I can't F-ing do business with people anymore.
 

I usually don't get ranty but tonight I'm over my limit. My problem is trying to do deals with people. The way a deal should go is that someone advertises their product or service, you agree to their price or make a counteroffer, and if you agree upon a price then you give them the money and you get what you were after.

No one seems to understand that anymore. I've been trying to purchase a few things for a new place lately (appliances, farm equipment, etc.), as well as some parts for my vehicles. 90% of my deals have gone bad. It didn't used to be like this.

I've driven out to pick up tractors that turned out to not be working. Twice now. I mean, these people don't spend five minutes and try the damn thing before advertising it as "runs great"?

Other deals have gone like this... they finally get back to me with an email or a phone call and we agree on a price and a place and a time for me to pick up whatever I'm picking up. Guess what happens a couple hours before that time "Oh well I sold it to another guy." WTF? They've had the thing for five weeks while they didn't bother replying to their email or phone message, and suddenly they need to sell it to several people at once? It blows my mind. I'm on my third one of those for this week alone.

And then we have other annoying lies. "This fridge is just 1 year old" Well how come it says "2001" on this sticker then, asshole? Or "I'm sorry there was a misprint in the ad and it's actually twice as much as what I said... do you still want it?" This is especially good in an online ad, where they can fix the 'misprint' any time they want, and instead they leave the ad up with the 'misprint' after you reject their offer.

In the last month there's been two services I've tried to have done, both of the repair variety at my place. Neither of those people showed up, or were heard from again. Simply amazing. We agree on a place and time and price and then they disappear. What is happening?

Now, I do some selling too, and that side of things is going bad too. People want to buy but they don't show up. In a way I can understand it, because if you're dealing with a ton of sellers who jerk you around, your logical choice is to make lots of offers and hope one works out, and then ignore the others once you've accomplished your goal. It's just a big cycle of bad business that is growing and growing. I am worried to order a Pizza now... how do I know it will show up? Maybe I should cover my bases and order 5 pizzas from different places but only pay for the first one that shows.

Is it just me? Just my area? Or is everything simply going to shit? It's turning me into a racist... I'm white but there are now zero white people I trust to do a deal with. The few reliable people I've met in the last few months have all been brown (indian, arab or persian). These guys understand you do what you say and get the money... no excuses, no tricks, no BS. I don't know what the hell is wrong with everyone else but it's pissing me off.

Re: I can't F-ing do business with people anymore.
 

I agree. Lots of bad business out there. I don't recall the same difficulties in years past with buying/selling. Craigslist is rife with people who have no clue about how to write an ad, gauging the actual quality of what they're selling or common courtesy...the basic 'rules' of buy/sell if you will. Whoever shows up first with the money is how I thought it worked. Money talks, bullshit walks. Don't get me started on eBay.

Re: I can't F-ing do business with people anymore.
 

Socialism is rampant on craigslist. Its a hangout for the wafflers. The way I combat this is to provide a time span when I will be wherever already and say come here between these hours. If they don't show, I do not care. If they do show fine. That way I do not give a leap if they come or not.

The zombie effect means many people and businesses are simply out of money, but they are still going through the motions of having money and still doing what they used to do before they had no money. Mostly shopping. But now they are not actually able to spend any money.

People definitely are not acting the same.

Re: I can't F-ing do business with people anymore.
 

No it's not you.

I think it's emblematic of people's expectations on depreciation. Especially when it comes to vehicles. People have a hard, hard time grasping the fact that what they bought is now less than 25% of what they originally paid for it. So they invent all these tiny ways of recouping their cost in tiny white lies, and overinflated price.

I also find that the less a person knows how something works, the higher the price they think they'll fetch for it, or even are ENTITLED too. Depreciation is not a word folks like when times are tough. So they make crap up to mitigate it. Everyone's blue book value is mint.

Re: I can't F-ing do business with people anymore.
 

