So Craigslist.. How about some "Are You Kidding me Stories?"

I always get a mixed bag of nuts on CL. i run different adds from Buying, to selling, free stuff and services. So I get a pretty wide range of stupid, funny, and insulting emails. I don not post my phone number at all and most times I don't give out my number until I get the warm a fuzz.

Best one. I cleaned out a house and ended up with a bunch of craft crap (so i thought) I posted it for free and bunch of people emailed with will you bring it to me? How much stuff is it? Will you hold it for me? etc. Finally a lady came and got it and she actually told me there is good stuff in there and gave me $20. About a hour later I got this threading email from a guy who I told were the stuff was but he was too late. He sad it was illegal to offer free stuff on a first come first serve bases. Threaded me with legal action and bla bla bla. Said he was going to turn me into CL personal to have me band Bla Bla Bla.

Originally Posted by pwajunkie

I always get a mixed bag of nuts on CL. i run different adds from Buying, to selling, free stuff and services. So I get a pretty wide range of stupid, funny, and insulting emails. I don not post my phone number at all and most times I don't give out my number until I get the warm a fuzz.

Best one. I cleaned out a house and ended up with a bunch of craft crap (so i thought) I posted it for free and bunch of people emailed with will you bring it to me? How much stuff is it? Will you hold it for me? etc. Finally a lady came and got it and she actually told me there is good stuff in there and gave me $20. About a hour later I got this threading email from a guy who I told were the stuff was but he was too late. He sad it was illegal to offer free stuff on a first come first serve bases. Threaded me with legal action and bla bla bla. Said he was going to turn me into CL personal to have me band Bla Bla Bla.

so it would be perfectly legal to tell him to come on and get it after it's already gone... shoulda done it.

Originally Posted by pwajunkie

About a hour later I got this threading email from a guy who I told were the stuff was but he was too late. He sad it was illegal to offer free stuff on a first come first serve bases. Threaded me with legal action and bla bla bla. Said he was going to turn me into CL personal to have me band Bla Bla Bla.

I want to know how it is illegal to get rid of your stuff for free?

I ran into this many times. Here I am a guy who just wants something gone and wants to do a NICE thing by not trying to make a buck off it. I tend to put things on CL for free on my kids stuff that they have outgrown. I'm looking to "pay it forward" When my kiddos were little a lot of people gave us things.. We never even asked.. they would just say "Hey I have a bag of boys clothes my son has outgrown- you can have them" or Toys we got as say Christmas gifts like a tricycle. My daughter couldn't ride the thing anymore- so we gave it away.

I got so fed up with the Free section trying to help another human being out I nearly gave up on it-- until I devised a plan.

Recently, I tore down a deck around my pool as the pool went kaput. I was looking at a $300 bill in order to rent a dumpster or haul it myself- both were in the same ballpark for the amount of wood I had. It was about 98% good wood- 2x6's, 4x4's, spindles and 5/4 lumber. I wanted to put it up on CL but knew there would be a fight if there were any takers. I had already torn it down- they just needed to haul it out and I offered to help them load it all.

So I posted this in the ad with the pics:

"I will be taking the first to contact me IN ORDER. So if you are the first person to contact me- you get first crack at it, you take what you want and then the next person will have their shot. This way I don't have people fighting over it or hurt feelings."

It worked out perfectly. I had lined up 6 people who wanted it. First dude came and took it all.. then sent the other 5 a message letting them know it was gone.

Here's a funny CL story that I got to hear. It didn't pertain to me personally, but it was being done by a local scrapper that was getting irritated with another specific guy that he would always see loading up stuff just as he was getting there. Usually beating him by less than 5 minutes.

This is pretty tactful and funny, and since it didn't involve anyone else specifically, i think it's rather funny.

This guy waited until he saw a decent score pop up on craigslist for free, and he wanted it, but he wanted to make sure this other dude didn't get there and start loading up before he had the chance. So he immediately posted a picture and listing for free copper wire, and left a "at the curb on the corner of X Ave and Y St" kinda thing. 20 miles in the other direction. And when he got to the stuff he wanted, it was still there. He started loading it up and the other guy shows up just as he was finishing. He stopped and talked to him for a minute and the guy told him that someone else had just beat him to a decent load of free copper, so it just wasnt his day.

Couple days later, same scenario. The guy lists 400' of free chain link that was just tore down, of course in the opposite direction of the load this guy wanted again, and he got to what he wanted, loaded it up, and saw the guy again while he was pulling off. Said the look on the face of the other guy this time was more one of "you MFer". Old guy was starting to get irritated.

So the next day something pops up and he decides, he's just going to play it fair, take his time, see what happens. He gets to this house, and the guy is there about to load up a broken down rider and he feeds him some BS about how he just got beat to some sheet about 5 miles away just before, so now there is a mythical 3rd person involved that is beating both of them to their free CL scores.

This story is something that is still in progress, but I thought I'd share it because I laughed a little bit, and it was absolutely CL related. have a good one boys (and girls)

Originally Posted by sledge

So I posted this in the ad with the pics:

"I will be taking the first to contact me IN ORDER. So if you are the first person to contact me- you get first crack at it, you take what you want and then the next person will have their shot. This way I don't have people fighting over it or hurt feelings."

It worked out perfectly. I had lined up 6 people who wanted it. First dude came and took it all.. then sent the other 5 a message letting them know it was gone.

I started doing the same thing for the same reason. Works great. I give the taker a window of time then move on to the next. It is amazing how stupid people can get when you are giving something away...