Is All Really Fair In Love And Arcades?

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If all is fair in love and war, then I guess I can understand how people might let their emotions lead them to abuse a system, especially when it comes to the quest for arcades, but here is a riddle that I'm having trouble figuring out.

I met a really cool guy today who needed to sell some of his games because he was moving.

He originally listed his ad on CL, but I found him through ebay and he seemed pretty happy to hear from me since he's got to be out of his place tomorrow. When I asked him why he pulled his CL ad, he said it got flagged right after he listed it. In a sense I could understand, he was only asking $150 for an very nice buck rogers game and maybe some of the flippers don't like seeing cheap games listed on the site for very long because whose really going to pay $1k for a game when you can get reasonable deals instead.

At first I didn't think much about it, but then I got home tonight and saw this CL posting show up in my RSS feed. The original ad has been flagged of course (within 3o mins of posting?), but it made me wonder who/how many would actually flag an ad for a $1500 machine, if that's already listed at the high end of the market anyway?

"This is to the person that has repeatedly flagged our arcade game: Why are you doing this? We are honest people selling an antique collectible arcade game.
If you have a problem and a backbone, why don't you let us know personally? email us and explain yourself, because we're sure you don't have the guts to call!
Just in case you do"
(phone number omitted)

What's hard to tell is whether one person is using some kind of software to override CL and control the local arcade market or if the larger arcade community sees flagging legitimate ads as some form of "fair competition" and are collectively "voting" the competition out. Personally, I think it's distasteful. I like that KLOV keeps their posts up for a long time, so you can see historical prices for what things sold at and would welcome a system where you could even pull up historical quotes on games/parts/locations. The data they leave up makes it more fair for buyers and for sellers.

Craigslist is CL after all, so the optimist in me says that this is just weirdos doing their spam thing for western union transfers if you ship your arcade across the ocean, but I can't help and wonder if there is more to it then that. Would be interesting to hear the answer to this lady's question, why is someone doing targeting the SF arcade community in this way and how widespread is this practice? Have you found that your arcade ads get buried a lot on CL and this is simply a way of life for those who use the site or do you think it's more likely something, someone is exploiting to try and distort the local market?
 
I think some people flag to try to get a good deal/eliminate the competition. Email the guy and then flag it make the listing go away. Its sad there are people out there that are like that. Other than spammers, I have never flagged anyone.
 
My local CL behaves in an odd manner as well, after finding two different guys who are old operators in my area, I decided I'd post up a wanted ad asking for old arcade games, offering cash in hopes of finding more like-minded people and perhaps a few deals, but it keeps getting flagged down. There's a guy with an almost identical post for retro video games and his never get flagged... Perhaps there are arcade market crazies, or maybe we're all paranoid?!
 
people flag on craigslist because thier bitch asses. If you could find out who flagged you, it would stop overnight, because someone somewhere would get stabbed in the neck, like they deserve.
 
My local CL behaves in an odd manner as well, after finding two different guys who are old operators in my area, I decided I'd post up a wanted ad asking for old arcade games, offering cash in hopes of finding more like-minded people and perhaps a few deals, but it keeps getting flagged down. There's a guy with an almost identical post for retro video games and his never get flagged... Perhaps there are arcade market crazies, or maybe we're all paranoid?!

Are you sure he never gets flagged down or is he just back on fast enough that it's hard to tell? I have an app on my phone that keeps the ads in cache. If I try and open it the app calls back to the server to check it. If its flagged I still get the original text but it tells my it was flagged (or even removed by the author). So...in my area I can see the 4 ads a day from the same person all on one screen. If I was just using the web site I bet I would just see one, the most current, and it would look like it never gets flagged.
 
Wow, did you really tell him your child died ?

One douche in defence of another...no surprise here...

and I did...to make him feel like the asshole that he is....so what...is my kid going to die now? Did you stay inside yesterday too?
 
One douche in defence of another...no surprise here...

and I did...to make him feel like the asshole that he is....so what...is my kid going to die now? Did you stay inside yesterday too?

Who said I am defending him. I just was asking if you would really stoop that low. Guess that justifies calling me a douche ?

edit: and lol at the guy lying about his child dying calling me a douche. Priceless.
 
I am calling you a douche because of dealings we have had in the past....
 
craigs is tough.

My last two free items i picked up i had emailed right away with *WILL PAY CASH* in the title.

Cost me $20 per item, but thats just how it is here. You have to go above and beyond to even have a chance at getting what you want.

Everybody and thier brother will pounce on something free so if you want it, you have to grease some palms to end up at the top of the list.

The other problems ive had is lack of communication. When selling, i get 100 questions and requests for more pics, then nothing. When buying, its a miracle just to get the seller to respond to you. Overall, its frustrating, but at this point in time what else is out there? Local newspaper? local traded mag? craigs is about it unfortunately.
 
This thread is becoming awesome

It's definitely starting to get entertaining, but it's probably worth taking a deep breath. I know there are lot of times where I've lost my temper and have come across hot headed, ultimately there are so many better things to focus your energy on in life. Like I said in the original post though, I understand how emotions can get the better of you, because CL is so much like the lotto, there's nothing like the feeling of snagging a great deal on an arcade. Apparently, CL really is a warzone, you probably do need thicker skin then most if you're going to go swimming in that ocean.
 
i gotta say i totally agree with ARC on his last few comments. Joking about kids dying really isn't fucking funny. Especially when some of us on here have kids with a terminal illness. like i do.
 
THe unsick tend to forget, we are all termial man. You can beg borrow please and claw but when the old man calls your number thats it, youre done.
 
I don't expect to see people flag ad's that are priced low, I expect someone to go snatch it, try to flip it for 5 times more and even use the pics from the original ad.

I agree with Arc, saying your kid died is a shitty thing to do. I laugh at most things and don't take things too seriously but saying something like that is wrong.
 
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