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CL Sellers lackadaisical?

vindibona1

vindibona1

Apr 18, 2015
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#1
I've been shopping CL for a bass amp and I actually found a couple that could possible fill my needs. I have contacted all three by their indicated contact method. Of the three only two have bothered to respond at all. Of those two, I asked for additional contact information, possibly a phone number, more specific location and convenient times to set up and appointment to either talk about the amps or go see them.

NEITHER replied further. Now, the logical answer to that would be that they've already sold the gear and just didn't take it off the page or bother getting back to me. But in both cases they have renewed the listing.

If I were trying to sell something and an interested prospective buyer called me I'd be all over it. ***??? It seems like I'm wasting my time with CL. I wouldn't bother, but there seems to be a drought of used bass amps at our local stores at the moment.
 
#2
Most people on CL are flakes. Buying or selling. Buyers I can understand more, but if you want to get rid of something and want money, I don't understand why you wouldn't want to communicate with a potential buyer.
 
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#4
ArtechnikA said:
If your response indicates you may have a clue, you're a lot less likely to fall for whatever scam they're running...
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That is true. Now, I can understand how the first guy selling a Fender Bronco might have felt that way. I did ask some (seemingly) intelligent questions about when it was purchased, how old it was, why he was selling, did he have a receipt, etc. The second guy I just told him I was interested, where could I contact him to discuss it further.

The thing is that in this area (Chicago) there appears to be a drought of used amps in the stores these days. Two extremes- expensive and junk. I guess I'll have to wait for the right one to come along or get someone in the right mood to give me a deep discount on new gear.
 
#5
A perspective from a long-time Craigslist seller here...

In the glory days of the fake post 9/11 bubble economy, Craigslist was the bomb. All I had to do was list something at incredibly inflated prices and just sit back and watch people beat a path to my door.

The last two years, however, have been absolutely dead on CL. The only time I am ever selling anything is when I basically am giving something away for free. No buyer ever bothers to respond past a first email, and then when someone says they're gonna come, all of a sudden their 90 year old mother gets sick and the person cancels the trip.

I actually posted on a few forums about this phenomenon of incredibly flaky buyers, but from your post, it seems now that sellers are being flaky too. Weird. Maybe the people just read the email with all the questions and just say to themselves, "I'll wait till someone else comes along who isn't so inquisitive."

Anyhow, I believe a few factors are at play here, with regards to the absolute death knell of the used instrument market we've probably all been experiencing.

1) Us older musicians who came up in the 80's and 90's were really the last generation of people who started bands, rehearsed, gigged. Nowadays, this still is probably happening, but I've noticed a huge trend towards "apps" and computerized music. Quite simply, we're dying off and not being replaced.

2) The music industry in general is just a dead zone. Yes, there are still amazing groups putting out amazing music, but in order to hear it you have to wade thru the mountains of garbage being made by "musicians" who really should not be doing it.

3) These trends are converging into a major downward spiral for music labels, instrument makers, and yes, those of us who were once big time sellers on Craigslist.

I am sorry the OP has had this experience, and I hope it gets better, but I see it getting worse and worse.
 
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#7
MGR said:
A perspective from a long-time Craigslist seller here...
... Anyhow, I believe a few factors are at play here, with regards to the absolute death knell of the used instrument market we've probably all been experiencing.

1) Us older musicians who came up in the 80's and 90's were really the last generation of people who started bands, rehearsed, gigged. Nowadays, this still is probably happening, but I've noticed a huge trend towards "apps" and computerized music. Quite simply, we're dying off and not being replaced.

2) The music industry in general is just a dead zone. Yes, there are still amazing groups putting out amazing music, but in order to hear it you have to wade thru the mountains of garbage being made by "musicians" who really should not be doing it.

3) These trends are converging into a major downward spiral for music labels, instrument makers, and yes, those of us who were once big time sellers on Craigslist.

