I've been on the losing side of my last two craigslist encounters.
episode 1:
I was first in line to buy a bike and made a date and time to buy it unseen. I then later got a text from the seller saying someone offered more. So then I gave in and upped it and he upped it and the guy sold it to him.
episode 2:
Set a time to pick up some 2010 record brake/shift levers. I then get an email saying he sold them.

So goes on the chronicles of craigslist/sometimes ebay.

Don't set up a time. Just get in the car and get there right now.

+100 On deals, never set a time, go immediately. My last big deal, the guy had a phone number. I called immediately. "I would like to buy your bike." "When can you come?" "Are you available now?" I hustled over there fast. Guy was bombarded with phone calls.

Never, ever wait.

The time between your initial contact and your "appointment" is time that others will use to scoop you. No morals on C/L. First one with the cash wins.

+1 I have had deals all set. The seller says come on over and get it. Drive the 10 minutes to sellers house. He says, I just sold it. He says I told a bunch of people to come over and figure 90% won't show up. Probably true but this was a vintage Trek with Dura Ace for $100.
As it has been said 1000 times. Until you put cash in the sellers hand there is no deal.

And definitely don't feel bad about losing out on a CL bidding war.

I had a CL deal that worked out. Item for sale at 0745, I email at 0802. Hour later get an email saying someone out of town has offered more. Do I want to offer more? I considered a response that would make it clear I did not appreciate his making CL into fleaBay. I do not answer. Four hours later I get a call. Guy says he can't reach the out of town guy and do I want it for the original price. So I got it.

You know that "Out of town guy" likely never existed. Right?

I've sold four bikes and three wheelsets on CL.

When I sell I respond to respondents in the order they e-mail me. I tell them how many people are ahead of them and I make arrangments for each one at a time, giving them a time limit to get back to me and arrange a time. When the item sells I make it a point to e-mail each unsuccessful respondent back and let them know the item sold.

I don't know that I've ever received that treatment but I do it because I think that's the honorable thing to do.

I have never once had a seller want me to run right over and get something that's on CL. People generally have a job and will say, "Can you come by tonight?" or, "Can you come by on Saturday?" That said, I will try to get there as soon as they are available.

you win some, you lose a lot more.

I dont ****y foot when it comes to road bikes! You have to move like a Flash! By the time others are contemplating calling, the bike is already in your car! Cash is king! Always keep money in your wallet, and gas in your car just in case an opportunity arises and you have to storm out of your house! Make sure that you don't leave a pot of hot water boiling on the stove for about an hour, and then remember o your way back that you left a pot of boling water on the stove. :-) O.k. it happened to me last weekend! One of the most scariest days of my life. All for an all Chrome Schwinn Voyageur 11.8 (see link). If at all possible get a GPS. Time is very, very critical to your success!

https://s912.photobucket.com/albums/a...0/SchwinnV118/
Flash

I don't engage in bidding wars on craigslist. As a result, I know I missed some deals, but I refuse to get into a bidding war with someone that may or may not exist. Although some engage in questionable tactics on craigslist, I've managed to get some great deals by moving quickly. If I can't move quickly, I don't respond to the post.

This is how I conduct my sales on CL. I don't expect the same but it would sure be cool. +1 on cash in a sellers hand is king and time is of the essence. But lots of times I just can't hop in a car immediately so I am left to rely on being the first caller. And as most have said being first caller is not enough.

Oh well, it's not like I haven't had the sweet joy of being first on the scene and catching a great deal.

If I can't pick something up immediately I ask the person if they will take an extra $5 to hold it and pull the ad off. works sometimes. Up until, well now, I have done what the above does in terms of selling something, But after a couple of frustrating encounters last week I no longer think I will hold an item, there is no guarantee the person is going to buy from you so you don't owe them any guarantee you will hold the item.

I had a situation where I arranged a set time with a seller of a Raleigh Technium for a decent price. When I arrived and met the guy a minute later, while I was looking over the bike, another buyer showed up and shortly after a third. The seller nonchalantly mentioned that he figured most people would not show up.

Since I happen to be first I was the first to have the bike available. It all became quite awkward. All three of us ended up looking over the bike together and we all agreed that it wasn't worth the asking price. On top of it the bike was much larger than advertised, so I declined to buy it. The others did as well.

All in all I do have more positive than negative CL experiences though. I just love the thrill sitting in the car and hoping the deal is still available and as good as you think / hope it to be. It's addictive I tell you.

that's what i did!, lol picked up a bianchi celeste superleggra with c-record today, mint condition, never every seen another bianchi with as good a paint job as this one.

it's purrrrdy

sorry no pics yet...

