My first craigslist burn

[warjohn]

I checked craigslist tonight and spotted a stihl 044 for 200 dollars. They also had a 012 for 75. I called they said they still had them. I told them I would be there in 20 minutes if they could hold them. They said OK. They were about 15 miles away. I stopped and picked up bigjohnston and away we went. I called teacherman while I was driving and asked him of he was interested in the 012 When I got there there was a guy looking at the 044. I told them I was the guy they said they would hold the saws for. They asked if I wanted to look at the 012. I said I wanted to look at both. The other guy was counting his money he only had 185 but they sold him the saw anyway. They asked again if I wanted to see the 012. I said nope I came to buy 2 saws for 275 dollars and you sold the 044 out from under me so you can keep the 012. I appologize teacherman but I was not gonna reward them for not holding the saw for me. I know it is first come first serve and all but I am still a little pissed.

 

[logging22]

That really sucks Ward. Sometimes people are just stupid and dont try to hide it.

 

[Moss Man]

Honor is a dying art, some people still have it, but most do not.

 

[A10egress]

Honor is a dying art, some people still have it, but most do not.

and a handshake means nothing to most folks


sorry for the bum deal, happened to me a few times already!

 

[blsnelling]

That would burn me up too!!!

 

[warjohn]

The guy said it had been a great saw but he no longer needed it because he had run out of trees in his yard to cut. His yard had a few trees but not a single stump. I am pretty sure he had just bought it and was selling it for a profit. It did look pretty rough but if it ran it was worth more than 200.

 

[warjohn]

This one was destined for ebay if i got it.

 

[XJPete87]

That sucks he could have at least held it for 20mins..

However being a fellow seller on CL, I have been burned many times by holding something for somebody.. They say they'll be there in 20mins and then never show. Its hard to turn down cash to someone right in front you on this kind of sale.. However I dont tell anyone I'm holding it for them anymore.. I simply state first come first serve and I apologize for any inconvenience and I hope you understand.

 

[mikefunaro]

I agree with XJPete87 to a large degree...

I try to be fair when I sell on craigslist, and 20 minutes is a short enough amount of time that he should have been able to wait...

But i know, even when I try to give free crap away, it becomes such a big PITA to try to respect people in the order they reply. Someone who contacts you first wants you to hold it for a few days, and then blah blah blah, meanwhile he bails, etc.

 

[warjohn]

That sucks he could have at least held it for 20mins..

However being a fellow seller on CL, I have been burned many times by holding something for somebody.. They say they'll be there in 20mins and then never show. Its hard to turn down cash to someone right in front you on this kind of sale.. However I dont tell anyone I'm holding it for them anymore.. I simply state first come first serve and I apologize for any inconvenience and I hope you understand.

I agree I jsut wish they would have stated that it was first come first serve and I would have driven straight there. I would not have went and picked up Big. For as many good deals as I have gotten on craigslist I put this on in the win some lose some catagory. If it would have happened on the KMS-4 I bought a few weeks ago I would have been much more upset. On this one I am not out anything I wanted real bad.

 

[Rookie1]

Quick story, I have a 20" Craftman push mower on CL.I gave a goofball directions to my work to buy mower 3 days ago and Im still waiting for him. If I held it for him Id be screwed. So I feel your pain but understand the sellers side too.

 

[AUSSIE1]

Yep, Ive been burned by holding stuff for people.
From not turning up to trying to push to purchase for so much less than originally advertised.

If you don't want to hold something, say so.

 

[Jacob J.]

The moral of this story I think is that there's a lot of unreliable and dishonorable people on Craigslist- sellers and buyers both.

Which is too bad really. Some of my greatest experiences ever have come about from Craigslist deals involving driving out to the middle of nowhere and meeting some neat old guy who has a barn of valuable, antique equipment and he wants to visit, drink coffee, and tell stories about the "old days".

