Shady?
Shady is when someone asks a buyer "How much is my old dining set worth?" and the buyer says "I'll give you $100 for it!" knowing it's worth $2,000. Then he buys it and turns it around for $2,000.
Not shady: owner says, "I'm selling this dining set for $100." Buyer says ok and turns it around for $2,000.
On Craigslist you have people offering things for sale, not asking what they're worth.
It's SO easy these days to research the value of what you have. It's ridiculously easy. That's also why there are far fewer bargains around. I just can't feel sorry for anyone who hasn't done the research and I applaud anyone who is willing to scan the Craigslist ads several times a day for probably weeks on end in order to snag a deal or two. I don't have the patience.
It does take work, even if it seems like sheer luck. I've gotten incredible deals at estate auctions over the years (like the two Panton Flowerpot pendant lights that I got for $1 and flipped on Ebay for $600). What people don't see are the thousands of hours I've spent standing around in cold and heat on concrete, closer than I prefer to people with coffee/cigarette breath, hunting through boxes of stuff with mildew and/or mouse droppings on it.
It's not as if the deals just drop into your lap, is what I'm saying.
Then there's the hoax CL listings...read on...
It was just this last Christmas Eve;I saw a listing for a "Mod Vintage Chair".Pictured was a Hans Wegner Papa Bear(!!) chair(no footrest) with kind of a Salmon/Coral colored fabric,touted as "all original".The seller explained he was getting a Barco-lounger for Christmas and wanted to be rid of this chair,"Come take it away for $50.00"was the quote.WelL,I just about had a seiuzure as I emailed (and included my phone number)-I was probably the first response,because it was about 10 minutes after it was posted.The seller was located in the next town over,so I was poised and ready for the "kill".Well,the response never cam,after one hour,two, then three.I was exasperated,as I must have fired off about 5 emails...Nothing.Then,the Saturday after Christmas,here's the listing again.The "seller" explained he tried to list it on Christmas Eve,and the tree blew out the power in the house.He then added,I have my new Barcolounger,so the chair must go,and,here's the kicker.He further stated,"My wife says she will dig out the ottoman from the garage".Gaaaah!Again,$50.00 cash.Again I furiously emailed,left my phone number,and expectantly waited.Then a response from Craigslist which was the coup de grace-the seller left no contact information.Total hoax city-aaargh! To think there's people who expend their time and energy to tantalize.-What cheek!
That's a nice bed
Riki. Clever and logical design, and apparently well made. It would be great if this guy got all the business he wanted.
BTW, I don't believe there are people who don't know what they've got -- there are just some who are less avaricious, or more humble, than others. . .!
Of course there are people who don't know
the value of what they have.
If you suppose these folks too humble & benevolent to sell at market value, why would they even SELL at all-- why not list in the "free" section?
People frequently allude to a belief that profit of this nature (buying at price A/ selling at price A X 10) is dirty, greedy, wrong. Rarely will anyone supply any sort of reasoned argument as to WHY they believe it to be wrong.
If I sold
If I ever sold things on Craigslist I made sure to make some sort of difference from when I bought them. For example - if I bought a bunch of dusty, dirty shells I made sure to clean them up, buff out a coat of wax or fiberglass polish, and steel wool the legs. If any screws were missing I replaced them, and if any feet were missing I'd buy rubber boots for the legs.
My goal was to take the inherent value of something and reveal it in a way that would justify the price I was asking. I have no problem raising the price on an item if I spent 4 hours buffing out chrome with steel wool.
I scan CL at least once or...
I scan CL at least once or twice a day. I used to be much more vigilant. As far as furniture goes, it's simply not practical to buy, say, a Wegner sofa and try to flip it. Unless, of course you are a dealer, which I am not.
That's why I try not to get too worked up when I see the flipping that goes on on CL. It makes me chuckle when I see someone try to flip something before the body is even cold, particularly if it's something BIG like a sofa. Most of the time, they ask such ridiculous prices that it sits there for weeks before they give up. When I think about that Wegner sofa sitting in some guy's garage with his wife yelling "Get that thing out of here! I want to park my car", I smile even more.
My wife has a rule...I find something I like on Craigslist, I buy it. But something else has to go. Seems like a reasonable rule to go by...neither of us can stand clutter, though I have more of a tolerance than she does.
So, yes, I buy incredibly cool, often poorly-described, expensive furniture on the cheap on Craigslist. If it needs it, I put in some elbow grease to get it looking good. And then I evaluate it..."is this Grossman coffee table a better fit for the space than the Florence Knoll coffee table?" If this answer is "yes", the Knoll goes up on CL. If not, the Grossman goes out on CL. (for the record, I have neither, though I do have a sweet 8' FK t-angle bench NOT acquired through CL).
I never gouge on CL...nobody ever responds to it. I sold several really nice Eames aluminum group chairs (I'd bought as a set for a song) for well-under dealer prices. I ended up keeping one. But I didn't give them away...the trick is finding a price point that makes people think..."hey, this is still a good deal". I more than made up the cost of the one chair.
The one thing that does raise my ire is when someone posts something with no intention of selling...they do so to find out what it's worth to people. When I smell this practice, I just tell them "not worth more than $50" and move on.
fm
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