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Craigslist - At least half seem to be flakes there
I don't use craiglist very often, but it has worked out a few times to buy and sell motorcycles, parts, and riding gear. I have learned to assume as a buyer or a seller than at least half of the people I'll be dealing with there will be flakes.
Lately I've only used it to find a new home for free stuff. Usually once my stack of empty moving boxes gets past 20 out in the garage I'll place a free stuff ad and someone will happily come claim them. It usually works well for furniture items too.
This week I'm replacing a tree in my front yard. It's an eight foot tall blue spruce that surely will be growing into my house in ten years, so I'll be putting a more normal tree in its place. I didn't want to destroy the tree if somebody else could use it, so I wrote up a craigslist ad offering it free to anybody who would come help me dig it up. It would be a lot more work to save the root ball of the tree than to destroy it.
BlueSpruce.jpg
I didn't want to include my phone or address, so it was a two step process, answer by email, I'll send a phone number, then call to make arrangements. I had four responses from enthusiastic people before pulling the ad. I sent the first one my phone number, waiting for a call - nothing. Sent my number to the second one - nothing. Wrote up a new message and sent it to all four - nothing.
So I cut up the tree to make it easier to take out by myself, got it out of there, and never did hear from anybody. I knew going in that this could happen, but it's still annoying to get four flakes who claimed they wanted it, but couldn't be bothered to make a phone call as the second step.
At least now I don't feel as bad about cutting up the tree - I tried.
I don't use craiglist very often, but it has worked out a few times to buy and sell motorcycles, parts, and riding gear. I have learned to assume as a buyer or a seller than at least half of the people I'll be dealing with there will be flakes.
Lately I've only used it to find a new home for free stuff. Usually once my stack of empty moving boxes gets past 20 out in the garage I'll place a free stuff ad and someone will happily come claim them. It usually works well for furniture items too.
This week I'm replacing a tree in my front yard. It's an eight foot tall blue spruce that surely will be growing into my house in ten years, so I'll be putting a more normal tree in its place. I didn't want to destroy the tree if somebody else could use it, so I wrote up a craigslist ad offering it free to anybody who would come help me dig it up. It would be a lot more work to save the root ball of the tree than to destroy it.
BlueSpruce.jpg
I didn't want to include my phone or address, so it was a two step process, answer by email, I'll send a phone number, then call to make arrangements. I had four responses from enthusiastic people before pulling the ad. I sent the first one my phone number, waiting for a call - nothing. Sent my number to the second one - nothing. Wrote up a new message and sent it to all four - nothing.
So I cut up the tree to make it easier to take out by myself, got it out of there, and never did hear from anybody. I knew going in that this could happen, but it's still annoying to get four flakes who claimed they wanted it, but couldn't be bothered to make a phone call as the second step.
At least now I don't feel as bad about cutting up the tree - I tried.
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