Craigslist Rant

[Mr & Mrs S]

I don't know how many of you have ever had the pleasure of selling something on Craigslist, but Ive sold a few things and even purchased a few things from the site.
But Im always amazed at the people who give you the run around.
Ive had several people that want this info and that info and what does it weight, how did you do this and how did you do that and can you send me this info or what about this.
Im truely a very friendly guy that will give you the shirt of my back, so naturally I spend hours doing this taking pics of this and that and give them everything they need only to be disappointed when they send me an offer in the end that was a total waste of time and effort.

Why do people do that?
I would never have the nerve to insult someone to the extent of offering them nearly nothing for something they have for sale.

Maybe do to the economy these people are just sales sharks hoping that I am in dire need of selling my AS and they think they can purchase it for nothing and then spin it around to make a quick buck?
I have no idea but its pretty depressing really!

I really try hard to ignore them once they have insulted me, but even though Ill give you the shirt off my back I will also give you whats on my mind too!!

I dunno sometimes I feel like Im the only one that gets this kinda treatment. Has anyone else had such hassles? Do you simply ignore them?

Sorry for the rant folks but I just needed to type off some steam.

On the other hand Ive had (very few) some really nice folks that actually know and understand the work that goes into bring back a Airstream to make it road worthy. Its always nice to deal with those kinda folks.

But I just cant get over the nerve of some folks, Id soon turn my Airstream into a deer camp or a chicken coop then give it away.

Whooo-Saaaa! Whooo-Saaa!

Ok I feel a little better now, until the next low baller comes along.

[drunkensloth]

I always find it's better to accept phone calls only. People seem much more prone to give you the run around and ask ridiculous questions via email. A phone call actually takes a bit of effort. I get much less hassle having them email me a call back number.

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Hi, sorry to say, but this is how some people are. One example is when I was in the tool business, [Mac Tools] I had a few people who would low ball me for a certain item, and telling me that they would buy maybe ten or one hundred of them at this price. [cash] Well their offer was about half of my cost; Such a deal. Might have been cheaper for me to just pay them to take these items.

[Mr & Mrs S]

Originally Posted by drunkensloth

I always find it's better to accept phone calls only. People seem much more prone to give you the run around and ask ridiculous questions via email. A phone call actually takes a bit of effort. I get much less hassle having them email me a call back number.

That is a good idea and makes sense. People do find it much easier to ask ridiculous questions via email, but people that have emailed me phone numbers and requested that I call them seem to be a bit more serious.

Unfortunately for me, I work all over the world and out of country phone calls are extremely high, email is the best way for me to communicate from abroad.
Thanks for your input.

[AdamB]

Hi,

As someone who has bought and sold many, many items on eBay and craigslist, I understand your frustration. Being a successful seller requires one to be thick-skinned, patient, determined and friendly to all.... in short, a salesman.

I might suggest that you use the services of an rv consignment service. They will deal with all the lowballers and other interested parties and cut you a check when it's sold.

[Mr & Mrs S]

Originally Posted by AdamB

Hi,

As someone who has bought and sold many, many items on eBay and craigslist, I understand your frustration. Being a successful seller requires one to be thick-skinned, patient, determined and friendly to all.... in short, a salesman.

I might suggest that you use the services of an rv consignment service. They will deal with all the lowballers and other interested parties and cut you a check when it's sold.

Thats an option that I have never thought about, Ive never considered a consignment type deal. Ive never had the experience of it either. I would assume they would just say if we sell it for xxx amount of dollars then xxx about of dollars will go to us?
Ill just try and keep my cool for now, I use consignment for a last resource.

[Lance M]

I haven't done much selling with any type of classifieds, but I seem to do a fair amount of buying.
I think people watch too much American Pickers and Pawn Stars where low balling is the standard. Be patient. Someone that knows the value of what you are selling will come along.

[tinman54]

Originally Posted by drunkensloth

I always find it's better to accept phone calls only. People seem much more prone to give you the run around and ask ridiculous questions via email. A phone call actually takes a bit of effort. I get much less hassle having them email me a call back number.

I have had many dealings on Craigslist and am very glad to have that service available, it was much harder in the old days for buying and selling in the newspapers. I have tried it both ways, phone or email and I also get very tired of the never ending emails asking time consuming questions, the phone only option with time of day availability has worked well. I hate the no shows with no call to cancel. I have taken off work to meet people that never show up, I don't do that anymore! If you really want some frustrations try texting for a sale, my experience has about a 5% success rate.
Any dealing with the general public is frustrating, The more time you can spend using or working on your airstream the better!!!

