I have had several great moms on here giving me pointers as to what to look for while selling on craigslist. This made me more aware, and I have noticed little details of what would be RED FLAGS!
I'm selling my piano, and I get this email from this person who asked if it were still available. I responded and said yes, and if they would like to schedule a time to come and look at it. They responded saying that they were a marine engineer and didn't have time to come and look at it, but is willing to send over the money through paypal and they will have their pick up 'agent' come and get the piano.
I noticed these things that put up a red flag for me:
1. They did not say whether or not they were local
2. They didn't tell me their name
3. They are too busy to come and look at it
4. They will send a "pick up agent"
4. I noticed when they asked about the piano, the email was different from when they responded to me telling them it was still available. Two different emails in the same conversation. That was a bit fishy to me.
What have you discovered/learned from selling on Craigslist?
I emailed that person and told them I will not do business with them. Only persons in my local area....and I also told them what I found fishy about their email. I'm no dummy now when it comes to craigslist. I'm on to them! LOL
OK, my question was "What have you learned and or discovered" from selling on craigslist??? What RED FLAGS have you noticed?
Melissa J: Very good! I noticed some like that too. :-)
Grammarocks: OMG...yeah it's getting to a point to where you can't trust anyone anymore.
I get those types of emails every time we sell a higher end item, like a car. They want to send a money order or something. I have a hard rule, no matter the price of the item, it is cash only.
My basic rule is...
cash only, local only.
I tried selling a piano, also, got an email from someone that was wanting to give a piano to their church for their anniversary, and that the shipper would pick it up....
One of the most common scams on Craigslist!
The funny thing was.. I got several e-mails with the exact same wording from different e-mail addresses!
My "rules" when I list:
* Cash only
* buyer must look at and/or pick up from a neutral location (like shopping center)
* buyer must be present to purchase (don't send a family member or friend as it might not be what you want when you see it)
* Once you buy it, it's yours. I do not accept returns if you get it home and don't like it/doesn't fit, etc... I am not a store.
I don't want people knowing my phone # or address, so I only give my # out after initial contact with what seems like a legitimate, interested party.
Good luck!
I had someone ask if I could send it in a package and she would pay by paypal or cashiers check. I don't get how she would pay by paypal when it isn't an ebay listing unless there is a way.
I've noticed some people post their phone numbers in their listings, i don't. I wait until an interested party contacts me then email them my phone number, and sometimes we work out the details through emails so they never need to have it. Oh, and never accept PayPal as payment, the buyer can say they never received the item, you'd have no written proof to submit and be out the money. Your best bet is to deal only in cash, for large items as well.
The scam they tried to pull on you is the same one that was plaguing me last year through my Avon business. I would get emails of huge orders from someone on the East Coast (I'm in CA) who obviously couldn't meet me in person, and they would "send a money order for the full amount" etc. I knew they were bogus from the get-go and blocked them, and gave my district manager the heads up. She told me of an established rep who'd fallen for it, she thought a deal was a deal and that it was too good to pass up :-/
Do stay vigilant, there will always be new scams.
I learned that you need to post in the message to "In the subject line put XYZ so I know you are real" You can put what every you want in the subject line, but I have cut down majorly on the automatic emails and scammers who don't bother to read the entire message.
and of course cash. I do on expensive items take picture so in case that person wants to take me to court or what ever for not what I advertised or the condition. I know they can't really do that, but I'd better be safe than sorry.
i wont deal with Craigslist anymore.....i use bookoo.com
Next time do not respond at all and report them.
This type of thing happens all of the time. I just report them and delete them.
not as a seller but as a buyer I had a bad experience. I bought some toys online, all battery operated. She assured me they were all working fine, just needed new batteries. I get home and only 1 of the 3 toys worked. I was miffed to say the least. For the money I spent to have only one working toy, I could have gotten it new from the store. She refused to take the toys back or give a refund.
Lesson learned.
I ignore emails that are mostly misspelled words. like "i wnt dis" I figure they are phishing for my email address.
When selling items on Craigslist I will only accept cash. NO personal checks! If you're selling something big (like a piano) you could request a money order. I completely ignore messages that looks "sketchy".
