Does this potential buyer seem wierd?

kjeffery

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I have a machine on craigslist and I get email saying" Is the machine still available for the listing price?" I say "yes it is" and then I get this email from him.

"All right, well, I'm interested in buying the machine. Before I make a decision though, I would like to come out and try the machine out first. I recognize you've done a full overhaul on it, but I'd still like to try it for my own peace of mind if nothing else.

The best day for me to come out would be Friday after 3pm, as I'll be forced to work late tomorrow and won't be able to give a firm time as to when I could come out. Would that be acceptable to you, and if so, please provide an address so I could come out and take a look.

Thank you"

It just seems weird to me, not asking for a phone number or anything and just wants to come look. I'm just afraid of some weirdo coming and looking at it then coming back to rob it. Am I being paranoid?
 
I wouldnt give an address without at least a phone call first. Far too many scams on CL to watch out for these days. Too much spam too. I usualy end all my ads with "leave a phone number if interested". If they dont leave a number, I consider it spam or scam.
 
I tend to be paranoid too about sharing my address so I make sure I get their phone number and talk with them for a little bit to see if they seem normal.

Having said that, the email you got doesn't seem too crazy.

And ... if you feel better doing this .... get their license plate when they arrive so you can track 'em down later if you need to. I've never done that but seems like it could offer piece of mind if nothing else.
 
.... get their license plate when they arrive so you can track 'em down later if you need to..

Kind of hard to do this if he no show's and cases your house to see when nobody's home. Then the whole house is fair game.

Theres absolutely no reason you cant discuss things over a phone call first.

Just sayin...
 
Kind of hard to do this if he no show's and cases your house to see when nobody's home. Then the whole house is fair game.

Theres absolutely no reason you cant discuss things over a phone call first.

Just sayin...

Yes I have a fear of that, and I fear for my family because I work out of town constant for work and I have wife and kids at home alone. If he seems like a weirdo on the phone I won't deal with him, I'm not desperate to sell it and to put myself or my family in danger
 
I don't think it's weird at all. I'm not big on giving out my phone number. Sure if I had a house phone but with my cell phone I would rather not give it out.

I've bought tons of stuff on klov and never given out my phone but given out my address many times. How else is it going to get delivered.

As far as craigslist goes, sure it's shady, but a pro would use a disposable phone, anyway.
 
Kind of hard to do this if he no show's and cases your house to see when nobody's home. Then the whole house is fair game.

Theres absolutely no reason you cant discuss things over a phone call first.

Just sayin...

That's just silly. Just because he selling a video game, the guys gonna case his house and rob it???
A thief could randomly pick any house to case and then rob. No need to contact someone on craigslist.

Interesting the two guys from Texas are the least paranoid! :D

Yes I have a fear of that, and I fear for my family because I work out of town constant for work and I have wife and kids at home alone. If he seems like a weirdo on the phone I won't deal with him, I'm not desperate to sell it and to put myself or my family in danger

Now that's information I would not share, even on here.
 
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Interesting the two guys from Texas are the least paranoid! :D

Make that three. I have dealt with worse requests from CL people.

Just make sure you have the game in the garage or on the driveway. Don't let them into your house.

You can also tell him that after 6pm is fine. He'll probably think you work normal hours. If he asks why not earlier, just say "I have to take my pit bull for his rabies shot". :D

ken
 
So not wanting to use the phone and working late is auto-fail on the "thief and weirdo" personality test?

If you're getting a strange vibe, by all means, follow your gut instinct. I just know that I work weird hours and I totally hate using the phone (I find it awkward).

...

...

...

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...then again, maybe I am a weirdo. Hands up!
 
i wouldnt have a problem with it, HOWEVER i would want a phone number, i have sold stuff on CL thru just text messages,never even talked to the person until i met them in person. its proly legit,theres alot of tool's on CL ive sold ALOT on there when i say alot i mean ALOT! i used to sell on fee-bay still do but not as much,CL is free i work for an apartment complex and people leave just about anything behind ive made almost $9000.00 this year alone on things ive found in the trash or in vacant units. i always pack a friend in my back pocket for back-up (if you know what i mean) but have never had a problem,i would get a # from him/her just to be sure.
 
kjeffery, you just shared that you are out of town a lot of strangers on here, your city is posted on your profile, and if kjeffery is any part of your name I'm sure your address is easily located with a simple google search.

I don't see what is so weird about the guy coming to try out the game, even without a phone call...in this day and age, you have all the info leading back with emails and IPs on Craig's List and the only time "robberies" seem to occur mostly are (get this) PUBLIC places (ipod CL scams, etc)
 
Everything seems perfectly reasonable to me, except the first email. I would have deleted it, since he didn't mention anything specific about the game. Looked like a spam email to me.

Like DreamTR said, this is not how they set up robberies. Also thieves are looking for high end electronics, AND money. They wouldn't scam the arcade guy, they'd scam the PS3 guy. They don't want to come to your house, because they're unfamiliar with it. If they were going to do that, they'd just pick somebody's house that obviously has a lot of money.

They set up for you to meet them in a public place, because they can get in and out without looking suspicous, and they know the public place. Nobody will see or know anything because there's 10,000 people in the parking lot at Wal-Mart and nobody remembers seeing a black honda.

It's the same for people going to look at something on Craigslist, they're not going to rob you at their own house... if somebody tells you to come to their house to look at something, even the most stupid criminal in the world wouldn't rob you at their own place. If they were that stupid, they would have already been locked up.
 
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