Craigslist war stories

[dman2900]

I found an add for a used UCS Falcon and a Death Star.......called the guy and he said the Death Star is already spoken for and we made a deal on the Falcon........set up a meeting for the next day.......

 

He calls me back about 1/2 hour later and said he got a better offer but seeing that I was the first one to call him if I could match it I could have it.....so relunctly matched the offer and said I will drive to meet him the next day and call him at 11am to get directions.......

 

Wake up my 19 year old son to go with me for backup.....start the 1 1/2 hour drive.......stop to get something to eat and call him......

 

He said...."I was going to call you last night but it was late , I talked to my brother and he wants me to keep it for my nephews.....sorry!".....well I wasted 1 hour drive one way and got nothing.......

 

The one thing I can think of that happend is that the other guy shot him an offer that he could not refuse........

 

 

I also love the listings that think they are going to get the money back they paid for the set by selling it after their kid is done playing with it......

[MillerTime]

After reading through all of these, one lesson is clear: don't wait. If you see a steal on craigslist, you have to call and drive asap. I don't even try looking on craigslist anymore because of how many people literally must check every 5 minutes every day. Almost every deal I have ever tried for was gone within 20 minutes of posting.

 

About 4-5 years ago a guy posted an imperial trading post lego (classic pirates) for like $60-75 or so. Drove right away, turns out he had plenty of other classic sets like castle/forestmen and offered me the whole lot for around $200 total. Turned out to pretty much be a steal.

 

Besides that I can't think of any legos I've ever bought off craigslist. I've sold a few here and there.

[BennyKJohnson]

I think its quite strange but understandable that many of US members here don't meet at homes but public places. I guess here in Australia we don't have to worry about someone pulling out a gun. However I did have an experience when I was interested in buying some bulk lego. I called the seller up and told her I was interested in checking out the Lego. So we agreed on tomorrow and she tells me her address, in one of the worst neighbourhoods where I live. She also mentions that she has an aggressive dog and she quickly adds that the dog has cancer. I'm not sure if that a little bit additional bit of information was meant to make me feel better about the aggressive dog situation or not. I didn't feel that keen on the deal any more (due to the bad neighbourhood and dog) and decided to not go however later that day found a much better deal from a seller who I have had multiple dealings with now.

 

You really don't know what to expect. Sometimes they can be really awesome people or sometimes not so much.

[THECRAZEDLAGGER]

What is the highest and lowest prices in $ that you would pay for the following set:

[MillerTime]

You're asking someone the lowest they would pay? Can you go lower than free?

[vincevaughn]

What is the highest and lowest prices in $ that you would pay for the following set: Black tron lego.jpg

One of my favorites. If memory serves they run about 60 used. So I would pay up to that for my collection. If I wanted to flip it then about 30 bucks as I go by a hard 50% rule to account for fees and time.

[Alpinemaps]

You're asking someone the lowest they would pay? Can you go lower than free?

 

Sure... how about you pay me to take it? 

[atingnova]

I got this email from CL for my newly listed items. Brand new Unimog and Logging Truck. He's on crack. Hahaa

"I'll give you $70 for the logging truck and $100 for the Unimog."

Then he says, "So how is it that you own so many unopened lego sets? You're basically selling this item at market value, which doesn't make any sense for me to purchase. If even a single piece is missing from this set, who I am going to complain to? You? I'll give you $70 given the inherent risk in purchasing this item."

I'm about to reply, "and who is giving me money to list my lego sets with the inherent risk of wasting a few minutes of my life reading your garbage and nonsense?"

Sent from my iPhone using Brickpicker

[Jimking23]

These are the reasons I stopped listing on CL. I listed a Fire Emergency set for $30.00 no tax (retails for $40.00). I received a e-mail, I can pay $15.00 and I need you to mail it to me, because I live to far away. I find it's easier to ignore it then to send a response I might regret later

[TheOrcKing]

Then he says, "I'll give you $70 given the inherent risk in purchasing this item."

Oh brother, it's comments like this that make me laugh my butt off seeing how these people are actually being serious. Perhaps the next time I am at Target I should try this because the item is on a shelf everyone has access to so who knows if it is all there?

[Alpinemaps]

This has got to be an April Fool's joke, right?

 

Lego Star Wars 10225 R2D2 - will trade this for a new Lego Star Wars Death Star (10188)

[wilandirene]

 

This has got to be an April Fool's joke, right?

 

Lego Star Wars 10225 R2D2 - will trade this for a new Lego Star Wars Death Star (10188)

 

 

The sad part is that the person is actually being serious.  So many ripoff artists......

[teamhappyfrog]

The one thing I cannot stand on CL is when they do not list prices.  The make me a offer, obviously you have in mind a minimum of what you want, so just post it and stop wasting your time.

 

There was a guy selling some transformers recently and it said:

 

Putting my collection out for sale!  Instead of $50 it will only be $35.

