My New Zero Tolerance Craigslist Attitude.

[40Hz]

40hz I admire your stamina, how the hell have you written 5 essays in this thread? All I do all day atm is sit around and I couldn’t even put close to what you’ve put in

Mostly while waiting for software to load and install, and later waiting for the metrics of some stress tests to come back on a two servers I’m helping a friend with.

IT work alternates between periods of intense and highly focused activity and stretches of “hurry up and wait.” I did all the typing during the waiting times.

I also used to do some business consulting and training on the side for small businesses and startups. So a lot of the business things I talk about here are business things I used to help my clients with. So some of it just kinda writes itself for me after all these years.

I’m technically retired from the biz. But you wouldn’t know it from the last two days.

 

[jnuts1]

Totally agree, I could have handled it better, and I have learned from this thread. I'm still not sorry though.

You seem happy you stuck him with that 2+ hour trip. It just rubs me the wrong way. I'm fine with telling the dude to get bent but it would have taken a lot more than 2 texts for me to lose my cool over 50 bucks. Especially since you knew it was a good long drive and he had the cash.

 

[SactoBass]

And here is how it played out in an alternate universe:

On the drive up the guy texted me this:

Buyer: "Would you consider $550? Haha thinking about turning around this traffic is horrible."

Me: Sorry, I think it is worth $650. I agreed to honor the mistaken $600 price. Can't go any lower. Up to you what you want to do.

Buyer: Figured you'd say that, just checking. See you in 45 mins.

Me: Cool. Drive safe.

<60 minutes later>

Buyer: Damn, dude, this bass is awesome, thank you so much! Keep my number and let me know if you ever have anything else you want to sell.

Me: Sure thing buddy, will do. Thanks and enjoy it!

Buyer: Oh, by the way, my little sister is a supermodel, and her lame boyfriend just broke up with her. You seem like a really nice guy, and you look like her type. Are you single?

Excellent hidden message there!

Comparing that post to the OP's post #1, it reiterates what I have observed over the past 62 years regarding humans: we can greatly influence how others interact with us by how we choose to interact with them. I realize it doesn't *ALWAYS* work, but nearly always, when someone speaks nicely and respectfully to someone else, that someone else will speak nicely and respectfully to them. And when someone speaks unfriendly or disrespectful to someone else, that someone else will do the same. So, in a way, we actually can greatly influence how others treat us by how we choose to treat them. It's very powerful! And some humans, at some point in their life, learn this powerful trick, and some never do.

I retired recently as a civil engineer. When I was working, I was the manager of over 100 people for many years. It's amazing what I learned about human behavior from that experience. One of the things I learned was, those who figured out and implemented the above-mentioned trick were much more successful than those who didn't.

 

[beaglesandbass]

If this makes 30 pages, I’m quitting TB for a year.

do you have zero tolerance for 30 page threads?

 

[Tim Skaggs]

Buyer: Forget I said anything, I'm almost there. I'll give you $600.

Me: No thanks. I don't want to sell it to you anymore.

You obviously didn't want to sell it to bad. You contributed to your own bad experience.

 

[Cliff Colton]

Let’s move on to the next problem. You have to sell the bass because you won’t enjoy it anymore, and you have to get more than $600 because that’s the amount you turned away. Maybe you can print out this thread and include it as case candy.

$750 Firm.
No spammers. Please do not contact me with unsolicited services.

 

[jnsnj]

I had a similar experience on CL. I saw an item I was interested in and made an offer. The seller accepted and I asked when I could pick it up. We set a time for later that day after work. Later I called seller to tell him I was on my way. "Oh, I sold it"......silence. I said "we agreed on a price and then you broke our agreement and sold it?" I got a an earful about how I was a jerk for offering less than asking price, and serves me right for lowballing, and next time maybe I'll offer full price, yada yada. I told him he was an a*****e and hung up. Obviously there was nothing I could do except express my displeasure.

Some people are just like that. A gentlemen's agreement implies that both parties are gentlemen.

I disagree. If I can sell something for more money sooner I'd take it every time. There is no guaranty that the first person will show up, not try to reduce the price further, or just plain waist my time. I wouldn't hesitate or think twice about it.

