Tuesday, May 6, 2014

people of craigslist

Over the years, Matt and I have collected a number of small kitchen appliances that we never use. A few weeks ago, as Matt noticed the stack of unopened, still in their original packaging appliances taking up valuable real estate on the garage shelves, he suggested that we try selling them on Craigslist. I personally find selling things on Craigslist to be a huge pain, but since he was willing to head up the effort, I agreed. Less boxes and more cash is always a good thing, right?

In theory.

Unfortunately, selling things on Craigslist means you have to come into contact with people who are shopping on Craigslist. I'm sure that 98% of the folks shopping on Craigslist are completely normal, sane folks just looking for a deal. I mean, I shop on Craigslist. I'm not crazy. You shop on Craigslist. You're normal, too. But that 2%?? THEY ALL WANT MY APPLIANCES. (I promise that what we're selling is nothing weird. Totally normal, boring, unexciting things that you could easily purchase anywhere. Just...things we don't personally use or need to own.)

When I think of 'crazy Craigslist people,' my mind immediately jumps to serial killers or people looking to meet single girls in a dark alley to sell a lamp or something. And this particular Craigslist go-round hasn't disappointed in that regard.

Meet Reggie.

Reggie wants to buy my $15 appliance. Unlike the 5 annoying people before him, he doesn't even want to haggle over the price. But he really really wants us to meet up. He sent a series of emails throughout the weekend ('is it still available?' 'when can we meet up?' 'hello??') which I patiently tried to answer. With all of the appliances, I clearly stated in the ads that we live in ______ (small town outside of Athens) and work in downtown Athens. Therefore we could meet in either town (or somewhere in between) depending on the time of day. So this guy really really wants to buy the appliance in Athens. Great. Monday, buddy. Monday you can buy it. I'll be in Athens, where I work in a very busy public place and am comfortable walking outside or across the street and meeting a stranger.

At around 11:00 a.m., Reggie texts me. Can u meet me now? Sure, fine. I can walk outside. Where are ya, Reggie? He responds with a residential address. Ummmm....

I Google the address and find it to be a neighborhood in a less-than-savory part of town 10 minutes (drive) away. Sorry, Reggie-- I meant, I thought you were downtown and I could meet you IN PUBLIC in the middle of this workday. Shockingly, I'm not really interested in leaving work and driving to your HOUSE to meet you alone!! He wasn't happy to hear about this. He doesn't have a ride, you see, so I'll really need to make like a delivery girl and bring it on over. Thanks but no thanks. I can live without that $15.

After another long series of pleading texts up until 10pm last night, I finally agreed to meet him (Matt would be with me, obviously) at a gas station near Athens this morning on the way to work. We agreed on 7:45 a.m. Several times.

Guess who never showed up this morning??

YOU ARE DONE, MISTER. GOOD LUCK SURVIVING WITHOUT THAT APPLIANCE!!!! MWAHAHAHAHA.

So that fellow was a sorta stereotypically crazy Craigstlister. Robbi, however, was not.

Robbi was interested in this same appliance several weeks ago (so I guess you already know that this story does not end with a sale). After a few back and forth emails inquiring about the availability and feeling out some potential times, Robbi sends me this.


This was pretty funny to me because the reason no one (who doesn't live there) is familiar with our small town is because IT IS REALLY SMALL. There aren't any 'busy public places.' So I had a chuckle over this request (also, I just found it amusing that a man would be so concerned about meeting strangers from Craigslist, but NOT concerned enough to erase his EXTREMELY DETAILED email signature which informed me about EXACTLY where he worked, including street address and several phone numbers). But I'm all about meeting in a public place too, so really, this isn't an unreasonable request. I responded maturely, naming a relatively public (if tiny and gross) grocery store.


Did you see that?? Robbi was TOO SCARED TO MEET ME IN A PUBLIC PARKING LOT WITHOUT A CHAPERONE!!!! I really felt kind of honored. That's awesome. He could probably sense how much time I spend lifting weights at the gym or something.

So Reggie didn't work out because he was too sketchy. Robbi didn't work out because I was too sketchy.

Meet Ann.

Ann was interested in a different appliance. A much nicer, much more expensive appliance. An appliance I really didn't want to sell, despite the fact that I don't use it. We'd gotten lots of inquiries about this appliance, but everyone wanted to offer like HALF of what we were asking. Um, no. I'm not even entirely sure I want to sell it. I definitely don't want to sell it for a fraction of what it's worth.

