Dear Craigslist Patron,
Thank you for expressing an interest in what I have listed on craigslist. You astutely noticed that I offered this at a great price, especially considering the excellent condition. And you even get the original Owner's Manual - a good indication that the item comes from the home of somebody that pays attention to detail.
Unfortunately, you missed the last line in my posting that asked that interested parties provide a phone number when responding to the ad. You see, I don't like to post mine publicly. If you really are interested in this, you will give me a way to get in touch with you in a timely manner.
Chile
The next day....
Dear Craigslist Patron,
Thank you for emailing your phone number. I left a message for you yesterday after you expressed such a strong interest in obtaining this item as soon as possible. I'm puzzled that you have not returned my call.
Chile
Later that day...
Dear Craigslist Patron,
As you requested during our phone conversation, I confirmed with the store that this is indeed the product that you would like. As I mentioned, this was given to me as a gift but has never been used. It is in brand new condition and priced extremely well. Looking forward to meeting you soon.
Chile
The next day...
Dear Craigslist Patron,
Were you still interested in this item? Please contact me.
Thank you,
Chile
The following day...
Dear Craigslist Jerk,
It's too bad you don't have the common courtesy to let people know when you have changed your mind about a purchase. You know, your name looked vaguely familiar. I remember someone jerking me around like this last time I offered something for sale in this category. Well, lesson learned. I will be putting your name in my permanent file for "idiots who have no intention of buying my stuff."
Enjoy your karma,
Chile
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17 comments:
I'm dealing with an equally idiotic Craigslist person up here in Seattle. After offering to buy my item at 60% what I listed and not negotiating at all with my counter-off, she wrote:
"It's all I can afford. I can pick it up as soon as possibly conveniant for you."
And then,
"Please let me know. her birthday is this saturday and I really wanted to get this."
So, I eventually acquiesced. Yes, I'm a bit of a pushover, but I just want it sold.
Then they wanted to know if I would be up in their area. Which is about a 45 minutes drive away.
Uh, no. I'm not that much of a pushover. Shall I mow your lawn for you while I'm up there?
I guess that would make me a pushmower.
Yikes. I had a gal ask if I could deliver my free item. Um, no... We agreed to meet the next morning at a store near me (I no longer direct people to my house, but that's another story.) Very uncharacteristic for me, I forgot. I zoomed down there 12 minutes late but there was no sign of her. I sent a very apologetic email. She called the next day, and after I apologized again, said, "Oh, I couldn't make it anyway." GRRRR!
Check this funny post about people like this.
It's just this kind of experience on Freecycle that's made me reluctant to offer my used, but still usable, stuff. Too bad, too, as some of the things, like electronics, Goodwill doesn't want, and sometimes I just don't know where else to go.
After some not so good FreeCycle experiences, I understand when someone recently posted something for pickup and then said, "No sob stories please."
I ended up getting a nasty voicemail from a woman whom I told an item had to be pickup up that day, and she never showed so I gave it to someone else.
Did I mention I really like Goodwill now?
Hey, I live in the birthplace of Freecycle - yeah, where it all started - and I refuse to use it. There are people here that make their living camping out on the list, grabbing everything that comes up (within 3 seconds, literally), and then selling it. Leaves a really sour taste in my mouth, and make me envious every time I see someone in another part of the world talking about how wonderfully it works in their area. :(
This happens so often on Craigslist. I've had this problem with buyers and sellers and it makes me so frustrated. We end up donating a lot of things simply to avoid the hassle.
I am the moderator/owner of the Freecycle list in my area. I don't go in for all the rigid rules they have though. We have a very small list, and most of us who are active on the list know each other. I nearly revoked us as a Freecycle group after all the political nonsense they are going through, but I decided that most of my group members are sufficiently unaware/uninterested in the politics of the organization that I'd lose them if I tried to get everyone to switch to another list with a different name for no apparent reason.
Anyway, don't hesitate to contact your group's moderators about people who are re-selling items. They should be able to ban that person if they are being sneaky about their reselling.
