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This lathe in NJ will be gone fast

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Mike007

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Shiftless

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JuncleJohn said:
Sounds too good to be true.

John
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Mike007 said:
Only 1 way to find out.
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I doubt that it’s a scammer. They usually operate differently. Unless they ask for a deposit before you drive over to check it out. Their best offer might end up to be way over $1000

If I was going to go check it out, I’d make sure to have a stack of $50’s and hundreds tucked away in the glove compartment if not in my wallet so I could close the deal quickly.
 
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RoninB4

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-Just an FYI post. A 1940's vintage may still be somewhat useful but almost certainly does NOT have a hardened bed. After 80 years of use I would expect the bed to have significant wear and not deserving the "excellent" condition description in the ad.
 
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shoot summ

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RoninB4 said:
-Just an FYI post. A 1940's vintage may still be somewhat useful but almost certainly does NOT have a hardened bed. After 80 years of use I would expect the bed to have significant wear and not deserving the "excellent" condition description in the ad.
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You never know, I've seen some of these that were barely used, and others that were used daily.
 
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Mike007

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I had called about a small lathe within hours of it being listed for $300 a few years back. The seller said there were already multiple people ahead of me. Gotta be quick. Good luck. I hope it works out for someone here.
 
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Mike007

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No word on this? The ad is up. But I highly doubt it's available unless he's trying to get some unreasonable number despite the wording of the ad.
 
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ATC

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A friend of mine a few years ago picked up a mint early-90's 3/4-ton 454 Suburban for a great price. Seller said he had almost a hundred messages within a couple hours, and that he just randomly chose a message, and replied back to come get it.
 
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Shiftless

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ATC said:
A friend of mine a few years ago picked up a mint early-90's 3/4-ton 454 Suburban for a great price. Seller said he had almost a hundred messages within a couple hours, and that he just randomly chose a message, and replied back to come get it.
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Sounds like the seller left a lot of money on the table with that deal.
 
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stinkity stoink

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I think the lathe is about an hour and a half from me. I contacted the seller and he got back to me with quite a list of things He said he did to it. He did not give me a picture of it. He gave me a picture of one similar off of the internet .Said he was a retired machinist and had a garage full of machinery and tools. He told me to come look at it and offer anything over $100. Something just felt weird about it to me and I didn’t want to get involved.It could be an amazing deal or It could be something else. I figured I really don’t need a lathe like that all that bad so I am passing I think.
 
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Chuckster in NJ

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I contacted the seller on Saturday night and after a few emails asking for pictures and a "firm price" he emailed me yesterday and said the lathe was sold.
Definitely a sketchy seller who would not commit to a price and wanted me to show up with cash and make an offer.……… Craigslist is a creepy site.
 
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Mike007

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Chuckster in NJ said:
I contacted the seller on Saturday night and after a few emails asking for pictures and a "firm price" he emailed me yesterday and said the lathe was sold.
Definitely a sketchy seller who would not commit to a price and wanted me to show up with cash and make an offer.……… Craigslist is a creepy site.
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You know, I probably wouldn't blame a seller for coming off as creepy on CL. The idiot buyers out there will drive you crazy. At one point I realized I had to reel in my ****-attitude when dealing with buyers if I wanted to sell anything. People are flaky and it is what it is. He might still have it. But someone would likely need to show up cash in hand and understand he might not accept anything but a ridiculous offer. And I'm not saying you're flaky. A cheap SOB yes. Flaky no.
 
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Chuckster in NJ

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I am always respectful, prompt and on time when I show up to do a deal plus I am always with someone as a backup. I never keep large amounts of cash on my person when I go to a strange place.
This "lathe deal" seemed sketchy from the beginning and I always go with my animal instincts when it comes to meeting a stranger.
BTW! I am a cheap SOB and I will admit it unlike others who are "Ballers on a Budget" :lol_hitti
 
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Mark_17

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Well here's the story for anyone interested.

I exchanged emails with the seller on Sunday, gave him an offer for the lathe and offered to meetup Monday. Monday wasn't good, so I head over about 5:30 on Tuesday, fully prepared to pack up the lathe and take off. Straps, tools, and moving dolly. Honestly, pretty excited.

I pull up and there are 2 gentlemen in the garage. The seller and someone, who I assumed, was his friend or neighbor because he introduced us.

He shows me the lathe, it does what lathes do. Tells me he'd prefer to sell his whole shop. OK, not what I was expecting but I'm a GJ member so I bite. He tells me the guy that just left offered him $2500.... WTF? I thought we had a deal? But I play it cool and say I'll give you $1k now and come back the same time tomorrow with the other $2k. But I want the lathe now, I'm ready to take it.

