Anyone ever buy anything from Craigslist?

As a new home owner one of the things I would like to get is a snow blower, but right now I can't afford a brand new one. I have been watching Craigslist and there is a good selection of used snow blowers available. So my question is has anyone bought anything like this from Craigslist and if so do you have any tips for me?

Yes, I have bought and sold a bunch of stuff on CL...
The only tip, when you buy is to meet somewhere public, like a starbucks parking lot. If it is a big item and you go to the person's home, go with someone, preferably a man, and meet on the front yard, on the weekend during the day time. Let someone else know what you are doing, where you are going, the time you arrive, and when you leave the place (call from you cellphone on the way in, close to your arrival, then call when you leave saying you are ok).
I never had any problems at all, and everything I bought was great - I bought great Items for a fraction of the price!
Good luck!

I've bought many things and sold many things using Craigslist.

Make sure you go to look at an item before you give them money. We've gone before just to find out they left out some things that may or may not be deal breakers. Dont buy into the "send us money and we'll send you the item" stuff, usually its a scam, since generally you're IN the area you're searching in. I also would advise taking someone else with you, never know who's out there on Craigslist. Ask as many questions as you want, if the seller can't be bothered to answer, they're probably not worth your time then, because they don't want to sell it that badly.

We've had pretty good luck using it so far. Selling can be a bigger pain than buying, because a lot of spam/scam emails show up

Hope that helps.

Originally Posted by Tara & Rob

We've had pretty good luck using it so far. Selling can be a bigger pain than buying, because a lot of spam/scam emails show up

Click to expand...

Oh... I was reading Carolina's post and the beginning of your post and thought 'Oh that sounds great!' But then... not so good for selling. We have a big room air conditioner, not hte window kind, but the kind that's a big box thing with a hose to go out the window.. It's a monster. We don't need it now cos the house has central A/C (and it stays cool anyway), so BF wanted to try to sell it. I told him Craigslist, he said he didn't trust it, he'd rather try ebay. We'll see..

Oops, sorry for hijacking!

All the time. Buy and sell. Watch out for spam when you sell. Only deal local. Meet in public areas and don't go alone. Use common sense when it comes to being safe. I don't worry about people coming to my home because first of all I rarely will invite people from craigslist over but have for some big items and second of all we have a busy household with people in and out and I am rarely alone and our dogs presence alone scares most people.

I've bought and sold many a things on Craigslist!
Bought:
Kitchenaid Stand Mixer for $100
Countertop Dishwasher for $25
PS3
and lots of car and house stuff for Gary!
And I found my job on CL
And looking for a car on there right now!

Sold:
Shelves
grill
dishwasher
clothes
furniture

I've never had bad luck with it but you do have to be careful! When I have something for sell I always use my "spam-o-matic" email account. Its the one I use to sign up for anything not important and to send out into the world. That way I dont have to deal with as much spam!
The jobs section has a lot of spam and scam stuff going on! Be careful with that! And if a job claims they need you to run your credit and send them the results SCAM!!

About selling on CL, I have sold a bunch of stuff, and never had a problem... Yes, there is a bunch of email scam, but it is easy to recognize them... If the item is small, I meet on a public place at day time - same protocol as when I buy. If I am selling a big Item, I wait for the weekend and invite a neighbor to wait with me.
Use common sense, sell local, cash only, communicate in advance via email and phone so you know you are talking to real people... And go for it. I like CL better than ebay as it is faster and easier to sell and buy, especially large items.

When you get used to it, it is really a breeze...

I haven't really, it takes too much time to deal with CL, a lot of times you go to meet the person and you realize the thing they're selling is not what they've described and it just wastes a lot of time that way...
I have adopted out my two dwarf hamsters using craigslist, and I just asked the person to come to my house and pick them up...maybe it wasn't a smart thing to do, lol but he seemed nice he came with his 2 kids who the hamsters were for.

Maybe I'm naive, but I've never done any of that stuff when it comes to buying or selling on Craigslist. I've sold quite a few things, and they just came up to my door, gave me money, and I gave them the item. Same as when I buy, though DH usually comes with me. I recently just sold a giant desk for $25, I just wanted it gone, and a gentleman and his father came to pick it up. They were really nice. Most of the stuff I've sold and bought have been baby/kid stuff, so maybe that's the difference. I also have never received spam either, except on my ad for our house.

I would have no issues with just going up to someones house to buy a snowblower. Just take someone with you, but no need to freak out about it.

My husband yup we met on craigslist

A dryer(still going strong) cat tree(umm can't say the same, WAS in great shape for the 50 bucks), couple cats(stay away from the pet section you will find some of the nicest rescuers and some of the WORST bordering cat hoarders-unspayed pregnant kittens already running around house/garage/...
A lead to this house(original was to involved this was found through the same realtor(....alot to be said about him)
A few cars we test drove nothing panned out due to husbands preferences(pickiness...but hey Id rather he be truly happy then just settling)
Also have used it often to find garage sales.

Sold my moms fridge on there. Will never forget all the replys(needed it gone asap great shape used a few years then stored) Picked a response in middle trying to help the one in most need.

Lady was stay home mom of 3 4th on way and sorta thought it maybe a scam cause of the price. Her fridge had just gone and things were tight. SUCH a nice family!

When I sell things people have to come to my house to get (like the 55gal fish tank and stand), I might just have happened to leave a shotgun visible in the corner Maybe they'd think twice before trying to rob us later on They were a nice young couple starting up their first fish tank, and the girl was totally enamored with the cats (and they with her!) I met a questionable person in a parking lot during the day one time, was a scary experience. I kept my cousin on the phone the entire time, and had my 9mm on me just in case - I didn't like the way they sounded on the phone (kinda scary!) but hubby was being a turd and didn't want to take time off work to come with me But I'm drastic sometimes.

Spam IS recognizable for selling, but it does get annoying when you think you're getting real interest in your item but its just another person asking for your personal info to send a cashier's check and then you can ship it

With CL, you dont have to worry about shipping, which is a plus compared to eBay, as well as no fees, like Whisky's Dad said.

I've been looking around, and there look to be some decent machines. The issue I'm going to have is how to pick them up. I'll have to talk to my friend who's husband has a truck & a trailer. I don't think a snow blower will fit well in my Mazda 3.

I've sold and purchased on CL without a problem.

With any equipment, make sure the owners manual is available. Just get the age of the machine and some sort of service records. Snowblowers should have some sort of annual tune up. Also two stage ones are much better. Try to purchase a John deere (ours is over 20 yrs old!) or an Ariens or Honda. Stay away from MTD's (cheaply made) Poulan or Bolens.