Good Craigslist Stories

[special-K]

So much negative stuff going on it gets me looking for the positive. Some talk about Craigslist like it's not worth it for the scams and flake out people. That's just people all over these days and we have to know how to deal with them.

Saturday evening I remembered I had been considering getting an inexpensive cap for my '72 for things like swap meets, some camping, and even using it for work by having a way to haul a little scaffold and longer ladders as well as keep tools dry in bed. So I look and find an aluminum (easy on/off) one off a square body with raw instead of modern black aluminum window frame and such for $80. I e-mail the seller and move on.

While I was at it I figured I'd post up some skylights, 1/2 round windows, and an elliptical one for sale. They were given to me and I am in need of clearing things out of a building I need to do work on.

So still that evening I get an e-mail from a guy and we set up him coming by at 9 am. Went to bed with no response from the cap guy.

My routine when getting up is plug the phone into the charger before leaving the bedroom. Huh? Musta left it in my truck. I'm doing my other stuff, drinking coffee, making a rare visit to this site, and other little household things in between. I still had no response from the cap guy, so I went to the post and found he had his number there to text. Oh yeah, the phone in the truck and it was about 8:45. Going out for it I notice a truck that appeared to be someone looking for a residence, creeping along and pausing a few times. So I run in the house real quick for a warm shirt since I had only darted out for the phone. I hear him pulling in as I go inside. Nothing wrong with being a tad early. Turns out he came from over an hour away.

He was a pretty cool guy about 5 years younger, lived down along the bay, came from a music playing family, played the guitar, and the skylights (which were NOS) were the exact model in his house. A couple need replacement due to condensation rotting the inside frame at the bottom. Now I had this stuff priced right to sell quick as a lot. We enjoyed a couple hours of good conversation, paid me my asking price, then went on his way.

Time to go text that cap guy. Maybe I can still do this today, which would be perfect since my shoulder was really hurting. As frustrating as it was, I wasn't doing jack that day in hopes of getting right for working Monday. This is very hard for me to do. I had actually planned to set up at a one day motorcycle swap meet right up till that morning when the pain was still bad. No way I was humping stuff into the truck, setting up, taking down, and putting things back that day. Take '72 off jack stands? No way I wasn't even doing that and the idea was to rotate tires first. No way!

I get on my 'puter the number and I see the guy had e-mailed. We talked and it was time to get going, now with fresh money I didn't have when I woke up. A couple hour drive away and even though my short cut had detours that led me to the middle of nowhere only to see an End Detour sign, I managed to find my way and get there within 10 minutes of when I said I would. And that's another thread I'd like to start about lame directions I have experienced in the last couple days.

So I call the guy after crossing the Susquehanna River and we meet at the convenience store right by Lincoln Hwy. He sees me come in, signals follow him, and we go to his warehouse. Another interesting visit. He had a motorcycle collection I got to check out and we chatted about an hour. I stop back at the convenience store to pee, he pulls in when I'm back in my truck, stops to say now I have beer money, and we part ways once more.

All this came together in less than 24 hours. I sold to the first response to my listing and was the cap guys first response and it all went smoother than a baby's butt. And I can now take my '72 to Spring Carlisle in a couple weeks... less actually.

Let's hear the good experiences

[Coley]

Fun stuff.....I have a good story....

I had been considering getting a used engine stand for a possible project...nothing specific or planned so I was just keeping an eye out.

Well, I'm on craigslist one morning and I see advertised a complete longblock 350 (mid 70's, truck engine in need of a rebuild)....on an engine stand for $75...includes the engine stand...lol.

Well...I don't need a complete 350...but I'm interested in the engine stand so you never know right? (...plus, for $75...lookin' good)

So I call the guy and make an appointment and head right over....maybe 5-10 minutes away.
As it turns out this guy and his Dad are local self-employed electricians and they are clearing out their shop...and then he asks me am I also interested in a 1-2 week old (new) hot water heater they just removed because the owner switched over to a gas one.

