OT--Buying and selling on Craiglist

Jiles · Apr 9, 2015

I have bought and sold lots of items on CL.
When I advertise an item, I give as much information and photos as possible and state Cash only, No texting, and request their phone number when replying through email.
All has gone well and have met a lot of good people and made friends with some.
Only complaint that I have is that some people request me to email them at their email (bypass CL mail)
For fear of scam, I just ignore these requests.
Out of curiosity, why would someone want me to contact them through their personal email?
I am sure they have a reason.

ErnieD · Apr 9, 2015

The craiglist email opens a torrent of spam that continues for years.

Ray · Apr 9, 2015

They want your email address,spammers will pay for a good address.I get responses asking for my phone number when it's in my add,or they ask me to call them.

Traditional Farmer · Apr 9, 2015

They might be on the computer that belongs to their employer and don't want them to know they're goofing off.

Tracy Brown · Apr 9, 2015

I also do a lot on CL. I hit the option so that they cannot email me. knocks out 99% of the scammers.

Jiles · Apr 9, 2015

(quoted from post at 01:17:26 04/10/15) I also do a lot on CL. I hit the option so that they cannot email me. knocks out 99% of the scammers.

Most of the items I sell are from email.
Guess it depends on where you live.

Jiles · Apr 9, 2015

(quoted from post at 00:30:50 04/10/15) The craiglist email opens a torrent of spam that continues for years.

That's not the way I understand it. If I contact a person through CL mail. The message goes to the seller from CL. CL then forwards the message to seller.
Seller dosen't get my email address.

RandyB(MI) · Apr 9, 2015

I do quite a bit on CL but am by no means a "business" and as such do the same as a few below in that I opt for no e-mail button. No trouble since. If someone isn't willing to call me and talk voice to voice then I just have to figure there is a very good reason for that and usually not good. There's one gentleman on here that has called me out on that because he is very hard of hearing. Two things , either he will have to have a relative or friend help him or I will lose him as a potential buyer. I don't buy that e-mail is his "only" option. I will stand by my opinion that "scammers" do NOT want to talk to you.

Brian Schmidt · Apr 9, 2015

Many times in some email programs, some type emails get automatically flagged as spam.
So if you send an email to someone it could get stuck in their spam folder and they
never see it. So don't consider automatically that someone is trying to scam you.
There is no scam that can occur through talking with someone either on the phone or
email....

Brian Schmidt · Apr 9, 2015

Randy,

I find it interesting that you spend time on a chat board when you have the need to talk to people to trust or communicate with them. Sorry to be blunt, but if you are advertising on-line, you should consider communicating in the way that is common to the buyers.

I am by no means a scammer. I choose to not talk to guys on the phone as much as possible. This is for many reasons. Often times, it is because I am just not available to chat at the same times they are. So we can communicate back and forth at each others leisure. Also, then there is a written record of what is said. So when you drive long distances to pick up the part it had better be exactly as described. I also like to see pictures of what I am buying. So when I get there I am not surprised. This is pretty hard to do over the phone.

Lastly, you can carefully craft your questions and the seller can craft his answers in a readable format. So language barriers are out. Slang and accents do not come across in written text.

So if you feel the need to talk to folks, take out an ad in the paper with your phone number and people can call you. If you advertise on-line, expect to chat with your fingers.

Rich_WI · Apr 9, 2015

(quoted from post at 18:27:24 04/09/15)
Out of curiosity, why would someone want me to contact them through their personal email?
I am sure they have a reason.

Doing that would allow you (the seller) to send an email to a different email address for the buyer than is registered with craigslist. If I have my home email address registered with craigslist but want to make arangments with you before I leave work so I can stop on my way home, I may ask you to email me at a different address, rather than use the craigslist forwarding feature. Asking the seller to email to a different address is a legitimate reason, dont be afraid of it.

