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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 $800 if he still wants it since he kind of has dibs?
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In the future to prevent this dilemma, simply tell the first guy who offered and arranged a meeting, yea you got it unless someone else doesn't come and get it before then.
This will do a couple of things for you.
1) It gets the person psychologically, makes it urgent and scarce in their mind and they will make better arrangements to get it asap.
2) It allows for contingency of new offer to come asaply as well.
3) Re-email the first guy and say someone else has just offered more and/or will pick up sooner. This will give them incentive to do something if they want it badly enough.
Every time I've ever bought anything off of CL, I went to pick it up ASAP to prevent anything like this and make it as easy as possible for the seller.
Imho, I wouldn't feel bad or obligated to the first buyer if they don't have the same mentality as I do when buying shit. (because in most cases, I did my research and found a deal and want to snatch it up before anyone else does).
Got a fridge worth 100+ for 50$, got a bench press setup worth 1000$ for 100$, etc.
In the event that they both give a time to pick it up at on around the same time, or can pickup immediately, that would be a little more difficult. However, I'm sure a lot of people would honestly say to sell it to the guy who is offering much more than them if they were told someone else was willing to pay more etc. It almost becomes an auction at that point, nothing wrong with that.
TL;DR write more concise emails, and be honest with everyone.
PS- having bought and sold a lot of things through CL, I can tell you that lots of people flake, so first come first serve should always be the mode.
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TLADT24920 Posts
First guy for sure. You basically promised to sell him the item so there's no backing out unless he doesn't want it anymore/doesn't show up then you can at least make a case and go for the second guy.
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Where is Kwark when you need him?
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Tell the first guy that you're really sorry but that someone offered $850 for the item. Maybe you can turn it into a bidding war.
I don't think morally it's all that bad of a thing to go back on the first deal because the buyer never actually came to pick it up. Sure it's not completely right but due to the semi-anonymous nature of CL it's more about whether you could live with yourself after doing it. I know I could, $150 is $150
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On December 18 2014 10:13 MarlieChurphy wrote:
In the future to prevent this dilemma, simply tell the first guy who offered and arranged a meeting, yea you got it unless someone else doesn't come and get it before then.
This will do a couple of things for you.
1) It gets the person psychologically, makes it urgent and scarce in their mind and they will make better arrangements to get it asap.
2) It allows for contingency of new offer to come asaply as well.
3) Re-email the first guy and say someone else has just offered more and/or will pick up sooner. This will give them incentive to do something if they want it badly enough.
Every time I've ever bought anything off of CL, I went to pick it up ASAP to prevent anything like this and make it as easy as possible for the seller.
Imho, I wouldn't feel bad or obligated to the first buyer if they don't have the same mentality as I do when buying shit. (because in most cases, I did my research and found a deal and want to snatch it up before anyone else does).
PS- having bought and sold a lot of things through CL, I can tell you that lots of people flake, so first come first serve should always be the mode.
Guess I need to grow thicker skin. 
What's your definition of first come first serve though? First to arrive at your location with cash gets the item? First to contact you and make same-day pickup arrangement? So it's okay for someone who lives 5-min away to cut in line of someone who lives 90-min away, who could only come after work? (I guess this is kinda what happened here)
You do make a good point about the psychological aspect of things, on the trick to get people to act faster when they think there's competition, whether true or false competition haha. It's something I never thought of because I don't sell on CL that much [evidently]. Haggling is also something I rarely do, because if I felt something is overpriced, I don't even bother responding to the listing. Like you, I don't buy anything on CL for more than 50% of what it cost new.
Yep, there are tons of flakes. I've had a flaky seller who wasn't even there when I show up to his place. And don't forget the weirdos... who wanted me to bring the item to them at the airport. I've also had a woman called me a horrible person because I wouldn't hold an item for her until the weekend.
Lesson learned
(a) never accept the first offer on the first day of posting, especially on expensive items
(b) it's apparently better not to respond to emails promptly
(c) it's not personal, it's business - something Joe Fox (F-O-X) said haha!
Really should have post it on ebay, let the system deal with bidding wars, and just pay the 10% fee. I would still come out way ahead, based on what it's going for, and what it sold for on ebay in the past 90 days.
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What's that from (C)?
PS- most recently I had a couch, from an office that was nearly brand new. It was worth over 200$ and I was listing it as 60$ with lots of pics and specs, and offering to help lift/move but not haul it.
I listed it for over a month, with tons of flakers until finally a smart lady came to swoop it up.
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Someone said in the previous page: "it's business, not personal." But that quote is from the movie You Got Mail.
Yea, letting the item just sit there for weeks is what I'm trying to avoid. I priced an item for 800, when it's going for 1.1k on ebay, to move it fast... and ended up being a ginormous loser. Anyway, it was sold to the first person, who didn't even show up themselves. They sent their son, who was an hour late, which annoyed me even more.
(I think it's their son anyway, based on the brief talk with him, and when he was on the phone with a woman confirming things. It also sounded like this wasn't his only CL pickup either, which is none of my business. Maybe they are professional flippers.) =o *I immediately regret my decision*
What a weird and unfriendly person that was, probably impatient because mom sent him driving so far to pick things up. I saw him looking around my garage for whatever reason. Dude also scratched it against my garage door while hauling it onto his truck and he didn't even care. The whole thing is just so weird.
Thanks for listening and the feedback, guys. I know what not to do next time.
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On December 18 2014 09:25 Elurie wrote:
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!
In some countries written / verbal agreements like this are applicable in a court of law. (Both ways, so if he agreed then didnt buy, you could pull the same shit.)
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On December 18 2014 07:31 Alzadar wrote:
Basically it's $150 vs being a trustworthy, dependable person.
When you put it that way, $150 sounds pretty attractive.
I'd just say "Hey dude. Someone offered me the amount that I was actually asking for. Sorry." I also wouldn't worry about him having your address. 999 times out of 1,000 he'll be a rational person and that won't be a problem. Civil gun ownership exists for the 1000th time.
Edit: I see you went the "trustworthy, dependable" route and learned a lesson about people who low-ball.
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I was right. They are flippers. It's already up on ebay for $1599.
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On December 19 2014 05:51 Elurie wrote:
I was right. They are flippers. It's already up on ebay for $1599.
now time for a story twist: you buy it from this very auction for 2,1k!
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Why would I do that? To give these dicks more money? You know them? Are you one of them? Feel free to gloat. I'm a fucking moron for letting them have it for $700, someone else would be an even bigger moron if they pay more than what the manufacturer charge for a new one. I hope their dirty storage gets flooded, too bad monsoon season is over. Fuck ethics.
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On December 18 2014 22:19 Elurie wrote:
Someone said in the previous page: "it's business, not personal." But that quote is from the movie You Got Mail.
Ever see The Godfather?
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EPT
