On Facebook a few months ago a friend of mine from childhood was bemoaning people who post in the free section of Craigslist with "unreasonable expectations." Basically, she was mad people who were giving stuff away for free wanted the people to pick it up at a particular time, or without help from the giver, etc., AND she had a lot of support, other people talking about the condescending attitude of people giving away their free Craigslist stuff.
Which is why anything I don't want goes to my cleaning lady. And she sells it set the flea market or something. I had no idea people browsing for free stuff demanded an equal and respectful exchange. I mean, I guess people can be condescending in a free section, or might imply there is a lack of equality, but that's because there is inequality. One person is giving stuff away and the other person is, well, complaining about the conditions on he free stuff. Pay to play assholes.
But really. Is this a thing? Are the poors up in arms over the attitude of the riches on Craigslist?
Wait, people are up in arms that they may have to put forth some effort to get free stuff? Like show up at a certain time or actually load it up themselves?
You don't have to be rich to give stuff away on Craigslist.
I was being in TIC.
Probably so. But you've seen an episode of Hoarders, I'm sure. People are irrationally attached to their stuff. Lol. I might get a little haughty if I ever need to unload my favorite track suit from 1994. It still fits and is in great condition!
Actually, fuck that. I intend to be buried in that thing.
When we moved into our new condo, H and I listed some stuff of CL. WE sold one of those huge IKEA bookcase/room divider things to some college girls. They came to our place, oohed and aaahed over it but had no way to get it to their place. We told them we had a truck (for moving) and could drop it off to them for an extra $20. Deal.
We go and drop it off and they realize it wont fit in their house door assembled. We had already exchanged money, driven it out to them, and unloaded it. H told them that was their problem to figure out, he was done. We left it on their lawn with the two of them staring at it like dumbasses. Never again will we try to help out. Come pick this shit up otherwise we drop it off at Goodwill.
Wait, people are up in arms that they may have to put forth some effort to get free stuff? Like show up at a certain time or actually load it up themselves?
If so, the people you know are crazy.
They do. I have tried to give stuff away before. Apparently, I wasn't working hard enough for them.
(no, no one actually said THAT, but that was the attitude.)
"You. You and your crazy life. You and your geographic anomaly. You and your drunken lesbianic ways and terrible navigational skills." - ProfArt and her holy baby
When we moved into our new condo, H and I listed some stuff of CL. WE sold one of those huge IKEA bookcase/room divider things to some college girls. They came to our place, oohed and aaahed over it but had no way to get it to their place. We told them we had a truck (for moving) and could drop it off to them for an extra $20. Deal.
We go and drop it off and they realize it wont fit in their house door assembled. We had already exchanged money, driven it out to them, and unloaded it. H told them that was their problem to figure out, he was done. We left it on their lawn with the two of them staring at it like dumbasses. Never again will we try to help out. Come pick this shit up otherwise we drop it off at Goodwill.
I just wanted to tell that story
Something similar happened to me yesterday. Someone offered to pay me an extra $5 to deliver a headboard they wanted. Cool. I got there, unloaded it, etc. The total was supposed to be $25 with the very upfront stipulation that I only wanted cash and wouldn't have change. They lady was like, "Oh hey, I only have $23. Is that cool?" Yes it is only $2, but it was the principle of it. I didn't want to deal with reloading it, etc, so I let it slide, but I was tempted to say no.
When we moved into our new condo, H and I listed some stuff of CL. WE sold one of those huge IKEA bookcase/room divider things to some college girls. They came to our place, oohed and aaahed over it but had no way to get it to their place. We told them we had a truck (for moving) and could drop it off to them for an extra $20. Deal.
We go and drop it off and they realize it wont fit in their house door assembled. We had already exchanged money, driven it out to them, and unloaded it. H told them that was their problem to figure out, he was done. We left it on their lawn with the two of them staring at it like dumbasses. Never again will we try to help out. Come pick this shit up otherwise we drop it off at Goodwill.