Well, as it turns out...I am thinking about it because our hot water heater is over 10 years old and is probably ready to go....so we swing a deal for $175 for everything 'all in'...the engine, the stand and the near new hot water heater/tank...and a real bonus, the engine adjustable removal/installation chain bracket still attached to the engine (near new).
Then he offers to deliver the hot water heater because I don't have room for everything in my truck....so he will follow me over to my place, which is great.
So we get to my place, he helps unload the hot water tank into the basement and there I am with the engine stand and the long block 350 still in the bed of the truck and the engine installation bracket.

Well, a couple of hours later I get a call from a guy I know in the truck hobby who is desperate to quickly find another complete 350 engine in need of rebuilding because the one he dropped off at the rebuilders in the past week is no good and the heads are cracked etc.

My response is...."I think I can help you out and I have a line on one that just came in" (lol).
I said not only that, but I can deliver it as well to your place... I can swing by tomorrow morning and drop if off for you.....$225 all in.
He says wow....great news, absolutely I'll take it.
So I swing by his place on sunday morning...the engine is still in the truck and he has a hoist to quickly unload it...ba-da-bing, there you go.

So come Sunday evening...I have my engine stand, a (near) new hot water tank in the basement ready for installation....and the guys who sold the motor included the 'still attached' adjustable engine installation top chain tilt/bracket....and I'm up $50 plus a fun story for my trouble, lol.

Sometimes things work out!!......because about 2 weeks later, my original hot water tank blew, lol.
Luckily I was prepared...

All good
Coley

[coveboy]

I got my 87 K10 from a good Craiglist deal. Story begins almost 15 years ago when I got a Honda Sportrax four wheeler as a birthday/Christmas present. I rode the stew outa that thing and it never let me down until I let it sit while I went off to college. As it sat, it began to deteriorate. The ethanol gas gunked up the carb terribly, so after an attempt at a rebuild (and learning it was FUBAR) I purchased a brand new carb for it off Craigslist from a local ATV repairman. Then school/work got in the way, and I let the bike sit another couple years.

Fast forward to a few months ago, I finally pulled the Honda down from my farm and began tinkering on it again to get it ready to sell. Cleaned it up real nice, fixed the brakes, all new fuel lines, installed the carb, and more. Did everything short of purchasing a new battery for it and began to lose interest. I had an itching for something new, so I posted it up for sale or trade as is.

Surprisingly my old non-running quad drummed up quite a lot of interest on Craigslist. After turning down multiple trade offers, I had a guy offer me a late 90's Ford Ranger. It had the v6, 4x4, and 5 speed. Seemed like a good deal, so I told him I was game. Well, he failed to mention a myriad of issues with both the truck and who actually owned the vehicle, so I backed out of the deal as it got sketchier and sketchier. The guy literally continued to call/text me for the following few days saying I had made a mistake, etc. until I sternly told him to stop contacting me. Literally the only time I have had a weird/negative interaction on the site, aside from the typical scammer emails.

That very same day I received a great email: "gotta 87 k10. 350 mated to somethin, 4x4, runs. want it?"

I immediately replied asking when I could pick it up, forgetting to even ask for details or pictures. In the follow up emails I asked the basics about its condition, and the guy seemed sincere and very straightforward with its issues. A few days later I rented a car trailer and road the hour and a half over to the Chevy. We met at a little country store, and I was glad to see the square body coming over the hill down the road to us. I gave the truck a quick glance and drive around the block, and then followed him over to his house. We talked trucks for a long time, and then he began to show me his collection. His daily was a sweet cat-eye and his brother had a badass z71 as well. Other than the k10 he was trading me, he had 3 other square body projects. I wish I had snapped some pictures, because one of these was one mean mofo. He had an early 70's C10 shortbed dropped a few inches with a killer built 383 stroker in it. Literally one of the meanest and cleanest sounding trucks I have ever heard. We swapped truck stories for a while, loaded the k10 on the trailer, and off I went with my new toy. The best part about the whole deal is I was only looking for a few hundred bucks for my four wheeler, but ended up with a running truck worth much more to me. I search through Craiglist every few days in hopes that some useful parts will show up on my dashboard, always spotting many gems I wish I either had a use for or the means to attain.

