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Yet another Craigslist Wack-A-Doodle!

#81
brianrost said:
On the other hand, I once sold a Crate combo amp to a guy for $20. I arrived at the meeting place and he was surprised that it was in good condition, figuring such a cheap amp would be beaten to crap. He insisted I take $25 for it :laugh:



I sold a bass a while ago and all the guy really asked about on the phone was the condition of the HSC. He shows up, picks up the bass, holds it but doesn't try to plug in and play it. Then he looks over the case carefully, hands me the agreed $900, puts the bass in the case and heads home. Total time of transaction less than 5 minutes. :whistle:
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I bought a boutique bass here on TB years about, for two reasons: It was severely underpriced (so, free money on a flip) and it came with a $400 leather gigbag.

So of course it came without the gigbag. Took me about a month to clear that up. I still have the gigbag. I still have no idea why the seller pulled that crap.
 
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#82
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#83
Axtman said:
So I listed a solid-state Fender guitar amp for $300 on Craigslist. I got a text from a guy that was interested in my amp. He asked me a bunch of questions about the amp (size of speakers, date, working condition, etc.) He explained that he lived about 2 hours away. He asked if I would be willing to meet half-way. After pondering I said yes. He recommended the mall in a half-way city. I recommended a Guitar Center near that mall. (That way if he wanted to try it out we could bring it into the GC.)

We agreed that we would leave immediately and meet about the same time. I got to the GC parking lot a little early and waited 15 minutes for him after driving for 45 minutes to get there.

He shows up and I show him the amp. I show him the footswitch and he asks what cord goes to it. I show him the 1/4 jack cord. He then asks if I have the power cord. I realize that I forgot the IEC cord in my dash to get out the door. He says, "I tell you what. I'll buy the amp for 20 dollars less or you can mail me the cord." I reply, "Nah........."

The nice older guy immediately angrily blows up, "I KNEW YOU WERE GOING TO DO THIS TO ME!!!" He then storms of to his truck and drives away.

I stood there stunned. Had he let me finish I would have offered to buy one at GC for $5 or there is a GoodWill across the street that will sell them for $.50 to $1.

The guy acted like I had done him a HUGE disservice and was trying to cheat him (out of a power cord?).

BTW, who doesn't have extra cords lying around anyway?

Had he met me at my house I could have given him one or two.
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That was actually a funny story. At least he didn’t send a text with the mumbo jumbo about being in another country and that his rep would meet and pay double what you are asking..
 
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#85
Had I left the foot switch at home then I would understand his disappointment but not his rage. Fender only made that specific foot switch for a short period of time for only a few model of amps. It took me a long time of searching to find that foot switch. It's probably worth more than the amp!
 
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#86
Instead of starting your reply with "Nah...", which indicates total disinterest in his offer, you could have simply stated "Let me grab you a new power cord from GC while we're here". No, his response wasn't cool, but starting with "Nah" conveys you're disinterested in making a deal. IMO.
 
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#89
i knew there was a reason i never agree to meet anyone halfway...

EdO. said:
Obviously a scammer. When they ask stupid questions they're likely trying to engage you further for who knows what reason, likely to get more info from you. Like your home address etc.
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i have never found that to be the case in all my many CL transactions selling basses, guitars and cameras. the people who ask the most are usually the ones who buy from me or say "no, thank you" early on.
 
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#91
Wesley R said:
It was about 7 am and we are assembling the family father funeral. We had a car for sale on CL, and as can be expected the phone rings and the guy can be there within an hour. I state multiple times that we are on our way to a funeral and cannot hang around, that it wasn't going to be sold that day and I would hold it until the next day if he wanted. The guy blew a bolt, so I hung up on him.

He called eleven more times that day.
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WOW! :rollno:
 
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#92
I won't drive any farther than about 15 minutes for the reason that 1) they're going to be late, id they even show up 2) they're going to say they only brought $200 when the agreed upon price was $300. The farther they can get you to drive the more they think you'll give in to whatever demand they have because you don't want to waste a long drive. You also have people that want a big discount because they had to drive two hours. That's really not my problem, wait for the same item closer to you. I'd also not use someone's business to test drive equipment that I want to sell.
 
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#96
brianrost said:
On the other hand, I once sold a Crate combo amp to a guy for $20. I arrived at the meeting place and he was surprised that it was in good condition, figuring such a cheap amp would be beaten to crap. He insisted I take $25 for it :laugh:



I sold a bass a while ago and all the guy really asked about on the phone was the condition of the HSC. He shows up, picks up the bass, holds it but doesn't try to plug in and play it. Then he looks over the case carefully, hands me the agreed $900, puts the bass in the case and heads home. Total time of transaction less than 5 minutes. :whistle:
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I showed up to buy a Squier bass once - while giving it a quick look over, I noticed it had no strap buttons. I asked if they were in the gigbag. The guy was so sorry (?) that he forgot to put them back on and didn’t bring them, he insisted to take $90 instead of $100. I said not to worry and gave him the $100. We must have passed the $10 bill he took out back and forth a few times, each insisting the other to take it, until I graciously accepted it.

I have met people on CL that turned out to be members here, and had great conversations with.

I have done “way too many” CL deals over the years (since 2000... 15-20 per year? Up to 400 transactions? Maybe more...) - and have found myself in positions where I was just happy to leave. I was so uncomfortable with the meet that I didn’t care how much I got paid or if the item worked at all. (seller / buyer). I try to avoid situations that don’t feel right, and have bailed on meeting someone a couple times after arriving to the meeting place and determining this was not worth it.

But overall, I’ve had mostly positive experiences on CL - though I always expect the worst. Meeting at the police station parking lot helps each side be more comfortable in a legit transaction.
 
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#97
Stories of Craiglist jerks abound! I had a Epiphone ES-335 quilt maple top with gold hardware that is a $600 guitar with a $100 case. I was asking $300 firm.

A fellow contacted me and asked me to bring it 30 minutes away to look it over. I said sure, it’s a 30 minute ride for me but I’ll do it, by the way this is a firm asking price.

I meet him, show him the guitar and he offers me $100! I reminded him that it was a firm asking price, he replied that you can’t blame a person for trying...but yes, yes you can, a jerk move is a jerk move.

Craigslist is populated by a lot of honest sincere folk, with a healthy dollop of jerks, kind of like the population in general.
 
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#98
When meeting up to sell something, make sure the buyer is committed and the price is firm and that is understood. Had a guy meet me, 20 minutes late, and $50 short. I pointed to the bank across the parking lot and told him I would wait.
These days I tend not to drive more than 15 minutes to meet a buyer. Many times I have them come to my home’s garage. I have security cameras and a dog. Then I have the bass, amp, and a stool set up for them to try it out.
 
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#99
Axtman said:
I'm really surprised the guy did not call me or text me or email me and chew me out.

I hope he tells his friends about the experience and his buddies say, "You drove 100 miles round trip and reneged on the amp because the guy did not have a power cord?! And you were in Guitar Center's parking lot?!!!"
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You’re assuming that he has friends.
 
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