I just wanted to tell that story
Something similar happened to me yesterday. Someone offered to pay me an extra $5 to deliver a headboard they wanted. Cool. I got there, unloaded it, etc. The total was supposed to be $25 with the very upfront stipulation that I only wanted cash and wouldn't have change. They lady was like, "Oh hey, I only have $23. Is that cool?" Yes it is only $2, but it was the principle of it. I didn't want to deal with reloading it, etc, so I let it slide, but I was tempted to say no.
Why would you deliver a headboard for $5? You're lucky you got $23. You had sucker written all over.
Wait, people are up in arms that they may have to put forth some effort to get free stuff? Like show up at a certain time or actually load it up themselves?
If so, the people you know are crazy.
They do. I have tried to give stuff away before. Apparently, I wasn't working hard enough for them.
(no, no one actually said THAT, but that was the attitude.)
If you have cool free stuff, I will come and get it. I will even load it up myself. And as long as it isn't during the work day, I will come whenever you need me to.
Something similar happened to me yesterday. Someone offered to pay me an extra $5 to deliver a headboard they wanted. Cool. I got there, unloaded it, etc. The total was supposed to be $25 with the very upfront stipulation that I only wanted cash and wouldn't have change. They lady was like, "Oh hey, I only have $23. Is that cool?" Yes it is only $2, but it was the principle of it. I didn't want to deal with reloading it, etc, so I let it slide, but I was tempted to say no.
Why would you deliver a headboard for $5? You're lucky you got $23. You had sucker written all over.
Because it was like 3 miles away from my house. I thought I'd be neighborly. Not again.
I once posted a big ass console Tv on Craigslist for free and said first come first serve. Some lady had the nerve to complain that it wasn't there when she got to my house 6hrs after I posted it. I hate stupid people.
The attitude was on the part of the recipients. They perceive attitude by the givers. But I think the scavengers are the weirdos. I was hoping for stories of ingratitude. TOTS and fryjack are playing along appropriately.
I'm on some FB groups for buying stuff and I see people all the time try to talk the seller down to truly ridiculous amounts and expect the seller to cater to the buyer for times to meet and even demand they deliver the items to them. I've even seen "guess you don't want to sell it bad enough". No, I guess you don't want to buy it bad enough. Or people will post a sob story about how they need the item for free. Um, maybe the seller really needs to sell the item for something important.
Post by thinkofthesoldiers on Nov 11, 2013 21:54:23 GMT -5
Before we moved last time, I posted a bunch of stuff on freecycle. I told people that the stuff was on the curb. First come first served. Some lady emailed me and asked me to move it all back inside until she could get there to look.
When we moved into our house, we had 4 shrubs that we put on CL for free. We specified in the ad that person taking them would have to remove them and need to bring their own shovel and containers/tarps for transporting.
A woman showed up with no shovel and no tarps/containers in a teeny little car that I have no idea how she would have fit them inside wanting the shrubs. She asked if she could borrow our shovel and if we might have some old sheets or towels she could warp around the root balls. Yeah, we told her no deal. She got so mad. DH had to ask her to leave. It was pretty crazy.
Before we moved last time, I posted a bunch of stuff on freecycle. I told people that the stuff was on the curb. First come first served. Some lady emailed me and asked me to move it all back inside until she could get there to look.
I think you know my friend. That was the general point of her rant. People should be more accommodating of her schedule - she does have to work- when giving a way free stuff.
I search the Craigslist's Missed Connections every once in a while to see if I missed a connection w/o even knowing it. lol. I've spent the last half hour or so (however long since Elle posted this) doing just that.
Post by VeryViolet on Nov 11, 2013 23:00:28 GMT -5
This is why I just don't deal with Craigslist and on the rare occasions I do I put stuff out with the trash and do a curb alert. I still get stupid ass emails but I just ignore them. I have a friend who is Craigslist obsessed and she drives all over the place to buy and sell shit for like $10. I will keep throwing shit away and buying stuff on amazon where the ups man brings it to my door.
