Craigslist idiots!

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Not going to tell a long tale, but suffice it to say 50% or more of the people on Craigslist are IDIOTS.

What the heck is wrong with people now days?
 
Are you trying to sell or buy?

I find as a buyer, being "normal" gets me in the door with an appreciative seller.

As a seller, it's hair-pulling.
 
Don't use it very much but look on occasion. Have sold 1 riding mower and bought a few things from it.
What is the problem with them for my knowledge to look out for.
 
Both at times. I am probably one of the most realistic, reasonable people you will ever find, so I guess its the built in expectation that I have that expects some degree of reciprocity from others. On CL, I have encountered a number of IDIOTS.

Just venting a bit, LOL.
 
As long as they bring the money and finish the transaction, I don't care if they're idiots.

Idiots are everywhere! You run into them multiple times a day, unless you live as a hermit that never watches TV and and never looks out a window.
 
Vent away....I know what you mean but I've had overall positive, straight talk from the blokes I've dealt with on Craig.

I assembled a complete list of any car bought or sold by me or any family member with which I had any involvement.

I should do the same thing with Craigslist ads and responses. I met one lying dog who grossly misrepresented a pair of tires once.

Him I could still beat to death with a tire iron. I met a good guy when buying a chess set for a friend's grandson. I could go on.

My real bug-a-boo are the automatic scam responses which come the instant you place a car ad.
 
Problem with CL is, you get what you pay for. When the only barrier to use is a working internet connection & device, the bar isn't very high. I've used it, but I never expect much from the CL users-that way I'm pleasantly surprised when it works! I guess dealing with the mentally challenged in my regular job has gotten me used to it...
 
So many flakes on there these days. I take it with a grain of salt though. I generally assume that they will actually show up 20% of the time.
 
I always meet at my local bank or one of its branches nowadays. Buying or selling, if the transactions over 100 I'm bringing them in there to get the bills checked and their face on camera. Got burned once when selling my car. Never again.

On the other hand, I had a very nice transaction last week with a gentleman interested in buying some oil from my stash. Painful for me, sigh of relief for the family. HAH
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Originally Posted By: sw99
So many flakes on there these days. I take it with a grain of salt though. I generally assume that they will actually show up 20% of the time.


It's the other way around for me. No show is anywhere from 20-50%. If you call the day before or just a couple hours before, the show rate is closer to 90%. Usually by calling in advance they will either reschedule or show up. If you call them afterwards, they never answer the phone.
 
Our local police dept has an area of their parking lot for CL transactions. A write up in the local paper several months ago stated anyone wishing to meet and complete a CL buy or sale, can come to the PD and feel safe with police in and out at all times, as well as security cameras on 24 hours a day. More municipalities should offer this service.
 
I've had pretty good luck buying and even once or twice selling on CL.
My gripe with CL lately, is that 90% of the vehicles being sold 'BY OWNER' are really being sold by DEALERS (you are a 'dealer' if you go to the auction and pick up cars for resale).

When I look at cars 'BY OWNER" I want to speak to someone who knows a little about the history of the car.

I wish CL would enforce the posting rules....there is a section for dealers to post in.
 
I listed a beater car on Craig's list once for $500 just to get rid of it.
About 10 people called and said they would come look at a certain time, none showed or called to cancel.
One genius wanted to make payments. I said OK you pay it off and then take the car.
He says no I need the car now and will pay make payments. That did it.
I called the junk yard. They came and got it and gave me $300.
 
Originally Posted By: Brybo86
Uhh .... how about some background on the situation......


Highly condensed:

(Person 1) See item. Ask questions. Agree to meet. Show up on time, with cash, ready to buy at full asking price. Guy changes mind at last second, decides not to sale. Wasted my time!

(2) Selling abandoned furniture in one of my rent homes, almost an hour away. Get a call from some woman PLEADING for us to drive out and sell it to her that evening. Asked if she is SURE she wants it, and SURE she will be there. Told "YES, for sure!!!, I am renting a U-Haul, and will arrive in 2 hours". Wife interrupts her busy schedule, gets son to go with her, interrupting his study for Final exams, makes hour drive out. NO SHOW. Woman will not answer phone or texts.

(3) Guy sell a car on CL, basically a beater, clearly over priced. Thinking he just left room for negotiation, I offer him Kelly Blue book, NADA, Edmund's pricing, etc. and tactfully show him other comparisons. Guy gets irate at me, screaming at me about trying to "lowball" him. I keep saying thanks, but no thanks, lets just step away from the deal if we are that far apart. Not good enough for this loser, starts cussing me over the phone, screaming at me. I hang up, but he calls backs spewing profanity. I block his number. then he emails me challenging me to a fight. If thats not insane enough, he emails me HIS address, and wants ME to drive to HIS HOUSE an hour away to fight him! Mindboggling.

I just have had a bad run with CL lately, thats all, LOL.
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Here in Western Canada Craigslist is all but dead. Nothing but Prostitutes and Perverts left there. I hadn't been to my local city site for about five or six years, so after seeing the OP's post I checked it out again. It was a much bigger wasteland than I expected, many "For Sale" topics had one, two or three listings, some zero. I did a search of "For Sale - All" and got a couple hundred ads, but a lot of them were of the junk quality ... something for sale, mail order, from 2,000 miles away, and I don't mean Classic Cars.

So I re-searched, with a 50km radius of downtown (31 miles) and got 152 ads. Every category.

Everyone here has migrated to Kijiji (owned by Google), and it wasn't even a contest. They had 90% of the market a year after being launched a decade ago. There will be hundreds of new ads per day listed.

In particular, for automotive stuff, it's the Go-To site and has been since forever. On Craigslist I saw three ads for used vehicles, all trucks, and one for a set of wheels & tires. That's it.

I don't know why, but the ads and the people on Kijiji seem to be of a higher calibre than Craigslist when it actually had a market. I'm not talking night and day, but just a smidgen better offerings, and fewer no-shows or people who can't read.

Facebook probably has some local "Buy and Sell" groups you can peruse as well, anywhere in the world, probably. If Craigslist is giving you more grief than it seems to be worth, there are two alternatives. If you really want to sell something, you should be using them anyway, even if you also use Craigslist.
 
Unfortunately, Craigslist is an accurate representation of our whole society.

I have had mostly positive dealings with Craiglist. I sell mostly small engine stuff like lawn mowers, etc, with a few Jeep parts sprinkled in. Most buyers/sellers are older people who are established and own a home, have a job, etc. I always meet people in a public place with known parking lot surveillance.

I sold some sports equipment for a friend, geared more for the younger college age generation, and wow what a difference. People failed to show up, wanted me to deliver for them without any payment, terrible communication, etc. Sounds a lot like dating in my millennial generation LOL.
 
What gets me cross threaded more than anything else about craigslist is most can't or wont follow simple directions. I always put (in caps even) "Texts and e-mails will be ignored" People still do it anyway. A 5 minute conversation shouldn't have to take hours via texting.
 
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