 

Knowing what he was trying to do I texted him asking how much for certain sets and I get back, how much will you pay.  I told him his add stated It would only be $35.  Then he calls me to try and negotiate and starts giving me a spiel of how hard it is to get these figs and the rarity of them and he starts telling me ebay prices. I chuckled told him no thanks.

[vincevaughn]

Not really a "war story" but kind of an epic victory one.

 

Had just gotten home from work and randomly checked Craigslist.  Someone posted a curb alert for Games/Toys/Lego.  Noticed it had been posted about a half hour ago and was about a 5 minute drive from me.  Well, I almost talked myself out of going.  It has to be a small bag of Mega Bloks or some crusty Duplo's, I thought.  It had been a long day at work and I should relax....it's been a half hour...surely it is picked over etc etc.  But I decided to go, just in case, and all I can say is wow.

 

Scored:

At least 30 minifigs (including Indiana Jones, monster fighters, star wars, Ninjago)

I estimate about 9 lbs of LEGO and maybe 3 lbs of mega blocks/kreo-o

Large grocery bag of Hero Factory stuff

9469 Gandalf arrives with instructions

79000 Riddles for the ring with instructions

9471 Urak-Hai Army

9443 Ninjago Rattlecopter with instructions

and at least partials of:

6867 Cosmic Cube Escape

2505 Ninjago Garmadon's Dark Fortress

7785 Batman arkham asylum (Sadly the only minfig I have found is Poison Ivy)

7592 Construct a Buzz

7789 Lotso's Dump Truck

8097 Star Wars Slave one

Couple of LEGO games

many many partial builds I don't recognize and I am still going through it...

 

All this for the low low price of free (well I factored in 5 bucks for gas ).  I am still kind of speechless...

 

And this my friends is why I check Craigslist every day.....even though 90% of the time there is nothing on there.

[Young_Gun21]

I checked today and some had listed a DS for $100 used. Only on for an hour but already sold. :(

[vincevaughn]

I checked today and some had listed a DS for $100 used. Only on for an hour but already sold.

 

Yeah....good deals disappear fast no matter the area you are in.  I have lost out on some amazing lots because I hesitated or wasn't pushy enough to get the seller to agree to hold it for me....

 

Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue

[Alpinemaps]

Here's my CL War Story for the day:

 

I put up a sealed box of Simpsons minifigs on CL last night.  Got a request to sell packs individually today.  Told the buyer, no thanks, but, I will sell him a complete set for $99.

 

He wrote back "that's too expensive; I can pick them up at $3.99 next week."  I told him, hey, I understand, good luck mushing, and finding the rarer characters.

 

His response:  "Oh, I'm a star at that, especially after finding two Mr. Golds."

 

I told him I'd love to connect him with a buyer; he hasn't written back.

[Full Tilt Bricks]

I contacted a person with multiple polys. They wanted $5 flat for each of them. I saw in the pics there was Iron Patriots and a Hulk mixed with some common ones. Ad said they were moving and just wanted to get rid of the stuff. I figured why not.I told him I would be interested in the whole lot, would've been like $100. Talked about where to meet. Suddenly, he has even more on sale, including 20 of each the ones he had pictured. 20 Hulks huh? Yeah, right. Red Flag. I let it go. Then he texts me he's not actually in the city but 5 hours away from there if I want to do the deal and add onto it. He'd be more than willing to mail them to me. Uh-huh, sure let me just mail you some cash, no problem. I told him nevermind. He texted me to apologize a few times and told me what a deal it was. Right. Later that day I flagged the ad and noticed he had added a Mr. Gold pic as well. A few days later, the ad was red flagged and removed, big shock.

[gorbasho]

A special screw you to all the people who put up a listing for "Lego set" and when you open it, you find a picture of Megabloks staring back at you. Lego is not a blanket term to encompass all building block toys 

[dbroncos59]

Those knockoffs are starting to show up listed as Lego in my local area on CL >_>

[iahawks550]

A "local" listing for sets which included 6285, Black Seas Barracuda, along with Monorail Space sets, some spaceships, and many city sets. Appeared to be 15 sets or so, many with directions, but all complete and taken apart, placed into ziploc bags. He was asking $250, I said I would take it (and make the 2 hour drive), and received this email.

I do appreciate your interest. After receiving multiple offers as well as some friendly advice, 
I may have to hold off on the sale of these items for now until I can research the value of these sets individually. 
I am going to assemble the pirate ship to make sure everything is there, at which time I would let you make me an offer. 
I'm sorry but I have received an inordinate amount of requests and I feel that I need to take the time to understand 
the value of these items to serious collectors. I appreciate your understanding and I will get back with you 
to verify the pirate ship is complete at which time I would be happy to discuss its purchase with you. 

[vincevaughn]

A "local" listing for sets which included 6285, Black Seas Barracuda, along with Monorail Space sets, some spaceships, and many city sets. Appeared to be 15 sets or so, many with directions, but all complete and taken apart, placed into ziploc bags. He was asking $250, I said I would take it (and make the 2 hour drive), and received this email.