P.S. Chile, you'll be relieved to know that you're off the hook as a swap site -- Teresa did NOT send me her extra stick blender! Whew! Close call for the CCSSS! (that's Chile Chews' Sustainable Swap Site...)
P.S.S. LOLOL Crunchy, pushmower, that made me laugh!
I listed 4 things with freecycle, and all 4 people were no-shows. It didn't seem worth the hassle.
I've sold lots of things on Craig's List, and almost always have the people come to my house. Some people are really weird about this if they are dealing with my husband -- I guess they don't want to meet a guy in a private place. So he just meets them right down the street in a parking lot. But we're not willing to drive long distances to "maybe" sell something.
Except for that, though, I LOVE Craig's List.
Oh, man! That's exactly why I get at least three responses before pulling the add... I then place it on my front porch and wait for it to go away.
I've sold quite a few things on CL... a car, a violin, a fridge... from my experience the best way is to price things JUST below resale at a store value... if you price it less, they seem to think it must be junk and flake out. Same with free stuff...
On the bright side, I've gotten lots of free things we actually USE all the time (like free fencing, cast iron skillet, traded washer/dryer, etc) because other people were SUCH flakes and didn't show up! So it works out for me...
Chile,
Ack! I read this the day someone is coming to my house for a pick up off of Craigslist. Great! haha. They listed it as wanted so we will see how it goes. I was thinking of putting some of my extra herb plants up but am rethinking it now.
I do appreciate the heads up,
Val
I should clarify. As a buyer on craigslist, I've had pretty good experiences overall. I show up when I say and am always polite. I scored a nice cast iron dutch oven at a good price even though I was not the first caller because I'd previously purchased something from the same guy - he knew I'd show up!
However, I've dealt with flaky sellers as well. Folks who are cagey about meeting at all to sell their stuff.
Quite frankly, I'd rather do a big yard sale at this point and will be talking about how to do a good one soon.
Sue, the problems are so rampant on freecycle here that it's really not worth the hassle for me. There are HUNDREDS of listings per day and most of them are claimed in less than 3 minutes.
Oh yeah, I also wanted to say that we've had some very positive experiences, too. The folks who bought my bike shoes, bike trailer, and French Press were all very nice. We met at the house and chatted for quite a while in all 3 cases.
We do have a few Grabbers/Resellers on our freecycle list that I know of and avoid giving things to, but on the flip side they can be counted on to take my annual "large box of little yard-salable items" -- the one that I create by tossing items too little to donate or freecycle into a box as I cut the crappy clutter!
Living in a small, predominantly rural county does have its advantages, though, since we have a small list, maybe 10 posts a day on average, and folks end up getting to know each other -- I now count two people who I met through freecycle as friends. On the other hand there's almost no Craigslist activity if you want to sell something.
Oh I meant to also mention that Freecycle has totally saved our butts several times, from clearing out a bunch of stuff from our old house in preparation for its sale, removing a HUGE amount of stuff from the house we live in now after we bought it. Freecyclers were responsible for cutting up and taking away a giant oak tree that had fallen on our property, taking away a large pile of busted up concrete blocks, and removing all the ashes from our bonfire pit. One year a freerecycler even came over and collected all of our fallen leaves since they were spreading them over an area where they hoped to kill the grass and weeds! So count me in as one of the folks who has had *mostly* good experiences with Freecycle.
Wow, I've had such awesome luck both as a buyer and seller on Craigslist. I've sold two cars, extra things around the house I didn't need and more. We frequently barter for computer gear or work for other items.
My entire bedroom suit was bartered or bargined for and it's absolutely beautiful! My kitchen table too. Sold baby equipment, etc.
I think it's an awesome resource, but I also am firm with people in transactions and display uber respect when buying.
I think people that show up to buy something and -then- try to bargain are the worst. You've already committed the time to dealing with it and they are betting that you will go down on price. It isn't fair if you have turned others away.
Craigslist and freecycle experiences obviously reflect each community and the people in that community that use the services. Maybe I need to move!
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