Craigs List morons

[Marshall Harrison]

We had a guy locally that listed a Delta dust collector for $50. Claimed he just didn't have the room for it any more. I emailed him stating I would buy it but didn't get an answer. I tried again the next day and still no answer. I figured that he was just too lazy or sorry to take down the post for an item that was already sold. So.....

I emailed him every day after that asking if it was still available. After about 3 days of that he finally deleted the CL posting. Good for him as I was prepared to email him every day until he deleted it no matter how long it took. I was a programmer before I retired and I could have automated the whole emailing process so that I didn't have to do anything to send the emails but start up the process and let it run for as long as it took.

I hate it when people don't remove the ads for things that have sold.

[John C Cox]

Every single one of my complaints about CL stems from it being "free"...

And since it's free - there is no "Time waster charge" or "Idiot tax"... Aka - the fact that if you are an idiot or a time waster on Ebay or even local paid classifieds- you rack up tons of listing fees which result in no sale.... It COSTS you something to waste every body else's time on those sites....

And so it will remain what it is - a place full of time wasters and idiots eternally clogging up the works because it's free to do so....

[Carlos Alvarez]

A lot of what makes it great is also the fact that it's free. I've listed quite a few things as free or a very tiny cost, which then helped someone who needed it. If there were a cost, I'd have to just throw out the item. I gave a beginner woodworker some nearly-broken tools that I really didn't want to deal with, and he was able to fix them up and get a start in the hobby.

[Wade Lippman]

So the buyer has to pay for the labor?

jtk

More than that... about the last thing you would want to do is thin the bottom of a kayak.

[Carlos Alvarez]

More than that... about the last thing you would want to do is thin the bottom of a kayak.

Kind of like undoing the "custom" work people do to things.

Another fun one is the ads that have been up for six months with statements such as "I know what it's worth!!" No, apparently you don't, since you still haven't sold it.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

I actually like it when they are vague, because a lot of times that's where the deals are. I once had a friend who beat me to the punch on a "1957 Ford" for $800. Turns out it was a Thunderbird, and after an afternoon of fiddling with it, he had it running and driving. It was rough, but worth way more than $800. Similar thing happened with a "1963 Chevy" once- it was a Corvette. The lady said it had been sitting in her yard too long and she wanted it gone. Wow.

What I hate are the scammers. They show a picture of a car in a setting that cannot possibly be the place I live. My favorite is the guy renting an apartment in St. Thomas. The ad said rent included snow plowing the driveway in winter. If it ever snows here, there is another ice age.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

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Speak of the devil- here is one that just got listed. The car is in St. Thomas? I don't remember that snowy day in St. Thomas. :-)

[Jim Mackell]

Glad to see that Maine doesn't have a monopoly on morons! For those who mentioned the map and the use of ZIP codes, both features only work if the seller makes his location known.

[John Sincerbeaux]

Wow guys, A lot of angst here? If you hate all the “idiots and Morons” so bad why do you keep visiting CL?
There are a lot of diamonds in the rough on CL and some really great, honest people buying and selling there.
CL is just a tiny snapshot of the society we live in these days.

[Wade Lippman]

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Speak of the devil- here is one that just got listed. The car is in St. Thomas? I don't remember that snowy day in St. Thomas. :-)

They do that on purpose. It is cheap and easy to post the scam, but time consuming to deal with people who reply. They don't want to bother with people bright enough to figure out the scam, so they make it really stupid so only morons reply.

[Rick Potter]

No comment on the idiots, but I must say that I have gotten a few really good deals from ads that were from 'misinformed' people who didn't list correctly, or had no idea what they had inherited, they just wanted it gone.

I have actually paid people more that they listed an item for, and still gotten a great deal. The most recent one was the 24" Agazzani single phase band saw I bought for $550 or 600, including the $300 carbide tooth blade. It was in the background pic of an ad for 'tools', and not even mentioned in the text.


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[Bruce Wrenn]

Instead of removing ad, I prefer that they simply say "SOLD." By doing this, you get an idea of the going price for such. Currently I'm looking for a couple of IBC Totes, that MUST be "food grade." Prices range from $50 to $300 for same tote. Found a couple that are an hours drive away that had sugar water in them for pickle processing plant, so I know they are "food Grade." $60 each.

[Carlos Alvarez]

Instead of removing ad, I prefer that they simply say "SOLD." By doing this, you get an idea of the going price for such. Currently I'm looking for a couple of IBC Totes, that MUST be "food grade." Prices range from $50 to $300 for same tote. Found a couple that are an hours drive away that had sugar water in them for pickle processing plant, so I know they are "food Grade." $60 each.

The CL rules say otherwise, and for most of us, it's better that they simply be gone. There are already way too many ads in my local listings.

[Brian Elfert]

I saw a guy trying to sell a riding mower for $100 last week. The only thing was it has no deck, the engine has issues, and the transmission has issues too. A scrap guy might take it for free.

[Doug Garson]

Just because an item sold, doesn't mean it sold for the asking price.