So I am a little afraid of Craigslist. I actually found my current job on Craigslist, so from the user standpoint I am a fan. Now, however, I am attempting to sell something on my buddy Craig’s list and that is a whole other ball of wax.
The object in question is my husband’s Yamaha Clavinova electric piano. The piano that he has played exactly once in the ten plus years that I have known him. This is the piano equivalent of the car that the proverbial little old lady drove only to church and back. Actually it was driven, I mean played, even less than that. It is pristine and should really be used by someone. In the past we might have donated the piano to some deserving organization, partly out of philanthropic urges and partly out of sheer laziness. But in all honesty, we could really use the cash right now. So we (and by “we” I mean “I”) have listed said piano on the list that belongs to Craig. That was the easy part.
The not so easy part is dealing with the responses. Some are totally appropriate in nature. How old is said piano? Is said piano still for sale? But the gentleman who emailed me at least 8 times to ask if I would accept less than half of what we were asking, well that was a little freaky. The thing is that I am convinced already that everyone who has responded is a scam. While the huge disclaimer that Craig puts on each response to the ad is appreciated, it also puts me immediately on the defensive.
- CRAIGSLIST ADVISORY — AVOID SCAMS BY DEALING LOCALLY
- Avoid: wiring money, cross-border deals, work-at-home
- Beware: cashier checks, money orders, escrow, shipping
- More info: www.craigslist.org
Accck!
So are they telling me I shouldn’t accept the money order from the person who offered full price, can’t form a grammatically correct sentence and wants me to ship a piano to Ecuador? Oh, bummer. What form of payment other than cash money is safe (not that I have a problem with old fashioned greenbacks)? And how do I allow people to view said piano without the threat of becoming Diana Tartar?
Oh, and did I mention that Bob has decided that he now wants to keep the stupid thing? Yeah, apparently now he has played it for the second time in 10 years (to make sure it still worked) and that it may be shipped to Ecuador, he really wants to nurture his inner Billy Joel. Excellent!