusually bizarre internet buying experience one time. (this was many years ago in the pre-PayPal days) I ran into a good deal on the internet for a Demeter VTBP-201 rack mount preamp that I wanted. I emailed the guy and told him that I wanted it and sent him a USPS money order for his asking price the very next day and then notified him that "the check was in the mail". A week passed and he emailed me that he got the USPS money order and I replied that I would appreciate it if he would pack it well, insure it for the selling price and notify me when it shipped out and include the tracking number. A couple of weeks later I got a letter in the mail from him saying that he was nervous about doing bizniz with me due to "trust issues" and included a personal check reimbursing me for the sales price. For the life of me, I still can't figure out how I could've possibly screwed him given that he had my money in hand before sending out the preamp plus the forum I saw his ad on had no feedback mechanism where I could've given him a bad review. His refund check eventually cleared so I just chalked it up to "one of those wacky deals" and moved on with my life.
To me it sounded like the deal went south after the fact you wanted to try it amplified. I buy a lot of stuff on Craigslist and many times I show up to there home they come out with the guitar signaling they don't want you inside. I never care because if I'm buying something it's dirt cheap but if I was paying top dollar id for sure want to plug in
If you shop the local used market a bit (buy or sell), invest in a cheap battery powered amp. It doesn't need to be loud or even sound good - you're just using it to test out that the bass works (or demonstrate to a buyer that your bass fully works). I used to bring a Lil Smokey $30 amp with me to test stuff, though a Roland Cube would be ideal.
If you were willing to drive the 5 hours to get the bass (!) - whats stopping you from doing that now?
If you were willing to drive the 5 hours to get the bass (!) - whats stopping you from doing that now?
Total tin foil hat posts.
There are thousands of Craigslist transactions that go off without a hitch every hour. Just cuz you read about a few planes crashing here and there, doesn't make air travel unsafe as a whole
One of my biggest turn offs is people that want to do in person deals because most of them end up being fruitcakes. I don't mean to offend here so for clarity it is important here on out for everyone to know that I am using the collective "you" below based on my experiences:
We have been living in the ebay age for 20 years now. And while ebay is no longer the go to site for gear, the whole point is that most gear commerce is transacted on the web so go there because that is where all the good gear is and that is where all the good deals are.
If you have the savvy to list your bass on a website, and you have the savvy to source you gear on a website, you have the savvy to complete a transaction through a website and ship via a courier.
As a seller, I meticulously and painstakingly describe my basses and back up my verbose listings with ample and detailed pictures. And I pack better than most so called pros (check my feedback). And as a buyer I have a bunch of standard questions to weed out bad listings. And most importantly I quickly learned how to spot a chump seller in no time flat.
Of the in person offers I have entertained, about half the folks who agreed to a specific date and time to meet up just plain flaked the day of. Since I always email the morning of a meet, I got responses saying "I can't do it " or "changed my mind." They day of. ANd I can almost guarantee you that if I didn't check in I would have showed up and they would not have. Of the other half that did show up, half of them were freaks. The other half were great.
Those are not good numbers if you are are a normal human being trying to transact gear trades in person.
I have since refined my Q and A to try to weed out nut jobs from in person meets but the fact is that many people, let alone musicians, are total flakes.
So whatever this great deal was, you can find another one online. Figure out what you need to ask the seller to vet its legitimacy. If you just must play it first, figure out where to find one to do that too. But if you cannot play it first, but you can vet out that what you are getting is is legit, and you don't like it, you can sell it and get most of your money out. That is the beauty of the internet.
Just my experience here. Based on a couple a LOT of transactions. YMMV.
We have been living in the ebay age for 20 years now. And while ebay is no longer the go to site for gear, the whole point is that most gear commerce is transacted on the web so go there because that is where all the good gear is and that is where all the good deals are.
If you have the savvy to list your bass on a website, and you have the savvy to source you gear on a website, you have the savvy to complete a transaction through a website and ship via a courier.
As a seller, I meticulously and painstakingly describe my basses and back up my verbose listings with ample and detailed pictures. And I pack better than most so called pros (check my feedback). And as a buyer I have a bunch of standard questions to weed out bad listings. And most importantly I quickly learned how to spot a chump seller in no time flat.
Of the in person offers I have entertained, about half the folks who agreed to a specific date and time to meet up just plain flaked the day of. Since I always email the morning of a meet, I got responses saying "I can't do it " or "changed my mind." They day of. ANd I can almost guarantee you that if I didn't check in I would have showed up and they would not have. Of the other half that did show up, half of them were freaks. The other half were great.
Those are not good numbers if you are are a normal human being trying to transact gear trades in person.
I have since refined my Q and A to try to weed out nut jobs from in person meets but the fact is that many people, let alone musicians, are total flakes.
So whatever this great deal was, you can find another one online. Figure out what you need to ask the seller to vet its legitimacy. If you just must play it first, figure out where to find one to do that too. But if you cannot play it first, but you can vet out that what you are getting is is legit, and you don't like it, you can sell it and get most of your money out. That is the beauty of the internet.
Just my experience here. Based on a couple a LOT of transactions. YMMV.
One of the best places to make a deal around here is in Springfield, Missouri. The local Police department has a special place set up to make the exchange in their parking lot complete with surveillance cameras. I think that is local law enforcement taking a good stand on a potential hazardous situation. Good model for other towns to follow.
I've cancelled several transactions from people who want to try out an instrument on their amp. Sorry but you aren't coming to my house and I'm definitely not going to your house. If it is that big a deal then bring a battery powered amp or I'll met you at Guitar Center otherwise we're making the transaction in the parking lot.
I've purchased and sold basses via Craigslist, and always insisted we meet at the local music bigmarts like SamAsh, and GuitarAsh. I even sold a pretty nice MTD in a Best Buy once. They have amps, the buyer can play/hear it, and if I murder you I get caught. In all cases we just walked in, played it, did the deal, exchanged money and left. Staff didn't care or didn't notice. Its nice to be in a larger city where that is possible, but even in smaller towns there are opportunities for safety in pawn shops. My local jail has an area dedicated to CL deals (They film all interactions.)
Your situation is all red flags in my book, you did the right thing.
Your situation is all red flags in my book, you did the right thing.
Bought a bass local today in a Rite Aid parking lot.
Took a cable, Raven Labs headphone amp, and headphones.
All good!
Took a cable, Raven Labs headphone amp, and headphones.
All good!
That's a really great, well-written post. But I'll just add my grain of salt to it.
In the 20-something years I've been into music, I have always met in person when selling gear. I buy new most of the time. Granted I haven't done as many deals as some of you here have, but I can say that 100% of the in-person transactions I did went fine. Maybe I've been lucky, and I've always been living in relatively small towns, but all the guys I have dealt with were pretty cool.
Now I'll go knock on wood.
Don't take it personally. At 62, I'm finally learning that D-bags are a huge percentage of our population - and I'm sure I'm one of those to them.
I recently had a fishing boat for sale, and a guy called wanting to come see it -- it was after sunset. I said ok, but I sure had my revolver in my coat pocket. He prolly had his too.
He gave me money, and I gave him the boat, we shook hands. It's how business is done in Montana.
I recently had a fishing boat for sale, and a guy called wanting to come see it -- it was after sunset. I said ok, but I sure had my revolver in my coat pocket. He prolly had his too.
He gave me money, and I gave him the boat, we shook hands. It's how business is done in Montana.
