Craigslist: the good, the bad, & the DERP!

[quickfingers818]

Most legit ad and best deal in CL history

orlando.craigslist.org/vgm/4366112970.html

No way thats real. I think fritz is right on the money on this one. Had it happen to me on a few occasions. Kinda gives you a false sense of excitement thinking that it really is that cheap only to find its just a scam

[TDIRunner]

http://stlouis.craigslist.org/vgm/4398137686.html

Word.

"It goes for this on Ebay so I think I can ask that on Craigslist then get pissed when someone lowballs me". When you sell something on Ebay you have to take good pictures, write a description, set shipping and price, and usually wait a week if you do auction style. Then Ebay takes a percentage of your selling amount, Paypal takes some, and you have to pay to ship the item.

On CL you have posts like this, "I have a Nitendo with like 4-8 games, I looked these up and know what they worth. 100 obo". COUNT THEM AND LIST THE DAYMN TITLES! Take some pictures with a camera and not your shitty phone. Then if youre going to use Ebay you need to look at "Sold Listings", you cant just type in your item and look at the first few items. Anybody can ask whatever stupid price they want. Doesnt mean thats what the items actually go for! Then since this is free Craigslist and you wont be accepting Paypal or mailing the items you need to basically go about 50% of your price! People lowball you because they will actually take the effort in making an Ebay listing and will deal with all the fees associated in doing so.

PS1s, Gameboys, Gameboy Colors, Sega Genesis, and a few others are basically worthless BTW. Any PS2 or PS3 will play PS1 games. A Gameboy Advance will play any GB or GBC game. Sega rereleases their Genesis games on EVERYTHING! Sports games dont add any value to your bundles unless they are the current year because noone wants old sports games at all! Ive noticed alot of people think theyre stuff is rare and its always something that sold millions and millions of copies! Rare items are Limited Editions and old games that are still sealed or complete in the original box.

Use your brains people! Craigslist is not the place to expect Ebay prices. Its purpose was to be like an online yardsale where you try to just get rid of stuff you dont want for cheap. Make an Ebay account if you want what "its worth".

Mod Edit, just slapping this here before the CL post goes down, so people can know what was said.

[Blumpkin]

I love watching the posts that start with a lofty "PRICE IS FIRM" statement. Then after weeks of listing the same thing over and over again it becomes half the price with "OBO" attached. lol

[Jeff]

http://stlouis.craigslist.org/vgm/4398137686.html

Word.

Ouch, saying the genesis is worthless Even though sega is an emulator whore.

[Dr.Agon]

http://stlouis.craigslist.org/vgm/4398137686.html

Word.

actually LOL'd!

[TDIRunner]

http://stlouis.craigslist.org/vgm/4398137686.html

Word.

Ouch, saying the genesis is worthless Even though sega is an emulator whore.

That was the one part I didn't like. But I see what he was getting at.

[wiggy]

I'm 100% with that guy. Buying on CL is a complete chore. I recall buying Mario Party 1-3 sometime last year and the ad for them was the worst ever. Guy listed "I have a lot of games, ask me for specific titles". First off, if you know what titles you have, then fucking list them. Them when I managed to get a list from him and I told him what I wanted from the list, he goes "well I'm not really trying to sell them right now, so you'll just have to make me an offer". The fuck?!  Shit didn't even make sense. Anyway, I made him an offer which ended up being a pretty good deal. Still, the process was nauseating. Don't even get me started on trying to sell shit on CL. Some guy offered me 1/4 of what I'm asking for a lot of broken 360 consoles then had the balls to tell me I'd have to bring them to him because "he doesn't drive".  Oh, ok. Sounds like a good deal for me.

[Thom Grayson]

The worst is when they show up at the meeting with half of what they agreed to bring, expecting you to take it because it would be 'a waste of time to come out here for nothing!'

That is unspeakably irritating, especially because they are (in my experience, at least), really smug about it, as if they've pulled a clever trick.

[larryinc64]

I'm glad I did not have to much trouble with CL people.

When I got my Rockband Beatles set, the guy came without the dongles, calming he lost them, but took off $10 from $50 to $40 and tossed in a guitar stand.
I gave him $45 to be nice, but then I found out when I got home the dongles go for $30 instead of $5. Still came out with a ok deal.

