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The last time I traded in a car was when I leased my Acura back in 2007. What they did was take the car and issue me a check for the amount of the trade in instead of applying it to the new car's price. I tried to sell it locally back then (DC area), but I ended up getting almost the entire asking price from the dealership. You might want to investigate how much they will give you first and then attempt to sell it via CL if you don't like the price.
I send the "Still Available?" emails, because half the time or more, I get a response like ,"Sold it. I need to take that down. Sorry."
But, I put my real name and contact information in the email. I think that helps.
Interesting , because I don't want people to have my name or contact info until I have corresponded by
an anonyomous email some...
If it was a scam ad they would have way to much info..
Now I understand what y'all are talking about. But I agree with Bpobill in that they won't mess around with furniture because I am NOT going to ship anything like that!
I'll keep y'all posted on how it goes!
Vicki
They do respond to furniture..They ask if they can send a casheirs check for over the amount and have you pay the extra to someone who is coming to deliver the piece for them..Have had this happen more than once..
I sold my SUV within 24 hours from CL. I posted many pictures of all angles, and I anticipated all the questions I could think of which a potential buyer might ask. Ads that provide minimal info just beg questions, and I don't want to be bothered. It's easier to provide details up front. Like, if there is a scratch on the front bumper, just say it (and photograph it). It will save you both time and aggravation later if that scratch is a dealbreaker.
I also say "in the subject line of your reply include the word "XXXX" ". If they don't include that word, I ignore the email, because that means they did not read the ad carefully and they're probably a scammer doing their rote scamming. And if they say "I am interested in 'it' " or another vague response, I am suspicious. If they're really interested, they will be eager to show up and see the vehicle. The more creative the "conditions" or circumstances, the more suspicious I get. I do NOT include my phone number because I don't want to be bothered at the point of initial contact. So many people respond with "call me" or "what's your number?" - and that's it. I don't go for those responses. If they have a question or want to see it, I ask that they provide that in their reply to me as a first pass. I have found that most initial cursory responses are just bunk.
And we did a cash transaction at the buyer's bank.
I now have enough experience on CL to spot most scams. If it feels slightly off, I don't respond. But then again, I have a few years of learning from experience. Some scammers are very convincing, so I am extremely cautious in vetting out a buyer (via email) before getting involved in deep details.
And I did get a Google voice account to use for when the time comes to speak on the phone.
A prudent buyer will likely be cautious as well, so I take that as a good sign (vs those who say "I want to buy it!" or some other overly-eager response without even seeing it).
You should be able to sell a CR-V easily. Good luck.
thanks for the tips on the google voice number. hadn't thought of that before.
i sold a '96 honda accord on craiglist in about 12 hours. it went up on CL at 7:30 PM. anticipating that it would be crazy & having a friend who loves to wheel & deal (as well as her having a more flexible job & central job location), i had them contact her to see the vehicle. by 9:30 PM a guy had driven out from holly springs to look at it & 3 guys had scheduled to look at the car in the morning.
the first guy in the morning bought the car after my friend drove it to a mechanic for him to review & then followed him to his bank to obtain a cashier's check. i'd definitely second the recommendation for cash only and/or meeting them at the bank to verify the funds.
i honestly wouldn't bother with carmax as every time i've taken a vehicle there, they have offered me about 1/3 of what the car could get when i sold it privately via craigslist.
Since this car still has AZ plates and title, I'm betting that selling it myself in NC isn't going to work - is it???? Would I have to retitle and re-register it myself to NC before I sell it?
Try Carmax. They can do the paperwork on this type of deal and will just adjust for their extra costs. You can get a non-binding offer valid for 7 days.
I guess I should have updated this thread - sorry!
Carmax and one dealership gave me a price >$2000 below what I felt we could sell it for ourselves. Put the thing on Craigslist with many photos, including one that tried to show the one single scratch in the paint job (the scratch didn't actually show up in the photo, but everyone was warned it was there in advance.) Received 3 phone calls in 24 hours, and the first person who showed up to see it bought it.
I advertised it for $300 above BB for excellent condition, sold it for $500 less than it was advertised for (so $200 below BB). Could have gotten more, I think, but it was a brand new college grad that kept calling me ma'am and was so skittish about buying his first car that I just kinda caved. Nice kid.
He did want the car inspected by a mechanic prior to purchase (even though it had low mileage and was still under manufacturer warranty) and we accommodated that request. He was also getting a loan from his credit union, but had already been approved. Those things meant there was a delay in finalizing the transaction for about 5 days. We did not require a deposit, but I left the listing on CL and kept a list of those who replied to the ad as a back up.
The mechanic told him he was getting a "smoking deal" and we met at my bank the next day, he bringing a certified check, me bringing the title, bill of sale, AZ paperwork to transfer the title and AZ bill of sale required by AZ DMV. Everybody was happy with everything.
For CL larger purchases:
Scammers can be good at targeting anyone where they think they can get a large amount of money-like when we were looking at homes to rent when moving here. I had a lot of, "I'm out of town, doing missionary work, go by the house, peek through the windows, then you can wire me the money and I'll send the keys".
I've also had scammers with smaller items. We bought a bunch of matching area rugs and furniture pieces when we moved in. The sellers bought a model home and didnt want the rugs or furnishings, they said. There were like 10 rugs-my hubby went to pick up, the guy had them all bundled up and luckily Dh realized he didnt load one large enough to be a 10x12-though hard to tell sizes when rolled/taped. Guy claimed that was an error (main reason we wanted the set). He already had the money, yelled at my husband to leave, and called the police saying he was being harassed. We ended up getting the rug in question, and them got home to find it was so sun faded (actual outlines of the furniture down to table legs) that we couldnt even use it-half of the others had same issue. This was not noticable until daylight-picked up in evening. We lost several hundred dollars in that deal. Couch also is sun faded-something we couldnt see until it was bright in the room, but we cant flip the cushions!
Don' hand over car keys, furniture, etc until cash is in hand-something I often do as I tend to be a trusting person.
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