I emailed a seller on craigslist for a inexpensive set that unopened and wanted to meet up with them and they said they would

use paypal and that raised a flag so I asked why so low and why can't we meet and whoever that person was said that they received emails from most people wanting it shipped and who wants to meet in person with all the things that happen with people getting held up at gunpoint ect.

I know that there have been stories with craigslist but meeting in a public place or with a group of friends is helpful and safe and emailed them that.

Well now this scammer is trying to defend him/her self and said that they belong to brickpicker and watch the forums and sees what they say also said know some robin hood person? and also sees the same people emailing him.

Well right there I say forget it and try to move and figured I rather pass on this.

They emailed me one final time saying that people will use paypal no matter what and it is secure and also that because the prices are so low if her sells a couple of items a week he makes 600 or so plus bragging about having different ads up in different states besides the two people write about here.

So I am going to be more careful about who I buy from on craigslist and realize that craigslist warns about shipping,escrow and I know better and hope no one gets taken at all.

Had to delete my email so the moron doesn't write me again but now when I look on craigslist to see prices that are too good to be true I just pass.simple

Anyway I know this is long but we are all collectors here and know our stuff and if not we have people looking out for us.

So the way I figured is that this person watches what we write,knows the same names emailing them so probably why they dont reply back and 600 a week is not that much for some low life scammer, but still enough to piss me off being a collector.

 

 

 

No doubt we have scammers among us here! I avoid CL mostly because it's mostly garbage.

Thanks for sharing the info.

As my bad experiences pile up, I'm considering avoiding CL as well. 

Craiglist is fine for what it is: The Wild West of internet buying and selling. The protections are non-existent, so use common sense and observe reasonable safety precautions.

 

I don't bother with it for LEGO, buying or selling, because the time sink isn't worth it to me and frankly I'm not fond enough of strangers to want to hear their extremely uninteresting life stories every time I buy or sell something.

Exactly and that is why I am glad this site is here.

I saw a lot of stories myself on here and feel same way that they are boring and just posted,but that is not going to do any good the scammer will still be making money.

Oh well people have been warned and hope they dont get ripped off.

I know I am not

I have gotten a lot of good deals on CL but I always meet in person at a public place like in front of Target, Starbucks, or at a local Mall.  If really nervous, meet in lobby of a bank or police station.  I stay away from people who want to be paid with Paypal. its 100% scam.  There was a listing for UCS Falcon for $1000 but he wanted to be paid in paypal.  I have gotten MSIB SSD and DS for $250 each on CL, I just picked up Lego HP 4767 complete for $20 among others.  So, there are deals to be had but you just have to be careful.  One other advice to ask to see if the seller can send extra pictures of the item.  If it is legit, they will.  If they are a scammer, they will probably not respond back.  I always get a phone number from the seller to call back or text.  That way, if they don't show up, I can call them every 5 minutes for the next three days for wasting my time. 

Re: Paying with PayPal on CL, I have used PayPal (via my phone) to pay after I see the condition of the merchandise.  If it's not okay, or in bad shape, you don't hit the "Pay" button and leave with only your time lost.  Since transactions happen fast, you can wait a minute for the person to be funded and then leave with the merchandise once they have confirmed funding.  The only downside for the seller is that they pay the PP fee.

I have gotten a lot of good deals on CL but I always meet in person at a public place like in front of Target, Starbucks, or at a local Mall.  If really nervous, meet in lobby of a bank or police station.  I stay away from people who want to be paid with Paypal. its 100% scam.  There was a listing for UCS Falcon for $1000 but he wanted to be paid in paypal.  I have gotten MSIB SSD and DS for $250 each on CL, I just picked up Lego HP 4767 complete for $20 among others.  So, there are deals to be had but you just have to be careful.  One other advice to ask to see if the seller can send extra pictures of the item.  If it is legit, they will.  If they are a scammer, they will probably not respond back.  I always get a phone number from the seller to call back or text.  That way, if they don't show up, I can call them every 5 minutes for the next three days for wasting my time. 