[ROBERT CROSS]

Two major ebay purchases....more accurately, listings that didn't sell.

Used Burb TV and boat.

Both entailed one contact e-mail and many subsequent phone calls.

I tried to avoid any type cyber contact during the negotiations.

Bob

[Frankiefiveo]

remember this too, it does not help that you have reality shows that have people making ridiculous offers to people for their items and the people accepting them because they dont want to look bad on tv. because of these tv shows like pawn stars, hardcore pawn, american pickers.... everybody thinks they have this wonderful gift of being a great negotiator and lowballing people. HA. it does not work. a friend of mine attempted to lowball a guy on a 4 wheeler and when he made his offer, the old man got so mad, he told my friend the damn thing is not for sale at any price and get the hell off his property. i laughed at my friend when he told me this.

[Sneakinup]

I've bought and sold some big ticket items on CL in the past. Bought and sold my 72 Overlander that way and recently bought my 77 Sovereign on CL.

1. I avoid the email scenario because that gets too time consuming.
2. When posting my phone number, I always post/upload a picture of my phone number. This way it can't be cut and pasted.
3. When people ask for my address to come see the item, I first set up a time and date with them, then tell them to call me a half hour before they want to come... then I will give them the address. It sure saves a lot of time and this way they don't have time to "case" my property. It also weeds out the a$$holes.
4. When asked, "What is the least you will take for it?", I always answer, "What is the most you will give me for it?" Been in sales all my life.
5. Cash, cash, cash. ONLY! That is the only way I would buy something.
6. If someone insults me by offering a ridiculous price, I just say, "See ya!"

Craigslist is not fun, but it is easier than the old days with newspapers. Still, I remain very cautious and suspicious when dealing with people.

[whitefawn]

When I put my car for sale on Craigslist I IMMEDIATELY got scammers--- ALL OF THEM VIA EMAIL. As soon as I removed the email address, and left only the phone number, all the scamming stopped, and I successfully sold the car. I will never utilize the email route again on Craigslist.

Kathy

[HiHoAgRV]

I've sold a few things on CL and had one trick pulled on me...advertised a car for a really cheap price (I just wanted it GONE) and within a couple of hours the ad was pulled!

It turns out a dude was interested but couldn't get free to come look at it so he reported it as a scam so nobody else would get the jump on him...

He then tried to lowball my 'give it away' price!

[Mr & Mrs S]

Thanks everyone, now that you all have shared your experiences with me I now know I'm not the only one that's been through these scenarios.
I have had a lot of scammers wanting to pay the full price via PayPal and send an agent to arrange the pickup blah blah blah, I usually kick those to the side. But there are a lot of people overseas that do look in the states for AS, how do you know they are real? I've seen lots of people on the forums that are abroad searching for a trailer.
I did have one gentlemen call me from Korea, he's was very nice and was asking me logical questions about the AS but he wanted me to tow it to California for shipment. I'm all about road trips but that's a little far for me to drop a trailer off. Not saying I wouldn't do it if I knew the person wasn't screwing me around and willing to pay the fuel bill both ways. Heck, it would be a great ending for a story that went well seeing our AS go off to owners in another country. I dunno, I'm very cautious though.
Anyhow thanks everyone for your words of experiences and suggestions. I appreciate them all!

[TerraYacht]

Our AS friends over at Tin Crumpet bought a Moho located in Texas while they were in England, where they live, persuaded another very nice guy, Vinnie at Airslide, to get it roadworthy (I think some cash was involved) then flew over, joined the NorCal Spring fling, drove it to Houston and now it is in Merrie Old England, so all overseas contacts are not scams.

I sold my BMW on CL after doing a little research & setting a "fair" price: fair to me and to the buyer. Both that sale and a subsequent one with similar pricing sold at my asking price. Both buyers asked, almost at the last minute, if I would take less, & I explained my fair price reasoning & everything went smoothly. I only had a few attempted lowballers and an email back with a "no reduction" note closed them off.

Years ago I had a foreign customer visiting the USA and researching some custom clean room equipment. He had quotes in hand from 2 companies. The short version: he called one supplier after doing a lot of value engineering cost reduction and asked him "Now, what is your lowest price?" The smart guy on the phone, a business acquaintance in Houston, said "That is our lowest price and it expires when I hang up the phone." That was accepted, so sometimes you have to play hardball.

[jm2]

many good ideas expressed in the posts above about how to protect yourself, literally and figuratively, when dealing with Craigslist buyers and sellers.

having both bought and sold a 1976 Sovereign, and a 1982 Excella on Craigslist, you do unfortunately have to arm yourself against the scammers.

iirc, the last paragraph I used selling those Airstreams said something like -

"Reasonable offers will be considered; ridiculous offers will be ignored. No shipping or financing is offered or included. No help needed selling this unit, thank you. And no Nigerian bank checks please? Cash will be fine."