The seller is 88. In declining physical health. He's winded, shakes my hand and says he'll call me tonight and let me know.

He never calls, I called him this morning, left a message. Called him again 15min ago and the other guy is coming with cash in about an hour. If that falls through, then its mine. I asked if he offered more, he told me he wouldn't say.

So I don't think anything is falling through for the current buyer. I really didn't appreciate the game this guy played. I was very certain we had a deal and there was no indication that he was playing the field. I didn't lose anything except an hour of my time and less than a gallon of fuel.
 
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Dh3256

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A couple of points:

1. It's best to post things in the correct thread. found-a-deal-on-craigslist-list-here. More people will see it and it won't annoy everyone.

2. Anyone who posts something on CL for $1 is gaming the system and is almost certainly a problematic seller.

3. Buyers are flakey anymore, lots of people will say they are "on the way with the cash for the agreed price" and never show up or try to renegotiate. The only thing that is practical for sellers is to take the best cash in hand from whoever shows up first.
 
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Mark_17

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Dh3256 said:
A couple of points:

1. It's best to post things in the correct thread. found-a-deal-on-craigslist-list-here. More people will see it and it won't annoy everyone.

2. Anyone who posts something on CL for $1 is gaming the system and is almost certainly a problematic seller.

3. Buyers are flakey anymore, lots of people will say they are "on the way with the cash for the agreed price" and never show up or try to renegotiate. The only thing that is practical for sellers is to take the best cash in hand from whoever shows up first.
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I agree with point 3. I've had people do the same to me but I'm always honest and let them know if I have other buyers lined up.

I called the seller at 5pm to let him know I was 30 min away and would be on time for 5:30 like we agreed. At that point the other buyer was already there but he never mentioned it. Had I known the other buyer was there, I wouldn't have wasted my time.
 
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Mark_17

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Mike007 said:
People just ****. Zero integrity these days. And I wouldn't appreciate the games either. "Best offer over $100" knowing he wants 25X that. Then he wonders why he gets so many tire kickers.
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He did not mention until we spent ~15 minutes going over the lathe, and everything included, that he would prefer to sell his whole shop.

His "shop" was cool. Lathe had plenty of tooling. He had a Grizzly mill with DRO. An old old snap on box with various mics and tools. The rest of it was very specialist machinist tools. Not something your "average" home shop would have. A surface plate, a mitutoyo optical comparator, a huge starrett machinist square....
 
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Chuckster in NJ

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JuncleJohn said:
Btw: I buy and sell on Craigslist quite a bit and have had mostly good results.
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I agree! ^
Two weeks ago I sold my 2008 Chebby SIlverado within 3 days of listing it on CL……. First guy really low balled me, Second guy seemed interested but wanted to see what else was out there and had to "consult" with his wife, Third guy (a kid) wanted to test drive the truck before he sold his car in order to buy my truck, Fourth guy came from Scranton, PA (2 hour drive) and took one look at it and purchased the truck without haggling and he was happy to get it after a two month search.
Whenever I deal with buying or selling on CL I always want to talk to the person so I can see what to expect without wasting my time.

BTW! It costs $5 to place a "vehicle for sale" ad on CL.……. I feel this is a great bargain compared to other "sources" because I am a cheap SOB! :LOL:
 
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Mike007

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I could be wrong. But I feel like Craigslist could be on the upswing. I doubt it will ever be what it was. But I've actually sold some things recently after a very long dry spell. There's some issues CL could clean up to make it better. For whatever reason, they don't.
 
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Old Man Roger

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Mike007 said:
I could be wrong. But I feel like Craigslist could be on the upswing. I doubt it will ever be what it was. But I've actually sold some things recently after a very long dry spell. There's some issues CL could clean up to make it better. For whatever reason, they don't.
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I think Craigslist is gaining from the decline of its competitors. Every result from things like OfferUp and market place are now curated by an algorithm rather than just showing you the most current listings.

I look at market place from my girls Facebook account and get 5 year old listings of things because I clicked on a similar product.

Wow that’s a cheap asking price for that Chevelle! Oh it’s from 2020.
 
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Mark_17

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I thought the saga ended with my call during lunch, I was wrong.

About 8pm I had a missed call from the seller, I called him back.

He wanted to let me know everything was gone. Hilarious, he just wanted to rub a little salt in the wound lmao
 
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Chuckster in NJ

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Mark_17 said:
I thought the saga ended with my call during lunch, I was wrong.

About 8pm I had a missed call from the seller, I called him back.

He wanted to let me know everything was gone. Hilarious, he just wanted to rub a little salt in the wound lmao
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At least he called you back instead of no call back that would leave you wondering if the lathe was still there…….. I don’t think he was "rubbing salt into the wound" by calling you back.
 
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