My 18 year old JD170 finally 'died'. Or so I told myself and my wife. :-) Actually, one of the spindles broke and everyone knows that a broken spindle can't be fixed. Right? So what's a guy to do (sob). What any guy would do -- I went and bought a brand new X300 which will be delivered in 2 days. I only cut a mostly flat 1/2 acre so the X300 is overkill but who cares! I do want to buy the snow blower attachment and figured the X300 will be excellent for that purpose. I really can't wait. By the way Jaws, the spec sheet says the X300 has the K46 transmission, not the T46. I didn't read this post until last night, so I didn't get down to look at the sticker. All the posts though just confirmed that I bought one great machine. I might bypass the RIO switch though as I didn't buy the 4WS and do back up quite a bit. My 170 still has a perfectly running Kawasaki 14HP engine and tranny. What a workhorse! I gave pause to look at the HuskVys and Cub Cadets, but my 170 made me a JD loyalist. It really gave me outstanding service and I wasn't one to take care of it much. Lacking a shed and garage space, I often left it out all year, including severe upstate NY winters. It always started right up in the spring. But rust (wonder how that happened), deteriorating bags (hmmmm), and faded paint (go figure) convinced me that it was time. Actually, the fact that my 10yo son will want to be cutting the lawn in a couple years had something to do with it. Figured I want a some time where it's just MY machine. Don't worry guys -- I promise to take care of my new machine. I'm 53, and want this machine to last me 20 years or more -- or until I get the itch for a new model, whichever comes first. JD did give me $250 for a trade-in on the 170. I might had got more for it if I wanted to fix the spindle, clean it up and put up for sale -- but that would take time away from my X300. I'll let you guys know how I like it. Who am I kidding... I'm going to Love it!

Ah Red, sellers make the rules, don't you know that? Here are some things you may want to consider from someone who has been buying and selling heavily on CL for several years... 1. I have a hearing loss, hence it's much more productive to do business by email. An ad that says phone is the only contact method, I usually skip over unless it is absolutely, without a doubt, THE perfect _________. And then I usually have to get DH to call, and that is not a good thing on so many levels. 2. What if I posted the ad at 2am? Would I want or expect someone to call me at that hour because they "want it NOW!" That would be "NO!" Works the other way for me too; I wouldn't call someone at that hour, knowing full well they had just placed the ad and probably are available. It's not appropriate. Email I can do at my leisure either way. Everybody's hours are different. 3. I, and most I would guess, ENJOY the photo for the phone number/20 questions trade-off. Big time and gas saver! I skip over ads with no photos, too. 4. There are too many weirdos out there... you're in the minority here and you're definitely in the minority on CL. The Thrifty Nickle scenario, I'm against also. I would never have my phone number printed in the newspaper, then or now, cheap classified rag or major news outlet. A lot of people who do list their phone numbers on CL try to disguise them by typing some of the numbers out or other equally clever things, which, to my understanding, do nothing to protect them. If I had a sleigh bed for sale it probably wouldn't get sold to you because you want to play by Red's rules. I'm the seller, I make the rules. You don't like my rules, I'll sell it to the next sleigh bed lover who will. There are far too many out there. Just this last Friday someone emailed me 2 hours after I had updated and edited my ad with sizes and prices of boards I had left for sale (I'd had at least one of each size available when I placed the ad). This person emails the question, and I quote "What sizes do you have left? Prices?" Why would I want to field that over the phone? It's right there in the ad, fool! I'm not making that much on these things anyway, if I've got to spend time with you on the phone, profit just goes downhill from there. Via email, I can just ignore it or remail them at my leisure to look at the updated ad in the same amount of time it would take me just to dial a telephone number.

It sounds like you have a delighted buyer and a good transaction. I'm glad this worked out so well for you. I agree with every word Les just said. Don't even start to second guess your price or the speed with which you sold. I would have suggested a lower price just because I know how cheap people can be with used upholstered furniture, and was surprised that you were able to sell at your asking price. It just goes to show that when you have a wonderful item priced attractively, it can all happen really fast. And selling used is not about what an item is worth. Your chair is probably worth nearly as much as you paid for it, since it appears to be in beautiful condition. But it is about what people will agree to pay. I had some heavy red and gold chenille drapes Craigslisted a few weeks ago, just before Christmas. I made them and the fabric cost me about $100, even at a super super discount. I priced them at $40 for the drapes including the heavy metal rod. (A Hancock's steal for $16 for a $89.00 rod 5 years ago.) Well, I couldn't beat off the potential buyers with a stick. I was flooded with emails and phone calls. I could have sold those drapes several times over and I am still getting the occasional email asking if they are available. But what's funny is this: I had listed the same drapes at the same price a month earlier/same day of the week. Got a couple of inquiries but no real interest. I was already giving them away at that price, but wondered if I was asking too much. So, obviously, the timing of my later ad was the trigger for the sale. Do not underestimate the value of good timing. People are thinking about Spring redos right now, and that chair set is perfect. And once your PayPal money hits your bank, you should be good. The lady who bought my drapes wanted to make me a PayPal payment immediately, since she live in the mountains and couldn't get down that day. I didn't take it, but not because I didn't trust her to pay. It had more to do with wanting her to see them and make sure she was happy. I like PayPal. Red Here is a link that might be useful: Here's a photo of my drapes as they appeared in my ad...Scroll on left all the way to the bottom

nosoccermom, Did you ever find the elusive farm table? I got one from CL in New Hampshire a few weeks ago, after on and off searching for years. I don't know what made me go to the NH Craigslist, but am I glad I did. I'm in Maine. This was the picture I saw in the ad - Hand scraped pine, 3' x 6'. I asked for and got better pictures and for $200, it's now in my dining room - I want to refinish the top to get a less pumpkin pine look. It even has a drawer! The drawer pull was an old brass cup pull that I didn't care for. I took that off, and stained one of the chunky English style knobs I have for projects, after beating it up a bit and put that on. Much better! I purposely stained it a bit darker than the table, but there isn't as much contrast IRL than the pic shows. It has beautiful legs, and this is very embarrassing, but it's what my DR looks like now. After my kitchen refresh, everything was piled in there. The table got put there when we got home. Look back up at the 6 chairs around the table in the first pic. She said if I wanted those, they'd be $100 for all. A friend in NH loves pink and she wanted the Parsons chairs, and I guess I'm keeping the rush seat ladderback arm chairs. That works out to $16.67 per chair! The piece de resistance is the last pic below. This wasn't shown in the ad, but when I told her that I liked pine, she sent me this photo. OMG! 5' long x 32" high x 16" deep. It's upside down against the wall in the pic above. It was $75, and I could NOT resist. Now I need to find a place for it. :-)