As for Craigslist, I have had good experiences with selling and buying. You have to be good at weeding out the good buyers. Also, beware of a deal that’s too good to be true. Stolen stuff is sold on ebay and Craigslist. If the item is missing main original accessories, that’s a red flag.

It’s just not worth it to risk inviting someone into your home to work on your property. And the sob story which is lacking in any offered skills in seriously sketchy. Point them to a charity and sell your item to a fair buyer.

I’d skip #3. Tales of disappointed children are a stock in trade for scammers. I can’t afford expensive gifts for my kids (most this Christmas are unopened items I bought at rummage sales) and I would never ask someone selling a high-ticket item to just up and give it to me. There are lots of options for poor families, freecycle being front & center. I also agree with the poster who pointed out that the recipient would still need to purchase the pricey games to go with it. IMHO, it’s not a legitimate request.

You know, if you really want to help some kid this year, contact a local children’s hospital & see if there’s a particular patient whose family is in a tight spot or if the hospital itself could use the system.

Forget it. The item’s going in the garbage. If someone really likes it, they can pick it up off the curb.

Also, I work in a bank…I’m sure you are all smart enough to never, ever send money back via wire transfer or money order for an “overpayment”…it’s always a scam! So are secret shopping and foreign lotteries. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to explain “No, you did not win the Australian lottery, since A) You’ve never been to Australia, B) You did not buy a ticket, and C) You can’t legally play foreign lotteries in the US. Sorry, you did not win $1 million.” or “sorry, your secret shopping job just cost you $3000 out of YOUR pocket.”

Sometimes that hopefulness just outweigh’s people’s common sense.

But luckily the quirkiness of the local users allows me to smell a scam artist a mile away.

If someone isn’t willing to give you a local phone number don’t deal with them. And request the number in your ad. It saves you 1/2 a day to a full day of waiting around for them to email a number to you.

So… you can do that, but be willing to lower your price if nobody wants it for what you’re asking.

It’s like the Christmas donation trees where the kids are asking for expensive toys or game systems or computers. Pretty much anyone can sign up for them. We only take ones that are asking for practical items.

If you want to give someone $90, you have my PayPal…

Arranged to meet him during the day when the kids and other neighbors were all walking home from school – lots of people around. And I made sure he heard my rottweiler barking from the house, too.

The less people can pin down about your comings and goings, the safer you’ll be. And a big dog helps, too.

And I love Ikea stuff, too. If you buy the slightly more expensive pieces, it’s solid. Just avoid the $10 dressers and you’re good.

Always insist on speaking to the person live. CL is sketcheeeee

Cut to several weeks later. After plenty of emails and phone calls with more and more delays followed by assurances that he really wanted the item, but no follow-through, followed by his sudden lack of responses to my attempts to connect with him to transact the sale, I relisted it.

Almost immediately, he emailed me, upset that it was relisted when he said HE was going to buy it. I apologized, and said since I hadn’t heard from him, I’d assumed he was no longer interested. He insisted he was, and gave me a story about his VA check being delayed but as soon as he got it…

Needless to say, I listed the thing three times, and it is still sitting in my living room, unsold. It is a Fender 5-string banjo that I’d bought new, played maybe three times for 10 minutes each time before giving up in frustration. It was priced well, and it has a hardshell case.

What a waste. I should have said, “I’ll give you four days for you to collect your money, accept cash only, otherwise it goes back up for sale.” I honestly don’t understand the motivation for putting me through this runaround if he had no intention of actually buying it.

Another note: if someone sent a check for more money than the item was worth, I’d tell them I’ll ship once the check clears, then have the bank verify funds.

When we moved we decided to sell our mismatched, old furniture and a bunch of little stuff. We raised over 1000 to buy stuff for the new place with. Selling on craigslist can be frustrating, because many legit people will say they’ll come by and then never show, but all in all, it was totally worth it.

As for haggling, I’ve learned to list high and put OBO in there. Some people don’t like to haggle, and will just pay asking price. Other people seem to live for the dealing, and then I still get a fair price. Either way, it works out generally.

I think people get too attached to furniture. You don’t really need all that much, and it’s not ever so expensive that you can’t afford to give it away if you don’t like it.

It feels good to be starting over!

After reading scores of autobiographies and biographies of famous people, I came to a conclusion:

People that have a Destiny Life that impacts multitudes usually had a horrid childhood, ending up with a troubled early adulthood. They didn’t accept failure, didn’t get a bailout, but failed miserably, picked themselves up time after time and moved into Greatness.

My gut tells me this person is looking for free stuff to turn around and resell.

If you choose to respond (which I wouldn’t) suggest they contact one of the Children’s Christmas Charities: Toys for Tots, Angel Tree, Salvation Army, etc. Or check out http://www.charitynavigator.org

There are plenty of legitimate organizations out there helping folks like this and it’s a known problem that there are scammers who will take advantage of the financial crises like this.

I have been selling on ebay for 8 years now. I have had my share of “bad apples”, but more often than not people are decent and honest, and I have made a nice bit of money off outgrown clothing (children’s) and purged books, toys, kitchen items, etc. More money…less clutter…what could be better?! I have sold twice on Craigslist (after followings JD’s advice)…large items that I don’t want to ship….but I am always uncomfortable with it. I HATE having someone come to my house….it seems very unsafe.

I personally would not deal with offer #3. I apologize if it’s legitimate, but many previous posters have brought up valid issues to be wary of. I donate tons of stuff to my husband’s business every few months or so…to be distributed amongst those who need it most. Another good option is Goodwill, because they will make sure it goes to someone really needy…not a scammer.

Oh…and to those who think they will buy furniture to last “the next 20 years”…I agree with Robert…you will end up getting rid of the $5000.00 sofa (or whatever “nice” furniture you buy) other than a few favorites later, as your tastes and needs change. You will not want 3 children and a dog piled on your $5000 sofa…not that I have any personal experience or anything!

Robert, Please keep up the great posts!!

PS – you would probably make more money selling it on ebay…and wouldn’t have to deal with the scammers so much. They have to pay through paypal, or you re-list and get your money back from ebay if the sale doesn’t go through. Just a suggestion. If it’s a hassle, just find someone who lists already and pay them a commission.

When my fiancé said no, the buyer magically found enough cash to pay the asking price. Funny how that works. Nice try dude, but no.

But yeah. Cash only, face-to-face transactions, in public places if at all possible. Make that your personal Craigslist policy, and if someone tries to talk you into something different, just repeat “I’m sorry, but I will only accept cash in a face-to-face transaction.” If they can’t find a way to make that happen, they simply don’t get the item, oh well.

I would not deal with #3. I don’t trust unsolicited sob stories, and wouldn’t let an unknown person into my home. If you want to give something away for free, join your local Freecycle group (check Yahoo Groups). I’ve had great experiences there — good way to declutter stuff that is not in good enough condition to sell, or isn’t worth any money, but is still usable. And it makes me feel great to see someone else so happy with stuff that, for me, was just taking up space. (I have actually not met any weirdos yet, but I always meet people in a populated public place anyway.)

So let’s say the PS2 sob story is true… Giving them the PS2 would be encouraging a bad trait. If a father has no money to spend for thanksgiving or for any holiday, then he shouldn’t be thinking about getting a PS2 in the first place. He’s sending the wrong message to his child.

He should be thinking of getting basic necessities. People are more willing to give food for the holidays so everyone can celebrate no matter how small.

What’s next? PS2′s worthless without game discs so is he going to try and get those for free too?