Did you think this was still 1953 when someones word actually meant something? :sarc: I have given up dealing with people for the exact reasons you stated. People don't care anymore, and it tells you lot about them. I try to avoid them as much as possible. Good luck!

Re: I can't F-ing do business with people anymore.
 

I got a laugh out of that one.

Well no one puts their address in to start with so of course I contact them and we agree on a price and a time. To me that is a contract. Usually the time is further in the future than I'd like (when I want something, I want it... I'd go pick it up that night.) They pick the time, they agreed to the price... and something inspires them to go and sell it to someone else in the meantime? THEY'RE THE ONES WHO TOLD ME TO NOT COME AND PICK IT UP FOR A WEEK! I just don't understand. I've taken to telling these people right off.

Re: I can't F-ing do business with people anymore.
 

No, it's not just you, not just your area. Yes, everything we've known is going to shit. And yeah, I think I've enjoyed doing business with Mexicans & Asians more than many Whites as of late.

I'm surprised I've been able to maintain my 100% feedback on eBay, as a seller, since so many people seem to be f-ed in the head in recent times. Although one guy on another sales venue gave me the wrong address, and then wrote a week later complaining about where it was sent. :10_1_19:

Re: I can't F-ing do business with people anymore.
 

What's you're experiencing is just early signs of desperation.

It's a natural progression. When people get desperate, the "soft" lies start first, like price, age, quality, etc. The "hard" lies will be next: selling stuff that doesn't even exist, selling stuff that doesn't belong to them, etc. Then comes soft crime (no personal confrontation or violence), then hard crime (violence).

Re: I can't F-ing do business with people anymore.
 

About 10 years ago, my mom's neighbor (nicest guy in the world) decided he wanted to restore an old Ford. He researched forever and finally found a guy in Texas who had one. They spent about 3 hours on the phone talking about every last detail of the car.

The car needed restored (no problem) and there was no rust or any major problems. The perfect candidate for a restoration. So the neighbor takes his full sized Dodge Ram diesel and enclosed car trailer and drives from Seattle WA to somewhere in Texas.

He came back a few days later and I ran outside to see the new car get unloaded. I ask how the trip went and he answers with the longest blue streak using every swear word imaginable at least 3 times. This guy does NOT swear, he does NOT lose his composure and here he is erupting like Mt. St. Helens.

Turns out, the guy lied about the details of the car. The guy in Texas had the right car, but it had been sitting out in the middle of a farm field for the last 20 years and was pretty much rotted into the ground. The engine was seized, rust everywhere, missing all sorts of important parts.

************************************************** ****

I had a 72 Ford pickup for sale. Nothing pretty, but it ran and drove. I wanted to get rid of it so I priced it at $400. I think $400 is a good price for any vehicle that runs and drives. EVERYONE that came to look at it would ultimately say, "so what's the lowest you'll go on this?" WTF?!?! One guy was trying to do the old 'yeah I like it, but...' routine. At one point he said, "yep, sure is an old truck" like that was a negative selling point. I ignored his inflection and said, "Yeah, it was made in 1972." ****ing Asshole! I ended up calling a good local kid I knew and I told him that if he wanted the truck to come get it today because my buddy is coming with the tow truck tomorrow. I'll scrap the damn thing before I haggle with some jack off over a $400 truck.



People have become so selfish and greedy that it scares me!

Re: I can't F-ing do business with people anymore.
 

You lost me with that 'association'.

Re: I can't F-ing do business with people anymore.
 

Lack of trigger confidence, people not knowing what the right price is.

Due to a stagflated and false market.

Yes, it has gone to shit. I've talked about here for the last 4 years.

They should have listened when I told them that silver should be at $35oz.

Re: I can't F-ing do business with people anymore.
 

Great post, you stole the damn words from me...! Mine I tell you!!

Re: I can't F-ing do business with people anymore.
 

The expectation that because you have it and I don't, you should give it to me for nothing. Communism rather than socialism, actually.

