Why do Craigslist buyers waste your time?

[01rangerxl]

I'm probably moving to Birmingham, AL in the next month for a job, so I'm trying to sell some stuff I don't really want to move. I may have to get an apartment to start, so the big stuff has to go. Namely a Great Dane mower and a utility trailer.

The first guy pulls up in a Ranger flareside with a couple ramps in the back. Mind you this is a 48" fixed deck walk behind mower he wants to buy. I showed him the mower and explained he'd need the trailer too if he wanted to take it home. There was a language barrier, but this was visually obvious. He did briefly look at the trailer, but spent a long time tire kicking with the mower and offering too low of a price. I told him he could take it or leave it, and there are other mowers on CL if he doesn't like this one. He then wanted me to try to help him get it in the back of his truck. He thought we could put the deck on the tailgate. I am not kidding. This mower has a huge fabricated steel deck that is larger than the tailgate on a flareside Ranger. I told him no way. No deal there.

A guy did come with a large enough truck finally, and while he was a tire kicker, he at least had cash, had the means to transport what he was buying, and didn't waste my time. I sold him the mower. Why can't people do those very basic things? Don't waste a seller's time if you aren't serious, bring cash, and have some idea of WTH you are buying. I always put up pics and a clear description.

I actually put a disclaimer in the ad for the trailer. It makes me sound like an [censored], but hopefully it will ward off people showing up with a 1996 Taurus with a 1.25" hitch and $250.
Quote:
DISCLAIMER!
- It should take about 10 minutes or less to decide if you want this trailer or not for the price I have listed. If you plan on kicking the tires for an hour with no intentions of buying, please don't waste my time.
- This is not a $300 trailer, and I won't take $300 for it because that's all you have. If all you can afford is a $300 trailer, go buy one with no lights and bald tires. This is a fully roadworthy, 2012 model trailer and the price is very fair. You get what you pay for.
- Please determine if your vehicle can tow this trailer BEFORE contacting me about it. I don't know what your car can or can't tow. Your vehicle will need either a 2" receiver hitch or a 1 7/8" ball mounted on the bumper. A ball/mount with a 2" drop is included. If your truck has 6" of lift, that's not going to work, so plan in advance! I have been towing this with a 2WD Ford Ranger.
- MONEY TALKS, [censored] WALKS! If you drive an hour here but only bring $300, guess what, you're driving back with $300.
- I will be taking my license plate off the trailer, so bring a plate or tow without one at your own risk.


Why should it come to this? Why can't people just deal reasonably?

Sorry, just needed to vent.

 

[JHZR2]

There are so many idiots out there it is scary...

Youre doing the right thing, issue is that most wont read your caveats.

 

[JTK]

I hear you ranger.

That's why I hate selling high dollar items on CL. You never know. Sometimes they're painless, but mostly they're not.

The last higher dollar item I sold on CL was a one year old zero-turn mower that was nearly ~$4K new. I must have listed it too low because it was gone in hours to the first caller for within $100 of asking price.

OTOH, I've had people hem and haw over $50-200 stuff too. You gotta know the job is dangerous when you take it.
Joel

 

[bullwinkle]

You can buy & sell stuff on CL-but be aware that it is like an online flea market-it is free & you get what you pay for!

 

[bepperb]

For every one thing I sell on there I get five idiots who don't leave a number, who lowball via email (and by that I mean less than half the asking price) or who want you to drive it across town. But I think I'm getting better at weeding them out.

I have bought and sold some great things, though. It's worth it most of the time, IMO. It's nice to see something you were going to throw away find a new life. And it doesn't hurt to get some cash too.

 

[Loobed]

Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl


I actually put a disclaimer in the ad for the trailer. It makes me sound like an [censored], but hopefully it will ward off people showing up with a 1996 Taurus with a 1.25" hitch and $250.
Quote:
DISCLAIMER!
- ...

