People are strange (on Craigslist...rant)

[purfektstranger]

A month ago I posted a Fender Japan 62 Reissue bass on Craigslist and Kijiji (a popular free classifieds site here in Canada and the U.S.?). Anyway I listed it for C$ 525. This guy emails me and says he saw the ad on Craigslist and offers me $ 300. Says he will come by in the evening to pick it up, no questions asked. I reply, thanking him for the offer and saying that the lowest I would go was $450 (the bass was mint condition). Yesterday the same guy emails me and says I should have accepted his offer, since my bass is still for sale. I reply, telling him that it sold for $ 520 on Kijiji three days after I posted the ad. I also said I that I was unable to delete the ad from Craigslist which is a fact. The idiot replies that whoever bought it was a fool...blah blah blah. Is it me or does Craigslist generate more time wasting tire kickers than any other site out there??? Sorry for the rant....it's just beyond me that anytime I post on there I get more grief and time wasters than serious enquiries......

 

[donut]

Hiding behind a computer does weird things to some people.

Others are just as weird in real life.

 

[PaulNYC]

You cannot argue with crazy people.

 

[Guz2]

...When you're a stranger. Faces look ugly when you're alone.

 

[purfektstranger]

I think that when people make an offer without actually having seen or played the bass...it's probably not a good sign.

 

[eaaa410]

The economy has brought the lookers and low-ballers crawling out of the woodwork to take advantage of those that are desperate to sell. CL can still work if you are patient and don't need the money in a hurry. I have had excellent luck trading, much better than selling.

 

[Agito]

450$?
If I were in the US or Canada I would buy it :S

 

[s15driftking]

I always find it funny that when someone calls me after I have something on CL and it sells that they tell me about their setup and musical history as if they need to build street cred.... what an annoyance...

 

[snyderz]

Craigslist has the most spam and scam too.

 

[kcole4001]

Kijiji suffer from the same morons, unfortunately you can't just mark 'em as spam, then all the replies go to the spam file.

I just don't talk to them, they're not worth the effort.

I posted a PC power supply for sale for $20 FIRM, and all I got is idiots offering $5 "cash".
As if I was ready to accept a cheque or money order, then one guy going off on me because it's obviously not worth it, etc.....

Useless dough-heads, if they're not interested, just move on, don't waste everyone's time.
I don't think it's necessarily the economy, these pinheads are just looking for attention.
I say don't give 'em any.

 

[Buslady7803]

i'd never post on craigslist...people there scare me. hehe

 

[MasterBass!]

If there is an ******* within 50 miles...they will find their way to Craigslist!!

 

[bronzdragon]

I've had good luck with CL, however I will say there is a lot of spam. There is also a lot of people looking for "great" deals, meaning that sometimes people that sell stolen goods sometimes use CL and some nefarious individuals will troll and send out messages like that to try and get hot goods off of people

People that are selling legit items, know what the goods are worth and won't go below a set amount. But people who are selling hot gear, will take what they can get.

~r~

 

[DukDukGuus]

I've been using CraigsList for a decade, now, and have had very few bad experiences. I just responded to one this morning, that was $800 for an item that is only $900 new. I wrote, "If you're unable to get your asking price, let me know. I'm interested." That has worked several times, and it doesn't make the seller look bad, or like a gouger, or uninformed. You never know what motivation the person has for selling, or for buying. I also leave my postings up for the duration of the ad, unless it sells, because buyers are always lurking. Sites like SearchTempest allow people to look at tens or hundreds of cities for any item, too, and your ad may appeal to someone half a continent away.

One way around the spam issue is to say, in the body of the ad, "Please respond with 'Lakland Blonde' in the subject of your e-mail," for example. The rest get deleted.

 

[IntrepidCellist]

That's a pretty standard reply... I've gotten that one before.

 

[Volume4]

I couldn't even begin to tell my CL stories here.

I've done much better as a buyer....got great deals on my Peavey amp and Squier CV P-Bass.

Mostly as a seller but some as a buyer, I've met some really nice/cool people, some real wierdos/jerks and once met an extremely flirtacious woman who did end up emailing me and asking me out. So I blew that one, but I was a little uncomfortable with the whole thing because I had already dealt with too many CL weirdos.

Seriously, I have almost a dozen interesting stories. I'm pretty much done trying to sell anything on CL but still check several times daily for possible bargains.