I don’t know that I agree with that. I will generally move a conversation to text because most people (me included) check their texts way more often than email and it can take several days to get to an actual time to meet up. The vast majority of people who give me a phone number to text are real non-scammer people who respond by text and just prefer it to email.
Judging by the number of spam calls and texts I receive in general, I am skeptical that my phone number is some kind of valuable secret information that I can meaningfully hide from the world.
My emails when I want to buy something are always of the form “I’m interested in your . I could come see it at <dates, times>. My cell is if you want to call or text.”
The really good stuff gets “I can come immediately or at your convenience”, as it’s often gone in less than an hour.
The thing is, people sometimes say that as a negotiation tactic. I’ve offered less and gotten to a deal, so I’ll continue to do so, particularly if the ad has been up for a while. I will acknowledge the “firm” language in my offer. Something like “I see that you have a firm price of $x, but my budget is $y. If you don’t get other buyers and change your mind, let me know.” Sometimes it works!
I sold my car last summer on CL. The more mysterious responses were sometimes from car dealers who wanted me to bring it in for them to make me an offer. The used car market is super tight right now. I wound up selling to a private party, but I had a tentative offer from a dealer, pending seeing the car in person, which helped with negotiations for the sale.
This is what I do, using the CL masked email system as insulation. I never give prospective buyers my phone number - my ads always say “please reply via craigslist email only.” Even with a serious buyer, we communicate where to meet, time, etc via the CL email. If they are unwilling to do that, they are not really interested in what you are selling. Usually when someone emails “is it still available” they do not respond to the above.
I once posted my cell number and got instant attention by scammers doing the “google voice” scam. Never again.
I agreed to shift to text from a buyer who immediately made my number available to multiple scammers. They all had the same line of BS. " I want your item. I do not have any questions or require additional pictures. I will give you $$ upfront to hold the item. Provide your name& address I will mail you a check. Blah blah".
Sold a car in 2020, blown turbo leaked/burned oil horrendous gas mileage but interior and body in very good condition. The dozens of rapid replies completely unnerved me. One guy said give me your adrresss I’m on my way. Freak out! What? no discussion? No Haggling? Ended up selling to the one who used their own words, and said please and thankyou. Lol. He was a service mgr at an import dealership, hobby was flipping cars.
I’ve gotten use to the rapid turnaround. Sold a gas powered leaf blower last fall, it was gone in an hour.
I just went through that very scenario, but not for a house. I had my Makita power planer listed for sale for $180. New, it’s going for $299 on Amazon, and mine has only been lightly used. Anyway, somebody contacts me and says “well, I’ll give you $160 for it”. I said (politely) no, that doesn’t work for me and pointed out the online price. So he says “well, I have to drive all the way to Portland to get it, so I have to use gasoline. But if you bring it here, I’ll pay $180”. So I responded “Well, if I have to bring it there, then I have to use gas, so I’ll have to charge you $200. In fact, I’m raising the price to $220 because you’re annoying me.” That was the last I heard from him. And no, it hasn’t sold yet, but I don’t need the money so that’s just fine with me.
I responded to a car ad that was “firm.” I bought it for half the asking price and I still overpaid. Not everyone is as firm in their conviction as you.
I bargain over some things, but when I say the price is firm, then that’s what I mean. Shoot, I just gave a guy a shitload of woodworking wood for $40, because that’s what he had in his pocket. It easily cost me a couple hundred or more when I bought it, but I just wanted it out of my garage.
After 25 years of buying and selling stuff on the internet, I treat every interaction like the lowest common denominator. E.g., when I’m selling something and someone asked “Is this still available,” I’ll say:
Yes! I’m free later today and all weekend, except mid-afternoon on Sunday. You’re welcome to come look at it at my house but if you’d prefer a neutral location I can meet you somewhere. What time works best for you?
Whereas when I’m asking someone else if it’s still available, about 50% of the time I get this:
Yes.
