I just don't get it. Maybe I missed that fraction of schooling when I was daydreaming about Farrah Fawcett. So I'm cleaning out my basement. I have MANY items deemed to me worthless that I figured "why not just give them away" instead of trashing them? Among many items including strobe lights, speaker boxes, old toys, camping gear, and such, I came across a sling shot I have. You know, a "wrist rocket" type? Loved them as a kid, had to have one now. About 4 years old. Paid maybe $4 for it? So I put it on Craigslist for $1 just for fun. Someone 1 hour away wants it and is willing to drive the distance to me to get it. For $1. They can get this same item locally for about $5 or less? Is 2 hours of their time and gas worth a $5 item?
What goes through some people's minds when they see something online? I'll sell it to him, but question his justification on the travel expense to get the item.
I was aiming for someone in my own neighborhood. Walking distance ya know? This guy is going to travel that far for a $1 item?
ya, CL is funny like that. I gave away some old headlights..like what $5 dollars new at wally? so some guy came and got them . must have taken a good 45-1 hour drive.
But its funny like that. I had a karioke machine thing. had it posted for $5 bucks...no-one, so i list it for free and i got like 8 emails in a matter of minutes. Althought the guy who came and got it gave ma a puzzle game and a windshield squugie thing in trade. lol.
^^^yup. Sounds like the slot machine I had. It was stuck in error mode. I was tired of it and had two anyway so I tried selling it for $25. Stated that it needed work. Noooooooooobody wanted it. Like a week went by and I said screw it. Listed it as dead but free. No lie 200+ ppl responded begging for it.
are you really going to make him pay a dollar? if he is willing to drive that far i would just give it to him... then again if he's willing to drive that far he probably just wants to rob you.
Damn right. Why give it away? He was well groomed and wore upper class clothes. He could afford the 100 pennies.
It's not like I was selling food or blankets to the needy lol.
Besides, before he could leave I handed him my business card for my knife business. I think that's when his eyes crossed. Either that or it was the bowie collection on my wall.
Who's making a dollar? That wrist rocket cost me many times that. I could be one of those who would sell it on Ebay for $9.95 or more. He said it was for his son who I could hear in the background over the phone.
Should EVERYTHING be free? I just don't get the logic.
That dollar was simply a symbol of a good deal. Free means charity which I am all about but this transaction wasn't.
Shoot. He probably has it on Ebay now for $9.95 for all I know.
your argument doesn't really make sense because everything doesn't cost a dollar and everything isn't sold in the circumstances at hand. regardless, i just wanted to say it seems dumb to make that man pay a dollar unless you need money that badly. just saying.
Paul's actions make perfect sense to me. Like he said there is an important distinction between a transaction and charity, and a transaction was appropriate here.
He didn't give it to him for free for the same reason he probably doesn't go around giving cash to random people.
And it shouldn't be a judgment call either. What type of clothes he was wearing, what social class he appeared to represent, how far he traveled etc., are all irrelevant to me.
Charity is appropriate when someone really needs something and isn't reasonably able to provide it for themselves.
And even in this "transaction", Paul still committed an act of generosity, selling it for a price that was obviously below the going rate.
Pit you nailed it head on. I don't believe non essential items should EVER be given away for free. That's just meaningless and favors greed. By putting a $1 price tag on it eliminated 100's of beggars looking for a freebie. If it comes at a price, even one as low as $1, it forces the "buyer" to make a decision. Is it worth it to them to make the journey and pay the $1 for the item? It also helps the buyer in feeling better about the transaction because it's as close to charity without it actually being one.
If I listed it for free then I would be swamped by all the trolls who had only an interest in it being free, not a wrist rocket. It adds value to not only the item but the transaction itself.
The sling shot was mine, paid for and kept in perfect condition. I have the right to sell it for whatever I want. What this thread was about was how far some people will go for it. I don't feel bad about someone burning $5 in gas to pick up a $5 item. He's a big boy and can make his own financial decisions.
Pit. I listed it for $1 so he had the bill in hand at my door. There's no haggling over $1. Who has the balls to do that lol?
Kind of an old story but I remember someone trying to get rid of their refrigerator. It worked but they were moving or something and needed it gone. Out on the curb it went with a sign on it saying "Works, free". Nobody wanted it. Suspicion of the value I guess. So the owner had an idea. He put a new sign on it. "Works, $50".
I put things out on the curb with a sign, Free or best offer. Put a working snowblower out there, some guy came to the door and offered my $20. Put a tv out there, got $5 for it. Another tv was taken free.. All that foam coil stuff i had, gone..
today, old refridges, ac's, stoves, dishwashers, ect are worth $$ in scap, so its very seldom you will see one hanging around long.
At work if i am changing out broken ac's, I will leave the old one outside on the curb while I go back nside to get my tools, and 9 out of 10 times it will be gone be the time I get back out to my van.
My best CL deal. Got a bunch of crown mouldings, like 45 - 16' lengths free. Just sold 20 of them for $150
Worst Cl deal. Sold my 1973 Harley SX 125 for $600. Seen it listed the next day for $1500. The guy told me he was gonna do a complete restore, not a resell.
Oddest, Sold my 81 caprice to a kid from NY City. He took the train here to drive the car back..Dont they have caprices in NY?
And finaly, legend has it that a guy needed a tile job done, so when prospective tilers came to look at the job, he would answer the door naked, with the phrase, "looking to lay something down"
thanks, paul. i wasn't ever attacking you. you are one of the best guys on the forum so i was really just stating my opinion on the matter... the thread was titled the mentality of some people and i was explaining mine. i still don't know why some people decided to freak out. i figured you would be fine with me stating my opinion as you are a mature adult...
muddy, i don't think we've ever talked personally so why are you calling me a douche? just because i don't kiss a55 on an internet forum? i could say i think people who butt into other people's business are douches, but i don't know you personally so i will withhold judgement and i wish you would do the same.
you have a very brash way of coming across that is hard to percieve unless you truly understand the way you communicate. whether you mean to offend is probably not the case, but the way you word things doesnt lead people to believe you are simply stating your opinion, but rather "attacking" them in a sense. you should understand. i dont know you personally and i am simply making an observation. i could be entirely wrong as i dont talk to you and i dont read a lot of your posts so its hard for me to get a "feel" on how you are as a person and how you come across. either way, its still the internet.
if you don't appreciate my brash tone i wouldn't recommend making brash judgments about people. it makes you look hypocritical... i don't really know what was i said that was so brash in this thread. maybe some people need to get the chips off their shoulder. not everyone is out to get you.
