What's their angle? Craigslist ads...

[Thinkpad_T43_Fan]

I see from time to time, Craigslist ads that post for sale Thinkpads at ridiculous prices.

For example, there have been ads for T43s for $500, with only an email address.

Every time I email (most of the time within an hour of the ad), I get no responses whatsoever. I know other people with similar experiences.

I don't get why people would bother posting something like that? What's the gain?

I don't understand it. Maybe someone here will know?

[hobbes]

I see from time to time, Craigslist ads that post for sale Thinkpads at ridiculous prices.

For example, there have been ads for T43s for $500, with only an email address.

Every time I email (most of the time within an hour of the ad), I get no responses whatsoever. I know other people with similar experiences.

I don't get why people would bother posting something like that? What's the gain?

I don't understand it. Maybe someone here will know?

I believe it is a variation of the eBay scammers. I would think they are offering great deals in the hopes of receiving payment for nonexistant laptops.

I was recently looking around to purchase my T42 and had responded to a local (NJ) Craigslist ad that seemed like a suspiciously good deal. When I inquired about it I received a reply from a guy in the Boston area who wanted me to pay via a third-party escrow service. I was immediately too suspicious to proceed and further poking around on the net showed me that the legitimate company he mentioned warned of such scams on their website.

I wouldn't buy anything from Craigslist that I couldn't pick up in person, since there is no feedback system such as on eBay to provide at least some reassurance a person is legit.

[Thinkpad_T43_Fan]

I see from time to time, Craigslist ads that post for sale Thinkpads at ridiculous prices.

For example, there have been ads for T43s for $500, with only an email address.

Every time I email (most of the time within an hour of the ad), I get no responses whatsoever. I know other people with similar experiences.

I don't get why people would bother posting something like that? What's the gain?

I don't understand it. Maybe someone here will know?

I believe it is a variation of the eBay scammers. I would think they are offering great deals in the hopes of receiving payment for nonexistant laptops.

I was recently looking around to purchase my T42 and had responded to a local (NJ) Craigslist ad that seemed like a suspiciously good deal. When I inquired about it I received a reply from a guy in the Boston area who wanted me to pay via a third-party escrow service. I was immediately too suspicious to proceed and further poking around on the net showed me that the legitimate company he mentioned warned of such scams on their website.

I wouldn't buy anything from Craigslist that I couldn't pick up in person, since there is no feedback system such as on eBay to provide at least some reassurance a person is legit.

That does sounds like a good reason.

Howeve, the ads I respond to get no responses whatsoever. I wonder if they scammed someone already, and didn't have time to reply to my inquiries.

FWIW I only buy merchandise on Craigslist in person, cash for physical merchandise.

[JHEM]

FWIW I only buy merchandise on Craigslist in person, cash for physical merchandise.

Take a friend with you and ONLY meet in a public place!

The local Philly Craigslist has had a rash of holdups where the "seller" is a bit less than honest and produces a gun rather than the item you had hoped to purchase, thereby relieving you of the known amount of cash you had brought with you.

James

[Thinkpad_T43_Fan]

FWIW I only buy merchandise on Craigslist in person, cash for physical merchandise.

Take a friend with you and ONLY meet in a public place!

The local Philly Craigslist has had a rash of holdups where the "seller" is a bit less than honest and produces a gun rather than the item you had hoped to purchase, thereby relieving you of the known amount of cash you had brought with you.

James

Good point.

I always insist we meet somewhere close to a shopping mall or police station. Don't want to be a victim.

[dsigma6]

I've met up once in selling on craiglist. The guy sent me a $200 paypal down payment, which I would never do. I guess he had faith in me. I've stated it before, but I trust no one and had a knife by my side; until I saw the guy with his girlfriend standing by their car.

The whole gun thing, that wouldn't have been pleasant, and I'd probably end up in the hospital.

[hobbes]

FWIW I only buy merchandise on Craigslist in person, cash for physical merchandise.

Take a friend with you and ONLY meet in a public place!

The local Philly Craigslist has had a rash of holdups where the "seller" is a bit less than honest and produces a gun rather than the item you had hoped to purchase, thereby relieving you of the known amount of cash you had brought with you.

James

I hadn't heard about that, so thanks for the heads-up. I live in Cherry Hill.

[rkawakami]

I don't think I'd ever use Craigslist for any personal, face-to-face, merchandise transactions. As hobbes indicated, there's no feedback system in place to help you gauge the person's honesty or reliability. That said, I've also been burned a couple of times on eBay by people with good f/b ratings. I've done several local pick-ups with eBay sales and we've met at their place of business (a real brick-and-mortar establishment), at a local shopping mall (very public) or their house (I knew exactly where they were since I had lived a few blocks away at one time). None of those transactions made me feel uncomfortable, mostly because of their excellent feedback comments.