And about 20% of the time I get:
No.
And about 30% of the time my message goes off into the void.
OP here. Now I’ve got someone saying he’s interested and wanting me to send him the VIN. I’ve never had this come up before, and again I don’t know if this is a legitimate and reasonable request or the prelude to a scam of some sort. Any thoughts?
I’ve seen this a lot. I used Craigslist once, to sell a car. Within five minutes of posting it I was getting “Is this still available?” texts.
Notice that reply works no matter what the item is. Sure seemed like a bot, or somebody “automatically replying to every ad as soon as it’s posted”. Nobody asked “Is the 2000 Insight available?” because that wasn’t how I worded the headline of the ad.
Instead, I got a couple that did use the headline:
“Is the Why Would You Buy This Car? It’s A Piece Of Crap! still available?”
And of course a number of texts (and calls, even though I made it clear “Only texts, calls will be ignored!”) that started with “Would you take $500?” (Sure, I’d do 80% off because it hasn’t sold in the FIRST TEN MINUTES!)
And yes, I did make a Google Voice number for texts/calls/voicemail, and a throwaway email as well.
And yes, I did sell the piece of crap… to a mechanic who said “The more wrong with it the better!”
They want to run a Carfax report on it. I don’t think there’s much anyone can do with just the VIN, other than that. If you aren’t going to give it out, you should get the report yourself and let people know you have it available. I would not buy a used car without seeing a Carfax or similar report.
I believe someone can look up a number of things with the VIN. Does the car have a clean title? A salvage title? Been in a bad accident? Are there recalls that haven’t been performed on it?
I did give the number to one person: the buyer who said “I’ll give you what you’re asking for the car, in cash, in two hours! Just let me check the VIN.”
(By the way, this was the guy who wanted to really overhaul it. He periodically sends me pics of the car up on blocks in his barn, with different parts of its guts pulled out)
I understand the hesitation to give out personal information and addresses online for various reasons, but doesn’t that come with selling certain things? It seems absurd to me if you list a car for sale online and I see the ad and it looks pretty good, is listed locally, so I ask for an address so I can swing by and take a look at it. Then I get chastised and told that they are CERTAINLY not giving out their home address to a complete stranger!
Hey, I didn’t ask to go through your underwear drawer. YOU offered something for sale and I would like to see it. Why does it matter if I know where some random person lives? I figure that someone lives in every house where a car is parked in front of it or there is activity going on there. What makes your house different?
Most people don’t want a random person on the internet knowing where they live and swinging by their house to take a look at something they are selling. What if that car is in use, or in the garage? Are you going to keep stopping by until you see the car? How many times? For how long?
This is why craigslist sales are mostly done at a mutually agreed-upon time at a public meeting place. I always use a local Starbucks, for example. It gives the seller control of the sale.
Usually if someone takes the time to swing by and look at it after deciding it looks good online they’re usually ready to buy. If a buyer doesn’t come across as seriously interested with cash in hand and just wants to waste your time swinging by Id pass too. No problem looking it over, but idlers and tire kickers are not serious about buying imo.
I’ve sold a few kayaks and pontoon boats using Facebook Market Place and Craigslist. For pontoon boats I have the boat at the marina or my work parking lot, depending on season, and meet the buyer there. For kayaks I throw the boat on my car and meet at a Sheetz.
Occasionally someone says they’d like to just stop and look. I tell them that approach doesn’t work for me. The demand for used boats is pretty good, so I know no matter how rigid my approach is, I’ll sell the boat in a week or so.
I also always demand cash. I know I’ve lost sales there, but if I scare away a buyer there’ll be another tomorrow.
ETA: I also always offer to meet later at a notary to transfer the trailer/boat title. I’ve had a couple people blow it off. A few years later when they try to sell the boat they’re in a mess, trying to track me down to meet at a notary and I’m not as helpful as I would have been years earlier.