Or it could be someone trying to get your email address for SPAM. But who cares about that? Email address are free, when you get too much spam comming into an address, give it up and make a new one. What could be easier? And you sell more too (but some people dont seem to want to do that).

tomNE · Apr 9, 2015

have used CL for yrs. the amount of problems is very small compared to how much good it's done. for awhile i quit using phone number in ad but
went back to it. always did write out the middle 3 numbers. also find that using text messages can help with questions.

rrlund · Apr 9, 2015

Quick question without stealing the post. If you update a post by making changes,does the post get bumped to the top of the list?

Russ from MN · Apr 9, 2015

I put phone calls only in my contact information, that has worked well for me, and I use my cell phone. If they text me with decent English and sentence structure I might reply. The first time we ever got a text it was from our Realtor that we bought our house from, he was in his deer stand and didn't want to talk, sometimes there are good reasons.

MN Scott · Apr 9, 2015

Russ, your realtors name wasn't Bob S. was it? Bob sold our old house last fall and I got a few texts and calls from him in his deer stand.

Chris Jones · Apr 9, 2015

No.

You must refresh the listing to bump it to the top. So if you want to change the price and put it back at the top you have to take two steps.

farmerwithmutt · Apr 9, 2015

I like emails because as others have said times very when I worked 3rd I had
a tendency to get testy when people called when I was sleeping .so I would
leave a note telling when I'm available and the best time to call

Nebraska Cowman · Apr 10, 2015

If I am dealing with a stranger I like to deal direct. I'd want your email or phone number before I sent you any money. But yes, you have to
be careful.

Mike M · Apr 10, 2015

I agree with Randy and the others who DO NOT allow emails. Every time before when I did all you get are scammers. Phone number only and so far I have sold about everything I put on there for sale.
I have tried the WANTED section for a few items I would like to get but for the most part if someone does have one to sell they are asking WAY too much for it. Guess I just don't need it that bad ? LOL.

Meangreen · Apr 10, 2015

Like others have said it could be that person has problems with CL e-mail system. I know I have at times.

As far as some of the other discussion about preferred communication, I like e-mail the best, but will call if the item is something I really want. Biggest scam flags I have seen via e-mail: Subject line reads "is it still available?" with no text in message. Respond and usually no response back, or the usually scam of I'll send you a check or money order for way more than you are asking for the item, cash it send me the balance and I'll be by day after tomorrow to pick up the item.

Russ from MN · Apr 10, 2015

No, it was Jimmy, a great guy!

jimg.allentown · Apr 10, 2015

Not so. Having sent emails to other CL users, when I send the email through CL, the recipient gets my real email address, and in most cases replies directly to me via regular email. I also get the sender's email address from the reply.
Unlike eBay, CL is FREE. Bypassing their email system is not like a buyer or seller trying to bypass the commission on eBay.

Butch(OH) · Apr 10, 2015

In my case it is because about 95% of the replies through Craigs list go to my spam box, get deleted and
I never see them. I suppose there could be devious reasons also?
In my experience the real cyber scammers are pretty darned easy to pick out and ignore. After an
experience my neighbor had last year I worry more about thieves than cyber scams. He advertised a high
dollar lawn tractor on CL. Got a call from somebody interested and set up a time for them to come look it
over. Next night it grew legs and walked away but never again heard from the caller,,,

kencombs · Apr 10, 2015

I also have the hearing issue. Phones are almost impossible as I can't see the speaker's lips. Hate facial hair for the same reason.

Anyone who can't bother to accommodate a customer's needs will lose business. But, that is their decision to make: do it their way or the customers way.

sotxbill · Apr 10, 2015

I sell used tractors over craigslist. Over the years I have sold probably 26 tractors. I even sold two tractors to some guys from nigeria. I do NOT sell over the phone or email although I will answer most questions.

I put in the ad,,, """YOU must show up in person to buy this tractor! You cannot buy it over the phone! No negotiations over the phone. Everything I know about the tractor is in the ad. If ad is still up, its STILL FOR SALE. No SHIPPING!. No CHECKS, NO SEA CAPTAINS.""""