- This is not a $300 trailer, and I won't take $300 for it because that's all you have. If all you can afford is a $300 trailer, go buy one with no lights and bald tires. This is a fully roadworthy, 2012 model trailer and the price is very fair. You get what you pay for.

...
- MONEY TALKS, [censored] WALKS! If you drive an hour here but only bring $300, guess what, you're driving back with $300.
- I will be taking my license plate off the trailer, so bring a plate or tow without one at your own risk.


Why should it come to this? Why can't people just deal reasonably?

Sorry, just needed to vent.



This is what I really hate. Someone gives you a sob story about how they drove 1000 miles, and somehow you owe them something for nothing. Then there are those guy that bring all their kids who then run around trying to get hurt so they can sue you.

On the flip side, there are people on craigslist that think their $50 POS is worth $2000.

 

[ABerns]

I don't think your disclaimer makes you sound like a jerk. It makes you sound like an honest dude. I would be more apt to buy from somebody with an ad like that because I feel like there would be less jerking around.

Sold my bike on CL for close to what I wanted. The buyer was really cool, but (I think) used to dealing with the usual CL people - he chatted for like 30 minutes about all that was wrong with the bike. I guess I didn't make it clear that, no matter how bad the bike was, I had a bottom line. I think all too often sellers are like "I'm going to ask $2k more than its worth unless you can find what's wrong." Not how I roll. Doesn't seem like that's how you roll. +1 to you, sir.

 

[01rangerxl]

Originally Posted By: bullwinkle
You can buy & sell stuff on CL-but be aware that it is like an online flea market-it is free & you get what you pay for!


True, but CL gets more viewers in the local area than a lot of paid advertising would. Plus, being free isn't an excuse for buyers to be retarded when making a basic transaction. I'm not selling a Saturn V rocket.

 

[bullwinkle]

Unfortunately, the fact that CL is free tends to attract scammers & people who want something for nothing-my way of weeding them out is to INSIST on a phone number if a person responds by email, and by putting everything that could possibly be wrong in the description, and by tacking 20% on to what I think something is worth (what I would pay for it after haggling) in the asking price-I still get the occasional moron, but usually it is a good deal for everybody.

 

[robertcope]

Excellent disclaimer. I like selling on CL, but I get a sick sense of pleasure from dealing with idiots when I'm in the position of power.

robert

 

[01rangerxl]

Originally Posted By: ABerns
I don't think your disclaimer makes you sound like a jerk. It makes you sound like an honest dude. I would be more apt to buy from somebody with an ad like that because I feel like there would be less jerking around.

Sold my bike on CL for close to what I wanted. The buyer was really cool, but (I think) used to dealing with the usual CL people - he chatted for like 30 minutes about all that was wrong with the bike. I guess I didn't make it clear that, no matter how bad the bike was, I had a bottom line. I think all too often sellers are like "I'm going to ask $2k more than its worth unless you can find what's wrong." Not how I roll. Doesn't seem like that's how you roll. +1 to you, sir.


Thanks, that's good to hear.

I had a bike transaction go really well a while back on CL. It was a nicer mountain bike, and the first caller showed up and handed me cash before he even looked it over. He looked it over for a couple minutes and then put it in the bed of his truck.

 

[hattaresguy]

I never deal with Craigslist, to many scamers and idiots.

 

[Propflux01]

When I see ads like your disclaimer, all I get out of it is some dumbarse prolly must have gave the seller a hard time.

 

[John_K]

I remember buying some furniture once from a store...I backed up the pickup to their loading dock and started pulling out straps...the employee about fainted. "Wow, somebody prepared, what a concept." People just don't think.

John

 

[Bottom_Feeder]

Nice job on the (sadly necessary) disclaimer, but it reads like you were angry when you wrote it. You may get dumb responses and no-shows from bored people who just want to screw with you. Next time, trim the fat a little and take the emotion out of it. You'll get your point across even clearer.