 

[Rapisme]

Wait,
He tried to get an additional 50 bucks off and you said No.
He then stated forget what I said I’m almost there and will pay you the price you quoted.
You responded with the verbal terms of the agreement.

Then you said forget the deal.

Then he responded with the profanity.
In which you responded in Kind.

If I’m missing something please tell. Seems like you weren’t in the right on that one.
IMHO.

 

[jnsnj]

My $.02 - If you are playing the CL game at all you are losing.

Since eBay came on the scene, by spending a little extra time to register, take good photos, write good descriptions and be prepared to ship your market expands from driving a local radius to the whole world. In most cases, with a smaller market comes lesser demand. This means selling more slowly or selling for less money.

In the past I have taken advantage of this as a buyer and gotten killer deals. But each and every time (and there were a few) I was dealing with wackos. So I stopped using CL close to 10 years ago and I will never use it again.

Selling online (here on TB or on any number of paid sites) is a much better way to go. You don't waste an afternoon on a flake, you don't deal with nonsense such as the OP was subjected to, and if you are no paid ahead of time, you don't part with the bass.

I honestly don't know why anyone would use CL in this day and age to sell gear, other than gear that is not able to ship or easily shipped.

I hate shipping items. There have been many times the post office has told me the prepaid shipping is no good because I said it weighed x pounds when it really weighs x pounds and one ounce. Plus finding the right size box and packaging it. Then hoping it doesn't get damaged during shipping, stolen off their doorstep, or the buyer makes some bogus claim through ebay. I had a guy leave me a negative review on ebay once because the beat up pair of pick ups I sold him for $5 didn't have the foam padding. He said I should have been up front about the lack of the foam that goes under the pick ups. It had photos of what he was buying and I posted them as being for parts only. People are just crazy.

 

[twinjet]

I have no idea what I’m talking about either. I’m just trying to get this thing to 30 pages. I suppose my logic is somewhat flawed with regards to that last post. For all I know, you could be a trader of socks. In any case, that should not be a determining factor in my assessment of you, and for that, I apologize.

If you really wanna go, just email the help desk. You could probably arrange something.

 

[blue4]

If I was a betting man, and there was some way to verify it, I'd bet $20 the buyer tried the same exact trick on the next guy with a bass for sale. With the same "haha" and everything. Maybe from now on he just goes with the agreed on price, but I doubt it.


@FingerDub you've learned a couple things. 1. Don't lose your cool. 2. If you do, don't post it on TB. Lot of high horses in the stables here.

 

[lowplaces]

The word "firm".

Works well every time I sell anything on Craigslist. I state it in my ad and remind the buyer that the price is firm before we meet up.

 

[Cliff Colton]

Wait,
He tried to get an additional 50 bucks off and you said No.
He then stated forget what I said I’m almost there and will pay you the price you quoted.
You responded with the verbal terms of the agreement.

Then you said forget the deal.

Then he responded with the profanity.
In which you responded in Kind.

If I’m missing something please tell. Seems like you weren’t in the right on that one.
IMHO.

You might have missed the part where the buyer went home so it doesn’t matter what they said because the buyer never showed up.

 

[Cliff Colton]

If you look back at some of the TB threads from the 1890’s, you’d see that TB’ers from that era often challenged buyers to a duel over something like this. So I think the seller acted relatively civil here with a simple ‘expletive you’ that resolved the matter in its entirety without the drama.

 

[catcauphonic]

That's why I always preferred using Bass Northwest to sell my gear for me. Sure, they keep a cut of the sale. However, instead of me reaching a limited amount of people in the Seattle area - they reach the entire world. The person that bought my Sterling was from Taiwan and I believe one of my Zon's went to AL & the other to Germany. Then I don't deal with any of the hassle with dealing with Craigslist d-bags. I would give it to Bass NW - then they'd call me to tell me to pick up my check. I miss Chad & Evan at Bass NW. However, for those of you interested - Chad opened a new store in West Seattle called The Bass Shop.

Ahh me too, man. Free setups for life, and the staff doesn't work on commission! (If you went on to post they sold for you my beloved Spector Forte-X #016, I might have asked to buy you dinner )

wedging yourself into a better deal is the entire point of craigslist. do you really think the buyer drove an hour with the intention of not actually showing up if he didn't get it for 550? you have to really read into this and assume the buyer is super shady come to that conclusion. dude threw out a feeler and quickly took it back. the dude was clearly going to show up with 600 bucks.

