Craigslist is NOT for the faint of heart!

I'm sure sometimes when you come to read my posts, they may leave the impression of me standing on a soap box (preferably a vintage one) spouting my displeasure with certain misfortunes in my life. Well, brace yourself - here we go again.

As the title implies, this is going to be a rant about Craigslist. Not Craigslist in itself, but the sellers/buyers that you encounter through this site. I guess it's like the Walmart of the internet, you're gonna get all kinds. 

I've bought and sold a bit on CL over the past few years, and typically have not had any problems - until the past 2 weeks. On 2 separate occasions I was the FIRST to reply to TWO separate ads for furniture. The first time was for a set of tables that very closely resembled this table I had done last year. I have regretted selling this table to this day.

French Postage End Table

So imagine my excitement when I came across an entire set for my own home! Long story short, the man sold them out from under me claiming he got his emails mixed up. Really? How do you mix up emails when each one is different and shows a date & time? Yes. I want to call you a few choice names.

The next one gets even better. 

I found 2 oak end tables posted late Sunday evening. $5 each! woo hoo! I know I was the first to call, by phone. Talked to the man & MADE ARRANGEMENTS TO PICK UP for a day & time that HE set up with me for Tues. night (he told me they couldn't do it on Monday). It's a 30 mile drive for me to get to this place. With the price of gas and our time in a pick up truck with 3 little girls, it's not a cheap trip or a joy ride.

So now we're close to the house, but when I call the guy to ask exactly where his house is, he proceeds to tell me that the tables are sold and that "he got confused with all the calls." WTF! How do you get confused when YOU set up the time with the FIRST caller? (ME) I will tell you what, if I didn't have 3 little girls in the back seat of my truck, I would have unloaded on him with words that would have made a sailor blush!! I was H-O-T hot!

Why are these people doing this?? Is someone else telling them that they'll give them more $$ for these items if they sell them to them instead? That would be my guess, but you know what? That's wrong. If YOU set the price and YOU make a deal with someone already, then that item is sold and that's the right thing to do. I don't feel as though I should have to pay for their stupidity. I hope Karma comes back to bite them in @rss! I do believe in Karma. I even ask myself if I'm getting paid back for something I did wrong to someone else. If I did, then I didn't realize it at the time.

The story doesn't end totally bad though. Apparently Karma felt Murphy's Law had had enough fun with me for the time being and decided to step in on my behalf. Bless her heart (I'm assuming Karma is a female, cuz they don't say "paybacks are a b!tch" for nothin'- wink wink)

As we were sitting somewhere near the vicinity of where the person lived that had these $5 tables, we spotted a bunch of junk sitting out by the trash cans there by the road.  There was some good stuff there and my hubby hopped out & proceeded to dig through all the stuff. He has been curb shopping looong before I ever started. He got some speakers, scrap metal and some yard tool we'll try to sell in a garage sale.

Here is what I picked out.

Look at all this good stuff we got!! I didn't get any tables, but I did get two of my favorite style of chairs!! YES! One chair has a broken support, but it's fixable and I'll make it into a decorative planter chair, but the other one is in great condition. 

I think the birdcase is home made, but it's still kind of neat and needs a little work too. The basket with the silk plant inside was included. Not sure of what kind of condition it's in yet.

 

I seen an idea on Pinterest that I want to try with this galvanized tub that was sitting there too. It may not turn out as nice as the one I seen, but I want to give it a shot anyway.  Not to mention, you just don't pass up a FREE tub!

This metal mailbox. I LOVE the name on the side! (maybe a little clue that someone was watching out for us with this find) I think I'll keep it there. It's another Pinterest idea I hope to try to make.

 This dirty, grungy dartboard that is in otherwise new condition.

It even came with darts that were new in the package. I may clean it up to resell or gut it and redo it more rustic. The selling it is easier. 

If you look on the seat of one of the chairs, there's a couple of wire hangers with the cardboard tubes. I used to throw these away, but now they have a new purpose for me and I'll be showing what I do with them in the near future.

I just love the back style of these chairs! I want to keep one.

 

I guess sellers/buyers on Craigslist don't have to care how badly they handle their dealings, since there is no accountability on that site, like on Ebay or Etsy.

So, has everybody had at least one bad experience on Craigslist or have I just hit a couple of bad ones in just 2 weeks?

 

  

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