 

 

Re: Paying with PayPal on CL, I have used PayPal (via my phone) to pay after I see the condition of the merchandise.  If it's not okay, or in bad shape, you don't hit the "Pay" button and leave with only your time lost.  Since transactions happen fast, you can wait a minute for the person to be funded and then leave with the merchandise once they have confirmed funding.  The only downside for the seller is that they pay the PP fee.

 

 

did both, pay with paypal AFTER receiving merchandise in good order and large cash transactions in a safety of a bank branch. no problems

Maybe I've gotten lucky, but I've had nothing but positive experiences on CL. There are of course a few flakes who just stop responding to my emails

I emailed a seller on craigslist for a inexpensive set that unopened and wanted to meet up with them and they said they would

use paypal and that raised a flag so I asked why so low and why can't we meet and whoever that person was said that they received emails from most people wanting it shipped and who wants to meet in person with all the things that happen with people getting held up at gunpoint ect.

 

I had posted a similar experience under the TC-4 Polybag thread.  Pretty much the same thing.  The dude on Craigslist had a bunch of polybags for sale and said that he had 25 white Boba Fett's and 25 TC-4 and TC-14's.  I asked quite a few questions about the polybags since this guy was 40+ miles from me and I asked if those pics were his in the listing.  He got all upset and tried to make it seem like I was being difficult.  I explained to him that if I was going to drive 40+ miles that I wanted to make sure I had all the details down and that we were clear on what I was buying.  I even asked if we could meet at a certain gas station by his location. 

 

I didn't hear from him for 3 days.  He then e-mails me saying that he still has the polybags.  I told him to forget it and it was too far.  He then proceeds to tell me that he was only in town visting family on the 4th of July and that he's back in Ohio now and then he suggests the Paypal thing.  Right there I knew it was a big freakin' scam.  Not only that, but I looked at the previous e-mails and noticed that he supplied two seperate e-mail addresses and he had an Iowa cell phone area code.  I told him that I'm not a sucker and that I'm not sending him money and that he is running a scam.  Never heard back from the chump.

 

Usually if it's too good to be true, it is.  It's rare that you find someone that doesn't know what they have and you get a killer deal.

 

To the other members here on brickpicker:  Is there anyway to report these type of listings to Craigslist admin so they can take these scam postings down?

I always push to meet at their house. You don't typically rip someone off who knows where you live.

I always push to meet at their house. You don't typically rip someone off who knows where you live.

 

There are plenty of legit buyers & sellers who won't agree to meet at their house. How would you react if a buyer/seller insisted he meet you at your house?

Craiglist is fine for what it is: The Wild West of internet buying and selling. The protections are non-existent, so use common sense and observe reasonable safety precautions.

 

I don't bother with it for LEGO, buying or selling, because the time sink isn't worth it to me and frankly I'm not fond enough of strangers to want to hear their extremely uninteresting life stories every time I buy or sell something.

Good advise. I would not totally write off CL. I believe there are many more good, honest people than bad apples. They just get all the press.

There are plenty of legit buyers & sellers who won't agree to meet at their house. How would you react if a buyer/seller insisted he meet you at your house?

I said push, not insist Of the 50 or so CL transactions I have done, about 45 were at their house and 5 in a parking lot. I havent had a deal fall through due to meeting location problems. That said ...

 

No deal is worth a CL crazy knowing where I live.

I always push to meet at their house. You don't typically rip someone off who knows where you live.

 

I've sold dozens, if not hundreds of things on CL. I will not let anyone meet me at my house. If they are uneasy, or I am uneasy, I either won't do the transaction, or I'll ask to meet in the parking lot of the local police department.

frankly I'm not fond enough of strangers to want to hear their extremely uninteresting life stories every time I buy or sell something.

Oh my isn't this the truth.

