Originally Posted by
zazenzach
if that were true id be a millionaire after having sued all the flakes on craigslist. people who tell me to hold my item because they want it; but then never show up.
in all seriousness, i don't see why OP is getting so upset. seller realized he was selling his item for much less than its worth. yeah what a scumbag, he should have let OP screw him over
.
Well,two things. First, I wasn't "so upset." I wasn't devastated, distraught or even angry. I was, as I wrote, frustrated. That's a pretty low key emotion, more akin to nonplussed or irritated than what you and spence have billed it as.
And two, more importantly, I was not screwing over the seller. It's not like I saw a bike on some old frail guy's porch, knocked on his door and convinced him that it would be in his best interests to allow me to haul away his garbage, and out of the goodness of my heart I would give him a little pocket change. The seller publicly listed an item on Craigslist. That meant he had access to the internet through a phone, a tablet or a computer. If he had combined that access and ten free minutes he could have seen that $300 would have been a pretty low listing price for a Miyata 1000.
I had no way of knowing why he listed the bike as he did. I've made purchases before when I've asked the seller why an item was listed lower than I would have anticipated. A few times I've been told that they got a good deal and decided to pay it forward by passing that good deal on. Sometimes I've been told that they "know it's worth more, but I just want to get it out of the house." The point is that the seller stated in his ad how much he wanted for his bike. We spoke over the phone, I told him I was willing to pay his asking price and we agreed on the sale. I didn't and don't see it as a contract, certainly not an enforceable one. But it was frustrating for me when he backed out, especially when he didn't bother to call and say, "Look, I shouldn't have priced this thing with the dartboard in my man cave. It's worth more than I guessed. I'm thinking I'm going to put it on Ebay, but since we had a verbal agreement I'm wondering whether you would consider buying it for $X."
Hopefully this was the seller's first experience with Craigslist and he didn't know the differene between it and ebay. They both serve a purpose and I've utilized both to make purchases.
Lastly (and, yes, I know this is adding a third point to my stated two), I don't know that this is a particularly silly thread. This is a forum for people who love bikes, and in this subforum in particular friends gather virtually to celebrate together over acqusitions of much wanted bikes and to lament and gnash teeth over deals missed or gone south. Pretty standard stuff. If you find this kind of camaradarie silly no one is holding a gun to your head forcing you to read and respond.