Ann inquired about the availability. When I said it was still available, she said she'd bring cash and could meet me downtown, as I requested, that afternoon. She'd text when she got here.

She showed up at the time she said she would. She texted. We found each other. She gave me cash- the exact amount we'd asked for. She was friendly and nice and we even chatted for a few minutes. She was super excited and nearly giddy about buying the appliance. We parted ways.

Ann restored some of my hope in the human race. Normal Craigslist people do exist. They're just buried beneath all the crazy.

The moral of this story is that you should probably just keep letting your unused stuff collecting dust in the garage. Unless it's something Ann needs, in which case you should sell it to her. And also, you should think twice before meeting me in public. I'm super scary. 




31 comments:

  1. That's a great story! I always peruse Craigslist. I have yet to buy anything. But considering I live in a small town not remotely close to any big town, people around here seem to only have junk to sell. Thanks for getting my day off to a great start.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ha! This is not good news, as we're about to attempt to sell a bunch of crap. I've decided if it doesn't have a legitimate need in my life, it's not coming with us into the new house. And of course, I'd rather make $10 than not. Thank the Lord Sam likes to deal with that mess... I like money, but I've got zero patience for that crap.

    Remind me to bring a chaperone to our next lunch date, you scary creep!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I just started using a facebook tag sale site - Are you familiar with those?
    Anyway in the past week I have SOLD something and bought SOMETHING! After I sold our previously owned stroller I literally had a "selller's high" (not sure if that is a thing...but it should be). I came home and exclaimed to husband that I wanted to sell EVERYTHING!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I have never tried to sell anything on craigslist but we have a local type website that we have sold stuff on from time to time. Talk about people trying to scam!! haha They all act really interested then give this line about how "they are out of town so they will have someone meet us with double what we are asking for our trouble"..double?!? It had other crazy stuff to it but that was the short version. No thanks! Glad you were able to finally sell your items though :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow! I don't know that I've ever had that much action off of a Craigslist post! You should just host a garage sale on your blog--online shopping + reliable seller + kitchen appliances. I'm sold! And it's likely your blog readers aren't quite as shady as some of those recent Craigslist encounters. Although they sure did make for a very entertaining story!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Not to brag, but I am somewhat of a Craigslist Queen! I have a little side business going on selling pants on craigslist and the fb group for our town. I've made over 100 bucks selling my old pants that i haven't fit into for years (or if ever). Last weekend I sold a Piano. I'm still trying to sell my futon. I kind of rock at craigslist! :) so much that my friends make fun of me

    ReplyDelete
  7. We buy and sell a lot on Craigslist....and you perfectly captured the crazy.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I buy/sell on Kijiji and like Craiglist, attracts some pretty interesting people!

    ReplyDelete
  9. haha too funny! I love, love, love buying things second hand but I never sell things because I can't be bothered with all the back and fourth and I definitely don't want to give crazy people my address.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Haha this is great! Ohh Robbi - I wonder if he read your blog he would be less scared?! I actually had my first craiglist experience this past weekend! Peter had been looking for a wine rack and found one for a good price and kind of nearby - about 30 minutes away. He arranged with the couple to get it on Saturday, they gave them their HOME address and phone number. We got there and I could tell the lady just wanted us to get the rack and go. Peter tried to make small talk but she didn't really say much. He gave her the cash and we were done. I was thinking of all the people that could have come to her door, she got lucky with us: a young totally normal couple! But I guess she was like Robbi haha.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Ah, craigslist... it can really bring out the crazy in people. But I would much, much rather use it to sell "bigger" things than mess with garage sales, and I think you make more money that way, too... so bring on the crazies, I guess.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Craigslist isn't as common up here in Canada(we use Kijiji more), but I have had some absolute oddballs too! A lady wanted me to deliver my portable dishwasher for half price...45 minutes away. Say wha?

    ReplyDelete
  13. We just really started using Craigslist in the last year or so. . . and SO FAR so good. No crazies yet. I am actually supposed to meet up this week with a couple who bought our grandfather clock. They are willing to come to our house to get it. Brandon said no way. To which I said "WE HAVE HAD SUCH GREAT LUCK AND MET SO MANY NICE PEOPLE AND THIS WAY WE DONT HAVE TO HAUL A HUGE CLOCK 30 MIN AWAY TO SOME RANDOM PARKING LOT." He said no way. :) Sigh.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I used to shop craigslist often when my kids were little. I got lots of clothes for them that were practically new at garage sale prices. But, I always made my husband do the exchange. haha
    The crazy stories of Robbi and Reggie freak me out!

