Does Craigslist actually work?

[Joe Bob]

Typical Dealer crap....bait and switch, call for price, all the little irritating things they do at the dealer they can do online....

[Zeke]

When I said no phone number, no reply that was when I'm selling. I always include my number when replying to indicate I'm not a spammer. I get good response that way.

No way do I put a phone number out first when selling. You let me call you or you get nothing. And I will block my number. Don't like the terms, buy something else.

Never buy or sell sight unseen. Cash in the street or no deal. Usually I have a buddy along.

[lendaddy]

Originally Posted by LeeH

How so?

Dealer ads are often just teasers. They list a veh then once you click on it they invite you to check their inventory rather than have the listed veh in the ad, etc..

[lendaddy]

Originally Posted by Joe Bob

Typical Dealer crap....bait and switch, call for price, all the little irritating things they do at the dealer they can do online....

Exactly this

[john70t]

Pron sites in the 1990's used to hide their external links behind the "click to expand pic".
If you click to expand, then 30+ pop-up windows open and freeze the computer CPU/memory.

Tease, then whammy.

F'k that. Buh bye.

[LeeH]

Originally Posted by lendaddy

Dealer ads are often just teasers. They list a veh then once you click on it they invite you to check their inventory rather than have the listed veh in the ad, etc..

My experience is different. I bought my 2009 Mazda5 from a used car dealer's ad on CL. The lot was on the other side of town. The guy went over it on the phone describing the condition of every panel. We actually negotiated the deal on the phone before I ever saw the car. I just showed up, took it for a test drive, then wrote him a check.

My wife's Mazda3 came from a large dealer's CL ad. Didn't actually buy the car I went to see, but it was there. I ended up with a Mazda3 S for about the same price as the base model I went to see.

I sold my 2006 Mazda5 on CL in two days. I priced it between KBB good and excellent. A couple came out, drove it, and left a $5000 cash deposit. They picked it up two days later when they got the check from the bank for the balance that they had financed.

I keep waiting for someone to do an in depth analysis of CL's affect on the economy. Until CL, there has never been a cost effective way of trading lower priced used goods on a local level. Newspaper ads were too expensive to justify lower priced stuff. A lot of people turn to CL instead of retail stores when they need something. That means the retail store is not making the sale, the buyer is spending less since they're buying used, and the seller is recouping part of their purchase price.

[JavaBrewer]

Originally Posted by McLovin

For most items, buying or selling, CL is hard to ignore, simply because of its tremendous popularity and volume of users.

But, like most things internet, it takes a good dose of common sense, and some internet savvy and experience, to use successfully.

For example, if you don't instantly know it's a scam when someone selling a car says they are overseas, or they want to use an "escrow," or the words "Western Union" are used . . . CL is not for you.

For those that can effectively transact on CL, it is a tremendous resource.

+ again.

All of my CL deals (seller and buyer) have been quick, painless, and honest. If you are contacting a seller for something listed at 50% under market value and expect a valuable response...well...CL is not for you. Bargains are there but they move quickly...like within the hour, or quarter hour, of their posting. YMMV.

[black73]

I responded by txt message to an ad for a car for sale. The reply went something like,
"Make me an offer and I'll ask my husband".
I said, "Well, I would like to see the car before I make an offer".
Never heard back.