Used market etiquette (guilt)

[beth_leonard]

We're selling a fridge and an iBert on Craigslist. I left my phone number and had the first inquiry about the fridge last night at 9pm (6 hours after posting). The guy wanted us to deliver it for no extra charge, wasn't willing to leave his number, and said he'd call us back in the morning between 9am and 10am but he had to check with his wife first.

I got another call at 9:10am from someone who would pick it up directly, would give me a call back number, and just wanted to know if it worked but was otherwise sure he wanted it. I told him it did, that there was other interest, and if he came by before 10am he could have it. (We need to be somewhere at 11am today, but I didn't tell him that.) Well the first guy called back at 9:30am, and I let him know that someone else was on their way over to pick it up.

He seemed very disappointed, and now I feel guilty and bad for him, but I wanted to get rid of the fridge and wasn't sure he'd ever call back.

Sigh. Say a prayer for him and hope he finds another fridge with someone who would deliver.

--Beth

Comments

[tavella.livejournal.com]

Oooh, don't feel bad about it, especially if he wanted you to *deliver* it. Moving a fridge is a big deal, and puts you in a potential position of sitting there with a fridge you've killed yourself moving in your truck, and the 'buyer' says 'ooh, I think I don't like it after all'.

Craigslist is full of phantom buyers, so the only way to go is to only wait on firm offers, and then only for an agreed on period of time.

ETA: man, I was typoing today.

[ricevermicelli.livejournal.com]

Don't waste your sympathy - you could have waited on that guy and still have a fridge on your front porch.

That guy tried to treat you like Sears. If he's smart, he's learned not to do that.

[beth_leonard]

The first guy did tell me he had back surgery recently and couldn't move it, so he does have a good reason for not moving it himself at least, but he was also wishy-washy about whether or not he wanted it and didn't want to take delivery Friday night when he first called. We were willing to drive it over right then.

--Beth