Just once I'd like a Craig's List deal to go as agreed

The BBQ Pit
1

We’re looking at getting new bike for my girlfriend. There was one about right on Craig’s List. We contacted the guy, exchanged emails about components and measurement, agreed on a price, and then tried to set up a time to see it (the guy is in a small town about a half hour away). If it was a good fit, we’d give him cash and bring the bike back with us.

Setting up a time, he said “What’s the earliest you can come? Other people have (suddenly) expressed interest and if someone shows up with cash in hand, that’s who I’m going to sell it to. But you two were the one’s who contacted me first, so to be fair, (how noble of him) I wanted to be sure you got the first shot.”

This set off my “Aw, crap!” alarm. He’s establishing a basis to try and up the agreed price. He’s going to have “someone else” effectively bid against us. My getting-disgruntled girlfriend said “Yeah, well he agreed on our budget.”

We picked the earliest time we could, pretty much guaranteeing that we’d be there before the “other people who’ve expressed interest” so we would be the first to show up cash in hand. Suddenly, “someone” has offered $100 more than us for the bike (sight unseen) and would we be willing to match his price? :dubious:

Sorry, dude. We’re only willing to pay the agreed price. Hope “someone else” enjoys the bike. If that deal falls through, let us know.

Ya know, fuck, it pisses me off when people do that.

When I was a kid and I answered a Pennysaver ad about a rowing machine, the guy selling it said “Well, I already have someone coming to see it Saturday morning. I’ll call you back Saturday afternoon if it’s still available. Then you can come and see it.” The guy had integrity. Let the first guy come and see it, and when it didn’t work out, called me next. No bullshit about two buyers vying for the same thing and bidding against each other.

We could have been shopping around a bit more seriously all this time. Damn, I wish people wouldn’t renege like that. It wastes our time.

2

I agree that sucks.

BUT as someone who’s sold a lot of shit on craigslist - I can tell you that the majority of interested parties are total flakes. I operate on a strict “first person to give me money gets to haul my stuff away” basis. If I didn’t then there’s so many times I would have missed a sale because the person who’s been emailing me / telephoning me every day for a week doesn’t show up and ceases contact.

Just the nature of the beast, I guess. Depends on what side of the transaction you’re on.

3

Yeah, I know. That part didn’t bother me. It was the part where once we were scheduled to show up first, the price jumped up $100.

4

You get what you pay for. :mad: :frowning: :stuck_out_tongue:

Other than job listings, I don’t find Craigslist very useful. And, I think those are one of the few paid listings?

5

I won’t negotiate with people on craigs list. I will only pay what they listed the item at. If they don’t list a price I won’t contact them.

When I sell things it is first to give me money is first to take it away. I try to email other interested parties to let them know it was taken and change the add.

If I’m giving something away it is first to get to my house gets it off my front lawn. I take no further action. I really hate when people try to take my time to get something for free.

6

I had never heard of this thing before. :eek: (Okay, give me a break. I’m an old man.) I had to Google it. Interesting thing to know about. Especially interesting, I thought, was this blurb at Wikipedia (with citation):

In July 2005, Craigslist won the right to beam over 2 million classified ads into deep space (one light year away) in the near future after Buckmaster won an eBay auction for broadcasting time from the company Deep Space Communications Network. Newmark said, “We believe there could be an infinite market opportunity” in space.

7

Well, well. My girlfriend emailed back and said “So sorry to hear that, but our budget really can’t go higher than the agreed upon price. If someone is willing to offer you so much more, sight unseen, we understand that it is a much better deal for you. Thank you for your time. We hope the buyer enjoys the bike.”

Now he’s backpedalling. Since he is such a nice guy and the “someone else” who is offering $100 more can’t come until later next week, maybe we should come and check it out anyway and if we like it we can still buy it for the agreed price and he’ll just lose out on the extra $100 the other guy is offering . :rolleyes:

Why can’t it just be simple? This is the price. Here’s the cash. Take it away. :mad:

8

If I were you, I’d just say “Thanks for the opportunity, but I’m not about to cheat you out of the extra $100 that guy is offering you.” He made the lie, he lost the sale. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose and this time he lost.

Then find another bike.

9

I agree with this.

10

I agree 100%- let him lose your sale so he thinks twice before doing business like that again. What an asshole.

11

Or, if that’s his negotiating tactic, you could always try, “sorry, while you were dicking around trying to screw us, we found a similar bike for $100 cheaper.” :smiley:

12

I must be living in some sort of Bizarro Universe, because I’ve yet to have any problem with a Craigs List transaction. I’ve sold stuff, bought stuff, gotten housing and have offered computer services all with not a single problem. But then, I’ve never had any problems with eBay, either. Maybe I’m just lucky.

13

Me neither. In addition to buying and selling furniture, I’ve rented out my spare room and found a squash partner on craigslist. (The only problem was this one bizarre job interview, but thats another story.) But if I got a bad feeling about anyone, I’d definately end the exchange instantly. Craigslist offers no returns, no exchanges, you gotta be careful about who you trust. There’ll always be more stuff up tomorrow.

14

Whenever I have nice items to get rid of and don’t want to just give them away, I’ll list on Craigs. It took me at least six tries to off a beautiful oak crib at a huge loss.

When I finally hooked up with someone who actually wanted to PAY for it and she showed up, I loaded her up with extras for the crib. LOTS of extras. I happened to have a highchair in the garage with the crib and she asked about it. I said “ten bucks” and she promised to return the following day with ten bucks. I let her take it. Big mistake. Guess what happened the next day. Absolutely nothing. Sheesh, SOME PEOPLE!

15

That absolutely sucks. After all, she knows where you live, the least she could do is send you a check. There are few things in life that piss me off more than people who can’t be bothered to repay a kindness.

16

Well, we found another bike. Had to drive out to a farm to see it, but it was a perfect fit and exactly our price. So take that Mr. Somebody-Else-Has-Offered-$100-More! :slight_smile:

17

Craigs is dubious. FuLl OF P30pLe WHO tyPE wEIRd. And sellers who don’t know the difference between wood and cardboard veneer.

But it does have some gems among the trash.

18

I would have taken the guy up on his offer, showed up, and told him “now that I’m seeing it, I think it’s only worth [$50 less than the agreed-upon price]” and handed him the money. I doubt he’d turn away cash-in-hand, and if he did, no loss to you. A wad of bills in his pocket is a mighty persuasive argument.

But I don’t necessarily fault the guy- as a buyer, I’d never agree on a firm price without actually standing in front of the thing and kicking the tires, or whatever it is. As a seller, it’s what I would expect from a buyer. If the initial asking price is within the range of what you think is acceptable, go and check it out. One of the beautiful things about Craig’s list and the like is haggling. I never pay the asking price, and as a seller, I always accept something less than I put in the ad.

19

I’ve done only a couple of Craigslist transactions, but had no problem in either case. Bought a decent road bike to keep down at my in-laws’ in FL off of Craigslist. Cost me something like $35. No complications, and the bike works great.

P.S. McNew - didn’t see any point in haggling the guy down from $35 on a ten-speed!