Is this a scam?

[rockyroad55]

Thank you, and I stand by it, too. Crook's List. Absolutely no doubt. You've been lucky. Every time I've tried to sell anything, I've had nothing but criminals answer using very broken english wanting to send fake postal money orders, etc, etc. It's one of the only places around where you can actually arrange to meet a perfect stranger because he claims to have something you want and now he knows you're bringing a big wad of cash with you. No thank you.

You must be doing something wrong. Always meet in a public location with lots of public eyes. I don't think I've ever had a transaction go bad before. No different than selling online, shipping it out to a total stranger, but now they know you're a high value reseller who has many MacBooks in your house for theft.

 

[wgnoyes]

You must be doing something wrong. Always meet in a public location with lots of public eyes. I don't think I've ever had a transaction go bad before. No different than selling online, shipping it out to a total stranger, but now they know you're a high value reseller who has many MacBooks in your house for theft.

I don't sell online, either.

No I understand all that. And take a friend with you and tell someone else where you're going and why and who you're meeting and when you'll be back. Seems like if there wasn't all this inherent risk of getting robbed or scammed, you wouldn't have to do all that, don't you agree. But none of mine ever got that far. I'd advertise something and here comes all the criminals wanting to send fake postal money orders and the like, and I write back and say cash only and never hear back.

Only time it ever worked out was my wife sold a set of 3rd row seats from her Tahoe to someone who'd lost his, and he came to the house with both of us there to meet him, and he also lived close in the same general neighborhood. But otherwise, nope, pass.

 

[Bauer24]

I don't sell online, either.

No I understand all that. And take a friend with you and tell someone else where you're going and why and who you're meeting and when you'll be back. Seems like if there wasn't all this inherent risk of getting robbed or scammed, you wouldn't have to do all that, don't you agree. But none of mine ever got that far. I'd advertise something and here comes all the criminals wanting to send fake postal money orders and the like, and I write back and say cash only and never hear back.

Only time it ever worked out was my wife sold a set of 3rd row seats from her Tahoe to someone who'd lost his, and he came to the house with both of us there to meet him, and he also lived close in the same general neighborhood. But otherwise, nope, pass.

It's too bad you don't know how to properly use Craig's. You're missing out on a lot of great deals. Ah well, your loss.

 

[glenthompson]

If receiving payments from PayPal and shipping an item, only ship to the PayPal confirmed address. If someone wants you to ship to some other address then it's about a 99.999% chance of a scam.

For the items I've bought and sold on Craigslist, all have been local. Last item was my old 17"MBP which I didn't want to ship. Got a decent price locally from someone that appreciated what they got. Also bought my new MBP on Craigslist. Also a local transaction. Pretty safe since the kid's stepfather was a local police officer.

 

[wgnoyes]

It's too bad you don't know how to properly use Craig's. You're missing out on a lot of great deals. Ah well, your loss.

You didn't answer the question. I'll ask it again:

Seems like if there wasn't all this inherent risk of getting robbed or scammed, you wouldn't have to do all that (meet in public place, bring a friend, tell some else where you're going, why, and when you'll be back, etc, etc), don't you agree?

As far as selling, when I offered a Chase-Durer watch for sale, all I got were people replying in broken english offering to send fake postal money orders that Craig's List SPECIFICALLY WARNS against. So how was I "not properly using" Craig's List then, huh? I advertise something, get nothing but criminals responding, and that's MY fault? I don't think so.

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...
For the items I've bought and sold on Craigslist, all have been local. Last item was my old 17"MBP which I didn't want to ship. Got a decent price locally from someone that appreciated what they got. Also bought my new MBP on Craigslist. Also a local transaction. Pretty safe since the kid's stepfather was a local police officer.

Yeah, well that was similar to the deal mentioned previously about the Tahoe 3rd row seats. We didn't have the seats in the car when someone ran into it and wrecked it, and the buyer was local (not just metro area, but same suburb) and he needed seats for the replacement Tahoe he bought because the garage he had HIS in burned down. He came alone to the house, we were both there to greet him, Cindy had interviewed him over the phone ahead of time, and we would have been able to repel any robbery attempt. (From his standpoint, I suppose HE was the trusting soul in that transaction!)

