Etiquette for Local Online Classifieds

[Tosha Go]

Disclaimer:  I've had more good experiences than bad in regards to buying and selling things through free online classifeds (ie: Craigslist, Kijiji) but there have been a few incidents that have made me wonder about people.  It gave me an idea for a thread that discussed what to do & what not to do when trying to buy/sell online. 

*I looked back through all the posts in this section and couldn't find anything on this subject.  Hopefully it hasn't been done before.


1.  If you are buying, please be honest about your transportation limitations in your initial message.  Dont wait until the third Email exchange or after you've decided you want this item to ask me if I can deliver this to you because you dont drive.  Oh yeah, and the best time for you would involve me driving right into rush hour traffic.  For something that I am selling for less than $5.  I'm afraid that wont be possible.

2.  If you do need a drop off, suggesting some sort of compensation would go quite a ways.

3.  If you are selling and a buyer has said that they will call you on a certain day to come purchase stuff, dont shut your phone off the day they call then contact them 2 weeks later wanting to know if they are still interested in the items.  Some of us are on tight budgets and the $50 we earmarked to purchase your item got spent on something else a few days after you decided to blow us off.

4.  I'f you've  decided you want to haggle it would be nice if you could do so in your emails, not drop it on me when youre here that you only want to pay $3 for something I am asking $5 for.


Feel free to add your own.

[ginlyn32]

I guess this could go for Freecycle ads as well...

*No wish lists! (Do not go one Freecycle and post a huge list of wants including all new or gently used items) unless the posts reads something like this: "Getting married on DD/MM/YYYY, will take any wedding decorations you have"

*No sob stories. Sorry, Freecycle is NOT a charity! It exsists to hopefully keep usable items out of landfills. If you really need help with food/money/clothing/ect. contact your church or local Social Services agency.

*please try to keep the wants to a minimum. Some FC boards (each town/area runs its own board) have limits on how many wants you can post in a time period.

*If you really want to donate your used items to a "deserving" family/person, contact a local charity or homeless shelter.

*Be honest about the condition of the items you are giving away. Yes, its free stuff, but it's a waste of MY time and gas to tell me something is "Like New" when it looks like you mopped the floor with it.

*If you have arranged to pick up or drop off your items, please be on time. Again, do not waste my time or flake out. CALL if for any reason you will be late or cannot pick up/drop off your item.

*For your safety, it may be best to arrange to meet in a public place to do drop offs/pick ups.

*Please read the ENTIRE AD before responding! If the poster states that one must have own transportation for hauling, do not email me saying you want this item and can I drop it off.

*It's a good idea to state in the ad whether the item comes from a home with smokers or animals (state whether cats, dogs, ferrets, ect). Some people have severe allergies and cannot have items with allergens on them in their homes.

*Do not email requesting pictures of items unless the ad states pics upon request.



ginlyn

[Outdoor Girl]

If there is a phone number listed on an ad, do NOT call after 9:00 pm or before 9:00 am, unless specified in the ad.

(The guy who called me at 10:30 at night for my snow tires?  Wouldn't have gotten them even if they weren't already sold.)

[Tosha Go]

I thought of more-

If you answer an ad and realize that the person you are picking up from is in a different part of town that you are not interested in travelling to, just be honest and say so.  Dont say, "uhhhh let me call you back."  I know you're not going to.

Listen to your Voice mail messages.  I just left a message telling you who I am, why I'm calling and eft a call back number.  Dont blindly call me back and say, "Did someone just call me from this number?"

[JoanOfArc]

When giving directions, make them clear and concise. 

[L.A. Lady]

Be as honest as you can with regards to the age of an item. Even if you have only owned the item for a couple of years, it doesn't mean the item is a couple of years old. Don't try to pass something off as 3 years old when it is really 10.

Be sure the item you are selling is infact legally yours to sell. Giving back stuff because it wasn't yours does not make my day.

Be upfront with your payment options. If you don't want to take paypal or a check, tell me before I come to pick up the stuff.

[Nurvingiel]

Craigslist

For the love of everything, post some pictures. Not everyone has a digital camera, but please arrange to borrow one if the item is expensive or if photos are crucial to the sale (e.g. furniture).

Post the price in the title. There is a field for this when you post the ad; it's very clear. Do not enter $1 and then write a different price in the ad's text.

Edit: Renting, any site

If you're advertising a place for rent and there is no stove (only a hot place and/or microwave), put this in the ad so that people who cook don't waste their time viewing the place. Also, the rent should be lower to reflect the lack of a stove (and the person who doesn't cook who rents the place does deserve a good deal as there is less demand for a stove-less apartment).

Related to this, don't partition your garage and then advertise it as a basement suite.

[MamaMootz]

Please read the ad in its entirety before responding. It's very frustrating as a seller to put "price FIRM" and then get 10 e-mails asking if I'd be willing to negotiate price.

Please show up when you say you are going to. Nothing is more upsetting than changing my family's schedule to accommodate your pickup times only to have you not show up at all, with no call or e-mail cancelling.

When you go to someone's house to look at an item, and your child BREAKS said item, don't leave and say you're no longer interested in the item. Pay for it, or at least pay for repairs for the item!