I've sold an insane amount of shit on Craigslist and I learned very quickly to pick and choose buyers based on how well they present themselves in their initial email.
The first thing I ever sold on CL was a car. I had a guy who was interested but wanted his mechanic to look at it. He got really shitty because I wouldn't take time off work to take the car to his mechanic. Then he got pissed because I wouldn't let him pick up the car and drive it to the mechanic. I was asking $3500 for the car, about $1k below book value; and he offered $1500. He had a list of reasons why I should reduce the price- a tiny nick in the paint, "maybe" needing new brake pads in the next six months, etc.
After that I started being more firm in my listings; but even with the second car I sold on CL, people were asking me to set up payment plans for them, hold the car, etc. It was a small gas saver and I had something like 25 inquiries within one day.
There was another guy who wanted to buy a weed eater we had for sale. The first time he contacted me he asked if we would take half of the asking price. The second time he contacted me he offered to pay the full price if I would meet him in a nearby town 15 minutes away. I told him I would meet him at XYZ gas station right off the interstate. Come to find out, he wanted to me to drive to a town of the same name, in another state, three hours away. I was all "why the fuck would I drive three hours to sell a $75 weed eater?!?" Dude was totally offended that I wouldn't make the drive for him.
I search the Craigslist's Missed Connections every once in a while to see if I missed a connection w/o even knowing it. lol. I've spent the last half hour or so (however long since Elle posted this) doing just that.
I listed a lot of decent furniture on Craigslist before we moved and it was hit or miss. Some people were very cool about it and then there was the chick who was getting very impatient with my H as he was trying to get our table and chairs to fit in her truck. A lot of heavy sighing and irritation that he was having to ask her to adjust her seats so he could get it in safely and properly. He wanted to make sure it was safe for her and her young daughter but she was incredibly inconvenienced by how long it was taking him.
I must be lucky. I have had such great CL interactions! My H thinks I'm crazy for messing with it. I sold our moving boxes on CL for $40. He thought no one would ever go for that, but some lady was soooo happy to get them.
Ive sold a few things on CL and never had these types of problems. People always counter offer but its within a reasonable amount of the asking price.
Once at a yard sale I was selling the W/D because we had better ones when we moved in. This family wanted them, we turned them on and showed them that they worked. They took the W/D home. They bring it back later saying the washer doesnt work and we guaranteed the appliances so they want their money back. It got into a huge shouting match between the husband and my DH and his cousin. We ended up taking it back, fixing the small issue (some cable was disconnected) and reselling them on CL.
I have found that you cant give away free furniture. At least not to family. I went through a period of downsizing. I got rid of a couch, bakers raker, entertainment stand, and a couple desks. DH's nephew was setting up house and came and saw the stuff and said he wanted it. Dh was going to deliver it for him. He was suppose to come load it with dh. Dh loads it himself and nephew never shows so Dh drove it right to the goodwill. Crazy
Post by OrangeBanana on Nov 12, 2013 10:29:52 GMT -5
I sold my car a few years back on Craigslist. It was a smaller car that got fantastic gas mileage. I had the strangest calls about that one. One lady wanted me to hold onto the car for a WEEK so she could come look at it. She was on vacation and the car was perfect for her son. Ummmm NO. I sold my car in one day to a college aged foreign exchange student. He wanted to take it to a mechanic to have it looked at and I knew for a fact that nothing was wrong with it and I told him that. It would have been a huge pain in the ass where I live to get it to a mechanic and he was kind of pushing me to figure out how to do all that. I handed him a phone book and asked him if he needed to use my cell phone. Then he was shocked that I asked him to pay me in cash. The add specified that I wanted cash. He didn't understand why and I had to give him the run down on how Craigslist works and how you have to be careful. I give him a pass on that since he hadn't been in the country long.
However, I did have one very positive Craigslist experience. I listed a outdoor toy for free one time. Just wanted it gone. Had a really nice guy call me and tell me he would be there in an hour. He was there in a half hour and handed me $20 and told me to use it to buy my now older kids something fun for outside. There really are some nice people out there still!