We are in the process of cleaning up some items in our house that we don't need. As part of that process, I put a marble coffee table on CraigsList. It's an item that I can't ship, or even move very far, and can only be sold to someone local who can come pick it up. Hence my decision to try both some social media groups and CraigsList.
About an hour after I put that item up for sale, I received a text message asking me to get back to them at their email and let me know if I still have the coffee table that was on CraigsList for sale. So I responded as requested at their email, and said, "We still have the marble coffee table."
Later the same day, I received this response:
"Thanks for the response and am satisfied with the price and the condition on the list, kindly withdraw the advert from list and considered it sold. I will add extra $70 with the original price while you remove the ads. My husband will overnight a Cashier Check/ Certified Check drawn from a local Banks, and i will make the pick up arrangement as soon as you have the check clear and you have your cash, I would have loved to come and take a look and purchase with cash, but my work frame{nurse} is tight. So, I'll need you to provide me with the following information to overnight the Payment.
Full Name on the Check,
Full Physical Address
Final asking price and your cell# to get a hold of you
The check will be overnight to you asap and deliver to you within 48hours."
So all of us can tell from reading this that it's a scam, not only because of the crummy grammar and use of words that indicate this is not a local person (no one says "advert" here) but because they want information. So my response to this one was:
"No."
That was yesterday. Then this morning I received a text message that said "Handmade round marble coffee table - $500. Hi, do you still have the ad you posted on Craigslist for sale? your asking price is quite reasonable & affordable. I'm interested in buying it, let me know if it's still available. Amanda."
OK, that definitely sounds legitimate. So I said, "Hi Amanda - good morning. Yes, we just listed it yesterday and it is still available."
And then she immediately responded:
Argh. "Pickup agent?" Who even says that? She's a flight attendant that never gets a day off? She has a mover coming to pick it up and she hasn't even seen it? She wants my PayPal info?
So I responded, "Sure and I'm Angelina Jolie and I'm much too busy with my acting and children to provide my PayPal information. Have a good day"
So the moral of this story? I had originally allowed buyers to contact me via phone call or text because I thought it would be easier for everyone. But I just updated the advertisement to only allow emails (which are sent to a long Craiglist email address, not mine). I think this will weed out the cranks and hopefully only provide "real" leads.
So if you ever use Craigslist for non-real estate related items, you may want to consider doing the same thing.
Have a great day!
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