I have sold several things on Craig's List. It's a proven, immediate system that is supposed to be free. Yes, the ads don't cost anything to run, but I have heard so many stories... scary stories, from women who have had some real shady characters show up at their door. Though they may not buy anything, that doesn't stop them from calling later. Yeah, you know what I mean.
Last spring I sold my used John Deere riding lawn mower. I put fresh gas in it, changed the oil, and mowed the first mow of the year with it, and after making sure it worked okay, I cleaned it up and placed the add on Craig's List. The number I put in the ad was my cell phone, and it amazes me how few people call you, but send a text message. "Do you still have the mower?" they ask.
The first guy to come and look at it arrived with a trailer behind his pickup. He came prepared. His wife was with him, and he said he was buying it for her. They have a large acreage, and thought if they each had a mower they could get it done quicker. They both drove the mower around my yard, engaged the mower, and she said she loved it. So, they gave me the cash, loaded it on their trailer, and headed down the road.
A week later the guy called me (didn't text) and was madder than a she-grizzly. He said that the mower started having problems, so he took it to the John Deere dealership and the cost to repair it was more than he gave me for it. At least that was his story. I felt bad and since I did all the maintenace myself on the mower I asked him what was wrong. After he explained the problem I told him that he could get that part much cheaper and put it on himself, but he didn't want to mess with that. What he wanted was his money back.
I grew up on a farm and we bought and sold a lot of used equipment. I also came from a part of the world where we worked on our own stuff, and rarely ever took anything to a repair shop. If we bought something used, it was "as is." If we sold it, we sold it "as is." That was almost taken for granted. But in the city things are much different. It's a service world now, and people are used to taking things to get them fixed. I am quite sure I could have fixed the mower myself if it were my problem, but, it wasn't my problem any more. And offering to fix it for him would have likely created a situation where he pestered me to death.
Well, it didn't matter. He sent me so many text messages and called me so many times that I got used to seeing his number. The last four digits are "5454" so it's pretty easy to remember. I ignored all his calls and texts, and after a few days they'd stop. But every couple of weeks or so I'd get a text from his number that was blank. Again, this was last spring. It is almost October and I got another one today... that's right, it's blank.
Pretty spooky, in a way. He wants to remind me every so often that he felt cheated, when truly what he got was a case of bad luck. It has happened to me before, more than once. Some things in life are a gamble, and buying used equipment is one of them. I remember several years ago I bought a used pickup, and the day after I bought it the rig blew a head gasket. Tough luck, for sure, but the last thing I did was harrass the guy that sold it to me.
I made a new pact with myself, which was to not list my cell phone number on Craig's List any more. I've got a pay-by-minute cell phone I'll use which doesn't have texting, and I'll mention that in the add. When I'm not using that phone, it sits in a drawer in my office desk, powered down, so at least I won't be haunted by some loser who never learned the art of swap and trade.
Steven Law is the author of Yuma Gold (Berkley, 2011) and The True Father (Goldminds, 2008). Visit his website at www.stevenlaw.com.
good for you to stand by your raisings!
Posted by: coty johnston | 09/25/2012 at 06:31 PM