A couple of years back, I called about a Schwinn Criss-Cross for $15.00, told the guy I would buy it and was twenty minutes away. By the time I got to his house, he said that several people had called and offered up to $100.00 for the bike. He sold it to me for the asking price, for which I was grateful, my wife loves that bike! I haven't been that lucky on CL since....

Cheers,
Chris

As a seller I generally get to people in order that they contact me. There are exceptions to that rule though. If I have alot of interest I won't wait a few days for the person to come check it out. If I have an appointment set with someone to come look at the bike I won't sell it to anyone else. I am probably too nice, but a couple times people claimed I sold it out from under them, but they never actually set up a time to come look at the bike just said they were interested in it then never really replied for a couple days till after I let them know the bike was sold. There is a flipper I have decided to just avoid if they come calling. It gets old with them nick picking about the bike via email or whatever and not willing to pay my bottom dollar which is IMO more than fair.

My CL adventurers today were a mixed bag. I went and looked at a long line of garage sales on one street finding nothing worth buying from my perspective although it was a good shot with all those garage sales. I probably missed some good bikes based on what one guy selling a couple told me, but oh well. Then I went a couple blocks over to heck out a couple gas pipe junkers advertised with a Mongoose on CL. The lady was cleaning out her yard of old bikes the kids had brought home. The bikes were projects for $15 each and I showed her the road bike had a bent fork. I decided neither were worth my time. I emailed back her some advice on selling them which she seemed thankful for. Later in the day I decided to call on a Raliegh M30 thats been on CL for a few days. I have some church members looking for a bike and I thought it looked like something that would work for them and a solid price. I get there and the bike is fantastic condition and was truly ready to ride except the lowish tires. I gladly paid the $60 and wondered why the guy hadn't sold it for that price. Stuff that nice sells for twice the price here from the better flippers. It even had some newer Kendra hybrid tires on it which is a nice bonus. I also sold a purse for my wife. =) Overall it was a good CL day.

At least the sellers told you they sold it. This morning I drove 30 minutes to a meeting place and the seller didn't show up. When I called him, it went straight to his voice mail. What an a$$O!

Same thing happens to me exactly, I drove 40 minutes cross town with cash & the AHO won't show up & won't answer the phone. And I saw he put the bike on Ebay that night, I m so pissed.

I don't put people in line based on when they email me. Instead, I read the emails, and the one easiest to deal with, and the one that sounds like they are ready to buy, goes first.

Typically some will give you a myriad of questions: how about a trade, how about 50% of what I am asking, how about more pictures (I already posted detailed full sized pictures), can I hold it til Saturday, etc. Then I will have a few simple ones: here's my phone number, I'd like to come see it. Guess who gets first crack?

My rule on holding bikes is simple, call when you leave your house, and I will hold it til you arrive. Too many no shows on C/L. I don't hold a bike til the next day, or whenever. I try to work the same rules when I buy something, most of the time it works, sometimes stuff gets sold while I am driving. It sucks, its C/L.

While I hit a lot of garage sales, the only way it makes sense is if you are looking for other stuff. I don't see enough bikes to make it worth the effort. But I do pick up a lot of other stuff, that usually ends up on ebay, or meeting a family/friend's need.

+1. If someone is being a pain in email, they're often worse in person. I take the nice ones first. However,my latest listing I didn't bother to put in an email contact, just used my phone#.I've found a tremendous percentage of the emails I get are phishing scams and such, I'd rather not deal with them.

I think BBM said you're applying to buy a bike from him. Makes sense to me.

And if you only look for bikes at yard sales,you'll be disappointed. I've got quite the record collection from them (although those are going away,now the CDs are cheap...

I rarely seek out garage sale to look for bikes yesterday was the exception and it was a long-shot. I am pretty sure one of the flippers here in my area gets alot of his bikes that way, but I think he hits as many as he can. I don't have the time for that, its usually its a sale I drive by and stop and see if they have any bikes.

What I love is the people that contact me asking things that are written in the ad like size how old it is etc. Some people are interesting.

If you are a seller, I have found this is an excellent rule for doing business. Everybody wins.

My only craigslist purchase was a week in the making. Occasionally, waiting does work.

I've had really good luck with cl in the past. Up until lately.

I found a really nicely maintained late model road bike about 45 minutes across town. I call the guy we talk establish a good idea that the bike is right for me. I'm ready to go get the bike. He stalls and says to call him back in an hour and a half. This should have red flagged him.

I call him back in an hour and a half and get voice mail. I text him. He says his wife doesn't want him to sell the bike. In the meantime he re-lists the same exact bike and pics on cl for $150 more than the original listing. I texted him and called him on it. He stuck with the wife wanted the bike story.