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So I posted a something on CL last night for $800. Those suckers are like $2k new shipped, so I thought $800 is a more-than-fair price for a 2-year old lightly used equipment. With the economy the way it is, especially Christmas season, I really didn't think I would even get a response.
Got an inquiry this morning. There was some haggling, and we reached a middle ground offer of $700, and they say they will come pick it up tonight after rush hour subsided. Phew! That was less painful than expected, as you know there are a lot of weirdos and spammers on CL.
An hour later, I got another inquiry. Had to tell him I haven't sold the item, but someone else said they are coming for it tonight, and I told him I'll let him know if the first potential-buyer is a no show. This guy wrote back and upped his offer to $850.
Sigh. Is it bad etiquette to cancel the deal with the first guy, and sell it to the second guy? What would you do? I know there's a very common thing of "first to bring cash gets the item", and it's not like there are ebay feedback to deal with. Do I have to worry about potential backlash? The first guy has my address.
Now I know why people post things on ebay despite the 10% fee. That's the route I should have taken.
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I will give you $900 for it.
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My own rule is that you stick with the first commitment you made, even if a better deal comes along.
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If you already agreed with the first guy then yeah it's kinda the right thing to do to. You probably should have told him you were going to wait a few days and see if you get a better offer or something but now I think you kinda have to honor your agreement.
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2nd Worst City in CA8938 Posts
I'd tell the first guy that you have another offer and if he can't top it then you're gonna sell it to the other guy.
Worst-case scenario deal falls through and you don't get to sell it to either of them, but who cares, you'll find another buyer eventually, and they'd probably pay more than $700. Patience my friend.
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That's the thing with the address, its up for grabs until you give someone the place where you live to come buy/sell whatever you got. Thought about this a while ago when I was in a few bands and had to buy and sell peoples used equipment on a similar site called kijiji and then deal with them in real life.
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On December 18 2014 07:02 Onekobold wrote:I'll give you 900 dollars and a hug
Offering $10 and 1000 hugs here
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Take the 850, its business, not personal.
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Yea, I know now I made a mistake by not waiting a few days. I honestly didn't think anyone would bite, since it's not some $30 console table or $40 guitar. Clearly I'm an inexperienced CL seller!
Thanks for the hugs, but I rather have the cash 
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On December 18 2014 07:22 Elurie wrote:Yea, I know now I made a mistake by not waiting a few days. I honestly didn't think anyone would bite, since it's not some $30 console table or $40 guitar. Clearly I'm an inexperienced CL seller! Thanks for the hugs, but I rather have the cash
I mean its your choice and everything. If you want to compromise I supposed you could tell the first guy you got a better offer and try to get him to go up a bit on the price and try to find a compromise amount. not something I would do personally but I think it's still better than just selling it to the second guy.
I still think you should just go with he first guy but in the long run it's probably not the end of the world if you don't do this stuff as a habit
I should clarify that I never use craigslist so I'm not sure what's proper etiquette or what's acceptable for it.
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Basically it's $150 vs being a trustworthy, dependable person.
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I don't know about etiquette or craigslist, but I'd probably go with the first guy. I think I'd feel like i already promised the item to him/her. But if you need the cash, call him asap to put him on hold.
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Sell to first person for sure.
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If you flat out told the first guy, "700$, done deal it's yours", it's a bit bad to tell him sorry I found someone else now, but it wouldn't really make you a horrible person or something, especially since it seems like even 850$ is a pretty good price on it. That's why with things like this you're generally supposed to say, "I'm ok with selling it for 700$ but I want to wait a day or two and see if I can get a better offer, hope you understand".
I wouldn't worry about the first guy having your address, it's not like he's going to show up with an axe and hatred in his eyes just because you changed your mind, but eh, it all depends on how big of a deal 150$ is for you.
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There will be no long-lasting consequences either way, so the choice is really up to you.
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i dont know how it is in your country, but in germany this isnt even a "craigslist etiquette", but you are legally bound by your first contract, since you both exchanged statements of intentions and you both agreed. "i offer for 700, i buy for 700"
We had a few cases recently where people started a 1 euro starting bid auction on the internet and only one person bet that euro before the guy canceled the action, resulting in damage payments for "value of item" -1 euro and this was about cars and stuff for several thousand euros.
So, even if you decide to be shady, the first buyer can probably screw you if he wants to.
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LaNague, Craigslist isn't ebay, it's not an auction, there's no bidding or no legal contracts or 3rd party arbitration (unless you make your listing that way). CL is a site for free classified ads. There's a paid option, but I think it's for job postings only(?). People sell houses on CL, I actually bought my car from CL in a city 3 hours away back in 2008.
It's not much different than a garage sale, where someone agree to buy your stuff and you agree on a price. But they will only pay you when they come back later with a vehicle to haul it. Fair enough. It's technically not sold until cash is in your hand and item leaves your property. So while you put the item on "lay-away", someone else walked by your garage and offer to pay more because they really really want the item. You tell them oh sorry someone else called dibs. Whether the first person will actually come back is still unknown.
So now you're at the mercy (too strong of a word, I know) of the first guy showing up when they say they would, with the amount of cash they said they would. And if that doesn't work out, then you hope the second guy hasn't walked out of the deal because he's pissed you made him wait.
It's also entirely possible that the two people are actually working as a team! Wouldn't surprise me one bit haha. Anyway, only 1.5 more hours to go!
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It's probably the same guy and after the second guy cancels you will be left for like $600 with the original guy.
But I think there's nothing wrong with giving it to the second guy since the first guy was below your asking price. But just call him up and say you'll do it for $800 if he still wants it since he kind of has dibs?
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EPT