Guy on Craigslist advertises some hard red winter wheat for sale. I call him, ask about it, including specifically "how old is it ? ".....couple years he answers.

I drive out there anyway, to find it's some home packed in old 4 gallon frosting buckets with bay leaves ( no mylar bags ) from 1999 ( Y2K stuff ) that has likely been stored under dubious conditions. I point out the magic marker labeling on the side of the bucket says 1999 and ask the guy WHY didn't you just tell me it was 10 years old instead of lying, saying "couple years" ?

He just gives me this PO'ed look and says "well, I forgot when it was packed ( yeah....right ) and OK....I'll take less for it..."

I told him I was interested at all, and best of luck selling it.....and drove off.....

Re: I can't F-ing do business with people anymore.
 

It is another symptom of the cancer eating at society. People do not feel the need to be responsible, honest or fair. Their word is no longer their bond. The whole fabric is unraveling. I work in a clinic and it is nothing for people to no show for appointments, then show up whenever they want even days later and expect to be seen. And then get all jerked out of shape when we don't want to work through lunch to fit them in. Our time is of no regard to them. They do not understand we run a business and no shows cost us revenue.

Guess it all comes back to the climate of entitlement at some point. Many people have been raised with a warped sense of their own importance. Plenty of them need a reality check. One of our case managers has a poster in his office that says: Poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part. He points to that whenever a demanding client sports an attitude.

Another thing I've seen lately is people getting angrier, even violent when they do not get their needs met instantly. I've had more calls lately from pharmacists and specialists about patients who are now banned from their drugstore or office because they went into rages, screaming and throwing f-bombs, because their Rx wasn't ready or they had to wait 15 minutes in the waiting room. They seem truly oblivious to their horrendous behavior. It is getting to be absolutely frightening working with the public.

Re: I can't F-ing do business with people anymore.
 

Re: I can't F-ing do business with people anymore.
 

:bear_rolleyes:

Re: I can't F-ing do business with people anymore.
 

Have listed some stuff on freecycle after a recent thread got me to clean out the garage.
Couple decent items - double jog stroller, set of golf clubs only 3 years old, 100 or so feet of primed crown molding. Some other stuff.
I am offering this stuff to these people for free.
Just come get it.
I clearly described the items too. Not new, but not garbage. Clean and functional.

Put my phone number there in the reply, and usually it goes something like this:

Me:"Hello".
Them: "I want the jog stroller, how old is it?"
Me:"Oh , uh hello, I guess it's about 6 years old or so. See, my youngest is five and.."
Them: "Who made it? What model is it?"
Me:"Oh , I think I put that in the ad, it's an Instep, I'm not sure what model number.."
Them: "How used is it?"
Me; "I'm sorry?"
Them: "Is it clean?"
Me: "Look, I'm sorry , I don't think I..."
Them: "I'll give you my email and you can send me some photos.."
Me: "No thank you"

I've actually ended up saying no to people- "NO, you can't come take my free stuff, stuff that I actually advertised to get rid of" - because they're such assh*les.
I've never had a lotta use for people anyway, and this kind of stuff ain't gonna change that.

Re: I can't F-ing do business with people anymore.
 

Craigslist is littered with people wanting cars, or even land and they are willing to trade a spare laptop and used bicycle, needs new tires. Or you get the daily, "I will trade a massage for a laptop" message.

Re: I can't F-ing do business with people anymore.
 

People of poor character are sprouting up all over the place. Examples:

My IRA owns a couple of rental properties. Folks would call asking to make an appointment to see the places, sometimes only an hour later. Would you believe that, in my experience, no more than half bother to show up? I have to take the attitude that if they have no more concern for my inconvenience than that, I wouldn't want to rent to them anyway. I do get damned POd though.

This past Wednesday evening, we went to a restaurant for dinner. When the waitress added the taxes to the bill, she didn't carry properly and shortchanged the house one dollar. When I brought the mistake to her attention she seemed dumbfounded. She said that virtually no one else brings mistakes in their favor to her attention. And she has to pay for her mistakes. It's not because people aren't double-checking their checks either. Everyone I know looks them over. It's that too many people are not of good character, aren't honest and have absolutely no sense of fair play.

