Had a deal, $10 on a Gamecube, which started but didn't read discs. Figured it'd be fun to tinker around with. But they never showed up at the meeting location. :sad:
Had a deal, $10 on a Gamecube, which started but didn't read discs. Figured it'd be fun to tinker around with. But they never showed up at the meeting location. :sad:
Maybe they got cold feet because they were weirded out about meeting a total stranger in a WalMart parking lot for a measly ten dollars
I do it now and then but I know a lot of Craigslist people get cold feet
Maybe...
That particular spot was their choosing. I understand the nervousness.
Our police department encourages people to meet at the local precinct station. I've never done it, but would if I was selling something high dollar.
mkenyon2 (01-15-2019)
"Game programmers are generally lazy individuals. That's right. It's true. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Since the dawn of computer games, game programmers have looked for shortcuts to coolness." Kurt Arnlund - Game programmer for Activision, Accolade...
So, through a guy in town, I met up with another fella who had some busted systems for sale. He had a Gamecube for $8, and an OE PS2 controller for $6. When I met up with him, he says, 'I have another PS2 controller I'll throw in, it needs work. Oh, do you want an XBox. It needs work.' I asked him what he wanted for it.
'You can have it, I've got a ton.'
So, I gave him $15 (what I had on me) for a GC, XBox, and 2 PS2 controllers. We'll see what I can fix with them.
'That's just how game chasing go'
A lot of people through the classifieds lately are mostly a waste of time. Not everyone, but it's more of a hassle to deal with than it used to. Lots of people are just really far away and ask/expect things to be delivered even if it's well across town or even farther, all at my expense even when the travel cost would be far above what I would be getting for the item. Like asking me to take 2 separate transit systems to deliver a single $5 game, rather than meeting me closer so I'd just have to take one. I've had a few no shows too for whatever reason. Or people offering me far below my asking prices, even when they're already well below the going prices for these same items. Also people saying they're serious about wanting to buy things and will be able to pick things up in a few weeks, but ultimately not following though.
I don't get the whole "do you deliver" thing.
I used to get a local magazine every thursday and I'd check the listings, it was always understood that if you wanted something it was up to you to go get it.
Pretty much the same thing happened to me with a cheap game, I didn't want the game so I put it up cheap, guy asks me about it, the listing already mentioned my location. I told him where I could meet him. then he wanted me to go out of my way to meet closer to him, I told him honestly it is not worth spending gas, or fare for the metro for such a cheap game, I'd be losing money, he kept insisting and ultimately got upset, lol.
A lot of people are just getting lazy, people are used to buying from Amazon now instead of going out to a mall or shop to buy anything. Plus there's modern companies like SkipTheDishes that help deliver food from various restaurants including McDonalds which never would have been considered as deliverable before. People barely want to leave their house or travel anymore for anything.
The main difference is that a lot of people now aren't willing to pay extra for delivery, if they did I wouldn't be as offended with the requests. I don't drive so if I have to get a ride from someone(if there's too much to carry with me on the bus, like with a large bundle of big box PC games), then I'll have to pay for the gas used. Several times when I've bought things in the past I've asked if people were willing to meet with me closer, so I wouldn't have to take multiple transit systems, and I usually offered to pay extra if needed. It's really been a long time since I can remember actually buying anything over the classifieds, I used to buy video games quite often around 10 years ago. Now there's hardly anything worth buying, and anything good gets sold almost immediately so I never get a reply back when I do want something.
So, good news so far. I got some cables and a controller for the XBox using Amazon credit, a $5 copy of Forza, and a paper clip. Got the drive open. It will open and close on it's own some times. But hey, it works!!! Ordered some belts for the drive to see if I can repair it better.
Still waiting on cables to mess around with the GameCube.
I had a situation like this once, where i almost bought a game gear but then the seller didn't get back to me until months later, explaining he sold it in the downtime.
he then had the gall to act like *I* was the one who had been too slow, saying "oh well, you snooze you lose." Except I PMed him, he's the one who "snoozed."
Almost put me off buying things on forums, but fortunately I have more good experiences than bad.
Buying and selling on Facebook classifieds is bad too. I've tried it before to no avail.
When buying, it can take a long time (or never) for someone to write back, and usually then it's just to say that it is gone. People often even ask for prices higher than eBay or Amazon like $100 for a Wii and some Wii games that "nobody" wants. Buying that way via Facebook doesn't even give you the chance to read their buying and selling feedback, no guarantees about your purchase, and no money-back options you might have with eBay or Amazon.
It makes you want to tell them that nobody wants to pay $100 for a Wii in mediocre condition plus incomplete copies of a Lego game, a shovel-ware compilation of motion-control-based games from the public domain like darts and rummy, and a game based on a cartoon that isn't popular nor on TV anymore. This is especially true as you don't know if they are scammers as they are just random people writing on Facebook with no history you can scan to see if they have a lot of negative feedback.
When "selling," I even listed firewood for free with the caveat that those who took it would be required to chop it up first - some of it had been cut down, some of it was still as branches on the trees, but all of it was for free as long as you'd cut and split it yourself. Most of the questions were, "In which town is the firewood?" when such was clearly indicated in the post. Some wanted to know if I would bring the firewood to them. When they found out they would have to cut it and haul it away themselves, then they all fell silent, and nobody arrived at the indicated time-frame.
It all has made me give up on buying and selling via Facebook. It seems like a moot option when all of this is usually what happens instead of, you know, deals actually being made and items being exchanged.
We all have the same stories.
https://rittwage.com/oldcomputers
Nz17 (01-27-2019)
Just an FYI, I went on Craigslist... and still see that $10 Gamecube listed.
I had a bit of an experience today. Someone previously replied offering a lower price for something I have listed, I declined at the time as plenty of people were also replying for this(of course they never followed through). I decided to accept the lower offer so I replied back today and she was still interested. Only she then wanted me to meet her closer to the nearest highway exit which is like less than two major intersections away, and wanted to pay me with an etransfer instead of cash as she doesn't have enough with her. As I'm already giving a lower price I don't feel I need to bother travelling anywhere, and no way would I accept any type of online payment. And of course she gets upset when I insist on cash only so she decides to pass after all that. This was for something under $20. And she didn't have cash with her and she didn't want to stop at a bank after her work. Am I nuts for thinking "who doesn't have at least $20 on them at all times?" Am I that out of touch with how people are today?
Also from yesterday someone else replied to me wanting something saying a bunch of stuff including "Definitely want this though. Please hold it until I can get there." She said she'd contact me today to let me know the time she's coming, but it would probably be in the late morning. I took the item along with me but never heard from her. In the evening I contacted her again asking if she still wanted it but I didn't hear back at all. I really don't know what's wrong with people, if you change your mind about something have the decency to let the seller know.
mkenyon2 (02-06-2019)
If I've worked with somebody before, I may use e-payment. But never with a stranger. I wouldn't want to trust that, and I wouldn't want to bug them with it.
But yeah, a quick text like, 'sorry, work ran long', or 'the kid's sick', hey, I understand. No worries. But let me know.
Nz17 (02-07-2019)