So I answered an add on CL for a 1959 Ford F100 SWB-$200.00. The add had been floating around for a while and out of curiosity I sent an email this morning. Here is the add (no pics though). "59 SWB FORD BOX--- WAS REMOVED WHEN NEW TO INSTALL FLATBED ON TRUCK FOR HAY---- MADE INTO TRAILER WITH 2 X 2 SQUARE TUBE IN 1962------- THEN NEVER USED---- SERIOUSLY---- IT HAS ORIGINAL BLACK PAINT STILL ON IT THATS STILL SHINES----- 15 X 10 ANSEN SLOTS WITH N50 TORQUE TWISTER TIRES THAT STILL HAVE THE LITTLE NUBBIES ON THEM------ HATE TO LET IT GO BUT IT NEEDS TO BE BACK ON A TRUCK------BED FLOOR IN ABSOLUTELY PERFECT---- HAS LIGHTS [STOCK FORD] AND 2 INCH BALL RECIEVER---- $200 FIRM------" Sounds like it might be worthwhile. The bed on my 58 has some rust and dings and holes to be filled, so this would have been a good deal (at least on paper). Might even have been able to trailer it home. Got home tonight to find this response to my email: "It went to scrap yard this morning due to craiglisters wanting it for free." WTF? I should have jumped on it sooner but shit! I'll bet the scrap yard didn't give $200.00 for it! Hell the wheels might have been worth something too. Win some loose some but the idea of it getting crushed up just kills me (my wife is pissed about it also). Ever have this happen to you?
Greetings! Yes, idiots are everywhere, a lot of people on this board rant about the eighty year olds that tell you they're "gonna fix it up some day" (hey, everybody's gotta have a dream), the ones that get me are those who say they can "make more money parting it out" or "can get more than that hauling it over the scales".
Some years back I found a '52 F-2 sitting in front an old pole building out in the country. The truck was beat but had a set of really nice running boards which are very hard to find in decent shape. I did some detective work and found the owner of property. I called and asked about the truck, the guy tells me the truck belonged to his father who recently died and his estate is in probate. He couldn't sell anything until the estate was settled but he would sell me the truck for something like $100 and he said he would call me as soon as everything was taken care of. I drove past the truck on a regular basis and called him a couple of times until one day it was gone about six months later. I call the guy and ask about the truck. He tells me he scrapped it. When I reminded him that that I wanted it he just said he thought I wasn't interested in it any more.
There's a well known junkyard in NW WI run by an old coot that doesn't want to sell anything. I asked about some stainless trim on a grill of a truck. He says, "Make me an offer." I tell him, "$25". He answers, "I can get more for it as scrap." I told him, "It weighs less than a quarter pound and stainless scrap it 25¢ a pound, that's about 6¢." I gave up.
I found an add on craigslist 2 years ago title said 1956 mercury free to good home. I emailed the guy immediately and sat in front of the computer for hours waiting for a reply. Finally the next morning I got an email from him asking me to call. I initially thought it was a scam for obvious reasons. I called him and told him i was very interested but i had to ask why are you giving it away. He told me that he bought the car in texas in 84 and drove it back up to jersey. for the 26 years he had it garaged in jersey he did minor repairs such as new brakes and tires and bought a ton of new parts but never got to give the car his full attention. he told me he wanted to give it away as long as it was going to a good home. He had over 100 emails on the car and decided to give it to me. I was in the truck and on my way to his house the second I hung the phone up. One of the most honest people I have ever met and I have kept him updated on everything ive done to it so far. Oh and did I mention he gave me a low mile 390 and aod trans with it!
On the other side, there are ass hats that answer Craigslist ads with "I'll be right over", and never show up. There was a jerk right here on the HAMB classifieds that 'answered' an ad about my original white one owner '63-1/2 Galaxie. $2500. (it has a scratch in the passenger door...the putz emailed me with questions: "How deep is the scratch?" and "Got any pictures of the interior?" and some other...Sent more pics, then nothing. This dork put himself up with some 'High Performance' handle, then never called or emailed back. Mr. 'Ford Performance'. Might meet him at a Billetproof... Flaky 'buyers' are WAY worse than undecided owners.
Last year I came across another free car add. title said 1996 impala ss free. I called the guy and asked if he was serious and he goes "sorry bud the car is on a trailer someone beat you to it" I asked why he was giving it away and he said "the bitch wants a divorce, she cant get half of something I give away" well spoken!