Aside from some exceptions to the first sentence I agree with your assessment 100%.

It's guys like me not afraid to put stuff out there so that guys like you have something to talk about.

No one's perfect, and I'm sorry I disappointed you. So what are you going to do burn me at the stake?

My bass brother, I appreciate that some people have no problem speaking their mind even if it sometimes makes me cringe now and again.

Occasionally dealing with annoying people is a fact of life for all of us. You were never "threatened" by his aborting the deal as he had already come a long way with the 6bills.

Him- "Haha traffic sux, can I get another discount?" You- "no sorry I can't go any lower on this item = 30 seconds of him wasting your time.

But by you being a hothead here, and REALLY sticking it to him by wasting 2 hours of his time plus gas, to me is where this whole thing really got unnecessarily escalated. IMO your punishment didn't fit his crime. (BTW, I'm someone who does not enjoy that game and never haggles.)

I doubt he's even thinking about the error of his ways and vowing to never lowball anyone again. Probably more along the lines of ways he can pay that a$$hole back.

Cynical people screwing others before they screw you or one upping bad behavior in an effort to 'win' and teach a lesson is tragically becoming an art form these days, and certainly not making the world a better place to make friends and connections in. I don't believe in burning bridges, even with a stranger I haven't yet met who doesn't even live in my town.

I'm not trying to disparage your character, simply offering my thoughts based on what I've read here (all of it!) Also it made me wonder when @40Hz first mentioned that it could have been the out you were looking for to cover your original $50 mistake without even realizing you were doing it. The human brain is tricky!

Peace

 

[stefancaunter]

Here’s the thing. People who want a deal, actually want to pay you. People who show up, want to buy. You blew a sale, which was entirely your call to make. Sometimes you pick a hill to die on. Whatever works for you.
I’m ten percent flexible sometimes. I’m firm other times. I’m never impolite. This has worked for me (for years I sold 100k a month of pro audio gear at decent margin).
In some cultures the seller can raise his price during negotiations. In some cultures asking for a discount is standard. In others it’s not done.
But recognizing behavior, and understanding how people buy things, is a skill that can help you in life. I hope others learn from this.

 

[MynameisMe]

I have yet to see flats, p bass or the search function come up in this thread. Untypical TalkBass...

 

[Raw N Low]

You can sum up a person's entire moral character based on their opinion on someone else's one experience?

No need to go for a reach on this one. So you would agree that this incident was handled in the best possible manner?

Let's take a moment to think about this...its Craigslist. The trust factor is often thin; people want something for nothing; and your relying on the good word of the seller and the buyer. There is no receipt or customer backing of you get screwed and deals can get dangerous really quick. I've seen guns present on two of my encounters.

Yes, how one holds themselves and behaves is a critical factor. This ain't Ebay - nothing is guaranteed good or bad. High fiving this behavior will lead to bad results. A little kindness goes a long ways.

 

[Roland GR 88]

I'm sick and have the flu, outside of the two hours I spent the day at the doctors I've done nothing.

Well, not a bad way to spend the day when your couch bound I guess.
Hope you're better today and someone with enough jam calls for your bass soon.

 

[denhou1974]

Last week, a guy drove up from about an hour + away to check out my bass. I had it listed for $650.00 which I could have gotten all day. But I made a mistake and was thinking of another bass and told the guy six hundred instead of $650 and even though I made a mistake, that I would still honor $600 because I said it, even mistakenly.

On the drive up the guy texted me this:

Buyer: "Would you consider $550? Haha thinking about turning around this traffic is horrible."

Me: Turn around then. You responded at full price, and then because of my mistake which I honored, you would have gotten $50 off the price, which you agreed to and now you're trying to squeeze me for more?

Buyer: Forget I said anything, I'm almost there. I'll give you $600.

Me: No thanks. I don't want to sell it to you anymore.

Buyer: Mother******.

Me: Go **** yourself.

Feels DAMN GOOD.

If you're going to play the game, be prepared to also lose.

You sound like a real joy to do business with.

Selling something doesn't have to involve a bunch of drama. "Price is firm" would have done just fine in your situation.