Strangest buying experience ever..

Mizzou

Well-known member
Joined
May 20, 2012
Messages
1,750
Reaction score
74
Location
Virginia
ok..So I saw a craigslist add listed locally for a tron Monday. Good price, no pictures, just said come by and check it out. So I email the guy and ask for a picture. Guy writes back within an hour saying he will send it the next day. A day goes by and nothing. So this morning and ask if there is any luck with the pics. He writes back saying "Sorry, I just sent you some"...still no pics. I give it a few hours and ask if there has been any luck and he says "no problem, you should really come by and check out the game, do you live in the area"...Still no pics but at this point I figure, fine I'll go and check it out, so I write him back and say I can be over tonight if he is around...Then he sends me this

"I'll be straight with you, I've had some problems with dealing with strangers on Craigslist or EBay. Once we had someone stop by to look at something I was selling, and the person ended up stealing some jewelry. Anyway, I'm trying to figure out a way for you to see the Tron without knowing too much about my life, etc. I'm a little gunshy but want you to check out the Tron coin-op. Let me figure out a way to do this and I'll get back to you.
Thanks,
Pete
By the way, in what area do you live in Northern Virginia?"


...What the hell? I dont mean to sound like a jerk but do you want to sell this thing or not. I sympathize with not wanting a stranger over at your house, but then dont list it on craigs list and say 3 times "come over and check it out"...sigh craigslist
 
I've experienced similar sellers like that off cl too. I don't understand why they're using that in the first place if he's that scared. Why not have some friends over too or something if he's that worried? Or is he planning on meeting you with the game out in some public place you can plug it in?

Good luck with that though.
 
Yuuup, if you are that scared of people, then do not use Craigslist.

We buy and sell all of the time on CL, meet ALOT of nice people.

Steve
 
Tell him to bring it to you to look at it, then lowball the hell our of him. He won't want lug it back ;)

Yeah, or have it in the garage, so people do not have to come in the house.
PLUS it will make it easier for you to haul away.. I like to ask if the game is already in the garage before going, so I know how hard it will be to load the game into my truck.

Steve
 
Your spider-sense is going off that this person or situation is odd. I assume it'll turn out ok. But listen to that inner voice :) it might be telling you something. It is actually surprising to me that more folks do not have problems doing the CraigsList thing.

My only experience having someone come to my house for CL was I gave away about 15 sacks of quick set cement. They showed up with their little boy (about a year younger than mine) so we let them pick through our consignment sale items from our boy and take what they wanted.

In my short time (8+ months) of buying, I've been to inside several private residences (on two occasions in the middle of nowhere at 10pm) picking up a machine, met folks kids, had a beer or two. The only real negative experience so far was http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=234383

And I always ask if its in the basement / hard to get out for some reason (re: the great centipede basement experience).
 
ok..So I saw a craigslist add listed locally for a tron Monday. Good price, no pictures, just said come by and check it out. So I email the guy and ask for a picture. Guy writes back within an hour saying he will send it the next day. A day goes by and nothing. So this morning and ask if there is any luck with the pics. He writes back saying "Sorry, I just sent you some"...still no pics. I give it a few hours and ask if there has been any luck and he says "no problem, you should really come by and check out the game, do you live in the area"...Still no pics but at this point I figure, fine I'll go and check it out, so I write him back and say I can be over tonight if he is around...Then he sends me this

"I'll be straight with you, I've had some problems with dealing with strangers on Craigslist or EBay. Once we had someone stop by to look at something I was selling, and the person ended up stealing some jewelry. Anyway, I'm trying to figure out a way for you to see the Tron without knowing too much about my life, etc. I'm a little gunshy but want you to check out the Tron coin-op. Let me figure out a way to do this and I'll get back to you.
Thanks,

Pete
By the way, in what area do you live in Northern Virginia?"


...What the hell? I dont mean to sound like a jerk but do you want to sell this thing or not. I sympathize with not wanting a stranger over at your house, but then dont list it on craigs list and say 3 times "come over and check it out"...sigh craigslist


Doesn't seem weird . The guy probably never sells arcade games and doesn't know much about them , so this could be good deal .

Also his wife might be nagging him don't let strangers come over to the house .
 
Funny part is that I am pretty sure I already found his address...If your paranoid about people knowing stuff about you dont list your address online (easier said then done) and include your personal email to respond to a craigslist offer especially with your FULL NAME..lol, oh well.