They showed up, paid in cash, and I still have the tractors waiting for shipment to Africa. The bank said the cash was not counterfeit, so all is good. 22thou is not chicken feed. When ever they say They have to pay for shipping and this or that, I cut them off and say... Your problems are NOT my problems! First person with cash takes the tractor, as is, where is.

I have sold 6 tractors this year so far.

Jiles · Apr 10, 2015

I had a large collection of chainsaws, some of which I have owned many years.
I decided to sell all but two and, so far, I have sold twelve in the last year.
At what point does CL considerer a seller to be a dealer or a business?

Anonymous-0 · Apr 10, 2015

So all you phone only guys don't mind getting drunken calls late at night or having your meals or personal activities and so on getting interrupted by a ringing phone?

You can't hear emails, they don't interrupt anything, can be answered when you choose. I've bought and sold many things on Kijiji, which works just like CL, with absolutely no problems.

Do all you email haters use classic view? :lol:

RandyB(MI) · Apr 10, 2015

To me the internet is for locating an item and/or seeing it's condition and asking price/location. ( all in the ad,no e-mail required ) ALL info that lends itself well to the internet. The phone number, which by the way, is still the most "common to buyers" way of communication , is the most logical next step in the purchasing process. There's a lot of hidden info one can get from verbally talking to someone that can, and does make a deal a lot safer and fair to both involved. And by the way, there are just as many people that don't have computers as there are people with hearing problems. I have had many call me and tell me their son / daughter etc saw it on CL and give them the number to call.Everyones experiences are different and that's what usually drives their method of operation. There's no right or wrong here and that's why no one has 100% of the market share in their chosen business.I have saved customers money and time and even refused to sell them the item because of conversation (way too involved to use this medium) that determined they actually had a different problem and we then proceeded to remedy it. I earn customers by conversation not by e-mail. Does anyone purchase a new tractor or truck/car by e-mail? The last carb I sold , the buyer had all the info one could possibly offer but something still held him back , so I offered to let him see/hear it run on tractor if he wanted to drive up. He drove 2.5 hrs and we had a good hour of JD talk and he went home knowing his carb was good and we both knew his money was good. All happy and more customers because of it. Also as a side note, I have had 100% return response when I have a number to call on a CL ad....sorry to say I can't say the same about the ones I had to e-mail.

RandyB(MI) · Apr 10, 2015

Every call I've ever gotten on a CL ad has had money at the other end. Probably depends on what type merchandise one is selling as to what type idiot you get calling you. As long as there is money at the other end, I don't care when they call , and yes I use "classic view" ! Just for the record,tho , the ONLY problems I ever had selling/buying on CL went away when I opted out of e-mail responders and when I quit e-mailing to purchase an item. (no response half the time and/or a week later ). Not an e-mail "hater" , just a little more picky where and what I use it for.

Nebraska Kirk · Apr 11, 2015

I just put a tractor up for sale on Craigslist and right away got texts from a couple of scam artists and one email from a tire-kicker. The legitimate interested buyer picked up the phone and called me and we had a nice chat and he arranged to come and look at the tractor.

Rich_WI · Apr 11, 2015

(quoted from post at 07:25:24 04/10/15) Not so. Having sent emails to other CL users, when I send the email through CL, the recipient gets my real email address, and in most cases replies directly to me via regular email. I also get the sender's email address from the reply.
Unlike eBay, CL is FREE. Bypassing their email system is not like a buyer or seller trying to bypass the commission on eBay.

Nope, craigslist has been relaying emails for years now. I just looked back, I got an email in April of 2013 and they were relaying them all the way back then. An email back in October of 2011 was not relayed.

Only the name you have set up in your email account gets forwarded, not the email address itself.

OT--Buying and selling on Craiglist

Well-known Member

Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Member

Similar threads