OT: Craigslist

[RTLH]

Put some furniture up on Craigslist last week.
Got an email Christmas day from someone who was interested but said he had to work (on Christmas)
He wanted my contact info which I gave him then I get a call from a non published number, then another email saying he had to work and wanted to negotiate a price and would give me a cashiers check.
Anyway I knew it was a scam as from when I read the terms and agreements and what to look out for on the web site.

Anyone hear ever try to sell anything on Craigslist and what % of your inquiries would be legit and not Legit?

Also this is the first time I put anything up there, anyone have any ideas on how to get more bites?
I am trying to sell a $1200.00 couch and love seat.

 

[lionlurker]

I had that happen to me once. They wanted to send me a cashier's check and have me ship them the item, at their expense, because they wanted it so badly. Yeah, right.

 

[dwiz]

Never had scam attempts, but people will set up times to come, then won't show up half the time. When they do show up, they then will try and haggle, after agreeing on a price. A few times we've had the people come and pay full price, no problems. This is the tradeoff with tax free, off the books, dealing with internet-type people.

 

[PennStateNate]

I have sold several things on Craigslist and bought a few things.. Never have had a issue.. I also have never given my # out, everything was done through email. I do know some that have had issues. But the good outweighs the bad by a large margin. EBay is a lot worst for scammers IMO.

 

[Ranger Dan]

Yes, this happens a lot. The big give away is anyone from outside of your local area interested in buying what you have. They also start with some meaningful, harmless questions, then they say that they are too busy doing something and they will pay to have everything shipped to where they are, just give them some info so they can wire transfer the money.

 

[Agoodnap]

I've bought and sold a number of items and never had any problems. Depending on the item and timing I choose email or phone number.

I sell an item you need:
An enticing Title
Good, clear pictures that show the condition
A full description of the item(s) including all relevant data
A set of keywords that will lead someone to you add when using the parametric search tool.

Example:
Not so Good of a Title: "Little League Bat for Sale"

Very Good Title: "Best LL Bat Made"

Not so Good of a Body: Short bat used by my 10 year old 1 season.

Very Good Body: 28" long, 28 ounces, 2.75" barrel. I'd recommend a new grip but not necessary. Close-up of the grip shown in the pictures.

 

[nittanymoops]

Craiglist email responses are infamous for phishing attempts. I buy and sell there and on eBay. While eBay charges a fee, in hundreds of transactions I've never had a problem. On Craigslist, I've gotten dozens of phishing attempts in just about 5-10 listings to sell. Like dwiz said, it's a crapshoot on the all free site.

 

[Chickenman Testa]

Put some furniture up on Craigslist last week.
Got an email Christmas day from someone who was interested but said he had to work (on Christmas)
He wanted my contact info which I gave him then I get a call from a non published number, then another email saying he had to work and wanted to negotiate a price and would give me a cashiers check.
Anyway I knew it was a scam as from when I read the terms and agreements and what to look out for on the web site.

Anyone hear ever try to sell anything on Craigslist and what % of your inquiries would be legit and not Legit?

Also this is the first time I put anything up there, anyone have any ideas on how to get more bites?
I am trying to sell a $1200.00 couch and love seat.

I never venture on Craigslist. Worried I'd get contacted by a Serial Killer or Cannibal.

 

[GregInPitt]

Put some furniture up on Craigslist last week.
Got an email Christmas day from someone who was interested but said he had to work (on Christmas)
He wanted my contact info which I gave him then I get a call from a non published number, then another email saying he had to work and wanted to negotiate a price and would give me a cashiers check.
Anyway I knew it was a scam as from when I read the terms and agreements and what to look out for on the web site.

Anyone hear ever try to sell anything on Craigslist and what % of your inquiries would be legit and not Legit?

Also this is the first time I put anything up there, anyone have any ideas on how to get more bites?
I am trying to sell a $1200.00 couch and love seat.

I have sold many items on CL, including cars. Also have bought many items, including cars.

On selling, I just respond to any questionable calls, emails, texts, by saying I only accept cash. People that want to string along texts and emails, I respond to that they should call me (I include my phone # in the post). If they don't call I ignore it. But on furniture and such I usually price things to get rid of them. Higher priced furniture does not sell well. I tried to sell a beautiful high end DR set of my Mom's for $500 and got no bites. It ended up at my brother's house.... If you search Pittsburgh CL for DR sets you see that there are tons of them for sale, and many at cheap asking prices. Most people would not spend much on used furniture, but would instead buy new rather than buying a used $1200 couch and LS. Delivery is an issue with used large furniture. If you really want to sell it price it to sell.

