Yes, Craigslist can be a pain. As you say, one has to be vigilant about responses. But it's still a valuable venue for selling items that are large or otherwise difficult to ship. I've sold a number of things on Craigslist, and always have a few items listed. Plus I've used it to buy stuff--like my riding mower last summer, and a cedar wardrobe this winter.

Glad your revolting spammers have moved on, Lucille!

There must be a knack. I have attempted to answer Craig's list ads and find the "seller" never responds. One item I was DESPERATE to have. I found it more than annoying the hoops I had to go through just to get the seller to respond to questions so I would know if it was worth my trouble to make the trip to see the item. Oldest son is now doing some selling on CL and he is quite amazed at how often people do not show up, or follow through. I never considered the issues you mentioned. Can anything just be simple and above board?

I have to say that when I inquire about an item on CL, my first question is, "Is it still available?" Because if it isn't, why bother to ask any more questions? I usually add, "If so, when is a good time to see it?"

I've had good luck, found some great deals, but my advice would be meet at a public parking lot, and don't unload a heavy item until the cash is in your hand. ;)

If you are going to check out an item at someone's home, take the correct change in an envelope, and don't go alone.

Mama Goose, you probably mention the actual item when you ask if it's still available, whereas the bad guys will just say, "Is it still available?" and "When can I see it?" If they don't name the item, it's a good indication that they're not on the level.

There are a lot of local FB groups for selling stuff. I'd feel a lot more comfortable doing that. I would be too afraid to buy or sell anything on CL. Just a few weeks ago an older couple came up missing after going to look at to buy a vintage Mustang. They ended up being murdered by the person that placed the ad. There was NO mustang and I guess the person just stole the cash they had on them to buy the (imaginary) vehicle then took them out and murdered them. So sad, people are way too trusting. The only experience I have personally is my husband tried to sell something and got nothing but people trying to scam him out of money!

You're right, Alisande, and I usually put '______ on craigslist' in the email title, so that the seller knows which item I want.

I was successful selling some items on CL when cleaning out my house but also had one really bad experience. A guy sued me in small claims court because there was a small piece missing from a a set of electric trains and I had advertised it as complete. The piece was a decorative attachment to the box car and had nothing to do with the train operating . The sad part is he won his case in court. He ordered the piece on line and I had to pay him for half of it plus court costs. All I can say is he was a jerk with capital letters.

Did he give you a chance prior to suing you to order the part for him?

Sorry you had a bad experience, Fran. I'd guess from his side, he felt you had misrepresented what was offered for sale. Whether the missing piece was functional or not doesn't matter. Based on the decision, it sounds like the presiding judge agreed with him.

Words do have meanings. A good practice when describing something for sale is to state that the item is offered "as is".

Any email can be traced back to you, I believe, in a legal proceeding with the proper paperwork.

The thing is, if it was important to the buyer that the set was complete and he paid what he thought was a fair price for the complete set, from his perspective it should have been complete and the decorative doodad to him was part of the deal.

The microwave example: A case by case basis. If you paid a quarter for it, that's one thing. If it was $50, there is a sign that says it is working, and if the seller offered you to try it out but you were in a hurry and didn't, that might be another. If the seller had a perennial garage sale and sold appliances and nothing else, that is definitely another.

"if it was important to the buyer that the set was complete and he paid
what he thought was a fair price for the complete set...."

Exactly. He thought it was complete because the seller said it was. But it wasn't. The two remedies to expect would be either to cancel the sale and return the buyer's money, or have the seller supply whatever was missing so that the item meets the description.

I've had good luck selling on craigslist

"...there was a small piece missing from a a set of electric trains and I had advertised it as complete." Yes, there's the problem. The seller gave a guarantee that it was "complete" when it wasn't. The buyer obviously bought it with that in mind. If someone sold you a "complete" silverware set and it was missing some spoons would you be "a jerk" for expecting the rest of what you bought? I'm sure he was pretty upset that it was misrepresented. You don't say how much money was involved but if it was enough to go to court, I'm guessing it wasn't $5 or $10. Sounds like you might have got off easy for that matter. Sometimes, if there's fraud proven, triple damages can be imposed.

I would never make any guarantees like that when selling something for just this reason. By saying it was complete it was an inducement to buy and when it wasn't true he used his legal recourse to recover damages. When you use sales pitches and inducements to buy, you dramatically increase your potential liability. Can't blame the buyer when they take you at your word.

