Another Craigslist, eBay rant...

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FADEC

FADEC

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Hill Country TX
What is it with Craigslist and eBay sellers?? For the past week or so I have been casually looking at used motorcycles. You would not believe the amount of people who will not respond to your email or will respond halfheartedly after several days have passed.

Sometimes I'll ask questions and email back and forth a few times, and then never hear from them again.

I ask pretty much the standard questions. Has it ever been dropped laid down etc. Condition, dents, scratches, etc. Clean title, not salvage, rebuilt etc.

I've sold plenty of things on Craigslist and ebay, including several vehicles, and when I have something up for sale check my Email as often as possible.

Seems like people really don't care if their items sell or not.

Has anyone else experienced this??

Okay rant over!!
 
Half those people are probably selling stolen items, and the other half are dopers that are selling whatever they have to support their habit. I would stay far far away from both services unless a store front on e bay is a well known business.
 
Tough to say. You have no idea what their circumstances are.
In some cases I think the people just get too slack on taking their ad down, and half the time when you don't hear back its because it's already sold.

I find sometimes I won't respond if the person seems too picky or annoying over something simple (a motorcycle is not an example of this)

Every situation is different. I have had some nightmare deals, and some thoroughly excellent transactions through classifieds.

Just be prepared for anything... haha!
 
I don't expect any respect from anybody on CL.....i'm surprised when I get it.

Ebay is not at all what it used to be...and getting worse daily.
 
I don't understand what is up with sellers and their poor communication either. I work for PayPal and I am a seller on eBay. I check my account and my email several times a day and respond right away which is probably what has helped me maintain my 100% positive feedback. Most of the time I ship out items the same day I receive payment. I always send a quick personal thank you to all my buyers when the auction ends just to let them know that I appreciate their business. Unfortunately, not all sellers understand the importance of communication. Hope your next transaction goes smoother
smile.gif
 
Sadly, it is what it is. The photo of the vehicle will be the one where the side is not bashed in.

A lot of them seem to expect that you're going to hop in the car and drive all day to see it, and they give you no information. They seem "put out" if you try to ask... Or they have specific arcane demands such as "No email", "No phone", or "only SMS messages"...

When I was shopping for a car for my daughter, it was a challenge. Usually you get there and find a car that has so many unsolved issues, they ought to pay me to buy it. I drove a car that pulled so hard to the right that if you took your hand off the steering wheel for 0.5 seconds you'd be off the road and crashing into a house.

They also don't understand that "You don't pay by the word." That is, they avoid giving any meaningful descriptions when in reality they could write a book on it.

When I try to sell a car there I usually write up a very truthful 300 word essay on it. But, I don't know, I think many of them can't read anyway. Sigh.
 
Originally Posted By: zzyzzx
I'm constantly amazed at the number of Craigslist car sellers who omit the mileage on cars as well.


I am amazed how many don't put down the year of the motorcycle. The bikes that I'm looking at looked the same for many years, so the year is important.
 
I don't understand people selling a car on eBay with horrible pictures. This still seems to happen sometimes. Why would someone bid on a car based on three grainy cell phone pics and some vague incomplete description? On CL I understand people may be poor and not have the resources, but if you are a seller on eBay with a car you need good pictures. Bidding on eBay is a binding contract.
 
Yeah I have pretty much given up buying stuff like that, dealers are the place to go sadly. People will just waste your time, or are idiots.
 
I have had pretty good luck with Craigslist in the past.. Here's a little tip I use to weed out the stuff I don't want

When searching for an iPhone for example, you'll get results for people unlocking/jailbreaking/fixing/etc. Eliminate those results by simple adding a '-' before any word you'd like to remove from results. Here's a query I use when searching for an iPhone 4:

"iphone 4 -4s -3gs -droid -repair -mobile -city -fix -damage -screen -3g -service -services"
 
The best part of Craigslist is the FREE section!

I don't go trolling for free stuff, but when I have something I need to get rid of I LOVE the free section. It's like a free garbage pickup service! It might be something completely worthless, but if you post it on the free section you'll have someone on their way to get it within 15 minutes.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: KD0AXS
The best part of Craigslist is the FREE section!