I am sorry the OP has had this experience, and I hope it gets better, but I see it getting worse and worse.
Click to expand...

It's not just the music industry itself, it's live music in general. Kids today are opting for video games rather than musical instruments. It's still cool to play guitar, bass or drums, but a video game is easier to learn. And you're right, the number of crappy songs out there is staggering compared to the good ones. Not to digress, but last night I saw a couple "new songs" introduced on _The Voice_. Meghan Trainor and Maroon5. Can you say boring? Buy them? Heck, I wouldn't download them for free if I could. So what's there to emulate and inspire folks to pick up an instrument.

Having said that, I still have to find a bass amp sooner or later. I guess I may have to wait for some Sam Ash gift cards to come from their weekly jams, negotiate a discount then buy a new one.
Thanks for the reply.
 
#8
I've sold MI equipment on CL a couple times and it went smoothly. I've had less luck trying to buy MI equipment. Over the last couple years, I've responded to a few sellers. I contacted the sellers using using the CL email reply since no contact information was given. The sellers never replied. One ad is still running 6 months later and is renewed every day or two, so, I know it isn't a case of the item being sold and the seller just forgot to remove the ad. To quote CoR Bass: Most people on CL are flakes.
 
#9
This made me curious, so I did a little creative Googling to see what I could find about "flakey" CL buyers and sellers. I didn't find any good explanations for why the problem has been getting steadily worse over time, but it seems clear that the problem is entirely general and not specific to music-related gear.
 
#11
Last week a guy came over to buy a bass, he wanted it but drove his motorcycle so he says he will drive home and come back with a car later. He leaves and I noticed he left his back pack in my room. I text him that and he says he has to cancel coming for the bass that night. I texted him the next day and said hey if you dont want the bass you are welcome to come get your bag and I got no reply. A week later I have moved his bag to my garage. Another 2 guys came to see my other bass, played it unplugged and left without plugging it in. It has a great setup so I would have thought they would have plugged it in, not like it fretted out so bad there wasnt a point.

Craigslist is crap shoot, its great if you have time to waste.
 
#12
It's not just music instruments. I tried buying a video game off CL once and the seller never bothered to reply to my "Okay I can meet you at the train station tomorrow at 3:30pm sharp. I'll be wearing a black hoodie and a blue toque."

I told him my availability, what I'd be wearing, and when I'd be there. Since he never responded, I didn't bother going.
 
#13
A-Step-Towards said:
Last week a guy came over to buy a bass, he wanted it but drove his motorcycle so he says he will drive home and come back with a car later. He leaves and I noticed he left his back pack in my room. I text him that and he says he has to cancel coming for the bass that night. I texted him the next day and said hey if you dont want the bass you are welcome to come get your bag and I got no reply. A week later I have moved his bag to my garage. Another 2 guys came to see my other bass, played it unplugged and left without plugging it in. It has a great setup so I would have thought they would have plugged it in, not like it fretted out so bad there wasnt a point.
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These kinds of stories just blow my mind. I mean, it's one thing to cancel at the last minute, or not reply to messages at all. People just don't give a rat's behind about strangers they "meet" on the Internet. I think that's unfortunate, but I get it. But these are examples of people stupidly wasting their own time. Why in the world would you ride a motorcycle to check out a bass that you couldn't possibly carry home with you if you liked it? Why would you not bother to go back and retrieve the bag you left behind -- a bag that must be important enough to have carried it (while riding a motorcycle) in the first place? And why would anyone take the time to go to someone's house and check out a bass without even bothering to plug it in? I'm just mystified.
 
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#14
Lobster11 said:
And why would anyone take the time to go to someone's house and check out a bass without even bothering to plug it in? I'm just mystified.
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I can actually understand this one. Probably the buyer had a strict rule on how the bass felt in his hands. The bass probably didn't fit this criteria so he walked without trying anything further. This makes sense. I've gone to buy a cymbal that sounded like crap so I walked away without it, which is sort of the same. I had every intention of buying it, but it just didn't sound right. Sometimes the only way to determine something is to go check it out in person.