 

[howellhandmade]

You know, it's just hard dealing with people, buying or selling. What the seller did wasn't right, but it's no picnic being the seller either. Sold a car not too long ago. Posted on CL for a very good price, got about 20 emails within an hour, people saying hold it, they'd definitely buy it for the asking price. I pulled the ad, sent everybody an email saying that I'd contact each person in the order the first email was received to arrange a meeting; if it fell through with number one I'd call number two, and so on. You'd think it would be easy, but I had people say they'd come right over but never show, one gal who said she'd buy it for my asking price but turned out only to have half the money and expected me to take it, one guy who offered more money if I'd sell to him ahead of somebody else I was waiting for but never responded when it was his turn. I was straight up and treated everybody the same -- like they were telling me the truth -- and although I did eventually sell the car for my asking price it was a disappointing experience. Lots of flakes out there.

Jack

 

[warjohn]

The moral of this story I think is that there's a lot of unreliable and dishonorable people on Craigslist- sellers and buyers both.

Which is too bad really. Some of my greatest experiences ever have come about from Craigslist deals involving driving out to the middle of nowhere and meeting some neat old guy who has a barn of valuable, antique equipment and he wants to visit, drink coffee, and tell stories about the "old days".

That sounds a lot like the guy I bought the KMS-4 from. He had collected gravely equipment for years and had a lot of neat stuff. I wished I could have spent a full day talking to him and looking at all his collection but I was strapped for time. He sure was a talker.

 

[Jacob J.]

That sounds a lot like the guy I bought the KMS-4 from. He had collected gravely equipment for years and had a lot of neat stuff. I wished I could have spent a full day talking to him and looking at all his collection but I was strapped for time. He sure was a talker.

One guy (from Craigslist) I bought a two-man saw from was 95 years old and started logging when he was 14, in 1927. He started his own small engine shop/saw shop when he was 35, got into real estate when he was 51 and made a fortune. He lived in Cherry Grove, a small town in the Oregon coastal hills that's 60 miles from anything and covered with doghair thick big timber. His place was on a hill top and I had to open and close three gates on the way up. He talked for hours and hours, telling me about yarding giant timbers with steam donkeys and riding the sluice back to town once. It was a visit of a lifetime. He was also an amateur photographer- he had thousands of pictures and not a single color one in the batch.

 

[warjohn]

I agree. Back in my Harley riding days when I would go to rallies i would make a habit of saying hello to some of the old timers. They were always good for a story or two and a lot of times they were the highlight of the trip.

I went to a garage sale last fall and the old guy that was having the sale would not stop talking. His son, who looked to be about 30, kept telling him to shut up and leave me alone. I pulled up a chair and just let him talk. I was there 2 hours. As I was leaving his son walked me to my car and thanked me for sticking around and listening to him.

 

[parrisw]

Yup that sucks.

I had one the other day. I found a 36" Alaskan mill, they were only asking $25 cause it was dirty and the nuts and bolts were a little rusty. I emailed right away, no number listed. I said I'll come right now to get it. They said they were busy and could not do it that day, said either Wednesday eve or on the weekend, and to give them my number, and said they would hold it for me. I gave them my number, and they never called wed, so I emailed to make sure it was still on, they have never given me their number. I emailed on the Thursday, and they said they sold it to someone else??????????? I was like WTF??? grrrrrrrr, pisses me off.

 

[Anthony_Va.]

Thats some BS! There ain't nothing else you can even say about that!

There's no excuse for anyone like that. Makes me sick the way the world is going to h@!!.

I would have told the dude already there that someone is coming in 20 minutes and if he don't show then it's yours.

I know these type of people. You'll come across pieces of crap like that every now and then.

 

[spacemule]

You're an idiot if you promise to hold something for any time without money. Many people who are "coming right now" never show. Making that promise was his mistake, believing such an unbelievable promise was yours. Instead of lollygagging on the phone, you should have been concentrating on your driving.