The Scammers are out there ..

[rayinpenn]

So our new expensive bedroom set arrived and the nice Amish affiliated brothers set it all up. I feel guilty spending 5 grand on furniture but yes it is quality and beautiful. After 35 years it will be our last set.

Last weekend my daughter, son, wife decided to take the old set and put it into the garage. We muscled the dresser and my armoire down the stairs all with the expected family type disagreements. Not a wise move for a two metal knee guy.

I’ve had good success with my purge campaign using craigslist. I cant tell you how much clutter has gone out the door. It isn’t the money mind you - I usually charge low prices -it is the pleasure of seeing clutter disappear. Well I was all set to put the old Thomasville wood bedroom set up for $125. I was thinking I’ll pay $125 for someone to take it away. The Mrs looked over my shoulder and said “thats too low...”
Me: “What do you think?”
Her “$500”

So against my better judgement I put it in there for $500. In no time at all I get “I’ll send you a check... when it clears my movers will come for it... “. It didn’t smell right t me. I said sorry cash only.
Well I get several messages essentially the same deal. I reply cash only.

The Scam.
When I studdied the text you see it is written by English a second language person. I understand the checks take a long time to come back fraudulent. By then the furniture is gone and you get zero and probably a bounced check charge.

Then i go into the advertisement and I see its no loner my furniture but it is a white Honda with high miles. Someone has highjacked my advertisement.

Conclusion the scammers are out there...
And will someone.... anyone please take that darn furniture free!

 

[SheitlQueen]

Scams are very common on Craigslist. $500 is way too much, I have found old furniture difficult to sell unless it's cheap. Of course if you put it up for free, someone will take it.
People take anything for free

 

[Rianne]

We had a similar situation on Craig's list. The buyer of our treadmill basically said the same thing and sent a Wells Fargo check. The check looked suspicious and I called Wells Fargo with account number from the check. They said "it's a scam, this is not an account with us." What happens is, you cash the check and your bank charges you if you fall below their limit from a fraudulent check. We keep enough funds regardless, but others could be harmed.

I saved all the correspondence to refer if it happens again. This happened @ 5 yrs. ago so the scam must work if they're still doing it. They also said they would send a shipper to pick it up. Also suspicious as the treadmill weighted a ton. We wanted to sell locally for an easy pick up with a truck.

Sadly, I contacted a friend of my DB who is an FBI agent near Chicago. He said write it off to experience. They don't go after these smaller scams.

 

[easysurfer]

Have never sold anything on Craigslist and don't plan to either. Facebook marketplace scares me also.

IMO, not worth the risk.

 

[97guns]

That’s the oldest scam on Craigslist, I’ve played around with these guys and have had them send checks to my p.o. box, they send it express mail for around $20

 

[RobbieB]

I've been having excellent luck just putting the stuff on my driveway close to the sidewalk with a FREE sign taped on.

The cart style popcorn machine was gone in 2 hours and a large old roll top desk took only 3 days.

 

[W2R]

Have never sold anything on Craigslist and don't plan to either. Facebook marketplace scares me also.

IMO, not worth the risk.

+1
I have never used Craigslist, Facebook marketplace, or even ebay for buying or selling anything.

Usually I donate old furniture to the Salvation Army, and they will send a truck and several strong men to pick it up. And then they thank me for it! That's a much nicer experience than getting a bounced check. Besides, I'm not going to freak out over $100 lost (if that). While a few extra bucks is always nice, luckily I'm not indigent so it doesn't make a huge difference in my life.

A couple of times I have put things at the curb like Robbie does, and people always take them in less than an hour. It's amazing. Once it was my neighbor across the street!

 

[Brat]

My husband is selling small items on Craigslist. Cash only.

If we had furniture we thought was valuable there are consignment places in the area. Otherwise people in my neighborhood donate it to Community Warehouse. They only accept good stuff and will pick up.

 

[Jerry1]

Okay, but I don’t get the scam. So they send you a check. It’s fake and you don’t get any money. You’re saying, they actually send someone to get you stuff? Okay, then they have the stuff and then what? They sell it? Wow, that’s a pretty labor intensive scam. Certainly not the high tech scams of today where electrons do all the work and tap your bank account directly. Oh well, if they come and get the stuff, I’m not totally losing out. At least I have more room in my house.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Speaking of scams...I heard something new when I was checking my Dad's voicemail the other day.