 

I have loved CL over the last couple years. It can be a crap shoot and isn't for everyone but there are plenty of deals to be made. I think there are so many hazards that I wouldn't recommend it for most people, unless they're used to a wearing a Stetson and chaps. 

There are plenty of legit buyers & sellers who won't agree to meet at their house. How would you react if a buyer/seller insisted he meet you at your house?

Seriously.  I would think he's trying to see what I have so he can jack me.  The few times that I've sold something on CL I've always met at a Starbucks near my house.  It's well lit and people are always there.  Safety for me, safety for the buyer.

I let buyers come to my house if the sale is small or kid related (we sell off kid's clothing/toys that our kids have outgrown on CL too).  If they're doing a larger purchase (multiple sets, big dollar items, especially electronics) it's at the local mall food court.  Knock on wood, so far, so good

I let buyers come to my house if the sale is small or kid related (we sell off kid's clothing/toys that our kids have outgrown on CL too).  If they're doing a larger purchase (multiple sets, big dollar items, especially electronics) it's at the local mall food court.  Knock on wood, so far, so good

I wouldn't even do that.  You just can't trust people nowadays.  Especially if you have kids, I wouldn't let anyone know where I live.  I'm glad it's been all good for you though.  Knock on wood........

legodelorean- I actually just talked to the guy with all the polybags in Ohio a few weeks ago;  he posted an ad on the Little Rock, AR craigslist also.  I crossed my fingers and called him;  he said they had moved to Ohio, and the ad was old (it had been updated 3 days before).  I suggested payment on delivery, but he said no.  He messaged me a couple weeks later offering payment thru paypal.  I haven't responded.

 

His pics were a bit inconsistent, but the items' pricing seemed like someone dumping a collection who didn't know the values.  My first thought (honestly) was that it was an angry girlfriend dumping her man's investment collection. 

Those are the tough things about Craigslist. On Ebay there really are barely ever the "Too good to be true deals" that are true. On Craigslist, the percentage is higher. The problem is, the downside and risk is unbelievably higher. Its a tough thing.

 

But the easiest thing to follow - Meet people in public, never ship something, never use paypal for a transaction or any other site. Cash is King baby.

legodelorean- I actually just talked to the guy with all the polybags in Ohio a few weeks ago;  he posted an ad on the Little Rock, AR craigslist also.  I crossed my fingers and called him;  he said they had moved to Ohio, and the ad was old (it had been updated 3 days before).  I suggested payment on delivery, but he said no.  He messaged me a couple weeks later offering payment thru paypal.  I haven't responded.

 

His pics were a bit inconsistent, but the items' pricing seemed like someone dumping a collection who didn't know the values.  My first thought (honestly) was that it was an angry girlfriend dumping her man's investment collection. 

His pics were definitely inconsistent and I asked him about that.  They didn't look like they were all taken at the same time and some of the pics looked like stock photos.  What does he think, that someone will pay first then get the product?  This guy needs to have his posts taken down.

His pics were definitely inconsistent and I asked him about that.  They didn't look like they were all taken at the same time and some of the pics looked like stock photos.  What does he think, that someone will pay first then get the product?  This guy needs to have his posts taken down.

I remember a post similar to this in my area. I looked at what he had, and it looked to good to be true, so I forgot about it. About a month later, the post was taken down and I have not seen it since.

I have used it a few times already.  Both times I used PayPal to buy, since I asked for the person's personal cell phone number so I could text them back and forth.  Getting their phone number really makes it much more secure, because that can be traced back to them much more easily than an email address.  Anyway, get a cell phone number and I would say you're about 95% in the clear and safe.  If they don't have a cell phone number with texting, then I wouldn't even talk to them. 

I had 80 dollars stolen from me by a military member who I was texting with and I had verified his identity online.  This was back in my stupid days and I sent him a money order for some Legos.  Never heard back from him after he gave me a bunch of BS excuses why he hadn't shipped such as his grandma died.