I put my car on sale on cragslist and a guy responded with an e-mail. He agreed on paying the price. Now he is offering to wire me the money. I said you don't even want to see the car what the heck? He said he is under house arrest in Philly so he can't really see it and I have to bring him the car. I shut him down of course but I wonder if this guy was a scam artist or what. Weird little world we live in. I decided to take off the add and trade the car in with a dealer after this incident.
we just had an incident here with people leuring other people with a car sale on craigslist,only to beat and rob them. I wouldn't trust that in any way
And interestingly, this was my first ever attempt to sell anything on cragislist. I then read some reviews and stories about cragislist and found out criminals are crawling there. If that's the case, how the heck craigslist is still so popular and makes crazy money?
A friend of mine had the exact same experience with selling a couch (twice), and like you each time he shut down the transaction immediately. I have to admit I don't really understand the premise behind this (why wire money? why not just come to the seller's house and assault him there if that is the intention?), but it seems pretty clear that these are shady deals.
You should have proceeded with the purchase as intended. I think it would have been a pleasant experience for you. Or use ebay.
Same thing happened to my wife and I when selling some stuff several times. They keep trying but we shut them down.
I have sold cars, houses, vacant land and other less expensive items on craigslist. Of course you need to watch out for the scammers but it is a resource many buyers use these days so if you want to sell something you should use it.
Anytime they ask you about wiring money then just cancel the deal. We were selling an item and the guy said he'd wire us an extra 300 dollars to cover the costs of shipping, but then we would pay it back to him. I said nah
I still close with a title company for the sales so there is really no risk. Of course meeting people at a vacant house by yourself if something to be careful of. For rentals I have gotten a few of those that want to wire the money sight unseen and I usually just ignore those emails.
So what is this with wiring the money? What does it mean? I backed off because my guy said he can't see the car because he is under house arrest. He even offered to give me his bank account and routing number and that I should pull money from there. Well apparently this guy was dreaming of raping me when I brought him the car. Poor fella maybe didn't know I was a 283 LBS big guy with a fat ugly ass and a beer belly.
Why would anybody intentionally meet a stranger with no bonafides at all and cash or property at risk? I mean seriously, you've got an asset worth say $5K and a complete stranger says lets meet somewhere private and do a transaction. Doesn't that just have alarm bells jangling all through your head? And if not, why not? Do you just "trust" people not to do you harm if they're given the opportunity? My assumption would be that every anonymous stranger wanting to see me and my money is at a minimum looking to rob me blind.
I have very little experience with craigslist but it seems that people expect to buy stuff there for almost nothing. I put up my bike there about a month ago and all offers were about 50-60% of the asking price. So, I removed my ad and put it on eBay instead - greater exposure and much safer.
Bought my current car off craigslist. I met the guy in a public place each time to be safe, but I was able to save about 25% over what a dealer wanted for the same model in similar condition/mileage. If your smart about things it's a great tool.
i've bought and sold things on c.l. and have gotten a job off of it. theres alot of scams but if you are patient and use some common sense it can be a safe resource. anyone who says they will take it sight unseen isn't replied back to. anyone who wants to meet at their house or at night is out too. true story, my sister was selling her car on c.l. she found a buyer who met her at her work and looked at the car,decided he wanted it said he could pick it up that friday from her work. she was than going to have said stranger drive her home. i almost smacked her when she told me her plan. the transaction went through easily and i picked her up from work that day.
One of my favorite things to do on Craigslist and it works quite well in Vegas because there are a lot of really dumb girls is post fake ads about making amatuer porn and you'd be amazed how many skanks are willing to send naked pics of themselves to me. Most of them weigh 200+ and are ass ugly but every now and then I get a really hot one and I actually had a legit pornstar Lucy Fire send me pictures.....I know I'm a degenerate but at least I let the girls down easy and tell them they're not what I am looking for. If you ever want to see the whackos that come to Vegas and live here check out the casual encounters postings in Vegas.
