(sigh) Craigslist buyers

[994]

So, yesterday a guy contacts me for my whole Canon setup and says he wants to buy it all. We message about a lot of stuff, setup a time, etc. Hours later, he wants to ask about price before we meet. He plays coy, but finally says he wants to offer $600 less than asking of $2100. I offer to split the difference, but he declines. I think now he's just an eBay guy (even though he said it was for his girlfriend).

At the same time, I had a guy ask to buy about 1/2 the kit at just a little reduction, so I decline the first guy and confirm a place/time for guy #2, who then no-shows today.

I think I'm going to call MPB or Keh. And I'm reminded why I stopped churning gear. It's a PITA. I'm going to rent from lens rentals, and pre-decide more in the future I think, before purchasing.

 

[frankmulder]

That's annoying. Here in the Netherlands we have a site called Marktplaats ("Marketplace"), which is now owned by eBay. It has a similarly bad reputation (people offering very little money for excellent gear, scammers asking you to ship to Nigeria, etc.), but I have personally had nothing but success with camera gear on that platform. Good prices, friendly people, gear in excellent condition, and cheaper than buying used from a camera store. Since having these experiences, I have never felt the need to buy new or used gear from a camera store (or to sell gear to them, for that matter). But I can imagine that you're done with Craiglist, after those bad experiences.

 

[gwydionjhr]

Have you tried FredMiranda? I love buyin' stuff from there.

 

[grcolts]

So, yesterday a guy contacts me for my whole Canon setup and says he wants to buy it all. We message about a lot of stuff, setup a time, etc. Hours later, he wants to ask about price before we meet. He plays coy, but finally says he wants to offer $600 less than asking of $2100. I offer to split the difference, but he declines. I think now he's just an eBay guy (even though he said it was for his girlfriend).

At the same time, I had a guy ask to buy about 1/2 the kit at just a little reduction, so I decline the first guy and confirm a place/time for guy #2, who then no-shows today.

I think I'm going to call MPB or Keh. And I'm reminded why I stopped churning gear. It's a PITA. I'm going to rent from lens rentals, and pre-decide more in the future I think, before purchasing.

I have not had good luck selling camera gear on Craig's List...like you said they either want to low ball you or say they are coming right over and never show. A waste of time for sure.

 

[994]

I used to do a lot online, but PayPal wants my social security number now, and I just don't trust putting my social and bank info into PayPal, who has to be a HUGE hacker target.

 

[hoodlum]

I usually only buy through the Kijiji site here in Canada (similar to Craigslist). I bought a used E-M1x, 17mm f1.2 and 12-100 this year through that site. You do need to be patient for some of these PRO items to show up in your area for a price that seems reasonable. I avoid ebay now as pricing after shipping/taxes is just way to high. Selling also requires some patience and I just ignore the low ballers. I have not had any no shows when selling.

 

[RichardC]

In the UK we have Gumtree - also hoovered up by ebay some time ago.

Gumtree buyers have a habit of either not turning up, or turning up and attempting to renegotiate the advertised price.

 

[stevedo]

I sold some motorcycle parts on ebay UK and clearly stated that they were collection only. The winning bidder was from Poland and he got pretty miffed when I told him I would not post the parts to him. He finally accepted that and instead arranged for a Polish friend of his living in the UK to collect. We arranged to meet at the local train station at 12:00 midday. At 12:20 I went home after he never turned up. The buyer told me the guy had arrived at the station at 12:50 because he missed his train and blamed me for going home. He had my mobile number but chose not to call me to say he would be late.

Having said that, all my other ebay transactions over the years, both as a seller and buyer, have been good.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

I’ve had good and bad tales with Craigslist and eBay. I think people are so used to jerking around regular retailers that they forget they are dealing with everyday human beings in these outlets. There have been times I took the loss and just sent it to B&H because I knew they’d be good for the money and it would be hassle free. I’ve had good success buying and selling here, too, just gotta be patient and let the GAS kick in.

 

[demiro]

@WT21 I think your PITA factor is greatly amplified because you won't do PayPal, which I'm sure you realize. I don't want to start a PayPal debate, but I'm curious what your concerns are with PayPal vs other places you "share" your data with. All sorts of major institutions have been hacked. I'm sure that will continue to happen.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

I used to do a lot online, but PayPal wants my social security number now, and I just don't trust putting my social and bank info into PayPal, who has to be a HUGE hacker target.

Honestly, I'd be more worried about many other institutions that hold my SSN over PayPal, who likely has top-notch security measures that are on par with banking institutions. Their whole existence is dependent on safe transactions. If that doesn't happen, they are going down in a hurry. I'd be more worried that the DMV gives up my SSN versus PayPal.

I guess they can't avoid collecting that info since they have to report income over 20k to the IRS. Probably to avoid money laundering or tax sheltering schemes.

 

[RichardC]

I've held PayPal accounts for 20 years.