    ReplyDelete
  15. I put a few riding toys on Craigslist recently and didn't get one inquiry! We've had a few successful sales in the past. Like the boys in their late teens/early 20s that were all to excited about purchasing our ice cream maker. Their excitement made me wonder about other uses for an ice cream maker.....maybe I have Breaking Bad on the brain.

    ReplyDelete
  16. bahaha, oh CL! I have a love hate relationship with them. Recently I have been using the 'garage' sale group on FB and I like it SO much better!!! Highly suggest it - if you type in your city you should find a group on there

    ReplyDelete
  17. I'm suddenly glad I won't be visiting my brother in Athens this summer, since you're so sketch. I have also been selling things on Craigslist and Facebook garage sale sites and sometimes I seriously think, it would just be easier to not eat this week. I'm not quite that poor, but close. My favorite is when people contact you wanting what you have, are rude because how are they supposed to remember which listing you are, tell you a long sob story, ask for your bottom line, and then yell at you because they don't have that much money. Yay people.

    ReplyDelete
  18. I made $70 today selling stuff on FB garage sale pages. Scooore!!

    ReplyDelete
  19. I was just thinking earlier about putting some of our unused-but-still-retaining-some-value junk on CL.... maaaaybe not so much. The introvert in me just hates the whole talking to other people part. Ha!

    ReplyDelete
  20. There are some crazies in the world...guess you can never be too cautious on both parts. Happily you found one person who gets the whole be safe when selling on the internet idea! Yay for extra dinero!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Ugh, my husband insists that it's safe to give our HOME address to have CL buyers come buy our old cell phones. I told him he was crazy for being so trustworthy! (And this is coming from a girl who met her most favorite roommates on Craigslist, but still) He obviously never saw The Craigslist Killer on LMN! Which I happened to be living in Boston during that time, with my Craigslist roommates LoL.

    ReplyDelete
  22. This is so funny. I've never sold anything on CraigsList- probably because the whole CraigsList killer thing really freaked me out, especially because it all happened right in Boston!!

    ReplyDelete
  23. This was really funny. Not gonna lie, I've had nothing but really good experiences with craigslist so far... but I guess I'm one of the lucky ones, and that's not too typical. I even got a free armchair once! But admittedly, I'm mostly a buyer and not really a seller. Too complicated, as you've discovered.

    Sort of unrelated... have you ever seen this blog post? http://victoriaelizabethbarnes.com/huge-victorian-antique-mirror/

    I laugh so hard every time I read it. Probably my favorite craigslist recap of all time. If I ever need a chuckle, I just think to myself - SHAPED LIKE A KINGDOM!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. O.m.g. I just spent the last hour on that blog. I couldn't breathe I was laughing so hard!! Thank you for sharing that.

      Delete
    2. I also just spent way too much time on that blog. Hilarious!!! Thanks for sharing :)

      Delete
  24. I've been looking through some Facebook garage sale sites. I have thought about posting things on there, but I am lazy :) I have been lucky enough to not run into too many crazies when buying/selling on C-list

    ReplyDelete
  25. This is too funny! I abhor the thought of meeting strange people in person like that!!

    ReplyDelete
  26. OMG I love this soooooo much. I really LOLed.

    ReplyDelete
  27. I don't know... if Robbi is too worried to meet you on your own maybe the rest of us should worry too :) After all he seems like an excellent judge of character. Ha ha ha!!!

    In Canada we have Kijiji and I have had good luck with that.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Hahaha - this was hilarious & awesome. I'm glad it ended with a normal person buyer for you. :) I have only bought one thing on craigslist & it was just fine...shelves...at a lady's house in Central (area that i grew up & where i go to church)... she was a nice, normal mom type lady. All just fine.

    I HAVE tried to find jobs on Craigslist. BAD IDEA! ALL SCAMS!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  29. This cracked me up. We have bought & sold tens of thousands of dollars of stuff on Craig's List (vehicles, river rafts, etc)... but it's the little thing (like a rug) that you deal with the shit of society. What a mess!

    ReplyDelete

I love comments almost as much as I love Mexican food. Seriously.