Re: I can't F-ing do business with people anymore.
 

Hmmm. Here in England many younger people, staff and customers alike, are incapable of doing very simple arithmetic.

The customers do look at their bills, but only to read the total. :bear_cry:

Re: I can't F-ing do business with people anymore.
 

The other thing that gets me about Craigslist is the large amount of people who want something for free, such as "I just moved and I need a bed or a table, but I do not have any money"

I guess suggesting a job to buy the stuff is out of the question.

Re: I can't F-ing do business with people anymore.
 

Many people have "almost" assets.
Think sofa.....but full of dog piss. They need the money, but conveniently sidestep condition issues.
If people were selling ounces, there would really only be price point issues. Not-ohbythewayitisrustedthrough.
Dealers deal in good times and bad. Desperate people move into dealing in bad times and ruin it for the dealers.

Re: I can't F-ing do business with people anymore.
 

I don't think what you're seeing is just starting but has been going on now for a long time...

Lets see...

over the last ten years people have been bombarded with news where politicians lie and not much happens about it...

Corporate CEO's steal and not much happens about it....

The SEC isn't protecting anybody...the constitution isn't important, you have a right to be tasered and remain tasered, be subservient or you'll be served with a domestic violence order (fabricated) and thrown out and ostracized, your pension is at risk you worked for your whole life, we've been dumbed down (education system) and numbed up (television)...

Its usually like this at the end of great civilizations....get used to it !

Re: I can't F-ing do business with people anymore.
 

That's because it is impolite to sit and tally up your receipt, keeping others waiting. Staff - why would they need to? The tills do it for them. They don't care if a bottle of Bollinger sells for �4.99 as it did to me tonight - it's not coming out of their packet, the system is at fault.

I run a few properties, and sorry if it sounds like I'm claiming to be the best landlord - but I run them well. Boiler quits in the middle of the night? I'll be there in no time, or if I'm abroad, I have a guy who will be there in no time.
It brought it home to me when I was on holiday with my family, I think I was 18, in Vermont/NH etc, travelled for a bit around New England.
One of the places we stayed was a skiing lodge, someone's home, but as there was no snow we were able to rent it for a good price.
The hot water stopped working, we rang the owner.
He said "Not a problem, I'll have an electric guy out in 5 minutes to check it out. If that doesn't work, I've just put the local plumber on standby - he'll replace the heater if it needs replaced"
We came home from a meal, and the electric guy was working at the breaker outside the house, and the plumber was waiting in his van across the road, just in case.
Turned out to be an electrical fault, we invited both of them in for a meal and they loved it.
Londonderry, VT by the way. Surly but friendly... and the first time I'd ever driven an F350 with a gun rack. I still want another one.:coolbeer:

Re: I can't F-ing do business with people anymore.
 

I quick fix for dishonest sellers is to put their house/car/RV/boat up for sale .... I mean, dirt cheap ....

Make sure to include their home phone, cell phone and work phone numbers in the advertisement.

Re: I can't F-ing do business with people anymore.
 

<rant>

Well I wish it were otherwise. Maybe communism is the appropriate word, but I have been dealing with CL for years and use it a lot. Not everyone there is a waffler. There are some good people there. Most of them are dealing with old classic cars of one sort or another.

Many others there are weak minded twits. They have an entitlement mentality and no money. Because CL is free, it attracts this type of person. Freecycle is even worse I suspect.

The worst ones are those who put up an ad to give away something that should be put in the trash. For instance "I have a plastic candlestick holder. It has a snowman on it, but one eye is missing. Its yours for the taking."

But the person lives 35 minutes outside of town.

Who would drive all that way for a broken dollar item?

Some people need to be shown what a garbage can is.

