I pulled my ads from CL

[kiteman]

Too dangerous. :thwap

Case one: Two people met on the parking lot of a theatre to sell a stereo. The seller was robbed and shot. He's listed in critical condition.

Case two: Boy this is dumb but the buyer met the owner at HIS HOUSE about an expensive ring. He was robbed and shot. He died.

All within the last week and in that period I met the buyers on the HEB parking lot and sold my ME-70 MFX pedal and the telecaster.

[deeaa]

Not a lot of chances of that happening round here, but I very seldom deal with people directly. Whether I do or don't, I check out their webpages and message history etc...if I don't have their email, phone number, address and feel confident they're OK people I don't deal. And when I sell, I always demand they deposit the money to my account before I send them the goods. When I buy, I also deposit money first but make extra sure the seller is A-OK.

Somebody has no webpage/band page/long history or known person, no way I'll deal with them except by mail and by me first getting either pay or the merchandise before sending them any money.

And even if I meet in person...whoever uses cash money anyway these days? The few times I've picked some gear up myself, I've just gotten their account number and sent the money later. I never ever have any cash on my hands, except at maximum a few coins to feed to a parking meter, and those I keep in the car.

Not that I usually have any money on my bank account either, it's usually just Mastercard for me whether I buy a 10c candy stick or a new car, LOL.

[mainestratman]

CL is getting ridiculously scary.. but there aren't really that many other options for free online ads these days.

Also, since there really isn't much of a "scene" up here, it's kind of tough to get the word out if you have something to sell.. inversely if you are looking for gear...

My last CL transaction was a good one. I responded to the ad for my Hotrod and got a response from the seller.. who was someone I knew through a friend of a friend. in fact, he was going to play rhythm in a band that never left the ground.. so I felt comfy doing business with him.

[Tig]

Living in a big city means this is a higher risk. Talking to the potential buyer/seller on the phone can give you important clues. Listen to their attitude, ask a few tech questions, and develop a gut feeling before meeting up.

While I had no fear about the 2 items and sellers I bought from CL, I still made sure to meet in a busy place, like a drug store parking lot at a busy intersection for the Valve Jr.

[kiteman]

Why I chose the HEB parking lot here. Busy corner, gas pumps near by. :AOK

Funny thing is I'm still browsing CL duh.

[Tig]

I forgot you lived in SA until I read "HEB". Not many HEB's in other states!
As a kid I used to go to a summer camp near Leakey, TX owned by the H.E. Butt family. As little brats, we imagined the H. E. stood for "Huge Enormous", Butt, that is.

If you happened to have lived in Texas a loooong time, you'll remember a department store called "Joske's".
http://www.utsa.edu/today/images/itc/holidays/joskes.jpg

Oops, talk about getting off topic!
:nope

[kiteman]

Yea. :)

[otaypanky]

That is a frightful post Kiteman!
If I was to meet up with someone for sale of music gear I would arrange to meet at our local jam. Lots of people, and all on 'my team', LOL.
Here in Pa. I am able to carry a concealed weapon, which I always have on me, even in my home. That may sound silly, but do a Google for home invasions and you'll be shocked.

I just had a good experience on CL. I'm selling my HellHound to a fellow in Montreal. He PayPal'd me and I'm in the process of finding a suitable box for shipping. I drove around today for 2 hours asking at stores with no luck~ But have a lead on one for tomorrow

[kiteman]

I had good experiences (even the last two) with CL but knock on wood.

[Brian Krashpad]

Never had a problem.

I don't do stupid crap like go to what might be considered a "dangerous" part of town, or meet late at night at the seller's abode, or anything, but I've done batches and batches of CL transactions by taking cash to someone's apartment, or warehouse space, or trailer home, or whatever, trying out the gear, and paying them in cash.

Just bought this a few days ago (specifically to flip, alas):

http://img535.imageshack.us/img535/6103/thinline.jpg

[Tarin]

Yep, did the CL thing a few times in San Diego myself.
I always give tell the seller to choose a public place to do the transaction and wait for what he has to say.
Only one time while buying a Kaces gigbag the guy invited me in to his studio to check it out... nervous as hell but everything turned out right.

Best of all was when buying a garage shed: i ended up having a couple beers and watching a football game with this guy's family.

[Brian Krashpad]

Best of all was when buying a garage shed: i ended up having a couple beers and watching a football game with this guy's family.

Outstanding.

I had a buyer come over to my office to buy my pink Daisy Rock Retro-H guitar on a Saturday afternoon, and it turned out to be 2 parents who were buying it for the birthday of their 12-year old daughter, who also came along.

I had a big amp set up in the law library so I could put it through its paces for them, and that girl's eyes got big as saucers.

Good times.

[hubberjub]

I do stupid stuff such as meet at a person's house all the time. This is upstate NY though.

[Brian Krashpad]

I do stupid stuff such as meet at a person's house all the time. This is upstate NY though.

As long as it's a relatively safe area and a reasonable time, that isn't stupid at all.

[duhvoodooman]

Made the national news:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/05/11/washington.craigslist.killing/index.html?hpt=C1

[deeaa]

BTW I have made several friends by trading with people previously unknown. Got to know their bands and such as well...once even ended up singing backings for one guy I bough a preamp from...and more than often I've ended up trading more stuff with the same people. Often they want to make friends too and network with music people of the area.

[Jimi75]

I met three people to whom I sold or from whom I bought something. It was always a very nice contact and with most of these guys I kept in touch.

But hey, our crime rate is ridiculously low compared to the New World :crazyguy

[ZMAN]

I have purchased several items from our Canadian buy/sell, Kijiji. On there they have a warning about meeting people or giving out your home address.
One thing in our favour is that Hand guns are pretty rare here.

[hubberjub]

As long as it's a relatively safe area and a reasonable time, that isn't stupid at all.

Nope. Drove an hour and a half to Scranton with several grand in cash in my pocket. It did prove to be fruitful, but my wife was not too keen on the idea. He did spend almost half an hour telling me how I needed to be saved. It almost got to the point where I wished that he had just shot and robbed me.

[mainestratman]

He did spend almost half an hour telling me how I needed to be saved. It almost got to the point where I wished that he had just shot and robbed me.

:beer:

[kiteman]

Made the national news:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/05/11/washington.craigslist.killing/index.html?hpt=C1

That's one of the case I was talking about. Sorry, I thought it was here but nevertheless. :thwap

[Tone2TheBone]

Been reading this thread. I've done many transactions locally with Craigslist and never had any problems at all. Some music stuff some sports stuff. Bought and sold. Been to people's homes too. Stuff I sold I always met them at the Guitar Center parking lot or something. Thankfully everyone was on the up and up. Most of them were young kids needing gear. Good post though it's always a good idea to be smart and to be extra careful.