Buying dangers

[robinson46176]

Being just outside of Indy I'm seeing more of this stuff pop up than I am at all comfortable with. I bought a herd of stuff on Ebay a few years ago and thought nothing of heading across country with several thousand dollars in my pocket to pick stuff up. Some stuff I paid at closing but some stuff I paid on pickup since it was going to be right away. Ebay sellers are pretty well registered in the system.
Craigslist (and some others) are not so requiring of information of sellers.
It seems to be mostly happening in fairly large cities. The headlines say "Craigslist Robberies"... Anybody can run an ad on Craigslist and it seems that an increasing number of ads are for cash only sales. What is happening increasingly often is someone running an ad for a fairly valuable item like a laptop, watch, rings etc. for sale for cash only. When the prospective buyer arrives at the address which is often an empty house, they are robbed at gun point... There have been some shootings around the country (no witnesses). A lot of these robberies are for surprisingly low dollar transactions and some others quite large.
Often the ads are just copied existing ads with a few details changed. Often with pictures which makes it seem more legit. Indy is running kind of high on the risk list, often in some of the more run down neighborhoods. They do also sometimes use a house in a nice neighborhood where they know no one is home. It all depends on how brave they are.
I have become more cautious than I was in the past. I have been armed full time for a very long time but that is no guarantee especially if the plan is to sneak up from behind and whack you one.
Just a word of warning...
You can learn a lot more if you Google "Craigslist Robberies".

[rcplaneguy]

Always good to be cautious.

I've been lucky so far but I've always been the seller. Usually meet the buyer and do the transaction at a shopping center parking lot that is crowded and well monitored.

[garys]

The problem is easily solved by totally ignoring Craigslist. DON'T go there at all. Every scammer in the world is there.

[Gene Howe]

I guess I'm lucky. I've sold and bought on craig's list without a problem.
Could be (probably is) a difference in area. The only things I've bought from within a large city were handled by phone and/or mail.
It's always better to be cautious, though.

[dusty]

I attempted to sell a couple items on CL. I got some good responses. That is, several people wanted to come by and look.

Some of the people who came by gave me the creeps but more importantly my wife did not like what she saw and felt. She suggested that I not do that anymore. So I don't.

I did sell a couple motors at give away prices. They were motors that came out of a swamp cooler and an a/c system that had been replaced over the years.

NO CL. If you gotta sell it, use eBay. If that doesn't work, take a trip to Habitat for Humanity. I go there a lot but I usually come back with more than I take.

[Ed in Tampa]

Daughter bought a laptop at a reasonable price. Got it home and loved it.
about 2 weeks later she got the message this machine has rent due it must be paid soon. She thought is was spam. About 5 days later it locked up solid with a message return to xx rental.

My daughter came to find out that there is a group of people that rent computers and immediately put them on CraigsList or Ebay and sell them.

Interesting part of the story is my daughter returned the Laptop and the rental company said thanks, she then offered to purchase from them and they said sure for about 1.5 times the Mfg retail price. They even wanted her to pay the return costs. Police said they would take care of it as they said it was their evidence.

Cop told my daughter she was one of the few that returned their Laptop in working condition. Apparently people usually smash them up when they lock up. Then call the cops.

Son in law bought a huge Dewalt cordless tool set at a good price. Not a give away price just a good price. It showed up along with the police. Who basically threatened to arrest him for receiving stolen property. After proving he was in fact a wood worker they left him off the hook.

Lesson learned by both of these. If you going to buy something buy it from a legitimate dealer. Otherwise you buy a pig in a poke.

No craigslist or Ebay for this kid. I want local merchants to florish so if I need a part I can get it from them instead of horsing around.

[Ed in Tampa]

Daughter bought a laptop at a reasonable price. Got it home and loved it.
about 2 weeks later she got the message this machine has rent due it must be paid soon. She thought is was spam. About 5 days later it locked up solid with a message return to xx rental.

My daughter came to find out that there is a group of people that rent computers and immediately put them on CraigsList or Ebay and sell them.

Interesting part of the story is my daughter returned the Laptop and the rental company said thanks, she then offered to purchase from them and they said sure for about 1.5 times the Mfg retail price. They even wanted her to pay the return costs. Police said they would take care of it as they said it was their evidence.

Cop told my daughter she was one of the few that returned their Laptop in working condition. Apparently people usually smash them up when they lock up. Then call the cops.

Son in law bought a huge Dewalt cordless tool set at a good price. Not a give away price just a good price. It showed up along with the police. Who basically threatened to arrest him for receiving stolen property. After proving he was in fact a wood worker they left him off the hook.

Lesson learned by both of these. If you going to buy something buy it from a legitimate dealer. Otherwise you buy a pig in a poke.

No craigslist or Ebay for this kid. I want local merchants to florish so if I need a part I can get it from them instead of horsing around.

[JPG]

We got it the first time Ed.


How bout deleting the duplicate!;)

[rjn2649]

There are just somethings I would never buy on CL, electronics, jewelry, etc.
For me it has proved to be a good shoping ground, this is how I got 90% of my woodworking stuff...I doubt someone stole a cast iron table saw from the 50's just to re-sell it to me for $50.
One of the things I think people need to remember is common sense and safety. I've sold plenty of stuff on CL. I live near a store two blocks from me, large well light parking lot. If it's too big to drag around, it goes in the driveway, house and garage door closed, dog in the house (thats when he barks when people walk up to me)
I don't go into areas I don't like. I only take a few dollors to make change.
During the email/ phone conversations, if ANYTHING seems off to me, I just change my mind and say "no thank you" I INSIST on voice, not texts if someone is going to come to my home. If people don't like my rules, OH WELL...they are actually for both of use.
I've had some very good experiences buying and selling on CL.

[idcook]

I got both of my SS via craigslist with no problems at all.