Also the what is the least you would take for it? Ummmm I was asking $300 for my $1000 car. I will take $350 now. Ahhh yes... medicine for the ineffectual.

</end rant>

Re: I can't F-ing do business with people anymore.
 

I had a 1991 S-10 pickup truck for sale a while back. It was old and rusty but I owned it for 14 years and maintained it and it ran well.

Guy calls and says he saw it on the way to church, could he stop and drive it after church. I say ok. He shows up, drives it and is very impressed that it drives nice and runs so nice. We make a deal for $750 he is supposed to return at 6pm the next night with the money and he asks me to remove the for sale signs from the truck.

Guy never shows or calls. In addition this is in a very small town, maybe 600 people. I know which house he grew up in and he attended school with my daughter. People just don't care, no courtesy, no honesty. If he changed his mind or he got home and his wife put a stop to the purchase he could have called to let me know. A simple call would have prevented any hard feelings.

I should have known when he mentioned about going to church. This is usually a sign of bad things. Sorry to all the churchgoers here, just my experience.

Re: I can't F-ing do business with people anymore.
 

I've had the same problem so i feel your pain. Best one was I dropped my cell phone in the water, didn't want to pay the outright price from att for a new one. So I contact this guy on craigslist, tell him i'll take it for his asking price, etc, etc... We agree to meet (keep in mind i have no phone at this point) I show up, wait for an hour and the guy never shows. I get home and check my email it says "I sold it to someone else, thanks"


DICK

Re: I can't F-ing do business with people anymore.
 

That'sthe kind of thing that would make me all Twisted Avatar. Saw it on the way to church, rove it after church, then nothing more?

Around here even the church members would probably put a bit of lead in your head for that. They might not be religious, half of them are there for IRA/UVF/political etc. reasons, but they would at least have the decency to let you know...

Re: I can't F-ing do business with people anymore.
 

I sure get sick of this type of shitty behavior as it is rampant in my (younger) generations

Along with the entitlement mentality, they have no sense of remorse

If I tell someone I'll be at location X by 5, I'll be there by then, if not earlier. Others will arive at least 15 minutes late talking on the new iphone with starbucks in hand and won't show any sense of being sorry. It's all about them. They don't care that I could have been using that time more productively. And if I dare give them a dirty look, they'll be transposed into the victim and I the "bad guy"

It's a shame because these type of actions more or less help make the "handshake deal", that my parents and grandparents always talked about, extinct. Now we have loans because our new culture has taught us that nothing is our fault so no one, or only a select few, can be trusted

Now "your word" doesn't even matter anymore...your credit rating does:banghead:

Re: I can't F-ing do business with people anymore.
 

My job is to help people fix their computers and during my downtime, make working computers from a mountain of spare parts. It is pretty fun. However I am only one small department within a much larger company, most of which is completely unassociated with technology.

DAILY, I have floor boys, drivers, and this morning, a manager of 22 years who is worse than all of them - come in and ask for spare parts. Mind you, these spare parts aren't for anything they need - no - they'll take what they can get.

"I saw you put an old monitor on a pallet with a sign that says "Electronic Recycling"
"Yup, gonna fill another pallet before the day is over."
"Well...can I have the monitor?"
"Sure, but it doesn't work." (I think I would know!)
"But I can have it?"
"Yes, but you need to understand that I wouldn't be throwing it away unless I thought it was unfixable."
*he goes and takes monitor*

I don't think they hear me when I speak!

This manager guy, he comes in every saturday for the last two years asking for free cords or whatever he can get. I have no idea what he does with them. He litterally does not care if it's a cell phone charger from 1999 - it's free? He'll take it.


Just so you're aware, if they want equipment, even though I was just going to recycle it anyway, I force them to "donate" to the boy's and girls club...a monitor or computer is $5, everything else is $1.

Re: I can't F-ing do business with people anymore.
 

When we placed our rescued feral kittens we had to cull for people wanting to sell them to labs. I think we caught them all. A rush, and / or wanting more than 1 were tip offs.