You see the ad, delay on responding, he scraps it because hes tired of dealing with craigslisters not buying it. Much like you not buying it when you saw it earlier? Ive been there. It was 200 bucks, not worth much effort. Sucks, but you are as much to blame as he is.
I've decided to build a small CID SBC, the 265's are either locked up or their owners think they're made of lotsofmoneyium. There's always 283's on Craiglist that no one apparently wants/buys. There was one that had been advertised for several weeks, and it had a photo of it; I could see the valley lifter gallery had Glyptol paint, because the heads were off. It looked good, so I called and went to look at it. It was .030 over, rods had been numbered, had a cast crank. I told him I'd take the short block, but he wanted to keep the oil pan as it was for a Monza. He kept pushing me to take the heads too, but they were late model 76cc heads. I figure the motor had to have about 6.5 to 7 CR with those heads, and could'nt of had much power. I got a like new 283 short block for $60.00. The guy also had a Monza coupe with a V-8 he'd bought, and a Monza fastback with an 4 cylinder diesel in it (he bought it that way too). Sometimes Craiglist pays off, sometimes it does'nt. He was getting ready to haul it for scrap. Butch/56sedandelivery.
I was on the sellers experience of this last year. I went to a farm auction, there was a 64 Ford shortbed box, with tailgate. Bed needed a small amount of bodywork, but nothing more than an afternoon and the tailgate was MINT, and it all 100% rust free. I only bought it because the bed was loaded full with scrap stainless and alumium. I kept/scrapped the stainless and aluminum, and put the bed on CL for $100. Got a few calls, a few really weird trade offers (one for a SHEEP ), but no one even came out. It was on for 6 months, as I slowly dropped it to $50, even had it on here. I was moving and it had to go, and the whole last month, I even said in the ad "next scrap run, its gone". Last few days of the move, I loaded it full of steel scrap, and off I went. 2 days later, one of the guys that had called a few times with some odd offers, calls and wants to come buy it. Told him, too late, its chinese rebar by now. He unloads, calls me every name in the book. Even had a few trashing posts on CL and a few forums. Exactly how long should I hold on to MY parts at bottom dollar prices for guys to get off their butts and PRY OPEN their wallets? The scrap guy gives me CASH. He doesnt try try to lowball price me, offer me crazy trades, doesnt waste my time looking at it 5 times for 30 minutes each while he determines if he can use it. I dont have to wait all day for him to show. I load it, drop it, and have CASH. I'm all for trying to help out rodders do their cars, but exactly how much hassle is to be expected? If its cheap (and what you described was there, $200 was CHEAP), buy it when it pops up. Dont expect him to coddle you into a sale.
Hmmmm, not getting much sympathy because you saw it and did nothing about it for a while, then when you did decide to follow up, the guy had scrapped it. Hmmmm, have we learned anything? Proverb : He who hesitates is lost - a pain in the butt, hey?
Craigslist is hit and miss since its free to list and no regulation on who gets on it and posts or responds. Ive gone on quite a few wild goose chases that end up being not legitimate when i get there. "no rust" rarely means that, i have sold a few things with cl, but i put pics and also im very honest about the items im selling. on the other hand i have made a few great finds on cl too from some honest people out there, i picked up an old advertising champion spark plug for $150 less then they go on ebay, and i just picked up a b&m shifter with cable with a 60's hurst shifter handle, all for $25! when i got there to pick it up the guy hands me the shifter handle and its in the original package with instructions from 1967! what a great suprise! ive found that when a deal presents itself, JUMP ON IT! ive gotten a lot of good stuff because other people just were sleeping instead of responding.
He probably got tired of low ballers offering 100 for his 200 dollar truck. The current trend seems to call and low ball you on the phone if what happened with the last two parts cars I had on Craigslist were any indication. They don't even bother to show up, they call from their cell phone and low ball you without ever seeing the vehicle. Over the years I've missed out on too many things because I piddle potted around about going and getting them or didn't get the cash together quick enough. I paid more than I wanted to for a 28 Chevy frame for my roadster project last Friday simply because I was tired of hunting for one after I piddled around and didn't get one that was a lot closer to home. I didn't feel like hunting for another six months for the missing major piece to the project.
I've just never goten into the Craig's List deal, don't know why, but when someone advertizes something WAY UNDER MARKET VALUE, even if I had no use for it I'd be there with the bucks. MAKING MONEY is a GOOD THING! The seller got scrap money and no BS tire kickers. You snooze, you loose. Bob
I just had this scenario happen on an OT car I am selling. I got tired of tire kickers and one guy specifially. He called several times, kept asking for a lower price w/o taking it for a drive or even getting inside. He then setup a test drive and cancelled it. When he called back to drive it again I had "sold" it to a family member. I got a weird vibe from the guy and realized if he bought it I would be holding his hand and responsible for everything that happened to the car. I didn't want to deal with the SOB.
