Suddenly *Not So* Single Journey

Craigslist

Author: thenicknick

With Craigslist gaining popularity and media attention these days, I had to weigh in.  See, I have a love/hate relationship with that fickle fiend.  It is one site where I have been reasonably successful, and also very nearly scammed.  With that in mind, let me share some personal experiences and some tips for safe usage.

Over the past year, I have become something of a Craigslist savant.  I can whip together a posting in about thirty seconds flat, depending on the cursed little confirmation code that I have to decipher.  I have used it to try and find a roommate, rent a house, sell a piano, sell some dishware, advertise a yard sale, get rid of a hot tub, and even date.  (Yes, I like to live dangerously.)  The dating bit is going to be an entirely separate post.

I had absolutely no success finding a roommate.  Tons of people responded, many of them con artists from over seas eagerly awaiting my response with my bank information (right…) and certain that we would be the best of friends.  (I passed.)  And then there was a single mom with four children who thought living with me and my two kids in a three bedroom house was going to be just perfect. (I almost bit on that one.  Luckily, the bubble held an intervention and knocked me back to my senses.)  And then there was the guy who wanted to be my roommate, share my car, and even carpool my kids.  No red flags there, right?  And when I turned him down, he decided he wanted to date me and stalked me periodically for the next few months.  That was fun.

Selling the household goods was relatively simple.  And between the fact that the posting is free and ridiculously easy to complete, I highly recommend Craigslist.  My most successful posting, other than the dating ones, was for the defunct hot tub.  (Yeah, I posted not once but twice.)

Here was my dilemma.  After I gave up on finding a roommate, which was an endeavor as fraught with peril as dating and not nearly as fun, I decided I’d have to rent out the entire house in order to avoid foreclosure.  So, in an effort to clean up the place and prepare to vacate the premises, the hot tub had to go.  And I think the ad says it all:

Free hot tub/lawn ornament.

My ex bought a broken down hot tub a year and a half ago for the low low price of $500.  It NEVER worked.  Since then it has remained a lawn ornament, something of a Zen piece as it has become one with the yard.

Perfect for those with some mechanical ability, since it can be repaired.  Comes with chemicals, steps, and a cover.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Trying to rent the house.  Need to lose the eyesore.

Please call to come haul it away.  All I want is my unobstructed view back.

See.  Simple, clever, and effective.  Within ten minutes of posting, I had seven calls.  And by the next evening, in a thunder and lightening storm unlike any other, I had that bad boy loaded on a trailer being taken to parts unknown.  And the big brown dirt spot is now covered with something akin to grass.  (Akin to grass, since I have yet to grow actual grass.  See Spring Lawn Care post.)

So, when posting…

• Don’t give out too much information.  I never include actual street addresses or pictures that could help someone find me, whether I’m renting the house or trying to date.  And whatever you do: NEVER EVER EVER give out banking information.  NEVER.
• Be wary.  I tend to be naive, so it was a real disappointment to have my friends assure me that there was no Tatiana from Poland who needed to stay with me for six months while here on a work visa and would pay for all living expenses for the six months up front…  Come on, it could happen!
• Go with your gut.  If it feels wrong, you’re probably right.  A man in New Mexico, or so he said, wanted to buy my piano.  He just needed my account information to make a direct deposit, then his movers would pick up and deliver the piano.  I needed the money.  Man, did I want the money.  He didn’t haggle… Still, I called my bank and asked if there was anyway that could go horribly wrong.  Put simply ‘yes.’  A few days later, a woman was on the news having been scammed on Craigslist while she tried to sell her wedding dress.  The scammer ‘accidentally’ sent her a cashier’s check for too much.  She sent him the difference.  The check was a forgery.  And she was out $1500.

Craigslist also has a nice warning list on the site.  Take time to read it.  The advice is sound.

And if there are other tips I should have shared about Craigslist, please let me know!

Tags: craigslist, guide, how to, scam

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 28th, 2009 at 3:41 pm and is filed under A Single Girl's Guide. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.