One guy asked for the whole litter and when we declined I told the wife, next his g/f will call to get 1 right away. It wasn't 5 minutes.

People who would be cruel to helpless kittens for a few bucks have no conscience.

I hope we got them all good homes. I'm certain of most, but think one may get neglected in time, though I hope not.

And we did not put free in the ad to cut down on that, though they were free to good homes.

Re: I can't F-ing do business with people anymore.
 

You all make Ebay sound great. Feedback and some buyer protection.

I wouldn't buy anything off of craigslist, because there is no accountability. You are better off going to garage sales. At least that way, you can see the product and buy it on the spot.

Re: I can't F-ing do business with people anymore.
 

i'd rather buy via craigslist then ebay ANY day. The whole buyer protection thing is a joke in reality, you only get your money back if the thief is dumb enough to leave money in his paypal account.

At least if I buy off craiglist I can look at the item in person, make my own decision and if i get ripped the blame in my opinion falls on me for not doing my homework.

Re: I can't F-ing do business with people anymore.
 

Look at the bright side of it!...

At least they're not asking you to deliver it (for free)!

Hey! Gas costs money! And Time is worth something, too!

The time to get your dander up is when they ask you to "install" also... and provide a warranty! ROTFLMAO!!! :111:

Re: I can't F-ing do business with people anymore.
 

A silver and gold merchant (part-timer) in my locality was interested in selling some silver, she had about $10 face and 5 Silver dollars (ave Circ) and misc junk foriegn. I asked her what she wanted for the silver, and she had to call a "friend" who she put me on the telephone with, he was from out of state and tried to tell me that $13x was what he could get in New Jersey. She is buying the stuff and doesn't know what the going rate is? Sheeese, she had a broken Proof set, I think she is dabbling in trash and duboius stuff not knowing anything about numismatics since the street word here is that she buys on the street for dirt and she doesn't seem to know her trade, let the experts deal with this? She needs to have a price in mind when buying and selling, she is just a front I think.

Wishy-washy people in business are scary, the public is bad enough dealing with their lack of understanding but a buyer of Silver and Gold?

Re: I can't F-ing do business with people anymore.
 

I buy things off of craigslist regularly, mostly tools and materials. I usually email them with some questions and ask them to call me. When we talk on the phone I usually make the deal right then and set a time I will come pick it up...I don't leave things unsaid, I make them commit to me right then or I don't bother with them further and end it right there.

All my deals have worked out...knock on wood.

Re: I can't F-ing do business with people anymore.
 

Before I moved to NZ, I had a bunch of stuff I didn't want to take with me and that wasn't worth enough to go to the hassle of selling. So I listed it on freecycle and craigslist. I had several people who called and said they would take the stuff if I would deliver it to them! Their attitude was that by bringing it to them, I would save the cost of taking it to the dump.

Re: I can't F-ing do business with people anymore.
 

Re: I can't F-ing do business with people anymore.
 

When I was a kid, my mom used to always comment on how much she appreciated businesses that put the 'fish' symbol in their yellow page ad. She said those were the companies to avoid.

Re: I can't F-ing do business with people anymore.
 

As my wife's grandmother, who was exceptionally honest in her dealings with others, and also in speech inside the family, and a regular church goer explained that phenomenon to my wife:

'Church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints.'

Jesus said something similar to the pharisees, that he came as a physician to the sick.

A lot of church people are honest and try to emulate Jesus, but many of the loud ones are patients in church, who preach fire and think ill of others because of their own problems. Example: many of the 'hate queers' preachers had sex scandals in their own lives. And they assumed everyone wrestled the demons they were losing the battle with.

Re: I can't F-ing do business with people anymore.
 

I work as a Financial Consultant at a large regional bank. When working with the most affluent clients we often have our trust department get involved. I was working with a client over a period of time and had built a great relationship - they agreed to meet with one of our trust officers in a joint appointment to discuss consolidating their $20+ MM in assets.

