Tools on Craigslist rant...

[skipskip]

For sale 16ft. car trailer ,with ramps works great for small cars

.Has home made title .

Wonder if he will take a home made check?


Skip

 

[Mickey O]

Oddly, no camera and broken camera are often legitimate.

Can't get get the photos to upload is true most the time.

About once a week, sometimes more, I get calls to fix digital cameras, or to help people with their picture uploads.

I have roughly fifty clients left over from the computer business I sold years ago.
So that means perhaps 200-400 people who might call me on that kind of ****.

And frankly, I never personally take any pictures.

My wife is an amateur photographer, and I NEVER touch her cameras.

She doesn't mess with my truck, I don't mess with her Nikons.

Sometimes it might be legitimate, but not that many and not when I find other ads by the same person, put up around the same time, with a picture. They just don't want you to see how crappy what they're selling is. I've went out to look at tool boxes that were 'fully functioning' and in 'great shape' only to find dented up, rusted out sh*t boxes left in a garage with a leaky roof for 20 years. What I don't understand is do they really expect some to buy their junk at ridiculous prices?

Not to long ago I had a guy jerking me around on some tools that were a good deal, he kept canceling agreed upon meetings and then he re-lists the stuff at a higher price. After the stuff not selling and the seller desperate for money he comes back to me with the lower price, even though I thought it was a good deal I told him get ______ (a word that rhymes with ducked).

 

[radmotorworks]

Be warned...online classifieds and ebay etc. are a good option for older higher quality stuff (before rebadging became mainstream) than currently on the market or shop-grade at a cut in price but, in my experience, its a winding road. Occasional super-Dave type deals and fun like-minded people that you run into here and there but keep in mind, most people have an agenda for selling something on CL etc. which can often end up as unloading a hidden defect of some sort. Not to say you can't find a deal here and there, especially if you have a knack for fixin'-it but budget for failure because you are buying risk which may not pan out (eg. If this is junk, can I sell parts etc.). Oh, and don't forget, time is money: As in time online to find, time to arrange, time to drive because statistically a good deal at any given time is not often close, time to demo, time to fix or time to list and resell if junk. Selling, on the other hand, is like volunteering for the red cross...it gives you a good dose of humanity. But hey, thank God for dumb people you toss you a good deal...hence the dumb CL ads.

 

[Zrexxer]

Then this genius has 1 "OTT" and 2 "OTT" welding cable for sale

 

[mrjsl]

Some, heck, many, people do not write well.
Hell, many don't READ well.

Possibly twenty percent of the populous can't string three sentences together to save their lives.

I bet it's more than 20%. I have ended up doing a lot of writing at every job I've ever had, just because I'm capable.

 

[Chris Adams]

Sometimes it might be legitimate, but not that many and not when I find other ads by the same person, put up around the same time, with a picture. They just don't want you to see how crappy what they're selling is. I've went out to look at tool boxes that were 'fully functioning' and in 'great shape' only to find dented up, rusted out sh*t boxes left in a garage with a leaky roof for 20 years. What I don't understand is do they really expect some to buy their junk at ridiculous prices?

Not to long ago I had a guy jerking me around on some tools that were a good deal, he kept canceling agreed upon meetings and then he re-lists the stuff at a higher price. After the stuff not selling and the seller desperate for money he comes back to me with the lower price, even though I thought it was a good deal I told him get ______ (a word that rhymes with ducked).

Yeah, you defiantly ran into some guys who shouldn't be selling on CL, or at a garage sale

While you are right about the examples you gave, it is still very true that LOTS of people trying to sell on CL (and E-bay) just plain can't do it well.
Can't operate the camera, can't figure the uploads, can't find the pictures on their computer (those are this week only calls I have taken) but yes it is true that some will really work to scam you.

I wasted 200 miles driving to see an MB1700 box that had a 'minor ding'.
My ***. The top corner was CRUSHED.
His photos were very artistically taken.

It must have worked though. He sold it the next day.

 

[Chris Adams]

I bet it's more than 20%. I have ended up doing a lot of writing at every job I've ever had, just because I'm capable.

Um, as you know, I was being polite.

Really, around here, less than 50% of the people can read/speak English. I mean, anything more complicated than a stop sign.

So I was suggesting that 20% of the 45% or so who can read English couldn't string them together...

And that leads to another problem with many of the adds.
A LARGE percentage of the people selling on CL are, shall be be nice and say 'Undocumented visitors'?


Not immigrants as the folks around here don't think of themselves as immigrants.

They think of themselves as citizens of Mexico, not the US.
They think of the Southern part of the US as stolen from them, mostly due to years of propaganda in their schools and a near complete lack of knowledge of history.

So they don't speak, read, the language and don't wish to learn it.
This leads to some mighty interesting adds in the LA basin.

 

[chrislehr]

I hate people that won't put email and make you call. I realize that's more old fashioned, but if you want to receive calls - use the paper instead of the Internet.

 

[mkdive]

I buy lots of tools & other stuff on CL, I sell & trade a ton of stuff also
I have never sold or traded one of my tools though, (I only buy tools)!

One thing I make sure about, any I ads I post..... I take very good pictures of what I have, I give in depth details and descriptions, sometime I provide links to manufacture's websites. I never post a picture that I didn't take. Sometimes I have to edit the description a couple times because CL limits how long a description can be. I think too much info and some good quality pictures helps me and the buyer.