Anyway, I still think that it's a matter of the economy being much worse than advertised, and people just aren't in the buying mood. This is translating to people not being in the selling mood. i myself just pulled 5 ads from craigslist for pedals I am basically giving away (Mr. Black pedals for 80 bucks, Infanem for 100 bucks etc) because it's depressing to renew an ad for a year and get one email for it, which turns out to be either a scam or a flake.
 
#16
I have determined that 95% of the folks that post on Craigslist are just dumb@$$&$!! Most for sale ads include horrible photos and vague descriptions many time false (ex. Fender instead of Squier). Musician ads are more of the same. They never include the band name or a sample songlist. Most times never ever reply! It's a gamble for sure but there is really no other way to place ads for sale or for musicians. I wish there were!
 
#17
I gave up on CL. One out three people ever respond, even to texts and everything I've ever put up has sold here faster. I replied about a bass that I sold that it was no longer available and the person (who is a poster here) sent me a snotty email saying "no wonder it sold, I asked you about it three weeks ago"...except I replied three weeks before and my folder showed my email as being sent THAT DAY.

So there was definitely something up with their message relay in that case and that instance made me suspect that this happens quite a bit, people getting their messages late or not at all. Combine this with the nature of the type of person that was too lazy to get past learning Smoke On The Water and decided to sell their Fender (Squier) bass/amp combo to pay for more video games and i suppose you could say CL activity can be "lackadaisical".
 
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#18
I've sold many items on Craigslist in the last few years, and successfully bought one, for $15.

Funny one was a guy buying a horrible camper shell. $50 was asking, I just wanted it gone. He shows up in a truck with a shell already on it, says he'll trade plus give me $20. I tell him no, landlord wants this junk gone, he says ok I'll come grab it tomorrow. Even though I don't believe him, I agree. About a week later, to my surprise, he got ahold of me and picked it up.

Most of the stuff I've sold has been music gear, stuff you'd want to try out & make sure works. As a seller I make sure to have things set up & ready to test. Preferably, weather permitting, outside in my open, public, sunshiny driveway. I think this is more comfortable for myself & buyers rather than bringing them into my, potentially dark creepy buffalo-bill cage.

Other sellers, often don't try hard enough to not seem creepy to me for the most part. If I get ANY weird vibe, or my spider senses trigger AT ALL, no meeting. It's worked so far. There is potential risk, here in this city recently there was a triple murder directly craigslist related.
 
#19
Lobster11 said:
These kinds of stories just blow my mind. I mean, it's one thing to cancel at the last minute, or not reply to messages at all. People just don't give a rat's behind about strangers they "meet" on the Internet. I think that's unfortunate, but I get it. But these are examples of people stupidly wasting their own time. Why in the world would you ride a motorcycle to check out a bass that you couldn't possibly carry home with you if you liked it? Why would you not bother to go back and retrieve the bag you left behind -- a bag that must be important enough to have carried it (while riding a motorcycle) in the first place? And why would anyone take the time to go to someone's house and check out a bass without even bothering to plug it in? I'm just mystified.
Click to expand...

I had another guy leave his Iphone but it was in this folder wallet thing that had his debit card and all that crap. He also forgot a spare pickguard to the bass. Its not my job to make sure people grab whatever they bring into my home. So I email him about his phone. He came back when I was gone and was really weird about it, I said to come back between X amount of hours. Then he texts me he forgot the extra pickguard again......I just didnt reply at that point.

This one dude came over and lowballed me one time about things that didnt make sense. I am a calm guy but I got so mad I told him his statements were total BS ( said the actual word) and asked him to leave.

I have already said this before but I use a email with a fake name and introduce myself by said fake name when using craigslist. I would never recommend using your real name.
 

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