Contacted a guy about buying some old record albums I own. Meet at 1:00. The girls are hungry we are going to be late. I texted back no girls allowed in the house thinking I do not want more people in the house than I can keep eyes on. He says ok. So I had told him he could pick out 50 as my daughter wants some records and 50 out of 700 would not make a dent i the collection. He ended up with 83, nicest guy, and after an hour of sorting through the collection. Got a fair price, and his wife and daughter came out afterwards and waved goodbye. My Wife was like I am so sorry you had to wait in the car. No problem they said. Before the meet I was getting so Paranoid, I did not know who the ladies were, thinking they could be teenagers with guns looking to steal anything they could get their hands on, Had 9 ready to put 11 after on the phone if I felt scared. He turned out to be a great guy, not sorry I felt so paranoid, but I was seriously doubting my sanity for giving a random stranger my address.
How does one deal with selling a car on craigslist. Test drive I go with you, or here are the keys
700?? Who could afford that? They used to be $5 a piece. That was my whole weekly budget. All I could afford was a dollar for a 45 once in a while. I assume 33 1/3 or tape or CD? Maybe I dated myself by thinking actual 33 1/3.
Yeah it’s kind of hard to judge someone on the phone but one guy that called no way would I give him my address.
I have had good experiences buying and selling on Facebook marketplace. The biggest problem I had is no shows. I have not sold a car like this but I would not let the buyer drive the car without me in the car.
Out here where I live, just dialing 9 and nothing else will get the police to show up quicker than dialing 911, they assume it’s a domestic violence and you weren’t able to dial the rest of the numbers.
There is no way someone should be allowed to test drive a car without the owner of that car being inside of it.
Regarding CL sales, there should be a few ground rules. No crowds; meaning no more than 2 people. Meet in the police station parking lot to carry out any transaction. You never know if that buyer of an item may be using it as an excuse to check the home out for a late night return visit.
Preferably have someone with you. Last and not least; CCW is a plus. In Tulsa a few years ago some guy selling a slick old pickup agreed to meet someone in a WM parking lot and all it got him was shot dead and the truck stolen. Again; meet at a law enforcement facility.
I’ve got about 400 albums. Mine is a pittance next to your stash.
I sold lots of items before I last moved on Craigslist. I met each seller at a nearby gas station/quickie-mart… with lots of customers and security cameras. Only the biggest items were sold from my home… garage actually.
I’ve sold lots of motorcycles and a couple of cars on CL. It’s been OK. Sometimes I met people at a local transit terminal, but mostly they came to the house. When I’m selling a vehicle we spend some time kicking the tires and talking, then if they are still interested I take their driver’s license and hold it while they drive the car. If it’s a motorcycle they get to ride it only if they arrived on two wheels or if the license has a motorcycle endorsement. I figure if I’ve got their license in my pocket they will come back. Maybe I’m nuts, but so far it works.
Around here, police are targets and they actually burned down a station, so I dunno, I just haven’t used any of them. I put together a load to the junk yard and included was a perfectly good gas weed wacker, 1/2 drill, electric chain saw, etc. Into the scrap pile. I guess the other alternative would be the pawn shop. I haven’t tried to sell a car though in a long long time.
I have bought and sold vehicles on Craigslist in the past. Usually people are fairly normal. I do usually carry a concealed pistol…you never know. I’ve gone to other people’s houses to buy, have had people come to my house to sell, and I’ve met people at a public location.
I’ve only been uncomfortable a few times, usually when I was looking to buy, the vehicle was junk, and they were giving me the hard sell.
Once I looked at a truck, liked it, and wanted to look at it again. I had looked at it with a man and his wife. I was alone. We met at a gas station which was closed (their location choice) which seemed stranger than meeting at their house, in my opinion. They rode with me when I drove it and it was kind of awkward to be honest. When I later texted them and asked if I could look at it again and maybe drive it to a shop to put it on a lift, the woman threatened to call the police on me. A simple “no” would’ve sufficed, there really! I get it that you don’t want to let a stranger drive your vehicle by themselves, but on the other hand surely they don’t expect me to pay $28k for a vehicle after a 5 minute test drive with both of them breathing down my kneck. I don’t know. That whole deal was pretty awkward.
I sold a lot last year on craigslist. Had over 50 people come to my house over course of 4 months. I just brought whatever I was selling outside in the driveway. I wouldn’t want anyone coming inside. I didn’t have any problems this way. Everyone was nice. Never sold a car though.
Dad sold the family’s old boat on Craigslist a few years ago on the third try, could have sold it sooner but every buyer who came to see it asked if their car could tow it, rather than how much it weighs. Being honest dad told the first two that he wouldn’t tow that much with what they drove. The guys who bought it showed up with a pickup truck and paid $1,800 which wasn’t quite what dad was hoping for not far off what similar boats were being listed for.
i saw some craigslist car buying suggestions the other day.
–meet at the seller’s residence
–text or call a friend during the process to let them know how things are going
–check pink for salvage or rebuild status
–insure name on pink / registration matches the seller’s driver’s license
–insure the pink / reg address matches the seller’s driver’s license
–agree to get a trusted mechanic to check it over or learn how to do it (noises, codes, measurements, etc)
–check the latest dmv recommendations for a bill of sale and release of liability docs
–perform the transaction at your bank
the person who wrote it is a mechanic with dozens of buys / sales on craigslist.
I think maybe we were more trusting be for computers cell phones caller ID answering machines voice mail and other technology back then we used the classified ads in the newspapers sure we had some scams and other problems but if you were selling a car you had to answer the phone to know was calling.