Why Craigslist should F'n die!!!
 

So I am begining to pack up the family to move to SC because of my new job in Charleston and there are a few things I would rather not take. I vehemently hate craigslist. Mostly scammers and worthless crap in my experience. Plus it looks like a baby shat some HTML and viola Craigslist. SWMBO wanted me to put it on there and against my better judgement I did. Lo and behold I get the offer willing to give me 5x the asking price if I am willing to accept a third party purchase "check" (items are listed for local pickup) and other BS questions such as "Do you need halp payyingg your billssss?" F'n ass hats!!

Thankfully I setup a separate email address just for this.

Tell him yes, and you would be glad to meet him in person.

Give him the address of the local police station, tell him you work the front desk.

dude you're channeling Charles Kieffner

Just think how hillarious it would be if you put some things on there for free, and then somebody called you and said they were coming to pick it up... and then they never showed. Twice. THAT'S humor!

I've sold/bought on Craigslist for years with mostly good results. Maybe it's the NC crowd...

It's worked well enough the few times I've used it.

Listing my car on Craigslist was nothing more of a gift of my e-mail address to spammers.

Listing my car on Autotrader resulted in me getting automated calls from a company in Nevada claiming that they would buy my car.

huh... i've had a lot of luck buying and selling on CL. Sure, there's the occasional spam or ill-legit email or response, but those are pretty easy to recogonize. i only do business face to face and never had a problem. i delete all the "i'll pay 2x to have it shipped to XYZ" emails.

i like the potential for underpricing of collectibles on CL. in fact i cruise CL when looking for bargain beemers and porsches (only found 1 so far) and ebay is a distant afterthought.

in fact just sold a boat and bought another via CL. did my job researching the seller (verify name/address) before traveling with cash of course.

I'm getting tired of "free" services and the behaviour that they attract.

Suppose it cost $0.25 to contact a CL advertiser.

The $0.25 would stop spam, the economics of spam don't work with even a few cents cost per spam mail.

Not sure this would be enough to influence the flakes who infest CL, but it's a start.

wait a minute....you're talking about charging postage for emails..........

I've had great luck with Craigslist and even with their personal ads:). I sold both my last two motorcycles on CL, most recently in April to a guy who called about it in the morning and bought the bike that evening. Free listings attract the wackos and jerks (On-ramp). Make it cost something and that weeds out a lot of folks.

I've had good luck also. Sold a boat, Quad, and go-kart this year.

It's easier to weed out the emails of non-serious buyers than deal with dead-beat bidders on eBay.

No different than ebay. They both suck these days. The stupidity of society-at-large has (unfortunately) caught up with technology. Used to be that the Internet was a refuge of individuals who were (mostly) educated, intelligent and a couple of cuts above the average goober out there. No longer. It has become mainstream and as such, tainted with the idiocy of the mainstream.

You wouldn't believe the idiot questions I've gotten for "for sale" stuff on both venues. Now I just let the auctions run out and whatever the end price is, it is. I don't even bother reading or responding to the questions, even if it could potentially land me a few more bucks. Not worth it.

The thing that pisses me off the most about CL is the people that say, "yeah I'll be over at such-and-such time", then never show, forcing me to waste MY time sitting around with my thumb up my ass. EXTREMELY inconsiderate.

I had an incident last fall selling some stuff on eBay. In all caps and bold, at the top of my auction, I had a disclaimer that I would not ship internationally and that I would not accept bids from buyers outside of the U.S. without them contacting me prior to bidding.

Sure enough, I have a guy from Romania put in a bid on one of my items. I cancel his bid and send him a note advising of my policy. He puts in another bid. I cancel his bid and bar him from bidding on any of my auctions. Then he sends me an angry "question" about my auction--on all five of my auctions. I again reply with my policy. I never hear from the guy again.

love CL

http://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/bik/1233574591.html

Recently I have been doing some business on CL. I sold a washer and dryer and picked up some pedestals for the new units for a 1/3 the price of new. In both cases I dealt with 20 something females and it went quite well.

It may not be perfect, but it's better than fleabay.

I've listed about six things for sale on eBay and ADVrider.com in the last week, all of which were priced to include free shipping to CONUS or lower 48. On every single one of them I got emails from people in Canada asking if I'd ship there. I'll do it for the extra cost. But sheesh. Is there really such a shortage of BMW bike and Porsche stuff up there?

I bought a Porsche/VW engine yoke and bench bracket for $125 on CL, I had the yoke and the seller had cash money about 2 hours after he posted the ad.

I tried to sell my Infinity 5-piece speaker system on CL and had it on there for 90 days, and got 2 lowball offers where the cost of shipping would have been more than the speakers.

So, I think it just depends. It's worth every penny it costs, though.

Just got another gem. Items are listed as OBO "Hey, whats the lowest price you will take?" Why don't I just give it away, drop it off for you and I will bring my wife by so you can have a go at her too. God I really f'n hate people sometimes.

Sounds more of a personal issue (use of time and thumb) than inconsiderate buyers ;)

None of your gripes are exclusive to CL. Way back in the dark ages when we sold used cars through the local fish wrap we (sellers) dealt with the same jerk buyers. It comes with the territory of selling used anything.

I've used CL a few times to both sell and buy, never a problem.

I bought a seat back for my car through the Pelican classifieds from a dismantler in the US. The seat back was $75 and the shipping was about the same. The only option I had in Canada was from a dismantler who would only sell me a set of seats and the price was $1000. The selection is sometimes pathetic in Canada and we have no choice but to hassle you to ship us you unwanted stuff. ;)

For fun do a search on Ebay.ca for Porsche 944 then try ebay.com for the same and you will see.

