Was I wrong

Had some NIB rear sway bar end links for my Dodge Truck, turns out that I didn't need them. Posted them for free on Craigslist with "email me for address". Get two emails back-to-back wanting them. Respond to the first guy giving address and "Do you want them for sure? You're first in line." Dude responded to forget it that he wouldn't have asked for the address if he didn't want them. I responded that I only asked in order to hold them for him as I had someone else that wanted them, didn't mean to offend him. His response was he wasn't offended, he doesn't get offended. The only reason that I didn't tell him to go pound sand, is that he has my address. 

Was I wrong or was he just being an @$$? 

Nope.  Dudes just a dick. 

He's being an ass. There are so many flakes on CL, you're well within your rights to make sure he's serious.

Guys a Richard as my teenage daughter would say.  

He never wanted them. He saw free and didn't believe so he replied. Once his bluff was called and he found he really could get them for free he then had to show that he didn't want them. 

A cheap price (like $5 or $10) can often work out better than free.  Ask $10 and people will offer you $5 and rush to get them before you change your mind. 

I have spent many days waiting for A holes who said they were on their way over.

I no longer wait for more than an hour. I try to not give out my address until the person is actually in route. (as a preventative measure)

Waited up last night for some joker to pick up a regulator for his broke down Harley.

So many no-shows or way late arrivals, it's barely worth it.

I should have known the guy last night was going to flake, when he took offense at my attempts to help with diagnosis.

A similar situation I would have told the jerk to pound sand but he already had my address.

Even though in 20 years I have never seen a working Harley regulator fail by its self.

If the caller does not have the courtesy to respect my situation/time, I have little to share.

John Welsh (Moderate Supporter) said:

 

A cheap price (like $5 or $10) can often work out better than free.  Ask $10 and people will offer you $5 and rush to get them before you change your mind. 

This.

I find better people show up for a stupid cheap price than show up for free. Free they feel like they are doing you a favor. Free and you get people who don't really want it, it's just a thing they can grab that's worth something. Stupid cheap and theres an entry price.

I never put free. 

Don't give your address on CL. Meet in a public place.

I had a guy trying to get my address to come get a $50 water heater at 9PM. I told him I'd meet him in a nearby public place, and he started in with "that sounds like there's something wrong with it? blah blah, blah. I told him to keep walking, and congratulated myself for dodging a bullet. I mean, are you going to try to return it if it doesn't work? Or are you casing the joint? Coming over to gain entry at gunpoint?

  I hate thinking that way, but that E36 M3 does happen. Don't deal with shiney happy people.

Yeah, dude's just a dick.  Give em to the first person that actually shows up and don't worry another second about it.

I contacted a seller for some springs yesterday. I asked what size the I.D. was, he went to check and tells me. I offer 2/3 of his asking price and he's good with me buying 6 springs from his list. I want him to confirm he has the rates listed in the ad and he says he'll check to be sure he still has them. This morning the ad is gone and no message from him yet. I hate dealing with people who can't keep a simple commitment. Give the stuff to whoever shows up first.

I also never give my address. Ever. They can meet me at the Sheetz a half mile from my house. If the item isn't transportable then I scope them out and if my murder radar doesn't reach orange level I will allow them to follow me home. 

EastCoastMojo (Forum Supporter) said:

I also never give my address. Ever. They can meet me at the Sheetz a half mile from my house. If the item isn't transportable then I scope them out and if my murder radar doesn't reach orange level I will allow them to follow me home. 

This. 

I've usually done this, but the last time I let my guard down, and had a guy come to my workplace for a set of truck wheels. They weren't the prettiest, but I fully disclosed it in my ad, and priced them accordingly. The guy spent 2.3 seconds inspecting them, gave me the cash (no haggling), and went on his way. Two hours later, he's blowing up my phone, that they don't fit, have nails in the tires, etc, and wants his money back, and oh yeah, "my uncle is a cop". After repeatedly telling him no, and then ignoring him, he gave up. 

I just give them the address of the church down the road. I don't even tell them it's the church, I tell them to call when they get close. If they call, I tell them come down 3 driveways on the right, or I just drive up there. 