The guy shows up 20 minutes late complaining how horrible the service is at Starbucks and that he had them remake his coffee 3 times until they got it right. After the appointment the clients left and I told him he would never do business with these clients or any of my clients EVER again!

I hope that coffee was good because it cost him 20 or 30 k a year in referred compensation.

I need to find a small advisory firm where people really get it.

Re: I can't F-ing do business with people anymore.
 

Still got the crown?? :wink:

Re: I can't F-ing do business with people anymore.
 

Still chasing year old $$$ from a fundi business owner who took our work and never paid. Insult to injury, I had to listen to him blather on about his christian ethics, that he was a deacon in his church - blah,blah blah.

I guess his bible told him it was ok to screw heathens. LOL.


"I am a christian man" = pass.

ST

Re: I can't F-ing do business with people anymore.
 

This is an easy one ... find out the church he goes to, and meet with his pastor in confidence, asking for his advice on how to proceed.

Since most pastors have a slight amount of dictator in them, they will act as your enforcer at no charge.

Re: I can't F-ing do business with people anymore.
 

THE POSTER CHILD

Re: I can't F-ing do business with people anymore.
 

Or the etternally played out:

"Woman with over 9000 children on the run from abusive relationship. Need free car & sympathy."

Apparently the woman beater's failed to knock the entitlement out of them.
I guess these women think there's a tree which vehicles grow on SPECIAL: just for women with shitty taste in men.

Either that or they're whoring themselve's out to taxi drivers. :signs14:

They stand out in particular for me because some lady expected me to take her battered friend on a 4 hour round trip drive for !$20! because I helped her pick up her groceries one time.

If you give a mouse a cookie.

Re: I can't F-ing do business with people anymore.
 

Real Christian's don't have this garbage on their lips at a moment's notice.

It's the trademark of a dirty dealer/con artist who has gotten used to abusing the trust it inspires in the gullible. They may or may not be oblivious to the intent/the fact that they're a selfish asshole.

Re: I can't F-ing do business with people anymore.
 

I'm going to start selling laptops.

Re: I can't F-ing do business with people anymore.
 

Man it would be great to see some examples. I know there are lazy people out there, but trading a laptop for land?!

I knew there was a reason I avoided craigslist.

Is there a particular section that attracts deadbeats? May provide for some fun. Then again the Casual Encounters section is always a good knee slapping time. It's almost degenerated into full on Prostitution. Women asking for guys to pay their light bill for sex and stuff.

Green shoots indeed!

Re: I can't F-ing do business with people anymore.
 

Craigslist transaction:
Me- I'd like to buy your item, so long as it is in good working order as you described.
Her - OK Great
Me - I can come by anytime today to pick it up and bring you cash
Her - OK come about 3PM
Me - Drive 40 miles to get there at 2:45
Her - Oh geez, sorry I did not have your phone number, but we sold it already.
Me - that's too bad, how much did you get for it
Her - $50
Me _ I would have given you $100, have a nice day, asshole

Re: I can't F-ing do business with people anymore.
 

I've encountered the same thing recently. When dealing with people on craigslist, I've found that not holding the item for people, and just telling them that the first person to give you cash has it.

It's annoying when you turn away other buyers because you "hold" it for someone. Then that person doesn't show, and it turns a 1-day sale into a week-long fisaco. My free time is on the weekend, and when someone wants to shuffle the buy several days by means of committing, then failing to deliver multiple times, it will drive me nuts.

So now I just tell people that the first person to put the money in my hand gets it. It's also turned out to be a good bargaining chip, as a guy once drove all the way out to look at something, then tried to offer 1/2 of the price I asked (which was already very low for the item). I told him that someone else was on his way to buy it, too. Some competition in buyers is good for me! Just make sure you do the courtesy of calling the guy driving frantically if you do end up selling it to someone else.

Re: I can't F-ing do business with people anymore.
 

By their fruits they shall be known.