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Craigslist makes my head hurt.


benjamin j

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I find a couple of toys per year that I end up with off of craigslist. I may have to stop looking at craigslist soon because it is giving me a permanent headache. Yesterday I clicked on a 66 mustang for sale that the guy said was numbers matching with the original y block 289. A couple of days before that there was a guy with a charger that had a numbers matching 383 hemi from the factory. Then there are the cars that that are more rust than car, they have next to nothing salvageable left on them and the guy says this would make a great restoration project.

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Yes indeed, same if you put a wanted ad in. I have a wanted ad for a 1924 - 1936 proven tour car to take on long trips. The first response I receive is a fresh restoration on a Model "A", and not a good one judging by the pics - owner said he went on two 10 mile shakedown "cruises" and it is A-OK. The second one I get is little more than a Model "T" chassis with a plywood platform and a cowl and late model bucket seat bolted to it.

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Yes indeed, same if you put a wanted ad in. I have a wanted ad for a 1924 - 1936 proven tour car to take on long trips. The first response I receive is a fresh restoration on a Model "A", and not a good one judging by the pics - owner said he went on two 10 mile shakedown "cruises" and it is A-OK. The second one I get is little more than a Model "T" chassis with a plywood platform and a cowl and late model bucket seat bolted to it.

I will bet you’re going to get some really good ones before it’s all done. Good luck.

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Man, I've totally stopped using Craig's List to try to sell anything simply because I was tired of messages like, "I see you're asking $25,000 for the car. Would you take $2000 CASH!?!?" or "I've got 10 acres of land in West Virginia, want to trade?" I've never even come close to selling a car on Craig's List, but now a bunch of really creepy guys know where my shop is and like to drop in and see if they can horse trade my good cars for one of their piles of junk.

I know a lot of guys get deals on there, but filtering through the trash was eating up more time than I can spare.

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I find a couple of toys per year that I end up with off of craigslist. I may have to stop looking at craigslist soon because it is giving me a permanent headache. Yesterday I clicked on a 66 mustang for sale that the guy said was numbers matching with the original y block 289. A couple of days before that there was a guy with a charger that had a numbers matching 383 hemi from the factory. Then there are the cars that that are more rust than car, they have next to nothing salvageable left on them and the guy says this would make a great restoration project.

I just HAVE to ask, did the add really say "383 Hemi"??

Howard Dennis

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I have had great luck on CL both buying and selling. Bought my Desoto there. Sold my last two MGBs there. Sold probably a few dozen motorcycles in the last few years. I rice them very reasonable so 75% of the time the first person to show up ends up buying it. It is not the place to try and get top dollar. You will have 20 people come by and kick tires. I don't haggle. Price it fair and stick to it. If you have nice stuff it will sell quickly.

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I only use email with craigslist. I don't give out my phone number. It's much quicker to deal with people in an email or delete it entirely. I'm probably missing some customers/ leads but the time saved is worth it. Besides why listen to a guy ramble on about how good his car is when a photo puts it all in perspective.

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I haven't used Craigslist to look for cars in a year or more. Now I see you can search by a year span which is a nice improvement. I used 1903-1966 I was just surfing it for possibly something new to replace the 36 Chrysler and 48 Plymouth Convertible. Wow the junk on their and personalized cars is amazing, obviously wrong interior , no woodgraining, .Aluminum paint bumpers and chrome, Crappy late model hubcaps on cars they are touting as survivors. (And guys were complaining the radiator shell on he A Phaeton I looked at was Chrome instead of Nickel) It's at the point where only one out of every 50 even seems to be like a decent car with no major issues. I can see glaring issues with most every one of them. Especially the survivors people are touting. A few actually looked decent until they showed under the hood. New paint, New chrome and an engine bay straight out of the titanic.

Please when selling a car for top dollar, Atleast vacuum the thing out. A well kept car shouldn't look like the inside of a minivan used to haul the neighborhood kids to and from school that hasn't seen a broom or hose much less a Vacuum in a decade.

Wow. Maybe I should have kept mine. I haven't even found anything worth inquiring into much less actually going to see in person.

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It is not just Craig's list. A month or so ago in Hemmings there was an add for a all original 32 Ford freshly restored: Vintage Air, 350 small block --------

 

 Right now in Hemmings there are two adds for a 1959 Pontiac Catalina convertible. One car is in Florida and the other is in MA. there is 10 grand difference in price and it's the very same car. How can one car be in two different places??? 

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 Right now in Hemmings there are two adds for a 1959 Pontiac Catalina convertible. One car is in Florida and the other is in MA. there is 10 grand difference in price and it's the very same car. How can one car be in two different places??? 