I do appreciate your interest. After receiving multiple offers as well as some friendly advice, 
I may have to hold off on the sale of these items for now until I can research the value of these sets individually. 
I am going to assemble the pirate ship to make sure everything is there, at which time I would let you make me an offer. 
I'm sorry but I have received an inordinate amount of requests and I feel that I need to take the time to understand 
the value of these items to serious collectors. I appreciate your understanding and I will get back with you 
to verify the pirate ship is complete at which time I would be happy to discuss its purchase with you.

Can't say as I blame him. If I listed something and people were knocking down my door time get it I would reevaluate myself. It is kinda crappy that he agreed to the sale then backed out...my morals would make me go through with it lol.

Have had slam dunk deals like this sold out from under me and also had things like this happen to. So now when I spot something this juicy I ask them to hold it for me and arrange a time to pick it up ASAP. If they don't agree I will then offer to give them an extra 10 to 15 percent of the value to hold it. That usually gets the job done.

[No More Monkeys]

 

A "local" listing for sets which included 6285, Black Seas Barracuda, along with Monorail Space sets, some spaceships, and many city sets. Appeared to be 15 sets or so, many with directions, but all complete and taken apart, placed into ziploc bags. He was asking $250, I said I would take it (and make the 2 hour drive), and received this email.

I do appreciate your interest. After receiving multiple offers as well as some friendly advice, 
I may have to hold off on the sale of these items for now until I can research the value of these sets individually. 
I am going to assemble the pirate ship to make sure everything is there, at which time I would let you make me an offer. 
I'm sorry but I have received an inordinate amount of requests and I feel that I need to take the time to understand 
the value of these items to serious collectors. I appreciate your understanding and I will get back with you 
to verify the pirate ship is complete at which time I would be happy to discuss its purchase with you. 

 

Can't say as I blame him. If I listed something and people were knocking down my door time get it I would reevaluate myself. It is kinda crappy that he agreed to the sale then backed out...my morals would make me go through with it lol.

Have had slam dunk deals like this sold out from under me and also had things like this happen to. So now when I spot something this juicy I ask them to hold it for me and arrange a time to pick it up ASAP. If they don't agree I will then offer to give them an extra 10 to 15 percent of the value to hold it. That usually gets the job done.

hawk did not say the seller "agreed to the sale" . Only that seller listed, and hawk said he would take it. 

I am actually wondering why not all the naive sellers doing something like that, when they receive shitstorm of responses. I feel very sad for people sell something like Taj Mahal for $100 to whoever emails or leaves the voicemail first. 

[legodad]

...there are still a huge number of people out there who doesn't know or care about the real value of the Lego sets they are selling/posting on CL... these people wants a quick sale and have their money right away...

...several years ago, I saw a listing for a Statue of Liberty (when the set was long discontinued)... the posting said complete with box... so I e-mailed the seller and asked her asking price... she said I can have it for $40, so I told her I'll take it... I was hesitant at first and asked several questions regarding the set... she said it was a gift to her son and that he lost interest after starting on a few bags... a few minutes later, she e-mailed me back and said that since it was a big set, she want $60 for it... I told her I'd still buy it... my biggest problem was that she was 2 1/2 hours drive a way from me but still willing to take a chance without knowing what I'm getting myself into... yet another e-mail from her later on, she said for an additional $20, she'll meet me closer to my location (now I only have to drive less than 30 minutes away), for a total of $80... I told her I'm fine with that...

...to make a long story short, we met, saw the set but couldn't tell if it was complete or not with the box in good condition... gave the $80 and thank her, and brought home the Statue of Liberty set... a couple of weeks later and after ordering $7-10 worth of parts from LEGO Shop at Home, I was able to finish and complete the set... as I always tell myself when dealing with CL postings, "you win some, you lose some"...

[vincevaughn]

...there are still a huge number of people out there who doesn't know or care about the real value of the Lego sets they are selling/posting on CL... these people wants a quick sale and have their money right away...

...several years ago, I saw a listing for a Statue of Liberty (when the set was long discontinued)... the posting said complete with box... so I e-mailed the seller and asked her asking price... she said I can have it for $40, so I told her I'll take it... I was hesitant at first and asked several questions regarding the set... she said it was a gift to her son and that he lost interest after starting on a few bags... a few minutes later, she e-mailed me back and said that since it was a big set, she want $60 for it... I told her I'd still buy it... my biggest problem was that she was 2 1/2 hours drive a way from me but still willing to take a chance without knowing what I'm getting myself into... yet another e-mail from her later on, she said for an additional $20, she'll meet me closer to my location (now I only have to drive less than 30 minutes away), for a total of $80... I told her I'm fine with that...

...to make a long story short, we met, saw the set but couldn't tell if it was complete or not with the box in good condition... gave the $80 and thank her, and brought home the Statue of Liberty set... a couple of weeks later and after ordering $7-10 worth of parts from LEGO Shop at Home, I was able to finish and complete the set... as I always tell myself when dealing with CL postings, "you win some, you lose some"...

That last sentence is gold. Don't worry about the ones that get away, enjoy the ones you score. There are always deals and you don't know if you don't try...