why i hate craigslist

I've listed my rambler for $1999 on craigslist.

It only took one hour before the first "I'll give you 500" email. Pretty sure this is why i never put it up there to begin with and chose to drive it around with a sign in the window. It takes lots not to fire back a "Go Eff yourself" email and just delete it.

I just fire back with "that will be a fine deposit, and how did you plan to pay the balace" Smart ass offers deserve smart ass answers.

reply with this:

"is that $500 down, then $500 a week for three weeks? or are you just willing to give me $500? or are you offering me 1/4 of what im asking without even seeing the car, introducing yourself, or getting any details at all? because if its the first or second, we have a deal. if its the third, id recommend you take the $500 dollars, go the the adult store and buy the biggest dildo on the shelf and go berkeley yourself with it."

-J0N

that is why I hate CL, and this is why I love you guys.

jmthunderbirdturbo wrote: reply with this: "is that $500 down, then $500 a week for three weeks? or are you just willing to give me $500? or are you offering me 1/4 of what im asking without even seeing the car, introducing yourself, or getting any details at all? because if its the first or second, we have a deal. if its the third, id recommend you take the $500 dollars, go the the adult store and buy the biggest dildo on the shelf and go berkeley yourself with it." -J0N

Best response ever

I see people listing cars at insane prices, I guess it's not surprising that people would make insane offers. Really, seller? You have the most expensive car of a certain make and model, and the power top being broken is a "minor issue", and you have twice the miles of the next most expensive car, and you're firm on the price because you know what it's worth? Well, too bad I don't have the Honda or paintball gun you wanted in trade.

I'm going to have to sell a car there soon. Looks like a fun time.

I had the same issue when I listed my MGB for $2250, first few emails offered between $400-500 for the car, none of them would come look at the car.

I'll give you $501 for it!

Did you post a photo with your finger obscuring the license plate? The craigslist people won't know you're a serious seller unless you did that.

actually no i forgot that. my plates are visible. damn, they must think i'm a scammer who stole pictures of someone else's car.

I have not had the bad experiences.
The last thing I had up on CL (a year ago) was a non-running Buick LeSabre at $900.
My bottom end was $600 figuring that I could sell the new tires for $200 and scrap the rest for $400. 1 week and two inquiries later, a buyer came from an hour away and towed it out the same day. $600

Sure, I was looking for scrap prices on a scrap worthy car. I get the game, people are just lobbing out low prices to test you level of desperation. It doesn't have to work for the buyer every time but I bet it works enough times to make them keep trying.

You just need to use the same negotiation method I use with my kids.

Example: I tell them bed time is in 10 minutes, they reply asking for 15, I counter offer 5 minutes. Negotiations end pretty quick.

I'd reply to "I'm sorry but $500 is too low. Since you seem really interested I the car I'll let you have it for $2500"

A rambler you say? This wouldn't happen to be one of those wagons would it?

Annoying. I tell people that's a steal, but if they want it they can come pick it up. I then give them the address of the local prison that's way up in the woods in the middle of nowhere.

I just ignore the nonsense replies, considering how much I paid for the ad. in the first place.

I have sold three cars on CL in the past three years. Each ad. included some version of the following:

"Please reply by email and provide contact information. Serious inquires will receive a prompt response. Car is offered as-is, where-is. In person cash transactions only. Offers tendered prior to inspection, third parties or anything that smells scammy or flaky will be ignored. Thanks for your interest."

In all three cases, I accepted cash offers $100 below my asking price and in all three cases the car was sold and driven away within 24 hours of posting the ad. One of them was gone in two hours!

81cpcamaro wrote: I had the same issue when I listed my MGB for $2250, first few emails offered between $400-500 for the car, none of them would come look at the car.

why waste time even answering those types of emails ?

Ya gotta treat those emails like you do the ones from Nigerian princes/generals/ministers. They're just people trolling the list trying to find a bargain. Cost them nothing to send an email and maybe they get lucky every 1000th email. Kinda like the guy that asks every woman he meets to sleep with him-- yeah, he gets turned down a lot, but every once in a while...

MCarp22 wrote: Did you post a photo with your middle finger obscuring the license plate? The craigslist people won't know you're a serious seller unless you did that.

Fixed that for you

bgkast wrote: Annoying. I tell people that's a steal, but if they want it they can come pick it up. I then give them the address of the local prison that's way up in the woods in the middle of nowhere.

I do this, but only after the car is actually sold. I also have them meet me in a bad area of town after dark

The problem doesn't lie with craigslist. You hate people. Specifically people in your local region who would be interested in an old rambler. You would get the same hassle if nickel ads were still a thing people used.

I rarely get that crap around here. Depending on what kind of car I am selling I will get the "I'm a broke single parent, will you take tiny payments?" thing.

The problem in my opinion is there's no feedback system for craigslist. Dysfunctional people and deadbeats are everywhere. Craigslist is just a tool where you will find them both buying and selling.

oh i already know that i hate people. that's a given. i hate dealing with them too. in general they annoy the crap out of me.

if rambler was a wagon, would not sell. rambler wagons have the coolest roofline for a wagon ever until nissan stole it for the last generation pathfinder.

wbjones wrote:

81cpcamaro wrote: I had the same issue when I listed my MGB for $2250, first few emails offered between $400-500 for the car, none of them would come look at the car.

why waste time even answering those types of emails ?

This. It's annoying to waste 10 seconds to open, read, and delete lowball offers, but it costs nothing to place an ad and people are obviously seeing the ad. What's the big deal? If they were pounding on your door at three am, or calling you after midnight (ahh, the days of newspaper ads...) I would understand, but an email? So what?

Did somebody say "Rambler wagon"? http://mansfield.craigslist.org/cto/4586596546.html

In reply to logdog:

wonder if he'll take 500