The fear of spam from Craigslist is unwarranted these days. They use a forwarding system (at least around here they do) so the parties do not get each others' email addresses unless one gives it intentionally or by mistake. (Be warned that you can give them your address if you don't go through the system by forwarding or something. Watch your email and you'll see how you're identified. If you direct mail to them, you'll give your address, so use the forwarding system if you're afraid of it.) You can still get spam but once the forwarding stops, the spam would be stopped also. I also use a disposable address for this type of thing. Using caution I don't need to replace it too often.

I've bought and sold through Craigslist. I use common sense and have had no problems. I usually like to meet someone rather than have them come to my house when possible. And of course, people are unreliable so never depend on them showing up! LOL

One other thing, I never give them my home address if they have to come to my place. I give them directions to the area and guide them the rest of the way by internet text (but not using my phone #), email, instant messenger (from disposable account) or calling them (blocking my number). It filters out fakes extremely well. And if they don't show up by the designated time, I don't feel bad about going and doing other things. It also stops them from stopping by at other times when I wouldn't want them to show up.

I too often ask if something is still available, especially if it's been a while. Most people seem to leave their ads up after it's sold and it's annoying to someone to waste their time on it. However, when someone gives me the one-liner "still available?" or something, I sometimes reply in kind with "Yes". To me it's annoying when people don't say in the ad when someone would be able to look at it. Again, I'll often ask when I could look at it before going into more detail. Some are pretty flaky on that too, "you can pick it up between 8am and 8:30 am with appointment..." Yeah right. :)

Oh and one other thing I'll do on occasion. If it involves a lot of money, I'll meet at their bank. I even go so far as to have the bank exchange the cash they give to lessen counterfeit issues or get a money order or cashiers check. But that doesn't happen often. I don't buy and sell that much this way. But when a vehicle is sold I don't release it until we've gone and transferred it to them. Privacy of course goes out the window then but if you want to do it, you have to do it.

i guess it was partly my fault because he contacted me and asked if I had the missing piece. It was around Christmas time and I told him I'd look to see if it was in the Christmas stuff. Anyway in the future I will donate to charity rather than try to deal with a person like that.

"Anyway in the future I will donate to charity rather than try to deal with a person like that"

Seriously? You realize the buyer is thinking, "next time I'll buy new, rather than try to deal with a dishonest seller who made me go to court to avoid being cheated."

"i guess it was partly my fault because he contacted me and asked if I had the missing piece."

I guess he was right to sue, as it sounds like he was willing to give you a chance to find the missing piece.

.....and, yes, next time don't even bother to donate to charity when there are missing pieces....just chuck it in the garbage/recycling bin.

We sold a refrigerator on Craigslist. I've listed rentals we have for rent on Craigslist...the cars we've sold have been ones we eventually put in the newspaper although they were on Craigslist too.

I always ask, "Is it still available"....I get a response. I've purchased everything from a like new microwave for $10 to a little wood table for $15. Gotton a 'free" porch swing that needed a seat and a "free" Maytag gas dryer that was only 5 years old, but had paint chipped off the drum(which I repaired with a little bottle of ,99 enamel paint).

I just sold a 20 year old wood burning stove on CL for $100. It's been a GREAT experience for me!

I don't think I'll be answering this Craigslist job ad:

hey everyone u tired of a medioker job and looking for a career?

"i guess it was partly my fault because he contacted me and asked if I had the missing piece."

Partly? Wow. (shaking my head in disbelief)

Caveat emptor, no doubt folks!

I haven't had 100% great experience but I guess looking back and thinking about it some more, I've had mostly good to very good and even a few great experiences. It's where I look first to hire casual labor, like snow plowing, shoveling, mowing, etc. Although I'm fortunate in that I can usually tell what kind of person with whom I'm dealing so I seldom deal with those whom I'm uncomfortable. I've done things from no cost up to buying a slightly over 1 year old vehicle. Better than ebay AFAIC since you can usually see the item before you buy it and you can interact a bit with the seller to get a feel for their integrity or lack thereof when that could be a factor. Plus there's the added benefit that you usually have the item immediately.

In my defense, this set of electric trains was fully operable. All the cars, the track, the transformer were there and fully functional. The missing piece was a little plastic hobo that was supposed to go in in the box car. It was a decorative doodad that had nothing to do with the operation of the set. It never stayed in place from the time the set was brand new and always fell out which is why it got lost in the first place. I think a charity would have been very happy to have this item donated.