Craigslist ad

Ultradog MN

Well-known Member
Location
Twin Cities
I ran an ad on cl today.
Got this text:

Him... "1 bottom Ford plow?still available and whats your lowest price?"

Me... "Still available. See ad for price"

Him... "Ok, pls can you accommodate my request probably i send you a check for the sale and once the check clears will set-up pickup"

Me... "Lol.
This is craigslist.
You show up with cash and leave with plow. Simple eh?"

For some reason he quit replying...
 
I answer those yes still available. My lowest price is $---- cash.
When they email you back ask them what part of CASH did they not understand
 
About 15 years ago I sold a JD M to a fellow, sight unseen. He called me one day and we talked about it, and that was it. The next week I re-posted it and he soon called me and said, I want that tractor, I'm going to send you a check. I said the tractor is up at my cabin, but I can bring it back next week. By then we were sure his check was good and I delivered it to his house, which was within 10 miles of my house. As long as he didn't try to talk me down in price I thought I could deliver it, I got a good price for it.
 
I always get a bunch of those spam items, especially if you are selling a vehicle. What I do is just drag my fingers all over the keyboard to produce a completely random and unreadable response. Like this : hjhwefhw bauhequkq bwfekuyv sdhsrbjcsj bhebj

If its a real, interested, human they will try again, if not it was a robot or scammer I figure.
 
Mostly I don't answer them. If I do I say cash only. But I never put my phone number where the addspace asks for it and I will spell out one or two numbers and usually do not get those calls. I just got one on a YT add so I don't think you can blame CL. There are plenty of those scammers out there. Most of the phone numbers they use can be checked on the net to find out where they originate.
 
Nigerians are not so good with America's version of English. They answer a thousand adds a day in hops some one will bite. I get them all the time.
 
Don't even answer the ads if they just ask "still available?" 99 times out of 100 it's a scam or a no-show.

When they ask specific, appropriate questions about the item, then it's more likely to be someone actually interested in it than not.

One other thing, don't put rants in the ad like "no scammers" or "cash only" or "do not ask if it is still available." It puts off the legitimate buyers (i.e. "I don't wanna deal with this a-hole.") The rules are clearly spelled out already. Just discard any that aren't following the rules.
 
2 things

1. I just recently had someone offer me a cashier's check and wanted to add extra $100 for my troubles on my item and it was the exact same offer you had (I'll arrange pickup later). The kicker, my item was only listed at $300. Told them cash only, end of conversation.

2. Just saw a news story this morning where a couple went through with the same pitch on a $46,000 pickup. The got the check, bank cleared it, state cleared it, bank closed load and then guy finally showed up to get it. The kicker, bank realized 11 days later the check was phony, re-opened the loan and stuck it to the original owners. The TV station investigating was able to get ahold of the right people and the bank re-closed the loan and let the couple off the hook.
 

My personal experience with Craigslist as a buyer is that the item has been sold about 90% of the time even though the ad is still up. I bought another 10'9" IH37 disc last Saturday, seller was great but the ad is still up. I can somewhat understand someone asking first if the item is sold or not before going to the trouble to type up a bunch of questions in a text or email. On a piece of farm equipment calling is not always the most effective unless they are standing by the item as they forget half your questions when they get back to you.

My personal limit on cash transactions is about $1500. Just as possible that the ad is a robbery setup if they are demanding cash for a higher value item. For me anything over my cash limit, we are going to have to have our banks talk to work it out or I'll have to wait for pickup until my check clears. Anything over $10,000 in cash has to reported for withdrawal or deposit at a bank anyway and the Feds will be looking into you for money laundering so for sure I'm never going to pay for anything over 10,000 with anything other than a cashier's check or wire it.

I totally agree with seller rants on scams, etc. being a big turnoff for buyers. Saw one ad in the last week where a guy was selling a farm item for his dad and what a great guy he was and he said if you try to screw with him (negotiate?) I will come hunt you down and... Ad's still up on that one, lol. Mike
 

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