Shopsmith Forums

I never realized how many women looked at tool ads on Craigslist, I had around 20 different emails asking me if the item was still available and telling me how sizzling hot my ad was, followed by pics of themselves with barely anything on.

By the way I know this was spam.

But I will admit I didn't mind just checking the emails.

I did have two real people look at it and the second gentleman bought it on the spot he seemed to know what he wanted.

I received $200 for the system.

Just my 2cents

And all I get are guys from Africa telling me they want my 'insert anything' sight unseen and that they will pay by Western Union asap. How do you get all those lookers.

My last issue with craigslist had to do with out of state spam that agreed on price but wanted to pay by paypal and I was to pay the shipper and when he got the notice that it was shipped it would release my paypal account for the full amount plus shipping. He sent an email that looked like a paypal response saying all the money was in my account waiting for verfication of shipping and it would be release. When I told him forget it he threatened me on a text message and I got two letters stating there was a warrant for my arrest if shipping was not done in 24 hours.
OF course called paypal to report the scammer and it was just two weeks later on another tool I posted he tried it again.
Don't trust anyone on craigs list anymore.

I agree on the trust thing used to be I could sell items within 3 days and only real people responded. But this time it took about a month to sell.

I now know make your ad as boring and real as possible and the fake women start emailing.

I still have pretty good luck buying and selling on Craigslist but you need to be able to spot the crap and totally avoid those.
I do get annoyed at those that call and start asking questions and all of their questions were clearly already answered in the ad. It's not that they are verifying things, they just haven't read the ad. they just grab the phone. I assume they can't read...
I seldom deal with those that refuse to respond to emails or text. I refuse to discuss price by phone... If we are talking money I want the conversation in writing. None of this "but you said..."


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That's pretty good advice Robinson. Thank you. I prefer after texting and emails to speak on the phone to see how they talk to me, if they seem like a decent person then determine where to setup a meeting either my shop or a public parking lot.

The last ER I just got, was off of Craig's list, just like the one before it.

Like Francis said, I like to clear up negotiations in a written way. Emails work best.

But, I've been doing the buying, not selling.

steve

I've had good luck on our local CraigsList, mostly as a buyer but occasionally as a seller (or more commonly giving alway free stuff). When I contact someone to buy stuff, I always post a local reference so they know I'm real (i.e. "Hey, I live up in Dows Prairie but can come down to Eureka at your convenience..."). When I post stuff on the "free stuff" section, I usually get tons of responses and usually pick one of the first responses that exhibits some manners in their e-mail. I'd say out of maybe 10-20 responses, there might be one suspicious one...more often I've seen that sort of thing when I post something that doesn't sell right away and that sort of response trickles in later on. Usually really obvious to spot. It's pretty simple to me - I won't deal with folks, either buying or selling, without meeting face to face. When giving stuff away or selling, I don't like to have people come to my house...I don't want some hairball showing up and casing the place. I always offer to meet at an open, public spot (i.e. one of our local Safeway store parking lots, which is right across the street from the Police Station), or if it's stuff I'm giving away free, I offer to deliver it within a range that I typically drive on a daily basis anyway - people are always blown away I'll deliver something I'm giving away, but it's usually a simple task I fit into my daily routine and it keeps potential weirdos from seeing my house/stuff/family. I will say I've bought lots of stuff for our new house over the past year off CraigsList and everyone I've dealt with has been totally "normal" and for the most part pleasant to deal with. Maybe it's the benefit of living in a small, rural area...

I've noticed the exact opposite, I have been getting little to no spam recently. I post in the tools, motorcycles, autos, and auto parts sections.

What I have noticed an increase in is real local people who won't use the anonymous Craigslist email and insist on you calling or texting them. There is a guy from St Louis who has been bugging me about his boat since Easter weekend no matter how much I tell him to kick rocks...I'd much rather have a spam email with eye candy attached than the general public having my phone number.

frank81 wrote:I've noticed the exact opposite, I have been getting little to no spam recently. I post in the tools, motorcycles, autos, and auto parts sections.

What I have noticed an increase in is real local people who won't use the anonymous Craigslist email and insist on you calling or texting them. There is a guy from St Louis who has been bugging me about his boat since Easter weekend no matter how much I tell him to kick rocks...I'd much rather have a spam email with eye candy attached than the general public having my phone number.

I never post my phone number in the original ad when I sell or give stuff away on CL - I use the anonymous e-mail deal and then when I contact a specific respondant to make arrangements for the item, I provide them with my cell phone #. I too would never want to post my phone # in general to the public but have no issues with doing so to an individual I have chosen based on their e-mail response. I find the e-mail back and forth too time consuming as we each wait for the other to check their e-mail and respond. Once I put something up on CL, I want to get the transaction completed and move on.