I don't go trolling for free stuff, but when I have something I need to get rid of I LOVE the free section. It's like a free garbage pickup service! It might be something completely worthless, but if you post it on the free section you'll have someone on their way to get it within 15 minutes.


And then they email you to complain!!!

I had a fridge in my shed, I took the door off and lost the hinges. The hinges were $80!!!

So I stuck it on the free section with the hinge price disclaimed. Someone across town wanted it. I drove it over in my truck. When it was still in my truck bed I showed him some mildew, we figured 5 minutes with a rag and clorox would fix that right up. He approves and we unload.

Get a nasty gram from his woman friend about how I was gonna infect their babies with cholera or something from the filth.

Well, good luck with that!!!
 
Right now car shopping the worst/most effective trick is dealers listing $2000 (the down payment) as the real price so when one does a price sort their overpriced junk shows up.

I try setting $100 as a low price to filter those who say $12 but mean $12000. I flag with glee.
 
Originally Posted By: eljefino
Right now car shopping the worst/most effective trick is dealers listing $2000 (the down payment) as the real price so when one does a price sort their overpriced junk shows up.

I try setting $100 as a low price to filter those who say $12 but mean $12000. I flag with glee.


Yep....lol...
 
I've pretty much given up on selling anything, anywhere. I did the craigslist, Ebay thing and the weekend flea-market. Dealing with morons just sucks the life out of you.

Some of my favorites...

Craigslist: I listed a 1997 Subaru Legacy for $1200. Car ran great, well maintained had new tires and brakes. Mint interior. 112,000 miles. Lady calls me asking if she can come over and check it out. She shows up with her dad. Immediately her dad starts giving me the third degree, asking me all sorts of questions about the car. Why I'm selling it? Why so cheap?... like I'm lying about something. He then finds a 2" scratch in the clear coat in the rear quarter panel and demands I take $800 of the price!!! "Thats gonna rust out and cost thousands to fix" ...IT WAS A SCRATCH IN THE CLEAR COAT!!! ugh...Needless to say we were unable to reach a deal.

Fleamarket: This one is my favorite. When I sell stuff at the fleamarket I want it gone. I put out a big sign "Everything for sale Make offer!" When I say make offer, I literally mean I'll take whatever money your willing to pull out of your pocket. No haggling.

So I had a VCR for sale. Dont use it. Dont want it. Almost threw in the garbage. Guy comes over starts looking at "How much you want for it?" I say "Whatever your willing to give me"..."Well give me an idea" So I say "Ok...50 cents"..."Whats wrong with it?"...I say "Nothing...it works fine" (Which was true. VCR worked great)..."Well how do I know that?"..."For 50 cents you'll have to take my word for it..." "Does it come with a box?" ..."No"..."You got the remote?" "No"...."Hmmmmm I dont know. No box, no remote...I mean if it works, but how am I supposed to know if it does?" His hmmmming and hawwing went on for about 15 more minutes before deciding that 50 cents was just too much to risk on a used VCR.

During that whole episode Im screaming in my head "IT'S 50 [censored] CENTS!!!"
 
Originally Posted By: Darren270

Some of my favorites...

Craigslist: I listed a 1997 Subaru Legacy for $1200. Car ran great, well maintained had new tires and brakes. Mint interior. 112,000 miles. Lady calls me asking if she can come over and check it out. She shows up with her dad. Immediately her dad starts giving me the third degree, asking me all sorts of questions about the car. Why I'm selling it? Why so cheap?... like I'm lying about something. He then finds a 2" scratch in the clear coat in the rear quarter panel and demands I take $800 of the price!!! "Thats gonna rust out and cost thousands to fix" ...IT WAS A SCRATCH IN THE CLEAR COAT!!! ugh...Needless to say we were unable to reach a deal.



At least they showed up instead of trying to lowball you over the phone or email.

You paint a good word picture. I know the type. When you smell the deal going sour just tell them to make you an offer or move on. Some people have to justify their offer-- they don't-- and some guys just have to make excuses for their presence in front of the women they're "helping".

For the record I act like I don't mind the listed problems, say a leaking radiator, but get picky over something else like bald tires that are "real expensive" yet not an insurmountable hurdle before I move in for "the kill". So I know where that [censored] was coming from, he just executed it poorly/ overly aggressively.
 
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