is this rude ?

[Jerry1]

What I'm missing is how giving his name would make you safe. Even if it was his real name (doubtful), I assume it would just be his first name. I'm not positive, but I believe it would be rather easy for the authorities to track the person digitally if something did occur where the authorities were needed.

I don't worry much about people coming to my house for porch pickups. If someone want to do harm, they could just randomly come to my house. I don't see someone using a porch pick up to identify places to do harm. If I was actually selling or buying something, I would take entirely different precautions.

 

[travelover]

I like to know who is coming. I say, "give me your name and phone number and I'll text you the address." If they balk, then I don't want them around. Conversely when I answer an ad, I give my name and phone number in my reply to set them at ease. Maybe false security, but people that want to come to my house and hide behind an anonymous ID are not welcome.

 

[gamboolman]

LOL.

Not rude. I might have replied, they will be on the porch.

What MCR said.

ms gamboolgal and I have given away tons of good stuff the last year as we have been clearing out the literally Short Tons of in many cases brand new stuff / Clutter.
(Short Ton = 2,000 lbs)

She uses local/yocal HOA Newsletter and/or "Thrifty Nickel" type sites on the Internet and tells folks the stuff will be outside.

Ha - I made a fancy sign that said " FREE" for the furniture, appliances, electronics and stuff that we sat on the Curb for folks.
The Peckerheads eventually took my sign !
I was proud of that sign... ha !

 

[Dtail]

Oh, thanks! Well, that seems a pretty minor offence.... agree with Robbie then: no, not rude

+2

 

[Badger]

I posted for free in Craigslist two audio cables and one video cable with the RCA connectors.

Someone emailed and the email "name" shows up as craigslist reply 267e in my webmail.

To top it off, the email itself contained Nice cables can I pick them up tomorrow afternoon
So I responded, Hi, Tomorrow about what time? {my first name}.
He/she responds 3:30 Is that ok

I am annoyed.
Should I be?

It seems to me he was being considerate by asking you if the time they wanted to pick them up was OK. If your annoyance is because they didn't give you a name other than 267e would you be alright if they said their name was Rumplestiltskin, Bubba, or Joe? How would you know it was their real name anyway? Color me confused!



Cheers!

 

[FLSUnFIRE]

Emails are anonymized. I would say 3/4 of people put their name IME but I'm not offended if they don't. I'm more concerned if they respond quickly or are no-show/very late. I'd be happy, they immediately responded with a suggested time!


Get annoyed when you get "Is X still available?" That's annoying and all too common (I always put in my ads that I will delete when sold).

 

[donheff]

I would assume the responder probably doesn't even know how his or her response appears at your end. Probably not consciously rude. OP mentions Freecycle as a better alternative. Hah! I offered stuff up on Freecycle a couple of times and it was a disaster. Dozens of responses, people bitching that they responded quickly so they should get it instead of someone else, insults... I switched to Craig's list and had better experiences.

 

[FLSUnFIRE]

Another tip, always charge something even if giving it away. I pretty much won't do free listings anymore. Free stuff results in more no shows in my experience. Charging a tiny amount seems to make them feel like they are getting a deal and they tend to move decisively to pick up the item... and you get a buck or two. I've even had a few pay extra (just told them to leave the money as I was not home).

 

[disneysteve]

Im still unclear what the issue is here. OP you mention being concerned for your safety but what does that have to do with the guy not mentioning his name? Those are two separate issues.

If you’re concerned about safety, don’t meet at your house. I’ve sold many things online and have met at Dunkin Donuts or some other nearby public location. Our police station has a parking area reserved for online transactions.

This whole thread is confusing.

 

[disneysteve]

I like to know who is coming. I say, "give me your name and phone number and I'll text you the address." If they balk, then I don't want them around. Conversely when I answer an ad, I give my name and phone number in my reply to set them at ease. Maybe false security, but people that want to come to my house and hide behind an anonymous ID are not welcome.

NEVER give out your personal info like that. You are totally setting yourself up to be scammed. Once someone has your phone number it is far easier for them to hack into your accounts. This is a common marketplace scam.

 

[disneysteve]

I’d suggest checking if your community has a Buy Nothing group on Facebook. We love ours. It’s all people who live in our town and we see their Facebook profile when communicating. Great way to give and receive free items.

 

[CRLLS]

I sell and buy on Craigslist, eBay and Facebook marketplace. I do not find an anonymous response annoying or creepy in any manner at all. I see no reason at all to exchange names or complete addresses until everything is agreed upon. It is an exchange of things, not an invitation for dinner.

I do put things out by the curb for anyone to take. sometimes with a "free" sign Most of the time it is gone within a few hours. Only once did I have a person come knock on the door to ask if it was OK to take it. A couple of times I was outside and visible from the road, they did a pantomime asking if they could take it. Most of the time it is just gone with no exchange of names at all. Are they creepy? Not in my mind. I would think that an AV cable left out by the road would go unnoticed.

 

[Gumby]

I’d suggest checking if your community has a Buy Nothing group on Facebook. We love ours. It’s all people who live in our town and we see their Facebook profile when communicating. Great way to give and receive free items.

