There is no way in you know what, that I am going to defend what this woman did to me. She did not have dementia (my Mom had Alzheimers so I know it all too well). Even if she may have "forgotten" I gave her money, when I said it was for the sectional in her formal living room, all it would take is a glance to realize something wasn't right. And again, I know fabrics so I would not be fooled by something old and rotted. I am not a cheap CL shopper. I always offer a lower price, just like at the Antique shows (read Brimfield - love it) because that is what is expected. I do not, would not, ever low ball an item so as it is insulting. There is nothing in this world that I need that badly that would cause me to do that. That's what us" do onto others" do. Getting a 12 X 12 sectional reupholstered would be cost prohibitive in my area. I wound up buying a new one. lower range, from one of a New England chain (Bobs if you are from here - they have 50 stores so fairly well known). I know their stuff is not top notch, but we never ever use it. Honestly don't know why I even bought one. If I bit off my nose a bit, honestly it was well worth it. Looking at that thing everyday would make me cringe, that someone could lie so much, the loss of money meant less to me. I hate that I fell for her "need to downsize" crap. Re returns on CL - I don't care what it is, if you have been purposively deceived, you have a right to expect that person to accept it back. And if they won't you have every right in the world to be PO'd. I have purchased other items and never had this problem. Actually the new sectional is turning out to be great. Now we all have someplace to put our luggage on!!!

:-) I would not have driven that far normally except that I really have been wanting a vintage desk for my DD's room and the neighborhood was in a nice area near the city that I am somewhat familiar with, so I felt comfortable making the drive. The seller not ponying up extra pictures should have been a tip, yes. But I felt rushed because she was moving out and it was a now or never kind of thing. Usually in those circumstances I go "safe" and just let the item go but in this case I went for it. I must say that I'm a little taken aback by the notion (I'm not saying they were directed toward me) that seemingly "well-off" people shouldn't use craigslist or the thrift store. I could probably come across as being at least a little well-off. I drive a new SUV (only the second new vehicle in my life) and carry an expensive handbag. I like to wear nice clothes. But my SUV is very "basic" inside, not many extras. I have only one handbag to my name, I take care of it, and it is several years old. At home we manually chop firewood and heat our house with an outdoor wood furnace. I wash out my plastic ziploc bags and reuse them rather than grab a new one, I brown-bag every single day, and so on. I do like to be frugal in some ways  not buying new furniture is one of those ways. I don't have the money to buy all the new furniture pieces I want for the house, so used is my option. I certainly don't "over-haggle" and most craigslist prices I've seen I thought were fair and paid them without question. I would not falsely denigrate an item if I really thought it was great. I agree that would be annoying. If I want to barter down, I would say  I really like this, but I am only willing to pay X for it  if you still have it and want sell it later for that price, feel free to re-contact me. I have to agree that it is not so much the price that the original seller paid, but rather the fact of what the buyers are willing to pay that drives things. If anyone is still reading, all my dealings with craigslist thus far have been very good  I make sure I have email and phone communications with the seller ahead of time, and they must come across as very "normal". And the neighborhood has to be safe / low-crime or I wouldn't go. I always let my DH know exactly where I am going, and take someone with me. The items I've sold, I've always met the buyer in a busy shopping center parking lot.

That is nice! ;) Our local animal shelter could use their help. I was interested in another puppy at the AS. The photo was blurry, and the puppy was being held and half covered by an employee. I called the shelter to tell them that I was interested in the puppy "June" and asked if they could send me another photo. There was some discussion about the puppy in the background, and then the person that I was speaking to came back on and said that the puppy could not be photographed again. I told them that I would come see the pup in person the next day. The next thing I knew, the puppy was taken off the website. Odd. TheFoxesPad - Any news on your CL listing? Sorry to get this posting off track again.

How did I miss this yesterday?? Very cool, it looks like an abacus! Are you going to polish it, or leave it as is? This is absolutely something a sea captain might have in his house! The Only thing I ever bought from CL is a mahogany sideboard that is vintage, but not quite antique. Last year I got tired of my server taking up so much room in the DL when the top is folded out for serving. My mother had had it custom made by Baker in the sixties !for her DR, which was much bigger than mine. I found this on CL (and moved the server into my bedroom, and even mother approves). The sideboard is a very fine piece of furniture and I love it, but the circumstances that led to my acquiring it were sad. A couple divorced and she left the man and his 13 year old son in the house, which had fallen into disrepair because he was out of work, they were selling their furniture out of necessity, and I felt terrible. Handy guy pointed out that this would help them as they obviously needed money more than furniture. He started out at $900 and let me have it for $650, I think. I have since determined he could have gotten close to $1200 at a place like Stenella and sometimes wish I had paid more fairly for it. We have enjoyed it but I don't think I want to buy anything like that again :-(