One ad is from a 'help-you-sell broker?...............

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Today's adventure:  I listed our 2001 Taurus on the local Craigslist yesterday for $1,450.00.   My ads state that I don't do email replies and to send your phone number so I can call you back.  I got a response fairly quickly, and, as I usually do, checked the phone number online to find out any background on the prospect.  Lo and behold, he's a flipper.  I told my wife I don't want to respond because we're heading down 'low ball alley' and it will be a waste of time.  She insisted so I went through the motions and showed him the car.   His number was $800.00, exactly as I predicted.   Needless to say, the car is still here.  The upside to this episode is that my wife agreed to not press me to call back on inquiries that are either bogus or a flipper.

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Today's adventure:  I listed our 2001 Taurus on the local Craigslist yesterday for $1,450.00.   My ads state that I don't do email replies and to send your phone number so I can call you back.  I got a response fairly quickly, and, as I usually do, checked the phone number online to find out any background on the prospect.  Lo and behold, he's a flipper.

 

What resource(s) did you use to determine that the buyer was a flipper?  I've used reverse phone number lookup etc., but unless you pay some sort of a fee upfront, they don't tell you much.

 

Cheers,

Grog

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What resource(s) did you use to determine that the buyer was a flipper?  I've used reverse phone number lookup etc., but unless you pay some sort of a fee upfront, they don't tell you much.

 

Cheers,

Grog

I punched the buyer's phone number into the search box on Craigslist and his other ads appeared.  Sometimes you have to enter the phone number in several formats to cover all the bases (for example (123) 456-7890, 123-456-7890,  and 1234567890).   In this case, the way he entered it in his reply is the same as he lists it in his ads.  I also punch phone numbers right into Google.  You get all the reverse-lookup sites listed, and other websites also show up with useful information.

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Harold,

 

Thanks, I didn't know that about Craigslist, but I guess a quick review of an advertiser's other ads would give you a good idea of whether or not he was a flipper.  I'll remember this in the future.

 

Cheers,

Grog

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CL has brought the bottom feeders my way......................

dont find it very useful at all.

 

I think bottom feeders are now called flippers and pickers. It has something to do with the bus and camera crew.

 

True bottom feeders need a lot more water.

80438189.jpg You'll know when the old style show up.

Bernie

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I don't really have a problem with flippers.  As long as they have cash and are quick and to the point. Don't waste my time or pick it all apart.  It's usually priced accordingly. Hey we have all done it at one time or another.  Now if you approach me about a car that says firm and start throwing offers for 1000's less ,  that gets under my skin.  Um Firm, means firm. Negotiable means negotiable but be reasonable. i won't discount something 50 percent.

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When I was learning to Buy/Sell from 1961 on, my Grandfather showed me, by example, to never take a man's last dollar. People buying used tires at the time had pretty thin wallets and you knew when the last one was rolling out. He would always hand it back. He told me that their was a lot a man could do with that dollar; buy a loaf of bread, a few slices of cold cuts, make a phone call. That last dollar had more value than all the dollars that came before. That concept is still my guide in many ways.

 

I have learned that there are identifiable groups of people whom HAVE to reduce a price. I have personal thoughts about the related genetics or social upbringing, but there are people whom are driven to denigrate whatever you have for sale. It is imperative that your price be reduced as a demonstration that you were unworthy of your asking price- even if the price was a bargain! That comes from over 50 years of observation. At this point I know the body language, accents, and voice intonations.

 

Once, some years ago, I had a car for sale and the phone in the kitchen rang during supper. I told the caller the car was sold. My wife said " I didn't know you sold that car." I said "I didn't" Then turned to my quite young son and gave him some selling pointers that she said I shouldn't tell a child. Hell, I learned the hard way.

 

One policy I do have is to never reduce the price without taking something in return. If the battery is new I will lower the price and put in a good older one. If the front tires are new I will keep them and put on good used ones. I will reduce a price and I usually tell a buyer "if you start plunking down hundred dollar bills on the hood it won't take all of them and we will both be smiling."

 

For the outright chiselers that cry and grovel for a nickel in their favor I usually tell them they may be too destitute to be in the hobby, I am not into charitable donations.

 

Of course, I always do smile when I remember my Grandfather's classic: "Well, I heard it's a piss poor man who won't go half way. I'll split the difference with you." Tell me that and I'll do it for sport.

 

Hey, I'm thinking about selling a car. Give me a call. Test the first screening.

 

Bernie

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