I am considering selling my car with a posting on Craigslist. I’ve been looking at other ads. I notice that some pictures purposefully block their license plate from the pictures. Why do they do that?
I’m not paranoid (about everything anyway), so I don’t know why people do it. But sure. Why not. It’s easy enough to do. Tape a piece of paper over it for a minute.
I’ve always wondered why some folks blank out the license plates. We’re all driving around with them in view, right?
I would imagine it would keep nefarious people from targeting you for other purposes than buing a car.
It’s to maintain a faint semblance of privacy and to possibly prevent someone from being able to heist the car due to running down the location from the license number.
Blocking out plates has been done for decades in the motorcycle magazines as stealing a Harley was often much easier than a car.
Craigslist is practically an open forum, and has attracted the attention if a lot of people with less than honest intentions. I’ve sold a few things that way, but typically met them in a neutral public place to finalize the deal. Makes both parties feel a little better.
Craigslist is practically an open forum, and has attracted the attention if a lot of people with less than honest intentions. I’ve sold a few things that way, but typically met them in a neutral public place to finalize the deal. Makes both parties feel a little better.
I agree with @BustedKnuckles
A few years ago, I saw a used car for sale, listed on Craigslist. The guy met me in a large shopping mall parking lot, so that I wouldn’t have any idea of where he lives. He was being cautious, but he said he’d gotten burned on a few prior craigslist transactions . . .
“I’ve sold a few things that way, but typically met them in a neutral public place to finalize the deal.”
+1
A neighbor of mine is an inventor/small-time entrepreneur. In addition to getting local hardware stores to carry his product, he did (past tense!) use Craig’s List for a short period of time. His experience was almost entirely negative.
For an item that sells for ~$30, many of the Craig’s List people put him through the wringer with attempts at negotiation. That is not too bad, but the final straw was when several “customers” refused to meet him in a public place, and insisted on coming to his house. (He never reveals his home address) This was his signal that these people undoubtedly had some type of bad intentions, and now if you mention Craig’s List, he reacts…with some residual anger.
I’ve never had any luck with “craigslist” when it comes to selling. I sold a 4 ton heat pump recently and had it on craigslist for a couple of weeks. I’ve never spoken to so many mentally deranged people in such a short amount of time in my entire life. I advertised it on a local call-in radio show and sold it within an hour. I would definitely block the license plate number on any vehicle that I was selling especially if I was advertising on craigslist.
I know people who are connected, and they can use a license plate number to access your personal information, including the address where the vehicle is located. Like not posting your exact location on Craigslist, it is one extra precaution you can take to protect your privacy. It can also prevent people from filing false “hit and run” reports, which they could do if they can match your license plate number with a description of your vehicle. I don’t know, it just seems wise to give nuts on the internet only the information they need, and no more.
I just sold my motorcycle after listing it on Craigslist, but I had to lower the price before I got any attention. We met at a public place, and before taking cash for the bike, I stopped at Office Depot to get one of those pens that you can use to make sure cash isn’t counterfeit.
In Minneapolis/St. Paul, there have been several unfortunate instances with Craigs List the last few years. One girl was killed answering an listing for a baby sitter. Another guy was shot supposedly meeting a cell phone buyer in a public place. The guy showed up with his friends and robbed, beat, and shot the seller. Myself, I’ll just throw the stuff out or give it away to Salvation Army or something for the puny amount of money going through CL.
Read the posts on Craigslist’s “rant and rave” section sometime. You will immediately know why you want to give these nut jobs as little personal info as possible.
I’m convinced, I’ll cover my plate and NEVER use Craigslist! I guess EBay’s a bit better, but for me it’s more a place to buy than sell.
What are folk’s experiences selling on Ebay?
Good but expensive. Ebay owns Pay Pal, so you’re shopping at the co. store. People decide how much they want to pay after considering shipping, so that eats into your profits too.
I’d sooner keep up my guard and sell to the local loonies on c-list. Exception would be something valuable and cheaply mailable.
@texases, Craigslist worked just fine for me. I’ve sold a used air conditioner (window unit) and a motorcycle without a single problem. The issues people have had with Craigslist are the same ones they might have encountered with an ad in the paper, and they are isolated incidents that get highly publicized. For the price (free), Craigslist can’t be beat. Not using Craigslist because of what you’ve read in this discussion would be akin to not going outside your house because of what you see on the evening news. Don’t live in fear.
I’ve sold lots of stuff on eBay, but it isn’t easy unless you have a history with them with a lot of positive feedback. Also, eBay takes a piece of your sale (in fees). Craigslist is free. There is also lots of fraud on eBay as well though, even though they charge fees.
For what little I have to sell, I just find a friend who’s in the market or drop it off at Salvation Army or Goodwill.
craigslist is a place i have sold two cars, two motorcycles, a brother in law’s 22K Honda Ridgeline, and numerous other small items like snowblowers. be smart, be careful, most people are honest and just want a fair deal. don’t be afraid of this tool.
I sold a lawnmower, and gave away 25 8’ picket fence sections. Free on curb. Now it was a 22 year old 4’ cedar picket fence that had been painted, then powerstripped, so there were still touches of white paint. Posts with concrete also.
As I got 4 sections a day done on weekends replacing them with 6’ privacy so the dogs could still run free each listing was about 8 sections at a time.
One lady could not afford new fence and wanted to block off her back yard to keep people from tromping through, otherwise they just disappeared, which was fine with me.
Another lady picked out a section, and asked me to set it on the side for her to pick up later. She came by later, all the other fence sections were gone, she was going to put it in her living room and decorate it. I have to admit it did have kind of an artsy appeal. I bought dock posts, and this year might buy dock sections.
I also bought a boat hull, my transom went out, and I saw a lund, it was fiberglass and the guy had bought the boat for the motor. and I said sorry looking for an aluminum boat. He asked if I needed the trailer, I said no, once I take off the motor I can take the boat to the dump. He gave it to me for free, delivered to our lake! 2 years and still rocking!
Seems like all private sales in the Bay Area come about because of Craigslist. Craig Nrwmark is an interesting and admirable guy and the company is run very cheaply and with no ostentation.
For years they were in a pair of Victorian flats in an out-of-the-way residential area (across the street from my optometrist.) They did have good neighbors as the offices and rehearsal space of the Kronos Quartet were a block away. I think Craigslist finally outgrew that space and moved to offices that could grow with them.
I think their lack of pretension and sensible decisions to not be too heavy handed about content is much appreciated. Caveat emptor applies here, too. Craigslist is not part of the transaction.