craigslist etiquette question

[elaineandmichaelsmommy]

I'm currently trying to purchase clothes for dd over craigslist. the woman who's selling says it's a bunch of clothes from hanna,kohls and old navy plus toys. So of course I'm interested since they're all in dd's size. But the pictures she sent are REALLY crummy. All the clothes are shoved into a goodwill bag,same w/ the toys. i can't make out anything. I keep telling her that I need better pictures or to come and look at the clothes myself before deciding. She writes back that if I want to pickup that would be fine and that she has another intersted party a few towns away.
I really want these clothes for dd if it's as good as she claims. But it seems that she really thinks we've said we're going to buy the lot. and we're not sure-I've said it at least 3 times in my emails. I need to see the clothes themselve. not just a full bag w/ clothes coming out of the top.
If we decide to buy it's not a problem. but what do i do if I see the clothes and decide not to buy them. Do I just tell her that we're not intersted or do i do something else. I think we're going to have to go to her home to look at them. I don't see her sending individual pictures of all the clothes. How do I handle this. I've never bought anything from craigslist before and this is getting complicated. thanks for your advice

jen

[C99]

You just go to her house, look at the clothes and if you don't like them, you say, "I'm sorry, I am not interested. Thanks for your time."

It's really not that complicated. I've bought and sold a bunch of things on Craigslist. Last year, I was selling a changing table and I had at least 3 couples come to look at it before anyone bought it. It wasn't a big deal.

[Momof3Labs]

I looked at a high chair from craigslist last year that I didn't buy. She described it as barely used, and it was disgusting. No way would I want that near my kitchen or my child. I told her that it was a little more clean-up work than we wanted, and that we wouldn't be taking it.

Just go look at them, and if the lot is worth the price, take it. You can always donate the pieces that you don't want. If you don't like what you see, just say, "sorry, this isn't quite what we were trying to find for our DD."

[DrSally]

Yep, if it's not too far, just go over there. You have a right to look at the stuff before you buy it. I think it's fine too, to say it's not what you're looking for if they're not in good condition.

ETA: This post reminded me to check CL, haven't looked over the holidays. I found a little tykes kitchen for $35 plus food!! It is in great condition, totally clean, etc. The family were super nice. They already had a ton of emails but called me b/c I incl. my phone # and "seemed nice"! I was so psyched I started jumping up and down and DS thought it was hilarious!

[luv_my_girl]

Personally, I have found clothes on Craig's List to be a waste of time. The condition is often very bad - otherwise they would be sold on a loop or ebay. I'd pass.

[supercalifragilous]

Depending on the price, would it still be a good deal if you only liked SOME of the outfits in the whole lot?

You could buy the lot, pick out what you like/want and give away the rest or resell it to recoup some of your cost.

[dules]

Or, just make her an offer on the pieces you want from the lot.

Say there are 3 good condition HA outfits (I'm dreaming, lol) and the whole lot is priced at $25. Offer her $10 just for the Hannas and she can go ahead and sell the rest (assuming there's a lot) for $20.

If she wants cash, she might budge. We donate or eBay clothing, but for baby gear I priced rock bottom to get the stuff out, and then was happy to make package deals, again, just to get it out of the house and into the hands of a motivated buyer who bothered to make the trip.

We sold an EUC snugride w/base, NIB snugride, LN full size Graco swing, car seat carrier stroller and boppy for, I think, $30 total to one couple. I didn't need the stuff and was happy to have the $30. :)


Mary

[kijip]

Just go over and take a look. If you like, great. If you don't say no thanks. I have a first come first served policy when I Craigslist- as in the first one to come. I don't schedule 2 people at once (in case the first one buys it) but I don't prioritize the emails that I recieve. The first person to respond with a time and place gets my address or meeting spot and a time to come. If they don't take the items, I email the next person who is ready to come and move on from there. FWIW, I never take any effort to take additional pictures. The items I sell are in demand or a big bargain and I don't put in any more effort than I need to. When I first started selling I took a bunch of extra pictures for people that were just looking.