A majority of the cars I bought have been good buys. I did buy a Civic that was junk (engine used oil...) but got rid of it and moved on.

On buying, any time I suspect a B.S. post I just move on. Like a car that was posted buy had to be shipped to me...... I only deal local. But I have shopped for cars in other cities, but never found one worth traveling for. I was trying to buy an RSX 2 years ago, checking Columbus, Dayton, KY, DC, Baltimore, but ended up finding one in Pittsburgh....

 

[Victor E. Bell]

Bought and sold and had no issues. Sold PSU tix, some household merch, tires, kid toys, and a mobility scooter to a guy who drove from a few counties away to buy it for his mother. Cash sale. I have purchased some things as well, appliances, kitchen stuff and most notably a good Yamaha keyboard locally at a steal.

I once had a crazy email asking if I still had the item for sale and the body of the email was some religious tangent a person went on. Basically I had no problems other than that, just ignored it. Timing is important, I couldn't sell the scooter till the 2nd time I put it up. Sometimes you just can't tell and you luck out. I've also given my phone number and no problems. I have had one occasion where a person wanted to set up a meeting to see/buy something and then never heard from again but that was only one time and I had another buyer anyway.

 

[psualumni2002]

I echo what others have said. I Have sold many things. Take cash only. You have to weed out the scammers. They will try everything. Don't fall for sob stories.

 

[Lion84]

I put some furniture up for sale and got 2 people trying to buy it with the old fake cashiers check scam - checks looked pretty good but as other have mentioned they were out of state and did the whole cash and send the difference BS - I am s waiting for my money from that Nigerian Prince though.

 

[RTLH]

I echo what others have said. I Have sold many things. Take cash only. You have to weed out the scammers. They will try everything. Don't fall for sob stories.

I have always been all businesses. No song and dance. No sob stories. That’s what this seemed like.
Of course the way business is done today is way different than 15-20 years ago.

 

[ForesterGump]

Never any problems. Have sold items and bought a few. But, I usually deal local or deal with someone in the profession. You can sniff out the spammers pretty well.

 

[Keyser Soze 16801]

Many police departments allow people to do deals in their parking lots. This is a very good idea from a safety perspective. No villain is going to want to meet at the police station.

 

[kgilbert78]

Craiglist email responses are infamous for phishing attempts. I buy and sell there and on eBay. While eBay charges a fee, in hundreds of transactions I've never had a problem. On Craigslist, I've gotten dozens of phishing attempts in just about 5-10 listings to sell. Like dwiz said, it's a crapshoot on the all free site.

I've had a couple problems on E-bay. One actually told me "you didn't actually expect to get what was in the picture?" And another ( a lawyer from Jersey) who sent me one item when I'd ordered two and was offended when I reported it to E-bay so sent me a junk item in an envelope to "prove" he'd sent the second item. But that is out of hundreds of transactions. Maybe thousands.

 

[LuvDaLions]

I've bought and sold stuff on craigslist many times and never had a problem. I only deal locally and only in cash. If you get a response and if anything sounds like it's not 100% legit, pass the response over without answering.

 

[Sviatoslav]

I love Craigslist! Bought and sold numerous times, never any real issues other than your typical hagglers but that's part of the game. Always deal in cash only unless it's a large sale like a vehicle, we sold my wife's Highlander on Craigslist and the couple who bought it brought the check from their bank, met us at OUR bank and were completely ok with making sure we were comfortable with the process - if your buyer is a jerk and you're not comfortable with how the conversation is going then move on.
Last year I picked up two really nice 14' kayaks for less than I would have paid for 1 brand new - and these included paddles and amenities I would have cost me extra.

 

[Eurotrash1]

Put some furniture up on Craigslist last week.
Got an email Christmas day from someone who was interested but said he had to work (on Christmas)
He wanted my contact info which I gave him then I get a call from a non published number, then another email saying he had to work and wanted to negotiate a price and would give me a cashiers check.
Anyway I knew it was a scam as from when I read the terms and agreements and what to look out for on the web site.

Anyone hear ever try to sell anything on Craigslist and what % of your inquiries would be legit and not Legit?

Also this is the first time I put anything up there, anyone have any ideas on how to get more bites?
I am trying to sell a $1200.00 couch and love seat.