The only experience I've had with Craigslist is when my employer needed to buy a used Sun Ultra 5 system and there happened to be a couple being offered by a local company. If it had been a private party I would have felt a little leary.

[pianowizard]

I don't think I'd ever use Craigslist for any personal, face-to-face, merchandise transactions.

I have sold dozens of items on Craigslist and excepting cases where the "buyers" didn't show up, all transactions have been smooth and pleasant. I have also bought on Craigslist twice, for a $10 128MB PC66 stick and a $165 19" LCD monitor, and both transactions went very well too. Because buyers don't need to pay shipping charges and can inspect the items before purchasing, and sellers don't need to pay fees and mail anything, I prefer Craigslist to eBay.

[tfflivemb2]

This is another reason that I love this forum so much. There have been only a few deals gone bad.

[tomh009]

Because buyers don't need to pay shipping charges and can inspect the items before purchasing, and sellers don't need to pay fees and mail anything, I prefer Craigslist to eBay.

There are indeed some advantages to Craigslist, especially for local transactions. But I personally find the Craigslist user experience frustrating. Very rough categorization, no feedback mechanism, searching only a single city at a time, no watchlists etc. But there is probably a time to use Craiglist, and a time to use eBay ...

[underclocker]

All very good suggestions. Be cautious. Below is a typical problem/experience with Craigslist. People treat it like a chat room or psychologist's office;

> Thanks for the voicemail and email - I'm interested, but don't know if I'm getting angry at the whole iPod institution. Poor battery life, etc, I might hold off for now.

Thanks, Marcie

This was from a person that stated in a prior email that she wanted to buy my new, in box, iPod, if I still had it. What a nut. Stop wasting my time and see a doctor!!!

(It sold the next day, which is the good thing about Craigslist.)

[JHEM]

I live in Cherry Hill.

Howdy neighbor!

I usually go for meeting places like Olga's, Ponzio's, etc. or the Melrose or Reading Market if a deal is worth travelling into Philly.

James

[JHEM]

The whole gun thing, that wouldn't have been pleasant, and I'd probably end up in the hospital.

I hope that's not true Dan and you'd have sense enough to give up the Benjamins!

Even a pissant .22 can mess you up pretty bad at close range.

Don't be a hero over bucks.

James

[ArtShapiro]

--> [quote]I was recently looking around to purchase my T42 and had responded to a local (NJ) Craigslist ad that seemed like a suspiciously good deal. When I inquired about it I received a reply from a guy in the Boston area who wanted me to pay via a third-party escrow service. [/quote]

I responded to that same ad here in a Southern California Craiglist ad, and got the same response. The language was curiously "stilted" - not as bad as the Nigerians, but enough to send me to Google, where I found reports of the precise same response for other items (an Apple laptop, a bicycle, etc.) I still don't understand exactly how he/she/it would go about actually ripping off a person, unless the escrow company - which seems to be an international transport firm - was in cahoots or itself hijacked.

That aside, I've had good luck with a modest number of Craigslist transactions. I've been burned twice on eBay, both times for laptops.

Art

[JHEM]

When you see offers like this on Craigslist, you really have to ask yourself if you believe in a free lunch.

Personally, if there isn't a local phone number or personal email addy in a local listing, I give it a pass regardless of how sweet a deal might appear.

James

[dsigma6]

Even a pissant .22 can mess you up pretty bad at close range.

So that's where Christopher got that quote from!
If it came down to getting shot, or handing over money, I'd most likely just hand it over. Of course if they're dumb enough to try some stuff like that, they may just be dumb enough to not know what's coming.

[JHEM]

Of course if they're dumb enough to try some stuff like that, they may just be dumb enough to not know what's coming.

Hopefully the test of smarts will be you not putting yourself in a position to test the other fellow's IQ!

If it comes to it, they can have my money, car, even my Thinkpad. When it get down to endangering me or my loved ones, all bets are off.

Like I said, meet at the Melrose Diner, Reading Market, etc., any place nice and public.

James

[christopher_wolf]

Even a pissant .22 can mess you up pretty bad at close range.

So that's where Christopher got that quote from!

What quote was that? Oh, yes...The "Reach out and Touch Someone"thread.

It's all fun and games until you see the deformed slug after it has done its damage. then think that it got physically mashed that way by the same force that pushed it through soft tissue and bone.

[dsigma6]

If it comes to it, they can have my money, car, even my Thinkpad.

They can have my car, money and girlfriend...but my ThinkPad?

The only time I met up, I did so at a Borders bookstore in Chestnut Hill. Not the best location, but it worked fine.

[hobbes]

When you see offers like this on Craigslist, you really have to ask yourself if you believe in a free lunch.

Personally, if there isn't a local phone number or personal email addy in a local listing, I give it a pass regardless of how sweet a deal might appear.

Yeah, I saw that listing the other day. A deal like that just screams scam. The scam would be much more effective if they made the price attractive, not ridiculous.