I see no problem

Do you really want them?  No.  Didn't mean to offend you.  I'm not offended.

I'd be pretty good with that exchange.

He did you a favour by giving you the OK to move on. You asked a question, he answered it.

He may have realized that it's not what he wanted, or that he wasn't all that serious, or that it was too far after all. You don't know. It's not a big deal. Don't make it one.  No need for the drama. You did ask the question for a reason and it's far better than waiting for him to not show up.

I'm not really sure what your question is, but I like your username

My local PD has a spot in their lot to meet for online purchases.  Call me crazy, but I'm not a fan of meeting people someplace.  My issue with it is now I've gone out of my way to meet them and if they don't show up, I'm that much more pissed off.

I just have them meet me at my house and it's me and Sig Sauer meeting them.  I have to say, I very rarely sell to strangers now, mostly its people I either know, or know thru the grapevine since I'm selling on a specific car group.

In reply to Steve_Jones :

I do a very similar thing.  I give them a street address with the tens digit off by one and instructions to call when they arrive.  
 

there is no house with that number so they can't bother anyone and when they text or call I just come out and meet them or ask them to walk a few houses down. 
 

that way they can't flake and show up later when I'm selling to the next person in line nor can they check out the house at another time if I'm not there 

You're not wrong. 

I meet everybody in a public place that isn't my house. I'm positive this works out better for everybody involved.

If you need to know where I live, you already do.

This is why most of the time I either try to find a local group to sell to, or just throw stuff away. Just not worth it for me. 

But on a local BMW group, I literally offered for free a belt/tensioner/special tool for an N55 since my 135 is gone.................I got exactly zero responses. Looks like I'm just going to have to throw it in the trash. 

I never schedule pick up on the same day.   If they ask where I am, I tell them I am right by village hall, and to let me know when they are 10 or 20 minutes out, and then have them meet me at said village hall or the library (which is right across the street from the village hall)



As for the the original post, the first guy found out he couldn't make any money off the end links  The second guy actually needed them.

Big secret I've found with CL and LetGo:  Never advertise something for free.  You'll get 30 responses and zero people come pick it up.  I had the same problem with some scrap steel and aluminum last month.  I could have taken it to the recycler and exchanged it for $10, but it's not worth the headache for me.  In the first three days I got 12 responses and I sent the address to all of them.  I still have the scrap.

I'm guilty of it too.  I comb through the free section looking for gems and I see car parts or filing cabinets and message right away only to realize 5 minutes later that those things are actually worthless to me.  If I saw your endlinks ad, I would have probably done the same flaky thing (but I wouldn't have been a dick about it).  I would have messaged, then never came.  I'm the kind of guy who likes to have random parts around that I can adapt to something.

Advertise them for $5.  That will weed out all the crazy people like me.  You'll only get people who see value in what you have AND only the ones who actually need what you're selling.  Then when they show up, just refuse the $5.  I do it all the time.  People are elated.  I've done it with mattresses (which you aren't technically allowed to sell).  I tried giving away a really nice queen set and got flooded with emails and nobody came for it.  I put it on for $100 and a guy reached out with a sob story about how his wife kicked him out and he needed a cheap mattress for his new apartment.  He showed up and tried to give me $100 and I refused.  He cried.

My friend's dad drives parts deliveries all over TX and was trying to get rid of one of those small tube TV/VCR combos.  He kept it in the back of his delivery pickup with a "free" sign on it.  When he stopped at a truck stop for a meal, he would just drop the tailgate to reveal it.  No one took it.  So he put a sign on it that said "$50, find me in diner."  It was gone the first time he stopped.  He psychologically increased its value and someone bit.

Sometimes you have to use money to remind people of how important this is to them so you weed out the tire kickers.  Advertising is all about making people value what you offer.  Saying it's free will remove the importance from even someone who needs that exact part.  It will psychologically tell them that it isn't important or worthless, but to someone who actually needs the part, $5 is a bargain.

My honest guess on what happened with Mr. Butthole in your example is that he assigned value to the part, your price was too good to be true, and he (not being internet savvy) assumed it was a scam and he was lashing out to the scammer because he wanted retribution in response to his embarrassment for falling for what he thought was a scam.