Basically, it was a fella who used my Dad's first name and in a very friendly voice (as though this was an established relationship), the caller said that they had finally gotten the equipment my Dad had ordered. He was very sorry it took a while, but now they had it and was ready to have it installed. He said, "you know...the stuff like the solid state control panel, the cameras, and sensors" and he just needed to call an 800 number to go ahead and get him on the schedule.

I assume they were attempting to sell an alarm system, but the manner in which the call was conducted was very disturbing. I initially thought, "What? Dad ordered something?"...of course he had not but someone who is not suspecting a scam would probably fall for this hook, line, and sinker. I sort of wish I called the 800 number and played stupid to hear how it plays out, but I deleted the message.

There are so many shysters out there trying to separate people from their money!

 

[mpeirce]

I've been having excellent luck just putting the stuff on my driveway close to the sidewalk with a FREE sign taped on.

Our neighborhood has an annual garage sale each spring (next weekend actually). All the surrounding neighborhoods do this on the same two days so we get tons of traffic.

It's very easy to setup a table with a few items on it. I've sold all sorts of items like old chain saws, pans, lamps, even stuff like size 11 hockey skates and a Yakima travel pod. I usually get more for things than I think they are worth. I only do it on years I have more than a couple of items, otherwise Goodwill it is!

And it only takes a couple of hours.

 

[Dtail]

Our neighborhood has an annual garage sale each spring (next weekend actually). All the surrounding neighborhoods do this on the same two days so we get tons of traffic.

It's very easy to setup a table with a few items on it. I've sold all sorts of items like old chain saws, pans, lamps, even stuff like size 11 hockey skates and a Yakima travel pod. I usually get more for things than I think they are worth. I only do it on years I have more than a couple of items, otherwise Goodwill it is!

And it only takes a couple of hours.

+1 same deal with our neighborhood. gets us a few dollars.

 

[Souschef]

Of course if you put it up for free, someone will take it.
People take anything for free

We listed an office desk for free on Craigslist. A woman called, and DW had a long conversation with her. Finally, in frustration, DW said,"How much cheaper than free do you want it?".

 

[aja8888]

We have a Woman's Shelter resale store near us. It's named Something Special. We (and our family members and friends) give saleable items to them routinely. Here is a link:

Something Special Resale Store - Montgomery County Women's Center

Much better than giving stuff away through Craigslist. Maybe some of you have a similar outlet near you?

 

[Dtail]

We listed an office desk for free on Craigslist. A woman called, and DW had a long conversation with her. Finally, in frustration, DW said,"How much cheaper than free do you want it?".

 

[Chuckanut]

One of the best deals on Craiglist is used furniture. For some reason, furniture does not hold its value well. I have heard of people who bought used furniture to furnish an apartment and then sold it two or three years later for what they paid for it. Apparently furniture depreciates faster than a new car driven off a dealer's lot.



The check scam is quite old. You get a price that you don't believe possible, the check bounces and you are stuck. Sometimes they will send you 'extra' money for shipping or some other service and ask you to refund the difference to them. Again, you are left holding the bag when their check bounces. Not so good.

 

[googily]

I am in the midst of a pretty intense decluttering purge, but I won't have anything to do with Craigslist or Freecycle. I will ask friends on FB or at work if they have any interest in some of the stuff, and I try very hard to find places where I can donate specific items (like sports equipment), otherwise it either goes to Goodwill, Ecycling, or the trash.

We do also have a good "ecosystem" in this neighborhood, where free stuff put out front can be gone quickly, but not always. For instance, no one has taken the hangars and laundry baskets I put out there yesterday. Waaah!

I have a huge pile of boxes filled with books that I will donate to my old high school's book sale later this year.

At this point I'm happier with tax deductions than cash.

 

[ERD50]

Okay, but I don’t get the scam. So they send you a check. It’s fake and you don’t get any money. You’re saying, they actually send someone to get you stuff? Okay, then they have the stuff and then what? They sell it? Wow, that’s a pretty labor intensive scam. Certainly not the high tech scams of today where electrons do all the work and tap your bank account directly. Oh well, if they come and get the stuff, I’m not totally losing out. At least I have more room in my house.

