Buying Stuff On Craigslist (and some links)

Have you ever thought, “You know what I need?  A new gas weed trimmer.  You know what I don’t want to pay?  Full price.”  Well then.  Craigslist may be for you.  You can find virtually anything for sale on Craigslist.  Anything.  All brought to you by your fellow citizens.  Yes, the same citizens who you generally try to avoid eye contact with during the regular week.  So, if you’re ready for a bargain, and you’d also like to see if your ‘fight or flight’ instincts are up to par, give it a shot.  Here are some helpful tips for your buying experience.

• Meet the buyer or seller at a public place, if at all possible.  Usually you can make your deal in the parking lot of a store, or maybe the mall.  When you both arrive, the whole thing goes down like some sort of hostage exchange.  You size the other guy up at a reasonable distance.

“You the guy I talked to on the phone?”

“Yeah”

“You got the trimmer?”

“Yeah, you got the cash?”

“I got the cash.  How about forty instead of forty five?”   And,,,,,, boom, you’ve got yourself a new used weed trimmer.

• If you do have to go to someone’s house to pick something up.  It’s best if you don’t go alone.  If you do go alone, and the person says, “Hey, it’s nice to meet you, the bicycle you’re interested in is down in my basement, I’d have brought it out here, but my back’s been acting up”, don’t go in.  If you do go in and the person says, “Okay, it’s right over there behind that door, yes, the soundproofed one”, and you’re still thinking about a bike, then, A: You really want a bike, and, B: Your ‘fight or flight’ instincts are not up to par.
• Also, it’s probably best not to try to find a masseuse on Craigslist.  I’m sure that there are some legitimate massage therapists floating around the internet, but,,,,,,,,,,………  I’m just saying, you’re going to be in the middle of your massage and the next thing you know, the ‘masseuse’ is running for the back door, and in come the cops, and hey, that’s just awkward.
• Last but not least.  If someone asks you to wire them money or send them a money order for anything, and you do it, then you just aren’t that smart.  Stick to the mall where you can get robbed by retailers face to face.

Now you are prepared for shopping in the wild west that is Craigslist.  Happy hunting.

Like me on Facebook.  Have a great weekend.

LINKS

• The Perseid meteor shower is happening next week.  Put down the electronic devices for twenty minutes and go catch a shooting star.
• Runner up for my favorite story of the week.  This guy says his yorkie saved him from a bigfoot encounter.  THERE’S VIDEO.
• On August 7, 1942, the Guadalcanal campaign started.  Here’s a good summary from the National World War II Museum.
• My favorite story of the week.  Spider Man fights a heckler in Times Square.  THERE’S VIDEO.