[Florida 55]

I suspect the protracted recession is turning everyone into aggressive bargain hunters. First, there are many desperate people and businesses who need to raise cash and will accept offers that would have seemed ridiculous four or five years ago. Second, people have been successful acquiring bargains through lowballing so they demonstrate no shame in pressing for low prices. In my business I'm finding customers much more demanding in asking for low prices and discounts, competitors who were once unwilling to move on price now freely discounting and suppliers of raw materials pushing hard to raise prices at the same time I'm asking for discounts. Everyone is scratching to stay alive and find a deal.

From a macroeconomic demand we live in an era of plenty where supply for most discretionary purchase items exceeds demand so buyers feel free to insult sellers in market segments where price negotiation is the norm. Craiglist and eBay have their own specific dynamics but in the end they are vehicles for establishing prices for wiling buyers and sellers. Sam Walton once told his buyers not to be afraid to ask for low prices. He told them the vendors could always say no and they (the buyers) were not responsible for the vendor's profit, only Wal-Mart's. In the current market, a buyer with cash, patience, and an aggressive negotiating posture will find bargains.

[Mr & Mrs S]

Originally Posted by jm2

"Reasonable offers will be considered; ridiculous offers will be ignored. No shipping or financing is offered or included. No help needed selling this unit, thank you. And no Nigerian bank checks please? Cash will be fine."

Think I need to add this to my ad! Great wording!

[Mr & Mrs S]

Originally Posted by Florida 55

I suspect the protracted recession is turning everyone into aggressive bargain hunters. First, there are many desperate people and businesses who need to raise cash and will accept offers that would have seemed ridiculous four or five years ago. Second, people have been successful acquiring bargains through lowballing so they demonstrate no shame in pressing for low prices. In my business I'm finding customers much more demanding in asking for low prices and discounts, competitors who were once unwilling to move on price now freely discounting and suppliers of raw materials pushing hard to raise prices at the same time I'm asking for discounts. Everyone is scratching to stay alive and find a deal.

From a macroeconomic demand we live in an era of plenty where supply for most discretionary purchase items exceeds demand so buyers feel free to insult sellers in market segments where price negotiation is the norm. Craiglist and eBay have their own specific dynamics but in the end they are vehicles for establishing prices for wiling buyers and sellers. Sam Walton once told his buyers not to be afraid to ask for low prices. He told them the vendors could always say no and they (the buyers) were not responsible for the vendor's profit, only Wal-Mart's. In the current market, a buyer with cash, patience, and an aggressive negotiating posture will find bargains.

Great read! Thanks!

So on your last sentence :"In the current market, a buyer with cash, patience, and an aggressive negotiating posture will find bargains"

As a seller one must assume in this market you should be patient, be cautious, be willing to negotiate but not surrender to low ballers, and be confident in yourself to achieve the best sells price you can get.

[Belegedhel]

All,

I love Craigslist, and have bought and sold tons of stuff with relatively few problems. Some of the best practices I have learned are:

1) Never post my phone number, personal email address or address in the ad.
2) Advise that responses to the ad that do not include a phone number will be ignored.
3) Write an entertaining ad that answers all the questions up front. I even usually include a "frequently asked Questions" section with items like "Q: Will you take my lowball, sight-unseen offer seriously? A: No, I believe I am offering a fair price for the following reasons..."
4) Ignore anyone offering to use escrow services.
5) Don't even provide an address until you have a customer on his way with a confirmed time. Again, I don't accept an appointment without a phone number.
6) Always set your price, and go ahead and do the work for the customer, ie., "brand new, this item would cost X", or ""items in this condition are averaging $x on ebay." I never include "or best offer" in an ad--that just invites the low-ballers.
7) If a sale price looks too good to be true, it probably is. In these cases, I usually do a google search of some of the key words, because a similar ad is probably running in every major city.
8) I don't even respond to questions like "Is the item still for sale?" I try to head that off in my FAQ section (ie., if the ad is still up, then the item is still for sale).

My biggest frustrations have been the people who make an appointment to visit and then don't show, and especially the people with whom I have made a specific appointment to visit, and when I arrive, they inform me that the item is already sold--this has got to be my absolute biggest peeve. The Nigerians, low-ballers, and question askers, I can take.

Fortunately, I have never encountered anyone out to do me harm. I think a very special penalty should be reserved for those psychos who find victims via C-list.