Saturday, May 17, 2014

Craigslist Buyers: Yeah, You Kind Of Suck


What is up with craigslist buyers? They send you a message asking if you have something and when you respond, they never message back. Thanks for wasting my time. Or if they do message you back, they can never commit to a time to come see your crap.

A few weeks back, I was selling this lamp.


It is brand new. My hubby took it out of the box and put it together. I had it listed for $10. I got an immediate response. The lady came over the next day to look at it. It wasn't exactly what she wanted but she was willing to take it off my hands for $7 This is a BRAND NEW lamp. Not my fault it wasn't what she exactly wanted. I told her thanks but I would wait to see if I got any other interest. I repriced it at $20 

I bought these boots for myself at the thrift store about 2 months ago. It was one of those impulse buys and the next day I was  regretting buying them. I wore them a few days but didn't really love them so I posted them for sale.


 Apparently, the response to my ad was going to my spam folder and I didn't notice I had a prospective buyer for a few days. His email finally came to my inbox and we set up a time today to look at them. I emailed him this morning to see if he was still coming and I got no response. 30 minutes before he was to arrive, I hear a knock on my door. There he is looking like he just murdered someone. I was asking $25 for them. (yes I overpaid at the t.s. and wanted my money back plus $5 for cleaning them) He looked them over and tried them on. He said they were really worn. Yes, the soles were worn but they are Made In the USA leather boots! He asked if I would take $15 I said I would go down to $20. Again he said, they are really worn. I agreed to take $15 and I said I didn't have change. He said I only have $15 He showed up with NO INTENTION whatsoever of paying my asking price! Sure, I will bargain with you but at least show up with the correct amount and go from there.

I still have a few things for sale on CL but I'm seriously thinking about taking them to the consignment shop.

8 comments:

  1. My sister in law picked up a stalker from selling some stuff to the guy on Craigslist. After that, she won't sell on it anymore (and who can blame her? Scary situation).

    I've never sold on it, but I did get an awesome deal on a 55 gallon fish tank, stand and accessories a few years back. I paid in full what they were asking because I couldn't buy just the glass tank for that price new.

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  2. i dont sell on CL or FB yard sale groups....sometimes i buy from but too much headache

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  3. We've had some spam issues with CL, too. And it's frustrating when you take the time to meet with someone and then they want the item for a fraction of what you're asking. We've only sold a handful of items on there, but when we did, we met at a public parking lot, and I had my husband with me. Too many crazy people!

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  4. I sell on CL all the time. It works well for me because I commute between 2 cities and can meet a buyer at a McDs, Starbucks or Walmart just off the freeway or they can come to the DMV which is next to where I work. However, I always tell a friend where I am going & she will call me at a pre-set time. So far I no one has tried to re negotiate the price when we meet. I start out most of my finds on CL first at the price I would net if I sold them on Ebay. About 30% sell that way. I really think it is a selling platform that you shouldn't ignore.
    jak

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  5. Put in your CL listing that you will reply to all messages but ONLY if they mention the name of the item you're selling AND if they include their phone number. Email harvester programs send generic messages of interest in hopes you'll respond so replying to every "Is this item still available?" message is opening you up big time to future spamming.

    Anyhoot, I meet my CL buyers in the parking lot of a popular nearby store. It works out great and is much safer.

    BTW, I haven't commented on your blog before so I want to say I enjoy reading it and have learned a lot. Keep up the great work! I really appreciate your knowledge--thank you!

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  6. Craigslist is a pain in the ass. You are very, very rarely going to get your asking price. I'd say about half of the potential buyers don't show up on time, if ever.
    Heck, when I buy stuff on CL I am always coming ready to haggle (showing up without enough money to even pay the asking price is pretty lame, though).
    Basically, I usually only sell items on Craigslist that
    1) will fetch more than $100 profit
    2) are large enough to make shipping a super hassle

    Otherwise, it's eBay or Amazon for sure.

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  7. I sell a lot of larger items on CL so it's not an option to sell them elsewhere, at least not in this town. I put a stop to the haggling when I started putting this in my CL ads: "My price is firm both now and at point of sale." It has helped immensely. :-)

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  8. I tend to price my craigslist stuff a little higher to give myself some wiggle room for negotiating. It can sit for months and suddenly there will be a buyer who needs to buy it TODAY

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