 

[Bauer24]

You didn't answer the question. I'll ask it again:

Seems like if there wasn't all this inherent risk of getting robbed or scammed, you wouldn't have to do all that (meet in public place, bring a friend, tell some else where you're going, why, and when you'll be back, etc, etc), don't you agree?

As far as selling, when I offered a Chase-Durer watch for sale, all I got were people replying in broken english offering to send fake postal money orders that Craig's List SPECIFICALLY WARNS against. So how was I "not properly using" Craig's List then, huh? I advertise something, get nothing but criminals responding, and that's MY fault? I don't think so.

In general, you don't really have to do any of that. Three simple rules: Cash, local meet, public place. That's it. You don't need to bring a friend, you don't need to tell the world where you'll be, etc. Yes, I will grant you that because you're meeting a stranger and you both are known to the other to have valuable items on you, it has the potential to go bad - but again, cash, local, public. If you are still robbed in the middle of a Starbucks, then there was nothing you could have done anyway (except not meet).

As far as you selling stuff, just ignore (as in don't even respond) everything that's not - wait for it - cash, local, public. Pretty easy.

 

[davidg4781]

Just curious, are you anywhere near where that person is located?

Where I'm living is about 1.5 hours from any Craigslist location option. I chose to drive there to sell my MacBook because of the dollar amount, and I did have it posted in that city. If it was a smaller item, I may have shipped, but probably wouldn't've even bothered with CL.

He may have picked your posting up from a neighboring city and just can't drive out there. If it's not in the same state, I wouldn't have any more communication with him.

 

[Bob Coxner]

In general, you don't really have to do any of that. Three simple rules: Cash, local meet, public place. That's it. You don't need to bring a friend, you don't need to tell the world where you'll be, etc. Yes, I will grant you that because you're meeting a stranger and you both are known to the other to have valuable items on you, it has the potential to go bad - but again, cash, local, public. If you are still robbed in the middle of a Starbucks, then there was nothing you could have done anyway (except not meet).

As far as you selling stuff, just ignore (as in don't even respond) everything that's not - wait for it - cash, local, public. Pretty easy.

That may not be enough to save you. This one is cash, local, public and he still ended up being robbed. http://www.mercurynews.com/top-stor...raigslist-exchange-unfolds-into-armed-robbery

 

[Mal]

That may not be enough to save you. This one is cash, local, public and he still ended up being robbed. http://www.mercurynews.com/top-stor...raigslist-exchange-unfolds-into-armed-robbery

That's why when I sold my computer I asked my brother (local SWAT team member and police officer) to come with me. Not in uniform or anything, but he would be more than capable of protecting me. I know most don't have that option, so pick somewhere where security or police are likely to be nearby, like a bank or a shopping mall. Can't ever eliminate risks, but you can mitigate them.

jW

 

[joepunk]

That may not be enough to save you. This one is cash, local, public and he still ended up being robbed. http://www.mercurynews.com/top-stor...raigslist-exchange-unfolds-into-armed-robbery

That's why when I sold my computer I asked my brother (local SWAT team member and police officer) to come with me. Not in uniform or anything, but he would be more than capable of protecting me. I know most don't have that option, so pick somewhere where security or police are likely to be nearby, like a bank or a shopping mall. Can't ever eliminate risks, but you can mitigate them.

jW

And don't meet at night like that guy in the news article did.

 

[davidg4781]

That's why when I sold my computer I asked my brother (local SWAT team member and police officer) to come with me. Not in uniform or anything, but he would be more than capable of protecting me. I know most don't have that option, so pick somewhere where security or police are likely to be nearby, like a bank or a shopping mall. Can't ever eliminate risks, but you can mitigate them.

jW

When I sold my MacBook we met at a Starbucks at about 2pm. I got there 20 minutes early and she was already waiting in the parking lot. I went in and saw 2 uniformed police officers, so that really helped to calm me down. That was the largest thing I've ever sold on Craigslist.