Have to vent about Craigslist...

[markba633csi]

Superburban I don't see how someone could be so uncaring and greedy. Unfortunately, if the deal hasn't been made there's no guarantee.
Even if you had specifically asked him to wait for you he may not have. Maybe offering to make a deposit by Paypal till you get there? Don't have a great solution for that one- Paypal isn't an escrow service
Mark

 

[Ken from ontario]

Superburban I don't see how someone could be so uncaring and greedy. Unfortunately, if the deal hasn't been made there's no guarantee.
Even if you had specifically asked him to wait for you he may not have. Maybe offering to make a deposit by Paypal till you get there? Don't have a great solution for that one- Paypal isn't an escrow service
Mark

I would not trust that seller to keep his word just because he has a $50 deposit, geed is a funny thing, it somehow brings out the worst in people, having said that I feel more relaxed when dealing with folks in rural areas, as others mentioned, there's less chance of getting scammed around where I live, just bought a few items from a lady in another small town like where I am, paid her full amount via papal so she could remove the ad and consider her items sold, would not have done that in Toronto.

 

[ThunderDog]

Craigslist has always served me well as a buyer. I would say 99% of all my machining related stuff has been from CL. As a seller, it has worked but I don't necessarily enjoy doing it. As someone else mentioned, you get a ton of questions to things that are already in the ad and the people who say they will come on "such and such day/time" never show or they cancel.
I admit when I sold both of my riding lawnmowers in February I never took the ad down. So, charge me as guilty for that one. But, I had a lot going on between selling a house, selling a car, packing etc. as I moved our family over 2,200 miles from MD to MT.

But yeah, CL is still much better than eBay to find reasonable deals.

 

[Ulma Doctor]

When buying,
I feel that It is my duty to already know more about the machine than the seller does. I do my research .
I already know if i want it or not before contacting the seller. I don’t ask many questions of the seller before the purchase , his time has value just like mine
I make it a priority to do what i say, and mean what i say- others i have come across seem to care less

 

[ThunderDog]

When buying,
I feel that It is my duty to already know more about the machine than the seller does. I do my research .
I already know if i want it or not before contacting the seller. I don’t ask many questions of the seller before the purchase , his time has value just like mine
I make it a priority to do what i say, and mean what i say- others i have come across seem to care less

Exactly!!!

 

[kb58]

Unless of course there's no description, not even a model number, hence needing to ask what it is that you need to know about, nevermind no call back. Did I mention that I'm over it?

 

[Asm109]

I do not even like meeting to take a look, until I have an idea on the price. I will not bother with the "come take a look, and make an offer" Of course, I live in the middle of nowhere, and most deals are an hour or more drive.

In my case, every item has a price and "or best offer" So you know the ball park before you get in the car.

 

[RJSakowski]

I haven't bought on CL nor have I sold anything but I have given things away on CL. If a person says that they will take the item, I will tell any subsequent interested parties that the item has been spoken for but not collected and, if for some reason, the first party doesn't collect the item, that they are xxx in line and I will contact them if the parties preceding him/her are no longer interested. First come, first served. When the item has been picked up, I will immediately pull the ad.

 

[Superburban]

Superburban I don't see how someone could be so uncaring and greedy. Unfortunately, if the deal hasn't been made there's no guarantee.
Even if you had specifically asked him to wait for you he may not have. Maybe offering to make a deposit by Paypal till you get there? Don't have a great solution for that one- Paypal isn't an escrow service
Mark

I'm over it now, but yes I did not commit to buy over the phone. There were no pics, just the basic info, and a phone number. I would say it was a fair price, not a great deal. With the scarcity of metal working machines around here, I bet another caller offered him more over the phone, Or by all the calls he got, he figured he could get more, if he waited and asked more later, but I did not see a SB heavy 10 come up since, so who knows. I do not know what else I could have done, he had my number, and even confirmed the next morning that I had things lined up, and would be there.

 

[Superburban]

In my case, every item has a price and "or best offer" So you know the ball park before you get in the car.

Thats the way everyone should do it. Amazing how many responses I get, saying they do not have a camera, or the wife has the camera, and will not be home until XX.

I haven't bought on CL nor have I sold anything but I have given things away on CL. If a person says that they will take the item, I will tell any subsequent interested parties that the item has been spoken for but not collected and, if for some reason, the first party doesn't collect the item, that they are xxx in line and I will contact them if the parties preceding him/her are no longer interested. First come, first served. When the item has been picked up, I will immediately pull the ad.

Again, that should be standard operating procedure. I'm surprised at how many times I have recieved the you are not the first, you are next in line, if they do not take it, response, even when I respond within minutes of an add going up. I hope they do not think it is a burdon with the extra e-mail, but I always thank them for letting me know.