I always place the ad saying I will accept cash only. The biggest problem with CL is everyone wants to low ball you.

 

[jim cummings]

I always place the ad saying I will accept cash only. The biggest problem with CL is everyone wants to low ball you.

Yes. People on Craigslist are cheap AF.

I go through the gigs section every once in a while if I'm slow to see if there's anything worthwhile. 1/10 I'll come across something but that's about it.

People take a picture of a 40 foot pear tree 3 feet from the house and want it taken down but demand that the wood be the compensation.

I asked a woman once if she was willing to sign a waiver excusing me of any liability if I dropped a tree through the middle of their house. She said yes, she just wanted the tree gone.

I then explained to her that she set The bar pretty low for stupid. The thought of spending money terrifies people and you'd be amazed at what people are willing to do to get something for free.

I scoff at the people who own $800,000 homes and yet want to beat you up over $5. They want their properties to look like Augusta national but aren't willing to pay for the details.

This is why I stay away from Craigslist.

I'm also banned from eBay. I sold a commercial mower to some douche from Maryland and drove the damn thing to him for nothing. I even took some time to show him how to operate it. He didn't realease the brake on one of the paddles and let go of the other and the machine did two circles and the caster slammed into the rear quarter panel of his wife's car, putting a huge hole in it.

He tried like hell to sue me and make me culpable. Tried to blame it on everything other than him being a dumbass. I sold a mower to a friend of a friend a few years ago out of state and at the meeting place I simply unloaded the machine off my truck, turned it off and collected my check and left. The rest was on the buyer to figure it out. I've learned my lesson about going the extra mile. I simply don't snymore for anyone.

I hate people.

 

[GregPSU]

I have sold several things on Craigslist and bought a few things.. Never have had a issue.. I also have never given my # out, everything was done through email. I do know some that have had issues. But the good outweighs the bad by a large margin. EBay is a lot worst for scammers IMO.

I buy a lot of things on Ebay. Would like to know what you are referring to before I get scammed. Thanks

 

[Victor E. Bell]

Yes. People on Craigslist are cheap AF.

I scoff at the people who own $800,000 homes and yet want to beat you up over $5. They want their properties to look like Augusta national but aren't willing to pay for the details.
<snip>
This is why I stay away from Craigslist.
<snip>
I hate people.

100% understand. My father who has a house full of stuff he can never use again refuses to sell anything on CL because of what you describe. He wants no hassles and is afraid of getting sued. My mother started unloading some costume jewelry and clothing and stuff on eBay and he is beside himself with the fear that somebody will "come back on him." She is selling legit stuff for legit prices but he can't be mollified.

I have been lucky I suppose. I got full asking price for a spinet piano some years ago and very recently full price for a great kids' toy that will last years. Always got nice people interested in my stuff but by all means, the risk is there that you get some incompetent loon who is going to try and make problems for you.

 

[DandyDonII]

have prosecuted multiple armed robbery cases involving Craigslist. They usually involve cars, Sex workers, or mobile type electronics (these are easy to sell).

I would be very cautious about letting anyone over to your house to look (allows them to case the place).

I have bought from Craigslist before, however, I have only bought higher end items that are unlikely to have a gangster as a seller (wine cabinets etc)

 

[PSU Mike]

I only get rid of stuff on CL (never buy, or even look to buy). I'd never use it to get top dollar. Best to set a low price (or free if moving the item is a hassle - buyer hauls it). It works great when you just have the sh!ts of something cluttering your place and you want it gone in 12 hours. I've never encountered a creep or a jerk once I've made a deal.

 

[psualt]

Put some furniture up on Craigslist last week.
Got an email Christmas day from someone who was interested but said he had to work (on Christmas)
He wanted my contact info which I gave him then I get a call from a non published number, then another email saying he had to work and wanted to negotiate a price and would give me a cashiers check.
Anyway I knew it was a scam as from when I read the terms and agreements and what to look out for on the web site.

Anyone hear ever try to sell anything on Craigslist and what % of your inquiries would be legit and not Legit?

Also this is the first time I put anything up there, anyone have any ideas on how to get more bites?
I am trying to sell a $1200.00 couch and love seat.

Used it for the first time last month. Actually ended up selling the furniture but got a lot of fake inquiries/scams. Make sure you google "craigslist scams" so you have a good idea how these people work. It is unbelievable how resourceful these crooks are.