I buy and sell regularly on Craigslist. Yes, there are some scams and scammers, but unless you own a newspaper, instant, local, and free classifieds are a wonderful thing.

Prior to CL if you wanted to sell a $5 item there was no way to do it short of a garage sale. My local paper charges $25 for a three line ad... and then the response was virtually nil.

A friend of mine responded to a Craigslist ad for free records and audio equipment and walked away with around 2000 LPs & 45s plus this and a lot more:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1245689485.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1245689505.jpg

Just a weathy guy who used to own a DJ service cleaning house!

Personally I love Craigslist.

So you get some spam from scam artists. So what? A bit of an over-reaction, yes?

Its actually pretty easy to spot the flakes. When I sold my Ducati, I got a few e-mails from guys that said, "Hawt bike, got the cash, give me a call." Yeah, I totally ignored those, until I got one that said, "Hello, I am have some questions about your ducati. Can you tell me the service history? How is the chain and sprocket, etc...." A person who was obviously actually looking to buy. The gal came and bought the bike the next day with cash.

I'm always running at least one ad in the sell section of CL. I'm making a few bucks buying low and selling at profit which makes CL better than my stock picks. :D

My brain is now a CL spam filter. For instance, I'm advertising a big dollar item right now which automatically draws spammers like flies to manure. Here's an email this morning. It looks harmless...

">Hello,
> I would like to know if you are still selling
> this item above?
> Regards,
> Henry
>"

This automatically hits the trash for multiple reasons. First, there is no mention of the actual merchandise, only the generic "item". Second, whenever I place an ad, I state emphatically, "THIS AD WILL BE REMOVED WHEN XXXXX IS SOLD." Therefore, there is no reason to ask if the item is still available. Speeds up the entire process for legitimate buyers.

CL is nothing more than your newpapers classifieds ads or Pennysaver flyer without the newspaper attached. The real bargain is zero cost!

BTW, I just had one of my best eBay profit margins ever. My dad bought some old Porsche clutter at a garage sale a few years ago, figuring I could use or flip it. He got these two old license plate frames for maybe $10 for the pair. I sold them individually on eBay for over $75 each!

Nice! Business is slow/dead for me, so occasionally I will shop ebay by distance, which allows shopping close to home for bargains. Recently came across a new, but cracked, Craftsman dumpable cart. A nice rig that gets towed behind a lawn tractor. Sears.com listed it for $169, so I got the opening bid of $9.99 and was the only bidder. Picked up some 2-part injectable epoxy resin from Lowes and repaired the fiberglass cracks on the tub in about an hour, assembled the kit, and sold it from my front yard the next day for $115, about $100 profit.

Lots of bargains out there if you're bored enough and broke enough to look. ;)

I love CL. Met a great woman there I had a solid year long relationship with. It's easy to weed out the flakes. How would it be any different if you put an ad in the now almost non existent newspaper classifieds?

I've met some great people buying, selling and also giving stuff away. Pretty much furnished my house from there when I got divorced, bought and sold motorcycles, cars, bikes, etc. It's a brilliant idea.

Posted my ad this morning. Just got back from driving .5 miles to get a brand new, never used, but 10-year-old Flite Titanium saddle, exactly what I wanted for a good price, and had 3 others to choose from. CL rocks.

Same here. There are flakes on CL but there are flakes everywhere...

I have not bought much on CL but have sold allot of stuff including Porsche parts across the country with pay pal, worked great. In a University town it's a great way to move old stuff. If your selling things you are always to deal with clowns no matter how you advertise. The price is right Freeee.

The guys complaining about CL must have never sold anything through a newspaper classified in their life. As previously stated, it hits the same population of idiots and real buyers as the internet. And it's one hell of a lot easier to separate the wheat from the chafe unless you're a total sucker/hook. It's blatantly obvious.

I had a guy from a newspaper ad come over to look at my 914 for sale once and ask to see the title. I was young and not so street smart in those days so the guy pocketed the title and left after the test drive. Why?? Never did really figure it out, maybe to prevent me from selling it to anyone else right away or(??). He was a sketchy guy that I would spot from a block away now. I did get the title back eventually after some drama, this was in the days before cell phones w/ caller ID on most all calls, etc. Luckily he called back.

This was in 1977. Wake up to reality.

I'd say the more web friendly your city, the better Craigslist is IMHO. Here is Pittsburgh, I've had 0 luck. Seems it easy to throw a free ad up then do little to follow up or check on replies. Maybe these people need to go over their aunt's house to check the "intranet" once a week. I don't know.

I've become almost a fanatic about Craigslist over the past 2 or 3 years. I've bought a dozen or so items, and probably have sold more than double that. When I've got some "junk" I don't need, I advertise it there (dirt cheap at times) - at least I get cash in hand instead of throwing the item out.

I always use the anonymous email option as well - they don't get my email unless I reply back.

There are no flakes on PPOT! :p

Had much luck on CL both buying and selling. Had a few no shows, but also had that same problem when i placed a $75/ 3 day ad in the local paper.

I bought my '89 targa off CL and have had mostly good results buying/selling, but there are a lot of time-waters out there.

I've suffered from the junk emails/calls thing after listing stuff on CL. I have found the best way is to spell out your phone number (one two three, etc.) and put spaces in/spell out your email. That drastically reduces the crap, not sure if they use software to collect contact info?