We have that here. You say you have something to give away. People respond if they are interested. Then you just tell someone they can have it and your address, then leave the stuff on the porch for them to pick up. The rule of the group is that you can't sell anything. You have to give it away for free. We've unloaded a lot of stuff that way.

 

[retire-early]

Im still unclear what the issue is here. OP you mention being concerned for your safety but what does that have to do with the guy not mentioning his name? Those are two separate issues.

If you’re concerned about safety, don’t meet at your house. I’ve sold many things online and have met at Dunkin Donuts or some other nearby public location. Our police station has a parking area reserved for online transactions.

This whole thread is confusing.

Please read my first post.

 

[retire-early]

I sell and buy on Craigslist, eBay and Facebook marketplace. I do not find an anonymous response annoying or creepy in any manner at all. I see no reason at all to exchange names or complete addresses until everything is agreed upon. It is an exchange of things, not an invitation for dinner.

I do put things out by the curb for anyone to take. sometimes with a "free" sign Most of the time it is gone within a few hours. Only once did I have a person come knock on the door to ask if it was OK to take it. A couple of times I was outside and visible from the road, they did a pantomime asking if they could take it. Most of the time it is just gone with no exchange of names at all. Are they creepy? Not in my mind. I would think that an AV cable left out by the road would go unnoticed.

It is an unequal exchange of information.

The other person knows where I live.
From that alone I can tell a lot of things including full name of the person who owns the house.

I on the other hand don't even get the courtesy of a first name.

.

 

[retire-early]

NEVER give out your personal info like that. You are totally setting yourself up to be scammed. Once someone has your phone number it is far easier for them to hack into your accounts. This is a common marketplace scam.

That's where a burner phone is useful.
I have a smartphone that I pay $30/year and which I use for various purposes including people who insist on wanting to text.
I normally stick to email, but if pressed, I use the burner phone.
Any calls or texts to that phone is generally ignored.

.

 

[old medic]

Someone emailed and the email "name" shows up as craigslist reply 267e in my webmail.

Normal for a Craigslist reply.

 

[retire-early]

Someone emailed and the email "name" shows up as craigslist reply 267e in my webmail.

Normal for a Craigslist reply.

Here's what Craigslist says about their email-relay
https://www.craigslist.org/about/help/email-relay

PLEASE NOTE: The “real name” field (e.g. Jane Doe) in your email program is passed through to the recipient. Any contact information in the body of your message will pass through unaltered.

It would appear, the person deliberately choose the obscure craigslist reply 267e as their "real name" in their email program.
Or is there another way to do this?

 

[CaptTom]

Get annoyed when you get "Is X still available?" That's annoying and all too common (I always put in my ads that I will delete when sold).

I always thought it was polite to first ask if it's still available. If not, it ends there, no back-and-forth, no introductions.

It's common that the seller has already received contacts from other interested people, but the sale hasn't gone through yet. There's that period of uncertainty during which the seller can say "Some guy called to say he wanted it, but if he doesn't follow through you're next on the list."

 

[retire-early]

As hard as they are trying to stay anonymous, be careful!

Thanks.
That was my first reaction.

The guy just gave wrong vibes.

I have encountered rude before, but usually on subsequent communication, they "loosen up". This person didn't.

.

 

[natetheb]

If it's a big item (like TV or Fridge) that needs to be disposed of - I just keep it outside the house, near curb. In our area (AZ) - item is usually gone within a day.

Honestly, this is basically the best option for all free things, including the OP cables. Simply take a picture of the stuff by the curb, list the address, and a brief description, and put something like "Post will be deleted when gone. No emails will be responded too."


If people are going to freeload, feel free to make them work a little for it (i.e. make them drive to check it out).

 

[CRLLS]

You do have control over who you deal with. If "knowing" the person in some manner is important to you, just ask before you give out your Name & address. If they don't give it to you, just end it there. Simple as that.

I never blindly give out my address in the listings I post. I do give the nearest major intersection, both in text and on the Craigslist map. I then let the subsequent communications share our personal details.

Names and addresses are public info in today's web-society just as they were in days of old in the white pages of the telephone book. I just googled my son's last name and the city he lives in, that's all I entered. His full name, address and telephone number came up in the searches along with pictures and his grandparent's obits (different last name) from 2021 and 2011. If I was creeped out about that, I would never be able to sleep. It is what it is.

Again, it is up to you to get whatever info you desire from a prospective buyer before you give out your personal info. Do not expect some website or eMail to do it for you if having it is important to you.

 

[mystang52]

I posted a few items on my town's Freecycle, and when I get a response I just leave it in my driveway for them to pick up. I've also sold a few items, for relatively small amounts. For sales, we meet in parking lot of my local police station.

 

[marko]

I might be wrong on this but doesn’t Craigslist automatically use fake email addresses to insure privacy? Ive sold stuff there and always got replies (sent via Craigslist) with an obviously made up email address. At some point you can say " email me at xxxx@gmail.com " but for a quick low price transaction why bother?

 

[CRLLS]

Craigslist uses their own, secure email. Both users do not have visibility to the other's real email. Craigslist acts as an intermediary. Names on each account are part of that "from" address. See the attached screen grab from one such buyer to me last November. the circled area was the buyers Craigslist registered name.