I usually leave the anonymous email address through CL. When I respond to an offer, and we agree on everything phone numbers are exchanged and meet spot is arranged.

So far I have had 99% great experiences. I have ran across some really good deals. And traded for some really cool stuff. On the other hand, I have absolute bad luck when it comes to the free section in CL. I have responded within 2-5 minutes on lots of items, I never am the first to respond on those. So I don't even look at that section anymore.

 

[turkdc]

When I list something to sell, I typically DON'T use the picture uploader on the site. Rather, I upload my pictures to photobucket and copy and paste the html code into the body of the ad text. This way I am able to showcase the awesomeness of the item I am selling!

Having said that, I typically list decent stuff and fully disclose any defects that I know of; golden rule and all.

-turk

 

[mkdive]

got to love this detailed description and contact info!

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sgv/tls/1487876452.html

 

[nissan_crawler]

For sale 16ft. car trailer ,with ramps works great for small cars

.Has home made title .

Wonder if he will take a home made check?


Skip

You do realize that means the trailer is titled as a home built, not that he scribbled out a title with a crayon, right?

My dad has a home made title for his trailer, yes, that's exactly what it is called, make even says home-made.

 

[Mickey O]

got to love this detailed description and contact info!

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sgv/tls/1487876452.html

Obviously the guy is some sort of professional technical writer, probably works for one of the big tool companies on their marketing and product manuals.

 

[Zrexxer]

When I list something to sell, I typically DON'T use the picture uploader on the site. Rather, I upload my pictures to photobucket and copy and paste the html code into the body of the ad text. This way I am able to showcase the awesomeness of the item I am selling!

Me too. Pictures sell. You're pretty much wasting your time even listing anything without a picture at all, but you're right - the little CL thumbnails aren't much better. I always use sharp, large pictures from Photobucket and I think it makes a real difference in selling things.

I sold a CMan cabinet last spring and the guy told me when he picked it up "When I saw your pictures I knew this is the one I wanted because I could see it looked just like new!"

 

[Mickey O]

Me too. Pictures sell. You're pretty much wasting your time even listing anything without a picture at all, but you're right - the little CL thumbnails aren't much better. I always use sharp, large pictures from Photobucket and I think it makes a real difference in selling things.

I sold a CMan cabinet last spring and the guy told me when he picked it up "When I saw your pictures I knew this is the one I wanted because I could see it looked just like new!"

Yep, I see the same old ads without pictures every week, either it's piece of junk or a scam. I hate when people use "stock" photos, saying there item looks just like the one in the picture except they forget to mention old, rusty, broken and abused.

 

[Scotto]

I hate people that won't put email and make you call. I realize that's more old fashioned, but if you want to receive calls - use the paper instead of the Internet.

Eh, using e-mail can be a huge waste of time though because there's so many flakes out there that waste your time. You usually don't get that as much on the phone.

 

[1stwarrior95]

My favorites are the ones selling tires or wheels with no sizes or bolt patterns listed... LOL
I agree on the ones that says no email also. I'm usually away from home when I'm on CL and email is free, my cell is on roam most of the time...

On a brighter note I scored this off CL last night!

KRA-21F

 

[Mickey O]

My favorites are the ones selling tires or wheels with no sizes or bolt patterns listed... LOL
I agree on the ones that says no email also. I'm usually away from home when I'm on CL and email is free, my cell is on roam most of the time...

On a brighter note I scored this off CL last night!

KRA-21F

Wisconsin? I just saw an ad for the same toolbox.

 

[1stwarrior95]

Wisconsin? I just saw an ad for the same toolbox.

Nah, St. Louis, MO.

Needs a little work but it'll be a good "go" box for the truck. I think it's supposed to have a removable tray for the top too. Didn't get that...

 

[nissan_crawler]

I hate people that won't put email and make you call. I realize that's more old fashioned, but if you want to receive calls - use the paper instead of the Internet.

I'm the opposite. I put email, but not a phone number anymore. Too many f'ing morons that can't comprehend "DO NOT SEND TEXT MESSAGES", and do it anyway. Then you end up repeatedly having to send "please call me, I pay for texts" as billy bob plays 21 f'ing questions on text messages. Then I get to pay $.25/text to tell said dipshit to call me 10 times, and .$.25/text for the 10 texts said dipshit sent me. I told the last guy to f'off, and to consider nothing I post as available for sale to him.

One guy cost me $7 in texts for something I was trying to sell for $10 that he supposedly needed badly for a restoration. I got so mad I torched it into pieces and sent him a picture telling him I wanted $20 now. I never heard back from him...

 

[Joelfke]

As much as I would love to bash those who don't include pictures. I replied to an ad similar to
"snapon tools sockets wrenches impacts toolboxes - make offer"

and after all was said and done i got a set of 3/8 drive impact swivels 8mm to 22mm ALL snapon for 100 bucks. He wouldnt accept my offers on other items

 

[chopper1]

I checked out a Craigslist ad this morning for lot's of mechanics tools for $300 or best offer. What a waste of time.
What he had were 3 frozen ratchets, 1/2" Armstrong and two 1/2" Cman. Two working 1/4" off shore and two 3/8" Cman and one old 1/2" Cman ratchets, about 10 Cman wrenches and about 20 off shore brands and a **** load of sockets and extensions that were mostly China and Taiwan. Some people think that if they have tools for sale they're worth a small fortune.