I've had tons of success with Craiglist. It all started when I once picked up a non-running wrangler for $150 (basically the guy needed it hauled off his property), and parted it out to profit $500. Used $250 of that to buy a non-running 03 Saab 9-3 sedan off craigslist, and the rest for Saab parts/tools. Got it running like a top and traded it for an 87 4runner, which I then sold to a neighbor for $3k about a year later. As long as you're smart and safe with your use of it, Craiglist is a wonderful thing.

[special-K]

It's a great resource. Same as everywhere, gotta know how to deal with people... of all sorts. A couple great stories. I know there has to be plenty, and absolutely NO bad experiences allowed HERE... OK? Plenty of that all over this site.

My story just got better. I just came to realize I'm supposed to be sleeping in the back of my '72 under that cap tonight after unloading and setting up what I have yet to drag out or even decide to bring! Holy kamoly! It's ALWAYS been the LAST weekend in April. I just posted in another thread about it seeming like "conventional" becoming extinct. There ya go!! Can't rely on much of anything these days. Gotta go, sun's coming up!

[a1vintage69]

I Love CL! The Law of Reciprocity.
As the story goes , this is the short version . an old guy buys a car to travel to work. a few months later he was coming home from a long week and many miles. suddenly his car is running very bad and he barely makes it home,bad spark plug cross threaded by po needs healicoated. the mechanic says it will be $400 to fix. in the meantime he buys another car to travel in. The other car is fixed now and he list it for sale for 4400 he has over 4900 in it . A nice lady comes to look at it for her daughter and likes it. so the guy says I will sell it to you for 4100 and he is taking a loss of 800 but knows the young girl should have a safe car for her first one. the lady offers the guy 100 to deliver across town and he says no thank you ,I will do it for free, so he does. They pull into the ladies driveway and there is an old super bug vw sitting there,Red. He said that is a neat old car and she said it needs some work, you can have it for free. so he took it home later with his trailer. he sells the car the next day for 800. The lady gave it to him free but he calls her up and says I'm coming over and gives her 300 and tells her thank you very much. The story doesn't end there. A short while later the old guy has recently bought another old Falcon Futura car and decides to sell it. He makes 3000 on this sale. The numbers don't lie 10% of 3000 is 300, 4100+800 is 4900. Does anybody else get this? if you don't please look up the Law of Reciprocity

[davischevy]

WE are sidetracking the point of the thread but I will circle back Tim I promise.

Law of Reciprocity. I never heard the term before, and I grew up the son of a building contractor. I'm sure my dad never heard the term either but he lived by the model. He always taught me to give just a little more than you agreed to do. The practice has served us very well.

A while back I went to an old salvage yard to pick some parts. The owner has a day job, and told me to get the part and leave the money with his elderly mother. I stopped at the house and prepaid her. While I was there I picked several more parts. I could have driven away and no one would have been the wiser, but I stopped back by the house and paid the lady a little more than I though the parts were worth.

Back on track.

I had a Mercedes listed on CL. I had a ton of interested parties, then a guy contacted me, asked some legitimate questions, and bought himself a very nice Mercedes Benz.

The fuel pump went out after we made the deal, and the guy had already arranged for transportation. I called and told him I wanted to cancel the deal at least until I could get it fixed. He asked what was wrong and what it would take to fix it. I told him and he said send the car on, he had a guy who could fix it.

[a1vintage69]

That trade story reminded me of a deal I did several years ago. I had this Suzuki 500 4x4 quad that I bought new had racks on it and a winch and tow bar. It cost me about $7500 but I never rode it it only had 300 miles on it. and was 6 years old at the time I decided to sell it. It booked under $4000 I was taking a big loss. So this guy calls me one day and says he's got a 66 el camino he wants to trade me plus he needs $1000 cash on top.The el camino looks good in the pictures and I tell him my quad is garage kept and super low miles. But he lives in Olympia Wa. and I'm in Cal. He tells me all his hunting buddies have nice quads and he really wants mine and his 66 is worth near 10k. So I agree to bring the 4x4 quad runner up to him. Man when I get there I can't believe he wants to trade his car and I wanted to get that loaded quick before he changed his mind. It's this Black 66 el camino with nice tires and wheels lowered a couple inches has a hot rod 350 in it. On the way home I get dozens of thumbs ups. Also when I sold the elky I got more than twice what my quad was worth. Happy ending.