This is the first time that I’ve tried to sell a car via Craigslist and I’m afraid I may have made a mistake.
I listed the car yesterday, complete with pictures and description:
2001 Honda Civic - GREAT CAR - $2500
condition: good
2001 honda civic coupe
odometer: 151000
paint color : red
size : compact
type : coupe
drive : fwd
fuel : gas
transmission : automatic
title status : clean
cylinders : 4 cylinders
151,000 miles - slightly less actually
Surprising power for a small car
Excellent engine - never any issues starting car and never breaks down
Great gas mileage - A full tank lasts a month driving every day locally
Regular oil changes every 3,000 miles or less - Just changed oil again on September 14
All fluids checked and filled religiously
Very clean - Just washed inside and out
Brand new A/C system - Just replaced condenser and hoses in June - blasts cold air all summer
Bargain price of $2,500. I don’t have time to haggle over a few bucks so I knocked down the KBB value by $500 to make it easy. It’s a steal, and I won’t take less so please don’t waste my time.
Title is ready and car is ready to drive with 1/2 filled gas tank, clean inside and out. I treated this car like a baby. Remember I just paid for an oil change and complete wash inside and outside, plus checked all fluids, knowing that I’m selling it. I don’t skimp on my cars.
I can’t believe the responses I received. The grammar and spelling on most of the text and e-mail responses were atrocious, but I summarized some below.
text - 7PM - Is car still for sale? What’s the mileage? Why so expensive?
text - 8PM - Hey! Why are you selling the car? Can you send the pics to my cell phone?
text - 2AM - I really need the car right now. I have the money! Can I come now and get it?
text - 3AM (same person) - I know it’s late but please call me back because I really want the car
e-mail - 6pm - I live in a different state, but my mover will come buy the car. But I can only pay you thru paypal, the most secure and efficient way to transfer money
phone - just now - I want the car for my wife and kid. My friend is closer to you so he can pick it
I left out many others, but everyone seems either fake or a scam artist of some kind.
Actually your ad is great!! Nice description and all the details a prospective buyer will want to know.
Nonetheless, you will get a high percentage of flakes. Something about CL really brings out the nutcases. So I would modify your ad in these ways:
[ol]
[li]only use the craigslist anonymous e-mail reply function. never list a real phone number or e-mail address.[/li][li]Add a paragraph at the end specifying no paypal, no cashiers checks, no nothing except, as Randy Moss made famous “straight cash, homie”"[/li][/ol]
Filter through the replys you get and only reply to those that seem legit. Meet at a public place, ask to see the cash and a driver’s license before a test drive, and ride along on the test drive. i also take a cell phone pic of their driver’s license and then a pic of them.
You will indeed get a lot of those responses. But, Craigslist is free.
I would not have put my text message address on the ad, because some people are dipshits and assume that because THEY work midnights and shut off their phone while asleep, so does everyone else.
Ignore the nutjobs. You will get some serious inquiries, for sure.
Some people seriously DO NOT KNOW how to use the internet. Why they can’t figure out how to get the pictures from craigslist into their e-mail without your intervention is beyond me. But humor some of them that don’t seem crazy, just perhaps out of touch with technology.
I love people who ask why your car is so expensive, and when you show them that it’s well below local asking price, seem to reject reality and substitute their own.
#1 and #2 are probably scams. Some scamsters just send out mass responses without even bothering to read the ads and so that’s most likely what’s going on when you get responses like that that just make no sense with relation to the ad. #4 is of course a classic Paypal bait-and-switch scam.
The other two could be legit. Hondas tend to sell really fast and that’s a pretty good price. It doesn’t surprise me that you’ll get a few “sell it to me now now now now now” and actual out-of-town buyers. Guy #3 sounds like a jerk and may be a flake, but he probably does actually want to buy your car. Assuming no other better-sounding replies, I’d probably respond to him, although definitely reiterate that the car is going to be sold to the first person who brings you exactly $2500 in cash. Ditto with guy #5, with the same condition.
Along the same lines as what crazyjoe said, it is true that some people are just really bad at communicating over the internet or text. I’ve dealt with people on CL whose texts and e-mails made them seem barely literate and unbelievably rude but who were perfectly normal and polite in person.
