Post your funniest/most bizarre/scariest Craigslist story...

[Fentonite]

Just saw this. Someone doesn't like Grauburger.

https://denver.craigslist.org/mcy/6052751589.html

And because it'll be deleted soon, screenshot attached.

[BladesNBarrels]

Thanks for the Grauburger posting. Made me laugh.

My experience was really strange.
I listed a console safe for a Tahoe I had traded off. Was asking around $100
Got a response from Illinois that the buyer would send me the money and a friend would pick it up.
It had been listed about a week without any real action.
I said sure, when his check cleared, his friend could meet me and get it.
He sent the check to my P.O. Box. $1,500
His number had been disconnected, but I got a call from a different number. He said cash the check, keep $200, give the console safe and $1,300 to his friend.
I googled the bank on the check and it was in Virginia. The address and company name on the check was in South Carolina.
No phone number on the check. Googled the company and called - no answer.
I got another call from the buyer from another number (the second number was disconnected) asking if I had cashed the check and could his friend get the console safe and cash.
I said no, I could not accept his check and had sent it back to the originating company. He called a couple more times from a 4th number, which I did not answer.
No further calls.
I did sell the console safe to another buyer within a couple of days.

[KevDen2005]

I've sold several things and bought a couple from Craigslist, no real issues.

A few years ago I sold my pickup truck which I put everything on it that I knew, including a small rust spot (which wasn't visible, but I knew was there) on the door and a broken light behind the dashboard, The tires were also getting close to replacement. Otherwise the truck was tip top. I bought the truck used but it had low miles and ran great. I had installed a hitch on it but never put a trailer brake on it and never towed anything. My goal was to get a ATV or two and do so but never did. When I put it on Craigslist I got a lot of replies. I met with the first guy who low balled the crap out of me because the tires only had 7500 to 10,000 miles left. I passed on his offer. The next guy called me and seemed very interested asked me a ton of questions and started arranging a time to see it. He had to call me back and did so the next day or so and asked even more questions about the hitch. I said well it would need a trailer brake or light set up before you tow anything as there is no electrical for the hitch yet. Then he proceeded to tell me that if he bought it and I lied he would show up to my house with a gun. I actually very calmly informed him that I am a police officer and a firearms instructor and if he showed up in front of my house with a gun to do me harm he would be found in front of my house when the police arrived. He hung up. Two days later he called back apologized for his comment and said he was still interested in the truck. He arranged a place to meet nearby my house (less than a mile) and never showed. I sold the truck to a very nice maintenance worker who paid nearly full price.

[KevDen2005]

Thanks for the Grauburger posting. Made me laugh.

My experience was really strange.
I listed a console safe for a Tahoe I had traded off. Was asking around $100
Got a response from Illinois that the buyer would send me the money and a friend would pick it up.
It had been listed about a week without any real action.
I said sure, when his check cleared, his friend could meet me and get it.
He sent the check to my P.O. Box. $1,500
His number had been disconnected, but I got a call from a different number. He said cash the check, keep $200, give the console safe and $1,300 to his friend.
I googled the bank on the check and it was in Virginia. The address and company name on the check was in South Carolina.
No phone number on the check. Googled the company and called - no answer.
I got another call from the buyer from another number (the second number was disconnected) asking if I had cashed the check and could his friend get the console safe and cash.
I said no, I could not accept his check and had sent it back to the originating company. He called a couple more times from a 4th number, which I did not answer.
No further calls.
I did sell the console safe to another buyer within a couple of days.

I think I get more fraud attempts through Arms List than through Craigslist. I can't count how many times I have posted something or inquired about something and something like this answer is what I got.

[thvigil11]

I was up in denver a couple months ago and wanted to check out a truck on craigslist. Price was right for the description. Guy on phone said truck was at auto shop where it was getting detailed and we agreed to meet there about 7pm. I showed up, and waited, did a walk around and truck was unlocked... OK. Guy shows up in a truck with a whole crew of 4 others. Hands me keys but doesn't get out. I walk over and try the keys, they work the door, but the battery on the truck was dead. Go back over to the "Owner" and tell him battery was dead. One of the crew asks if I have the money. I let him know I didn't get a chance to get to the bank. Another crew member says we'll meet in the morning, they'll bring a new battery, I bring the cash and we'll do the deal. Now the whole time my spidey senses have been going nuts, even when checking the truck, I never took my eyes of the "Crew". I let them know I'll call them in the morning if I'm still interested and we leave it at that. Never called back. Pretty sure if I'd mentioned or flashed cash, I would of been rolled that night.

