Craigslist - scammer's paradise

Why? People. Welcome to the internet.

 

I chuckle at the obtuseness of the texts. Broken sentences not at all discussing terms but demanding shipment w/o even discussing the 'for sale' subject specifically.
Nigerian scam letters are better written and understandable.

 

Yep.

 

On the flip side of that...

My local CL has an ad for a Glarry knockoff Telecaster guitar that Glarry will sell you brand new for under $100.

This dude is offering it up for the bargain price of $240. Maybe he's P.T. Barnum's grandson.

 

Bots scan Craigslist ads for phone numbers. If you format yours using both numbers and words, that will thwart the bots.

 

Because humans.
People used to accuse me of being a misanthropic jerk when i was young.
Then the internet and social media happened and, everyone started complaining about the things i always used to complained about. But now they could finally see it. Of course, did i get any credit? Nahhh. All i wanted was a statue in my honor for recognizing it before the internet made it obvious. If not a statue, maybe a plaque, or a medal... A cookie. I'll accept a cookie. Chocolate chip, please.

Last time i used CL seriously was about 7 years ago. It was a cesspool with some hidden gems of real humans buying/selling, or in the musicians wanted section. Today it's just a cesspool. Anyone worth dealing with won't even bother swimming through the cesspool to find the gem. It's not worth it.

And it's too easy for "bad people" to take advantage of it. There's almost zero risk or recourse for them.

 

You already stated you'll ignore those..so they can expect to be ignored.

But yep, its the internet and people are people.
Despressing.

 

money.

good luck with your sale!

 

This has long been established. It’s not very difficult to spot scams online.

 

Had a lady selling a Squier Affinity P, asking $1000. Thinking it was a typo I responded asking if she meant $100. She seemed to genuinely think it was a Fender USA Precision - and that I'd be getting a deal at a grand. Even after I pointed out the "Squier" and "Affinity" labels on the headstock she kept insisting I was wrong and that I was trying to rip her off. She stayed civil, at least, so I told her I'd stay interested at $100 since I was going to fix it up and donate it to a school music program.

She did reach out a few times over the next few months, but never came below $800. I wonder if she ever found a sucker...

 

That's what I do and have had generally good CL experiences buying and selling over the past few years. Giving them a phone number in the ad is just asking for all the garbage that follows.

 

I’ve done well with CL, both buying and selling, but only locally. I do enjoy the offers to have the buyers agents ship the item after paying hundreds more than the asking. “Will you take a personal check, and deliver to XYZ Trucking company?

 

i only accept emails from CL ads, and i hear from lots of people of all ages. i prefer emails because there's less urgency than there is with a phone call, which i have to answer.

btw, about a quarter of the local people i know have non-local phone numbers because they moved here from other states and wanted to keep their cell phone numbers that all their family and friends had. even one of the guards at our condo calls from an out-of-state number when he has to use his personal phone, and when he calls, he's inside our condo complex.

 

Same here. For every ad I get at least one of those generic responses saying they want to buy it but to contact them at their email address because they don't use "Craigslist email" (which makes no sense because it relays to your personal email). Asking to respond to a different email address? Delete.

 

I find that using text in the ad for phone numbers helps like below
Widget is in great shape 20 bux cash. Please call or text phive too 2 3 7 sheven won 3 2 nein

Works for me.

 

This is interesting. I posted my Markbass amp on Craigslist...crickets for days, then one response. I met him the other day and he bought it for the asking price. Great experience over all and zero scammers or suspect contacts. I am in Vancouver Canada so that might have something to do with it.

 

I too was hating people before it was cool.

 

I love the part where the OP gave very clear and specific guidelines and rando internet dudes just broke those rules with absolutely no regard to the clear and specific guidelines.

Thanks, internet.