If you switch it to an automatic, the price goes up to about $2600. The OP also didn’t mention what trim level it was, so it could be higher if its an LX or EX.
I hate listing stuff on Craigslist but it’s the only way to sell stuff that isn’t suited to eBay. Everything I list gets a string of those ignorant, whining, scammy replies. I don’t answer most of them but I will often go edit the ad to stop a string of obvious questions. (Recent example: I listed four barstools without specifying the seat height.)
The scams are usually pretty obvious and I use a disposable address to reply to all “Still available?” or similar content-free inquiries. (Reply: “Yep.”)
It’s the chiselers that get me. One guy offered me $50 for a cable modem I had listed, and when I said that was fine as it was my asking price, he got back with “Oh, I meant to offer $40.” Then pestered me nonstop about it.
And the ones that try to chisel the price when it’s half-loaded in their car. I live a fair ways out in the woods; I just shrug and smile and say, “there’s two more that wanted me to call if the deal fell through.” Their driving away dramatically is not a cost-effective ploy if they’ve come that far.
And I’ve sold many things to a straight up inquiry for asking price with no hassles. Go figger.
You’re right. It is automatic and an EX. I will add that. Also, thanks to everyone, I did choose the anonymous reply option for e-mail but still gave the phone number out.
It’s a good price. The only thing I’d add is when the timing belt was replaced. It’s about the only must do maintenance on that car and should be replaced every 80K miles or so. You’re coming up on that so don’t be surprised by a knowledgeable buyer.
I’ve sold two cars and a motorcycle on craigslist. You just have to stick to your guns and sell it on your terms. I sold mine telling the people they could come and see the car where I work, 9-5, monday thru friday, cash only, price firm.
“I have no transportation. Can you bring the car near me?” - No.
After test driving it with me and his non-english speaking wife. “She really, really likes it. You asked $3K. We do not have much money. Can you sell it to us for $1K?” - Heh heh, No.
“Can you hold it for me for a couple days while I borrow some cash from my mom?” - No. But if you get the cash from mom and I still have it, it’s yours.
About the only courtesy I extend is offering to hold the vehicle while they’re on their way over.
After 48 hours you can repost your ad and you can edit it anytime to remove your phone #, just follow the email link CL, it will show you the options. Reposting takes you back to the top, IMHO do this every 48 hours.
There are tons of cranks, idiots and assorted other types on CL, they must be drawn there because if they are representative, we are all in serious trouble. The process of selling my motorcycle was, at moments, special.
That said, fairly quickly you should be able to sort through them and spot real buyers, and most of the scammers seem too dumb to write a Nigerian Email.
Good luck
Capt
ETA, I always use just email to start, sort the probably legit and then give them my number in the response email, to let them know I am a real seller or buyer.
Sounds like a great car for the money and your ad is good (but as someone who uses craigslist quite a lot, a little reminder to delete your ad when the item is sold or the ad is defunct…when I list something I always add “if this ad is still up, the item is still for sale; I will delete the posting when item is sold.” Just a personal pet peeve of mine.)
I have actually had better luck with autotrader.com - more serious replies and no bullshit responses. But it costs some nominal amount to post there. craigslist really attracts the idiots and scammers because, I guess, free.
Great answer, I would like to reiterate the cash thing. First person to hand you $2,500 cash gets the car. No special deals, you don’t need to know their life story, just cash=car.
So what is the deal with the “can you send me pics?” responses? What do scammers gain by someone sending them pictures, particularly when using the email relay?
They’re most likely just canned responses that get sent to every ad. They’re either just phishing for phone numbers/e-mail addresses or are hoping to find some chump to do some sort of longer con like the Paypal switcheroo of #4.
That’s a very good idea. The anonymized craigslist e-mail only works for incoming e-mails, so if you reply to a message it goes out with your real e-mail address. A lot of the scamsters will send single line “is it still available?” e-mails for the sole purpose of getting your real e-mail address (to then spam the everloving heck out of), so you shouldn’t respond to them.
My guess is the ad included pictures. The weird thing - as far as I’ve seen - is that when you point out the item is pictured you never hear from them again.