I understand a person being hesitant about that though. I always bring someone with me if I am going to respond to a craigslist add and let someone know where I am going etc. Suppose you cant be to safe these days.
 
so are we going to see this nut job or what.

i should be good to go in the evening on sat.

ill let you know better times after Thursday.

Peace
Buffett
 
WTF is wrong with people?!? I HATE it when I get the old, "well, I can't have people over to my home so I'll meet you in Home Depot's parking lot" bullshit. I have been buying, selling, trading etc from my home since I was 13. Never a problem. Some people are assholes, most are not. The assholes are not welcome back. I may be biased, though. I am more than able to defend myself if need be. I'd imagine that some people cannot, but those are the ones that should stick to dealing with retailers for buying and Goodwill for getting rid of things. Pretty simple, really.
Jay
 
so are we going to see this nut job or what.

i should be good to go in the evening on sat.

ill let you know better times after Thursday.

Peace
Buffett

If we ever get to meet him I have to do it in the early afternoon right after I get off work..I have family coming in town. If you cant make it, thats cool, no worries
 
You should pull a "Jerky Boys" on him and send him an email like this:

Thanks man, I got your latest email. Thank you for trusting me with your address. I can't tell you how much I appreciate you being willing to have me stop by when I get off work at 2 am. I'll try to remember to not use the door bell and only knock as you requested. We car pool at work, so I'll probably have a couple of other guys with me so don't be alarmed. Thanks again - see you tonight!
:D
 
Definitely sucks... Craigslist is funny like that... Give him the benefit of the doubt though... my wife makes me drag everything I sell on craigslist out to the garage or front porch as well. The little stuff is no big deal, but it sucks when I have to get friends and family to help me carry cabs back up from the basement!
 
WTF is wrong with people?!? I HATE it when I get the old, "well, I can't have people over to my home so I'll meet you in Home Depot's parking lot" bullshit. I have been buying, selling, trading etc from my home since I was 13. Never a problem. Some people are assholes, most are not. The assholes are not welcome back. I may be biased, though. I am more than able to defend myself if need be. I'd imagine that some people cannot, but those are the ones that should stick to dealing with retailers for buying and Goodwill for getting rid of things. Pretty simple, really.
Jay

Just remember that you can only protect your stuff when you're home. They've already profiled you when you've listed a game for $250, $400, $700, etc., so they know you have disposable income. How many times have you picked up a cab and it's been the nicest thing in the house? Probably never. So the guy comes over and checks out the cab and your place to see if it's worth it. Then if he likes what he sees, he maybes drives by during normal work hours to see if anyone is home, etc. He figures out your schedule within a week. Clearly it's not happening on every sale, but you can't predict when it will. Some people just feel better meeting in a public place to avoid that possibility.
 
Just remember that you can only protect your stuff when you're home. They've already profiled you when you've listed a game for $250, $400, $700, etc., so they know you have disposable income. How many times have you picked up a cab and it's been the nicest thing in the house? Probably never. So the guy comes over and checks out the cab and your place to see if it's worth it. Then if he likes what he sees, he maybes drives by during normal work hours to see if anyone is home, etc. He figures out your schedule within a week. Clearly it's not happening on every sale, but you can't predict when it will. Some people just feel better meeting in a public place to avoid that possibility.


Ding!Ding!Ding! Plus, they've also checked out whats in your garage and scoped out if you're a target.

It happens. Maybe its a regional thing, but Craigslist can definitely be sketchy.
 
once responded to a listing for a free table saw on CL. The woman even listed her phone number but when I talked to her she said she had heard of the bad things that happen to people from other through craigs list. She said the table saw would be outside the garage door with a cord poking out from under the door so I could test it. If I wanted it I could take it. I was weary of the situation but everything was just as she had said so I went to the place, tested the table saw to see if it worked and then loaded it up.

Some folks are just strange.
 
Yeaaaaaaahhh...I don't want CL strangers over at my place if I can help it.
 
Burglars who scope out your house aren't really that common any more. Today most burglaries are in your standard high crime neighborhoods and are committed by people who live in those same neighborhoods.

Breaking into houses doesn't really pay anymore. Electronics and small appliances are dirt cheap today and have little resale value unless they are brand new. Modern women rarely own much in the way of valuable jewelery. Unless you are an expert in all types of collectables you would be hard pressed to drag anything worthwhile out of anyone's house.

Thus, the smarter criminals (the ones that actually plan their crimes) aren't all that keen on breaking into houses. There are much juicier targets out there than houses.

However people always think that the crime rate is on the rise, when in reality it is just about at the lowest level since they started tracking crimes nationally some 50 odd years ago.
 
Back
Top Bottom