I'm planning on selling a few items on CL in the future and need to write up something similar.

"Interested? Great. My selling price is $XXX in cash only- period. $XXX is what it's worth to me to sell, so please decide ahead of time if that's what it's worth to you to buy. Any attempts to renegotiate the price will be turned down. Any other payment types will be turned down. I'm making this as clear as possible so there is no misunderstanding. Let's make this transaction easy, OK? Thanks."

Something along those lines.

 

[DBMaster]

I generally only use Craig's List for things I want to give away. If I have something I am no longer using that is a good item I feel a bit of responsibility to put it into the hands of someone who needs it. If I post the item for free I state that first confirmed person who responds gets it. I keep the first few responses and reply to the ones who didn't "win" after the item has been picked up. I shut down the ad after the first few responses. If I put a price at all it's very cheap with the intention of just telling them that if they meet me at a place of my choosing I will just give it to them (example: A very nice CRT monitor.) I avoid like the plague having any CL responder come to my house because I am concerned they might be scoping it out to burglarize later. If the item is bulky I will only deal with them outside.

I agree with the earlier poster who stated that the number of idiots out there is scary. They must be part of Romney's 47%.

If I seriously want to sell something I use eBay. If the item is large you would only get local responders. At least that way the price is agreed upon before you ever lay eyes on each other.

 

[eljefino]

Disclaimers are touchy and can make sellers look like jerks. Some out there think stores are jerks and will only buy from private parties. Particularly used car sales! They want to make a lovey dovey personal connection. Kinda risky but it's how some people's brains work.

If I'm selling something I don't say OBO. I don't say firm. I just put a price. If someone tries lowballing me I just say I'll consider their offer in a week or two but right now I'm overwhelmed by emails (whether I am or not).

I also put in the ad that if the ad is up the item is still for sale. Cuts some of the back-and-forth.

Keep an ad brief, don't talk yourself into a corner. On a car include facts like engine/transmission/working AC/legal inspection but don't go on about repairs or maintenance: buyers generally want a "well behaving" car as funny as that sounds. If you have receipts for stuff show them in person, don't mention in the ad. Only exception worth noting would be a timing belt or a fix for a known obvious problem that anyone reading edmunds or CR would unearth.

I also dustbin requests for VINs. They never lead anywhere. If someone is clicking around on their computer running carfaxes and not pounding the pavement yet they aren't serious.

 

[supton]

Disclaimers are good. I mean, if you don't want to negotiate on the price, state it. What is there to lose, it's not as if CL charges by the word. Worst part about CL is the descriptions.

One thing I dislike about the selling/buying aspect though is the notion that tire-kicking is more or less verboten. You basically have to want to buy it before you go. Most ads lack basic info so that's not possible; and it's not as if I've going to just drive over with a few grand "just in case". Wouldn't be so bad if you could do a bit of back and forth over email, that way it wastes less time (answer at one's liesure, etc). As a result, if I buy used it is generally from a local garage sale or flea market, or perhaps a vendor (gun shop or car lot). Otherwise, if it's got a risk, I'll buy new.

Quite frankly, I just use stuff until I don't care, then kick it to the curb with "free" on it. Got rid of some 20 year old trailer tires with cracked sidewalls that way--transfer station wanted $10 per wheel!

Speaking of CL, my brother had an S10 Blazer to sell. Specifically stated "must be towed--no brakes" in the ad. He couldn't count the number of people who thought they could just drive it home! He wondered about putting a disclaimer about the brakes into the bill of sale.

 

[Astro14]

I wouldn't dustbin the VIN request quite so quickly. I e-mailed a Volvo dealer a VIN request. Got a reply that day.

Next day I made an appointment and drove the car.

Came back following day with certified funds and bought the car.

I am a busy guy. I have time to click, not much for driving around tire-kicking...

 

[mechtech2]

I like your disclaimer!

We also have to realize that putting up with all sorts of people is part and parcel of selling things independently.