I am selling my Outfitter Apex. Beware of scammers!

I had a Z06 Corvette for sale with factory warranty, 20,000 miles and description that was very long about how immaculate it was. I get some stupid questions about "your item" one of them asking what condition it is in even after a long description and lots of photo's. It was one of those "I work on an oil rig and will send a cheque" BS stories. I then send back this message:

'" I must be honest with you about the condition, it is not very good any more as I used the car to haul logs on my farm and the front end is smashed up a bit. Right now I have the windows down and am using it for a chicken coup and it is quite shi#ty inside. The price is the same. Do you still want it? " Guess what the answer was? " YES." These guys are idiots.

mkirsch wrote:

daveshan wrote:
The most common theory about these types of responses is these "your item" replies are email harvesters. They try to get you to reply outside of craigslist's anonymous response sytem then they have a valid email to sell to spammers.

Wow, that's an awful lot of work to go through for just ONE email address... Even if it's automated.

What's an email worth to "legitimate" spammers, who will pay money for email addresses? A few cents?

The hourly wage for harvesting emails through answering craigslist ads would be pathetic. You'd earn more working at McDonalds and the work is easier.

FAR more likely is this person is looking for a "BIG SCORE" by working some angle. One way they like to do this is to send you a fake cashier's check for way more than your selling price, then ask you to forward the extra on to a third party, or refund it. By the time the check is identified as a fake, they're long gone and you're responsible for the money you sent.

I get the feeling you're thinking of a guy sitting there tapping away on a keyboard, this is the computer age, very easy to setup a program to email "I'm interested in your item" emails. A few thousand proven email addy's is worth $$$$ to spammers.

Only meet with serious buyers who ask a lot of item specific questions, and take someone with you, to a public place, parking lot, etc.

daveshan wrote:
The most common theory about these types of responses is these "your item" replies are email harvesters. They try to get you to reply outside of craigslist's anonymous response sytem then they have a valid email to sell to spammers.

Wow, that's an awful lot of work to go through for just ONE email address... Even if it's automated.

What's an email worth to "legitimate" spammers, who will pay money for email addresses? A few cents?

The hourly wage for harvesting emails through answering craigslist ads would be pathetic. You'd earn more working at McDonalds and the work is easier.

FAR more likely is this person is looking for a "BIG SCORE" by working some angle. One way they like to do this is to send you a fake cashier's check for way more than your selling price, then ask you to forward the extra on to a third party, or refund it. By the time the check is identified as a fake, they're long gone and you're responsible for the money you sent.

Sold my boat on CL. First response was a scammer. Was offering to purchase sight unseen with payment by PayPal. I responded at the first reply, with a valid email address, and shut him down on his second response. Never heard back from them again. Third response to my ad go me the buyer. They showed up with over $7K in cash, and drove off with my boat....Overall, I'm pleased with selling on CL, I've sold several household items. Rarely deal outside my area, so I need to see and touch the money before I sell.

I thought all CL was for was scammers, you mean that people actually sell stuff there????

I listed a few items and my photography services and have looked for a few items and all I got was scams, have not actually sold anything or did any business on CL.

- I am at work and selling this for my mother / grandmother / aunt / uncle and will ship.

- I am overseas as a missionary and need to sell my .........., will ship at no charge.

- I will send you a check and if you could send any extra to my mother who is a widow and has no kids. (Still working on that one)

- Need to sell to pay school fees and I am willing to ship to you for free and will see you this for only $1000. (Was valued at $50,000???)

- I am a fish biologist and work up in the Arctic and will have a friend send you the truck tomorrow if you send money today.

- My daughter is getting married in ...... (some exotic place) and insists that you do her photos as she will have no other. Please price out your bestest package and all extras that you have. Will send a check and you keep what you want and send rest to catering company in India for me using one of your trustworthy checks.

- I want to be seller of all your products. Please send large list of products and costs and I will send you check as soon as I receive all products.

- I love your product that you have listed as sale on web. Will pay as much as you like for product using Paypall as this is true company. Send your product and I will pay when I see.

- I look for your item for long time and not find. Please only sell to me. I send check today for full price and shipped, once you get check send rest back to me in your check and I be happy.

- You are a honest person and I want to sell you this for a great price, send me $500.00 and I will send to you next day ship for no charge and you will still be honest person.

wnjj wrote:

kerry4951 wrote:
Stick with ebay and pay the sales fee. It's protected and they have a great security dept. I don't waste my time dealing with Craigslist scammers just to save a little money.

People still use eBay? As a buyer, I'd much rather find something local so I can see it before buying. Craigslist has worked fine for me for many things including vehicles.

I also have sold things like a nearly new hot tub cover. Who would buy that off eBay? It's not about the cost. It's about finding the right buyers.

I have over 900 sales and purchases using ebay. Never had a problem. Sold and bought everything from jewelry to heavy equipment. My brother just tried to sell a mini van and a motorcycle using Craigslist but got disgusted with all the scammers. He had me list both items on ebay and they both sold with no problems, and they both sold to local buyers. Alot of buyers who watch Craigslist also shop Ebay, so they watch both venues. Cost him a few bucks for selling fees but he was happy. Buying or selling large items is no problem with companies like Uship out there. They will pick up and deliver anything, and since they have to bid out their charges, you can get great prices for shipping.

kerry4951 wrote:
Stick with ebay and pay the sales fee. It's protected and they have a great security dept. I don't waste my time dealing with Craigslist scammers just to save a little money.

People still use eBay? As a buyer, I'd much rather find something local so I can see it before buying. Craigslist has worked fine for me for many things including vehicles.

I also have sold things like a nearly new hot tub cover. Who would buy that off eBay? It's not about the cost. It's about finding the right buyers.

Ive bought and sold and never had a problem, I bought my Dodge Diesel and 2 TC"s so far on there this year alone. I have encountered scammers but they were not a problem, One came across just like the OP said his did. And when Im going to a strange place I never tell them what Im driving in advance. And don't go alone.

I have items currently listed and it's interesting to see which ones catch scammer attention. I have been playing with wording to see if I can find a pattern if I relist the item. So far I have not found why some are more of an attraction.