Why I Hate Craigslist

In an effort to clear clutter from the house (and the added benefit of making a little extra cash), the husband and I decided a couple weeks ago to put some stuff up on Craigslist. We’ve purchased a few items from Craigslist in the past, including a very nice coffee table and end table. We had a good buying experience so I was excited to get my Craigslisting on and see what happened.

What happened was complete and utter lunacy and irration. I’ve always had the sneaking suspicion that people in general were crazy. Craigslist only served to prove my suspicion. The interactions I’ve had with people (mostly via email) ranged from outrageous to weird to annoying. Below are some of my correspondence with Craigslist crazies…

Trying to sell my bridal crinoline, for $35…

Hi again, I haven’t heard from you and I am starting to get nervous because, as I stated earlier, I am getting married on Sunday and I have to have something by then. I am willing to pay the full $35 if you do not want to negotiate. I will also even come to your house to pick it up if need be. Just please let me know if the Crinoline is still available and if you will sell it to me.

This girl first emailed me on a Sunday, and I responded to her immediately. Obviously she didn’t get my email, and I love how she got a little testy with me. Bridezilla anyone? Turns out, the girl I had been emailing was in fact not the bride, but the maid-of-honor. She told me on the phone that she thought it would be easier to email with me in the first person as the bride…wow…talk about completely weird. I ended up asking $25 for the crinoline, but sold it to the bride for $33 (sucks when you don’t bring exact change and I don’t carry cash!).

Trying to sell 4 IKEA wine racks, each for $10…

great…i know this is crazy, but i am in greensboro…so i can meet you anywhere but if you are willing to come this way at all, anywhere off 40 just so that i don’t have to come into raleigh, that would be great…but if not, that’s fine too. i can’t believe the luck of finding one of these local. you can call me to arrange a time/place. anytime today before 6 would be best, if not, then maybe tomorrow.

WTF? Like I am going to DRIVE to Greensboro to sell a $10 wine rack (she only wanted to buy one). I would loose money in this transaction because of current gas prices. But, she did give me the option of meeting her that day, before six, as if I didn’t have full time job during the day. I emailed her back and told her that I would not drive to meet her, and that we could meet in Cary. I never heard back from her.

Trying to sell 4 IKEA wine racks…again…still for $10 each…

Hi Melanie. I’ve had something come up and am not going to be able to buy the wine racks from you. I’m terribly sorry. Good luck.

I had planned to meet this woman at the mall, but like she said, something came up.

Trying to sell a brand new vessel sink that we can’t use, for $100…

Melanie,My brother just called – I am so bummed out – we are not going to Cary Saturday. They just have too much to do and not enough fun stuff going on! I don’t know as I can convince my boyfriend with the price of gas to just go without making it a “visit my brother’s family” kind of trip. If the color is right, this would be perfect for our bathroom – just the right pop of color!! Let me see what I can work out – if we don’t come this Saturday, possibly next Saturday. I’m sorry for letting you know I was interested and then changing our plans. Have you had lots of other interest? Maybe if I can convince my boyfriend that this is PERFECT, we’ll come anyway! I’ll let you know for sure…thanks!

Again, we had made plans to meet in Cary and then I received this email. Wonderful. I even gave her my cell phone number just in case she were to come to town today. My phone has not rung once today.

The only transaction I had that went fairly smoothly was selling our dog crate that we bought for River that she only used once. I sold it to a nice man who was getting a puppy for his sons. I posted it for $100, and he ended up giving me $80. I was glad to sell it because it was definitely taking up a lot of room.

So, after all this, I’m $113 richer (not really – all the money has been spent on dog food and groceries). However, I have no future plans to post ANYTHING on Craigslist. Selling stuff is fine, but dealing with crazy people is way too much. I’ll save that fun for the yard sale we are planning.