[mojoeskateco]

I sell on Kijiji a lot and I'd say about 75% of the people that reply lack basic reading comprehension and common sense.

I make my asking prices very clear and also state that they have to pick up at my place and state the area that I live in.

The questions I get asked the most are:

1. How much for item "x"? (as opposed to making an actual offer based off the price I've put)
2. Where abouts are you located? (The add says the area of the city I live in along with the postal code)
3. Can you deliver here? (It says right in the add that I don't)

The worse is when people try and lowball you on a low priced item and then ask you to deliver it somewhere half an hour a way.  Common sense should help them figure out that no one in their right mind is going to burn an hour of their time and gas $$ to sell something for $5.

One good thing is that there lots of lazy people that don't take a picture of everything they have or take the time to list things.  I'll usually take the 2 mins to ask and sometimes I can snipe a good deal this way.

[wiggy]

^^^ YES!!!  All of that is EXACTLY the sort of BS that I experience. Learn to make an offer, morons.

[mojoeskateco]

I once had a deal lined up and then the guy wanted me to look up the bus route to my place for him.  I just gave up at that point.

[quickfingers818]

I sell on Kijiji a lot and I'd say about 75% of the people that reply lack basic reading comprehension and common sense.

I make my asking prices very clear and also state that they have to pick up at my place and state the area that I live in.

The questions I get asked the most are:

1. How much for item "x"? (as opposed to making an actual offer based off the price I've put)
2. Where abouts are you located? (The add says the area of the city I live in along with the postal code)
3. Can you deliver here? (It says right in the add that I don't)

The worse is when people try and lowball you on a low priced item and then ask you to deliver it somewhere half an hour a way.  Common sense should help them figure out that no one in their right mind is going to burn an hour of their time and gas $$ to sell something for $5.

One good thing is that there lots of lazy people that don't take a picture of everything they have or take the time to list things.  I'll usually take the 2 mins to ask and sometimes I can snipe a good deal this way.

This here is exactly why I just choose to purchase games on eBay. I'm sure a lot of you guys are thinking, "man what an idiot, he's paying market value for his games," but I honestly prefer to not deal with idiots and weirdos on Craigslist. Why go through the hassle of arranging to meet up with a complete stranger who may be wasting your time when I can buy my games at the comfort of my own home with just a few clicks of a button? And keep in mind when it comes down to it, yeah you are paying a premium for games but if it makes you happy then price is no object (unless of course it interferes with your life expenses). I just recently purchases Mighty Final Fight for the NES and paid close to eBay going rate for it and I got a lot of crap from a buddy of mine. But if I really wanna play the game and it makes me happy to have it in my collection then whats the big deal? Its not like 70 bucks is gonna make me go broke.

[mojoeskateco]

I find buying isn't as bad.  There are some sketchy people but usually they are too dumb to fool you into thinking they are legit.

I can tell by the tone of most emails who I am dealing with.

As for paying a premium to get something good like MFF - I'm all for that and do it quite often. 

ebay isn't much of an option anymore for me as their international shipping program is just retarded expensive for Canadians now and the majority of the items I want are in the USA.  Also there is a chance that I get hit with a customs fee and HST when the item shows up.

I'll use NintendoAge and the local retro shop which is basically priced the same or lower than ebay prices but without the shipping and I can inspect the items first hand.

I basically have two streams of $$ to put towards collecting and I put them towards different things.

I give my self a budget of about $60-$100 per paycheck to spend on newer games which allows me to pick up the Collector's Editions that I want for current gen stuff.

I also hit up thrift shops, yard sales, look for lots online, and keep what I want and resell what I don't want - any profit here goes towards expensive retro titles that I want for my collection.  I find it's easier to pay market price with "free" money.  I realize that it takes lots of time to buy and sell stuff but I like it and treat it more as a hobby that makes me some extra cash to grow my collection guilt free

[TDIRunner]

http://stlouis.craigslist.org/vgm/4362185183.html

This is an interesting ad.  He is open about the Game Gear not working.  However, if it is unreparable, I still think the games, cases and A/C adapter alone are worth the $20.  I talked to him today and we are going to try and meet next week.  If I can get it working, I will be really happy.  I'm looking for a Game Gear that I can mod to get video out to a TV.