[Dave_L]

I was up in denver a couple months ago and wanted to check out a truck on craigslist. Price was right for the description. Guy on phone said truck was at auto shop where it was getting detailed and we agreed to meet there about 7pm. I showed up, and waited, did a walk around and truck was unlocked... OK. Guy shows up in a truck with a whole crew of 4 others. Hands me keys but doesn't get out. I walk over and try the keys, they work the door, but the battery on the truck was dead. Go back over to the "Owner" and tell him battery was dead. One of the crew asks if I have the money. I let him know I didn't get a chance to get to the bank. Another crew member says we'll meet in the morning, they'll bring a new battery, I bring the cash and we'll do the deal. Now the whole time my spidey senses have been going nuts, even when checking the truck, I never took my eyes of the "Crew". I let them know I'll call them in the morning if I'm still interested and we leave it at that. Never called back. Pretty sure if I'd mentioned or flashed cash, I would of been rolled that night.

Thats a scary situation and pretty clever. They know the area, plant the car with a dead battery so you cant get away in it and you dont know that til you're out of your car. Bring your crew and you can have easy targets all day/night long.

[Martinjmpr]

I sold a Motorcycle on Craig’s List this past summer and it wasn’t worth the headache. I got a tidal wave of Scammers, Crazy low ball offers, or complete time wasting responses verses real inquiries. It was literally a 20 to 1 ratio of bullshit to real inquires. I eventually sold the bike to an upstanding CL buyer but I don’t think it justified the torrent of retardedness to get there. The ability to sell things for “Free” on Craig’s List isn’t worth the headache. At least not to me.

I have purchased a few things off of Craig’s List with mixed results. For the majority of the transactions it went smoothly. But there are some flaky nut cases out there that can waste a lot of your time.

Here is a flaky nut case time waster CL story……

I found a motorcycle I wanted to buy from a guy on CL. Contacted him and checked out the bike in person. We negotiated and agreed on a selling price, shook hands on the deal and then planned to work with our banks to officially close the deal. The next day the guy calls me and says he isn’t sure about selling it and needs time to think about it. I give him a week to think about it and he says yes to the deal again with a slight bump in the negotiated price. I agree to the price bump and schedule a time with my bank to do the closing and he no call no shows the meeting. I tried calling him a bunch of times that day but couldn’t get in contact with him. I finally hear back from him a week later and he has all of these excuses about being busy with work and still not sure about wanting to sell it. He once again agrees to sell the bike at the agreed price and I setup another closing date with the bank a week later. He then cancels the day before the closing. He finally fesses up that he really didn’t want to sell the bike all along and was just seeing if there was interest from others in buying it. This whole monkey show wasted a month of my time not to mention time taken off work to hammer stuff out with my bank. All the while the bike was still listed on CL and he was still taking offers on it from others.

This is why I would never buy something off of CL that had to be financed or that already was financed. I did it exactly once (sold my '04 Tacoma while I was still paying for it) and while it worked out OK, it was a real hassle.

Now I wait until my vehicles are paid for and I have a clean title in my hand and THEN sell them. Makes it much easier and simpler.

[Martinjmpr]

OK, here's another question: we sold the old washer and dryer for $100 back in January and the guy walks up and hands me a $100 bill. Now I've heard that there is a lot of counterfeiting going on and obviously if you're going to counterfeit, you might as well make it a big bill, right?

Near as I can tell our bill was genuine (at least the bank accepted it) but it got me to wondering....

It occurred to me that buying and selling on CL would be a good way to spread counterfeit money around since it's usually cash transactions with strangers. So does anyone use one of those "counterfeit detector" pens to make sure the bill is genuine?

Except I've heard that there are now some sophisticated counterfeiters who make bills that will pass the "pen test".

[KevDen2005]

OK, here's another question: we sold the old washer and dryer for $100 back in January and the guy walks up and hands me a $100 bill. Now I've heard that there is a lot of counterfeiting going on and obviously if you're going to counterfeit, you might as well make it a big bill, right?

Near as I can tell our bill was genuine (at least the bank accepted it) but it got me to wondering....

It occurred to me that buying and selling on CL would be a good way to spread counterfeit money around since it's usually cash transactions with strangers. So does anyone use one of those "counterfeit detector" pens to make sure the bill is genuine?

Except I've heard that there are now some sophisticated counterfeiters who make bills that will pass the "pen test".

I've actually seen more small bills being counterfeited, $10 and $20. Sometimes a $100. Smaller bills are less suspicious. If you use a pen I have been told the counterfeiters are putting chemicals on the bills to make the pen take longer to show effect or not work at all. I always check for the security strip. It will tell you the actual amount of the bill you have...say if a $10 bill was bleached and turned into a hundred dollar bill. The security strip will still say $10. Most bills I have seen are obvious in a number of ways though.

[BladesNBarrels]

Actually, I have used the pen the last couple of years. A friend gave me one he had picked up from his bank.
I saw the story on 60 minutes or somewhere saying that some counterfeiters have found a way to fool the pen.
I am thinking I will print out the other ways of detecting fake money - fibers, printing, etc.
I am interested in what others do.
Thanks for bringing this up.