You are right, that's too much work and personal contact, the old scam is generally run like this:

....

The check scam is quite old. You get a price that you don't believe possible, the check bounces and you are stuck. Sometimes they will send you 'extra' money for shipping or some other service and ask you to refund the difference to them. Again, you are left holding the bag when their check bounces. Not so good.

Right, they will always send "too much" (to cover the moving company, or something), and ask you to send them the difference (usually in some sort of non-traceable form, by wire, gift card, etc), and you never hear from them again. They don't want your 'stuff', they just want some cash for the 'difference'. They can run this scam from another country, not real 'work' involved. No personal meeting, no travel.

Often, the offer will be totally generic if you re-read it. Things like 'we are very interested in your "item", or "offer"' - nothing specific like "your green sofa". They are playing this by the numbers, and don't take the time to edit their scam script. They seem to figure the more they send, the more 'hits' they'll get, and getting specific isn't worth their time.

-ERD50

 

[brett]

When we buy or sell privately cash is king.

No cash, no product, no sale.

Besides, who uses cheques these days?

 

[Scrapr]

We listed an office desk for free on Craigslist. A woman called, and DW had a long conversation with her. Finally, in frustration, DW said,"How much cheaper than free do you want it?".

well...delivery and install in the upstairs would be nice

 

[Brat]

...
I have a huge pile of boxes filled with books that I will donate to my old high school's book sale later this year.

At this point I'm happier with tax deductions than cash.

If you can make donations tax deductible (over the standard deductions) you have more stuff than I to donate.

When we cleaned out our bookshelves I took books to Powell's as they purchase many and donate the rest if you designate. It turned out that we had a very collectable book worth $100+ to them. I felt like we had hit the jackpot!

 

[6miths]

I always thought that CL was a cash proposition. We are fortunate to live on a relatively well traveled street and have a church next door so people driving by can easily pull into the church lot as they drive by and then come over and pick up things that I have set out at the end of the driveway. Works like a charm for just about anything.

 

[jazz4cash]

Okay, but I don’t get the scam. So they send you a check. It’s fake and you don’t get any money. You’re saying, they actually send someone to get you stuff? Okay, then they have the stuff and then what? They sell it? Wow, that’s a pretty labor intensive scam. Certainly not the high tech scams of today where electrons do all the work and tap your bank account directly. Oh well, if they come and get the stuff, I’m not totally losing out. At least I have more room in my house.

I don't get it either. "When the check clears" means you don't release the goods until the funds from buyer are in your account.

I might try Nextdoor instead of CL. They are supposed to vet their members as being neighbors. I had an old flatscreen tube TV that no one would take. Goodwill said no thanks. I knew it would go as a curb alert but didn't want to interact with bottom feeders or attract scavengers. I put it on Nextdoor and got a few good hits. I met a neighbor that was taking care of her mom and was grateful to get that TV. I was happy to deliver it a few blocks away.

 

[googily]

If you can make donations tax deductible (over the standard deductions) you have more stuff than I to donate.

When we cleaned out our bookshelves I took books to Powell's as they purchase many and donate the rest if you designate. It turned out that we had a very collectable book worth $100+ to them. I felt like we had hit the jackpot!

Perhaps this is one of the very few benefits of becoming a widow and having the standard deduction drop to $12k. I will hit that pretty quickly just with mortgage interest and property taxes.

ETA: Or were you talking about getting over the $500 limit for noncash donations? I can hit that pretty easily too, thanks to DH being quite a pack rat.

 

[Midpack]

Scams are very common on Craigslist. $500 is way too much, I have found old furniture difficult to sell unless it's cheap. Of course if you put it up for free, someone will take it.
People take anything for free

In my neighborhood, if you put anything at the end of the driveway with a FREE sign on it, it's gone by lunch. I don't know if it's other homeowners, contractors, or whoever - but I don't care who takes it. When we relocate, most of our furniture will be at the end of our driveway.

Not worth hassling with NextDoor, eBay, or garage sales if it's less than $50, and we've never used craigslist and prob never will. OTOH, we've made about $7500 on eBay on more valuable stuff.