I have no problems with sharing tax information with them (maybe someone will break into their systems and pay my taxes for me) - I have big problems with seller protection.

Ebay still insist on having Paypal (soon to be their own system) advertised as a payment method on collection only items. Paypal is for mail order transactions only and you have to prove delivery to the registered address. There have been tons of instances of buyers collecting the goods and reversing the paypal payment owing to non-delivery.

Furthermore, if someone checks out as a guest, those transactions aren't covered either (not a lot of people know that).

https://www.paypal.com/uk/webapps/mpp/ua/seller-protection

 

[exakta]

I once sold a musical instrument on CL. I was asking $1900, expecting to actually get $1700. I deliberately priced it hundreds below what other folks were asking on both CL and eBay. I got no bites for a few weeks, then someone contacted me offering $1200 and he wouldn't negotiate up, so I said no.

About two months later another contact, I get him on the phone, he's OK with the price after sending him detailed photos showing the cosmetic condition. He shows up, checks it out, wants it and then says the cosmetic condition is much worse than the photos showed. I replied that he had told me he was OK with the cosmetics and the asking price. He then offered me...

$1200

Persistent bugger!!!

 

[RichardC]

I once sold a musical instrument on CL. I was asking $1900, expecting to actually get $1700. I deliberately priced it hundreds below what other folks were asking on both CL and eBay. I got no bites for a few weeks, then someone contacted me offering $1200 and he wouldn't negotiate up, so I said no.

About two months later another contact, I get him on the phone, he's OK with the price after sending him detailed photos showing the cosmetic condition. He shows up, checks it out, wants it and then says the cosmetic condition is much worse than the photos showed. I replied that he had told me he was OK with the cosmetics and the asking price. He then offered me...

$1200

Persistent bugger!!!

My favourite was a Gumtree buyer.

I advertised a jet washer for £40.00.

He came to my house, tested it, and then offered me £10.00 because it was "for export to Africa".

I told him to export himself off my property, idiot.

 

[blumoon722]

I've had much better luck selling on Facebook Marketplace.
Craigslist used to be ok, but not lately.

 

[Sleepy Capybara]

Someone on CL offered me payment in $5 gift cards of Amazon, BB and Target. I would have actually taken multiples of $100 or more GC but no way I am taking home a huge stack of $5 cards. Who even buys those many cards?
Apart from that, CL has thrown every type of buyers at me : pregnant moms, single moms with 5 kids, Christmas moms, people showing up with less cash than agreed upon and convincing me to take it up, some just wanting to see how something works and then walking out.
It's a PITA really. CL and OfferUp both. Best place to sell expensive gear with minimal hassle is FM, this forum and to some extent Reddit. And when everything fails, MPB.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

One time I sold a mountain bike on CL, and when the guy came to check it out, he laid it over on his test ride! Nothing wrong with the bike, he just tried to take it down a slope in my front yard. Fortunately, he bought it anyway.

 

[bigboysdad]

My best one's still the guy on Gumtree who, in attempting to get my Oly 12 F2 said "look I'll do you a favour and take it off your hands for $25". At the time that would have been $12.50 USD

 

[RichardC]

My best one's still the guy on Gumtree who, in attempting to get my Oly 12 F2 said "look I'll do you a favour and take it off your hands for $25". At the time that would have been $12.50 USD

What a generous chap.

 

[snaimpally]

So, yesterday a guy contacts me for my whole Canon setup and says he wants to buy it all. We message about a lot of stuff, setup a time, etc. Hours later, he wants to ask about price before we meet. He plays coy, but finally says he wants to offer $600 less than asking of $2100. I offer to split the difference, but he declines. I think now he's just an eBay guy (even though he said it was for his girlfriend).

At the same time, I had a guy ask to buy about 1/2 the kit at just a little reduction, so I decline the first guy and confirm a place/time for guy #2, who then no-shows today.

I think I'm going to call MPB or Keh. And I'm reminded why I stopped churning gear. It's a PITA. I'm going to rent from lens rentals, and pre-decide more in the future I think, before purchasing.

Craigslist is pretty useless for selling. I had listed some non-photographic (audio) gear and some guy messaged me. After quite a bit of a back and forth, we arranged to meet up and he was a no show. I ended up selling it on ebay. Fred Miranda is a good site for photo gear because there are all sorts of photographers.

I have sold camera gear to MPB - prices are a bit low but to be expected since they are going to turnaround and re-sell it at a higher price but they send you a prepaid shipping label and its very hassle free so if you factor that in, its usually worth it. I got quotes from MPB, checked ebay prices, and then sold some stuff to MPB (where I thought the price was reasonable) and listed the rest on eBay (where I thought I could get a better price and did).

For musical gear, I have discovered Reverb.com, its a great site - people put search requests so they are notified when certain items are listed. I was listing stuff and getting it sold often within minutes of listing. The fee structure is much more reasonable than ebay. I tried some of the apps like LetGo but found them to be useless. We need a site like Reverb for photographers.