A couple of weeks ago, I posted a cat tree for sale. Sold it the next day. Had no other replies for three days, and then I got inundated. Most of them just wanted to know if it was still available, to which I replied no (and got one “thank you” for my reply).
One lady, though, wanted to know what the cat tree was made out of. You know, in case it was something that might be bad for her kitty. Never mind in the description, I’d linked to the original site where all the specs were. Never mind that I described it as covered in nylon carpet and sisal rope. Apparently, she wanted all the OSHA specs on all the ingredients which went into making it, with matching citations from the Merck Veterinarian Manual.
Yes, it’s phishing on all counts. What it accomplishes is that you answer and then your email is known to them. The CL encoding only works when they send you an email. Replies contain your real email address, which is why I don’t generally allow emails, only phonecalls. If you can’t be bothered to pick up the phone, then you’re really not all that interested.
Another scam I’ve encountered recently: a supposed buyer sends an email saying that he has posted a message for you on the CL boards and provides a link. You hit the link, try to log on, and the guy now has your account information. Since people tend to use the same logons and passwords on accounts, you’ve just made yourself very vulnerable.
I worked in retail for 25 years, and this is how the general public acts. All day. No matter what you sell.
They act this way at restaurants, they act this way at fundraisers, they act this way at garage sales. The general public are cheap, pain in the ass bastards.
One exception, of course, is if the item has some sort of problem or defect that was not described in the ad. Some people “forget” to disclose certain information in the ad or in correspondence.
A friend of mine goes one further; if someone tries that sort of shit, he just tells them to go away. Of course, most of these assholes have no intention of going to get the rest of the money anyway, so telling them to take a hike doesn’t lose you anything, and provides at least a modicum of satisfaction.
Assuming this isn’t a whoosh, got a cite for that?
All Google gave me was some references to the Mafia running underage prostitution through it. Not particularly surprising, but also not a wholly owned subsidiary.
I’ve sold 3 vehicles on craigslist within 24 hours of posting them and got my asking price every time. Why? Because I research the hell out of how much the vehicle is worth and save myself and the buyer a lot of time by pricing it as such.
But I still end up with those same people that want to offer me 1/2 of my asking price or give me a sob story about how they reaaaally want it but they just don’t have enough money.:rolleyes:
I sold a Barcalounger recently. The ad clearly said “bring someone to help you, as I cannot lift heavy objects at this time.” And of course a small woman shows up in a Subaru wagon, wants to buy it, and then asks if I have a truck. Nope. If I can get one, can you help me load it? Nope. Will you take ($200 less than advertised). Nope. You don’t seem to want to sell this very badly. I guess not, have a nice day.
I can relate… I’m selling some kid stuff that’s just taking up space. Someone was interested. From her e-mail yesterday: “OK, I’ll come by and pick it up at 4:30 tomorrow.”
Guess what came and went without anyone showing up?
On the other hand, if you’re selling, it’s totally cool if you want me to come pick up your item; my car is not so big but I can totally rent a van if it’s worth it to me (and I will figure the cost of the rental into the price I’m willing to pay). But if you offer to deliver the item for 20 bucks extra, please actually deliver it some time within 3 weeks of the first day you say you can deliver it.
(Also, if you can’t deliver it for 3 weeks because you’re going to be hella busy over those weeks, apologize and let me know so I can evaluate whether I want to rent a fucking van and go get the item; don’t keep telling me you will definitely do it 2 days hence.)
Unfortunately that’s the name of the used consumer market game. I mean, consuming used goods, not used consumers. Although the consumers might get used sometimes, too. I’m not judging.
{Mr. Burns fingers}Excellent.{/MBF}
All the things listed in this thread are the reasons why sometimes I just donate shit to charity and just buy shit new - some things just aren’t worth the hassle. I could get maybe five bucks for our old tv, but I’m going to put it out in the back alley with a “FREE!” sign on it instead, because it’s just not worth it.
Yeah, things have to be worth at least $50 for me to bother with Craigslist. However, my experience with CL has been overwhelmingly positive, I use it all the time and almost never have problems. I think it’s better in some regions than others–New England CL is awesome.
I’ve only used CL twice. Both times, I took the ad down as soon as the item was sold. People still contacted me weeks later. Its even worse with newspaper ads. I once had someone call me 5 weeks after I ran a 3 day ad to tell me how much they wanted the beater I had for sale. :smack:
Freecycle is even worse. I’m giving this shit away for free. I’m not going to deliver it. I’m not going to rearrange my schedule for someone who probably won’t show up just because their lives are so hard. When I replied to an ad from someone who had storm damage and NEEDED a TV dish, who said he would drive a 100 miles for one and remove it from mountings in his ad, guess what? He wanted me to take time off from work and have tools available for his use. I told him that I couldn’t do that, but that I’d alert my neighbors and that he could come and get it anytime. That was in October. The dish is still in my yard.
I’ve given up. I’ll donate it to charity or drag it to the street and put “Free” sign on it. That backfired once as well. I put a vaccuum on the street and had someone take it, then come and knock on my door because all he got was a working vaccuum and he thought there should be more attachments and bags.