Here in the Pacific Northwest, I have figured out that 99% of the time, when someone advertises something as "rust free", that simply means that when you buy it, they don't charge any extra for the rust. However, the other 1% can be a real find, the time to go and look is the instant you hang up the phone, or receive an e-mail from the seller. I saw a C/L ad a number of years ago now, said "1931 Model A, all apart, in storage since 1964, $3,500"..I figured it was going to be a rust bucket cut up 2 Door Sedan, or something, but called the guy and said I would be right over...imagine my surprise when I went into his garage and encountered a rust-free, all there, everything tagged and bagged, 1931 indented firewall, Roadster Pickup, with the correct wide bed and fenders, both cherry front fenders with spare tire wells, everything rust free, last registered in 1964, taken off the road that year and taken apart, and in a dry garage ever since... So, yeah, 99% of Craigslist is pure BS, but there is always that ONE TIME... 8=)
Saw a video on here recently of a '59 Buick getting flattened. It was one of the most awful things I have ever seen!
I can understand the frustration from both sides being a buyer and seller. When buying, sometimes I just have to think it over and sometimes I'm thinking "what's the catch" if it seems like too good a deal. As a Seller, man I get pissed off sometimes at the low ball offers, the stupid questions, the no shows, the offer of trades that make no sense....etc Awhile back, I had a brand new set of Edelbrock Elite valve covers with breathers that I didn't need (long story, but I was rebuilding a SBC and it got stolen from my shop before I finished it!) I don't have any other SBC so I put the valve covers on craigslist. 1 guy was going to be here on the next Friday to pick them up. He didn't show. while waiting for that guy, another guy sent me a message saying "I live right around the corner from you and I'll give you $15 for them right now" I was asking only $50 new in the box NO thanks. I still get text messages from him every now and then (I haven't had the ad up in over a year) saying "$15 cash, I can pick them up right now" Finally I had to tell the guy that I bolted them to my wall and they look good there so I'm keeping them. He said if you ever want to sell them, I have $15 waiting for you
Needed a front axle/spindles for my 50 chevy pu- saw an add on craigslist for an axle w/spindles for a 56 truck. Called the guy, made an apointment to see it. As I am driving across the state to see it he calls, says he looked at the spindles and does not think they will be any good. Several months later I see the add back on craigslist??? At least I found an axle closer to home. Jim
Yep been there. I put an ad on CL a few years ago looking for an O/T small pickup. I get this response from someone that they 'bought a new D***** pickup and would give me their old one'. These trucks haven't been made since 1979! OK , I emailed back with some questions about the year of it and basic stuff. I got these strange emails back that never specified anything about the truck. It went back and forth a few times until I figured it had to be a scam. And I've had people send a car to the scrappers before I could get a chance to even look at it.
I got pretty lucky on CL. A guy was advertising a '72 Ford F-100 for parts for $200. I wanted the rear axle for my '48 panel but didn't have the money. The ad was on for about a month so when I got a few bucks I emailed the seller asking if he'd be interested in selling just the rear axle. I told him I didn't have room for the entire truck. He came back and said he'd take $75 for the axle alone. I drove 100 miles when I got there I he had the axle sitting in his driveway waiting for me. It looked like it came out of an almost new truck. Gave him the $75, loaded it into my truck and drove home. The next day I went to pull it out of the back of my truck and inadvertently pulled the brake drum off. All brand new brake parts, including drums. Another time I listed some old Ford rims. I get an email from a guy in a town 90 miles away asking if I'd cut the price in half because he'd have to use a lot of gas to come get the rims. I emailed back telling him it wasn't my problem how far he had to drive. When posting on CL I am real clear on the condition of the item and post large pictures. I give away a lot of stuff too. CL saves on disposal fees. I've given away computer monitors, tires and non-working or bad condition tools. Again, I post telling people the problems with the the free stuff with pictures. You'd be amazed what people will take if you list it for free. CL is a crap shoot.
What happened to buying something as soon as the seller says it's yours? I don't get waiting? Waiting for what? I buy stuff on Ebay and when the auction is over, my money is sent IMMEDIATELY. What gets me are the people who say, "I'll take it." Then want to have some time to pay for it. Try doing that shit at the grocery store.
The Jalopy Journal
