Got robbed through Craigslist

adventureman89 · #1 08-25-2012

I sell used electronics like iPads, iPhones and other high valued electronics. I met up with a man, he was checking out the iPad inside a fast food restaurant, and took off running. A car waited for him to escape.

It was a $450 loss, plus a lost of trust with dealing with people face to face. I am lucky not to be hurt and be alive to talk about it.

This is what I am planning to do. Open a Google checkout account and a website. I want to post my items on my site and receive payment through google checkout.

I want to ship out the items as one day shipping, since it'll be people in my local state.

My traffic will come all from Craigslist. How trustworthy will my business be to buyers?

Any tips on how to do this properly? I'm seriously scared to meet people on Craigslist now.

adventureman89 · #2 08-25-2012

I will not deal with eBay or PayPal either. Too many problems with them selling high valued items.

MM78 · #3 08-25-2012

Sorry to hear about your situation but those are the risk when dealing with Craigslist. I would say that if you decide to do another deal like this on Craigslist that you have a buddy go with you and be very close by in case this type of situation happens.

I personally don't care to deal with anyone on Craigslist at all.

adventureman89 · #4 08-25-2012

I did have a buddy with me. He ran faster than we could react. I took all the precautions. I was not going to fight.

oge · #5 08-25-2012

Craigslist is getting more dangerous by the day..... I use to deal with it but too much BS ...

Most people say let's meet at the cop shop which is smart but what a hassle.....

I will stick to ebay/paypal....

this is from my local news...

More Craigslist robberies in St. Paul, suspects pose as buyers - Minneapolis News and Weather KMSP FOX 9

Mugshots released of St. Paul Craigslist robbery suspects - Minneapolis News and Weather KMSP FOX 9

Victim of armed Craigslist robber shares warning - Minneapolis News and Weather KMSP FOX 9

unkown5454 · #6 08-25-2012

What kind of used iPad was $450? Just curious. Seems high unless it was a newer one. My only thought with this is that they enticed you by offering to pay more than usual.

Also, when I sell on CL, they meet me standing at my car and my car remains running. I have not and never will walk in to any place. Showcasing yourself and a buyer passing around hundreds of dollars in cash in front of people is insane. I personally don't want anyone to see cash being passed around in the open, no matter how small or large the amount is. It's an invitation to get robbed by anyone.

I have sold many high end items, and my hands remain on them the entire time while I demonstrate the device. People joke about CL being like dru.g deals all the time, well guess what, with expensive items it certainly needs to be treated as such. Do not ever make yourself vulnerable.

LoopHole · #7 08-25-2012

I used to sell a lot of stuff on Craigslist. Never let my guard down. I always watched their movement and the way they acted. It will tell you A LOT on what their next step is. Whenever i dealt with people i arranged the meet up spot.(This is very important). It was crucial when it was dealt with expansive items. With items like these i always had my partner with me.Not standing next to me but closely around the area just in-case anything happened. Fortunately i never had any bad experience like you did. It might sound like i was being too safe but this might have prevented a robbery from happening to me.

If this guy was smart you will probably never see him again. You might not be able to get your ipad back or prove that it was yours and stolen by him if you ever did find him but you may be able to get some revenge.

Did you get to see the license plate? The car? How did you communicate with this buyer? Phone? Email?

Also.... how the hell did you let him get away... if that was me i would of sprinted after him like i was in the olympics... Tackled him and gave him a nice beating with my partner.

But anways.. good luck on your future sales. Stay safe and make things go right.

Forgot to add... don't ever put the item in their hands... If you do tell them to let you grab their shirt and hold on to it with your life. Or simply show them it is working with your own hands. Thats the way i do it.

unkown5454 · #8 08-25-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by oge

More Craigslist robberies in St. Paul, suspects pose as buyers - Minneapolis News and Weather KMSP FOX 9

Mugshots released of St. Paul Craigslist robbery suspects - Minneapolis News and Weather KMSP FOX 9

Victim of armed Craigslist robber shares warning - Minneapolis News and Weather KMSP FOX 9

What these people did was completely insane. Meeting in a random ghetto neighborhood with hundreds of dollars...c'mon now.

yotano211 · #9 08-26-2012

Wow, and I was thinking of selling my 2 used laptops on CL very soon. Perfect time with school coming up.

@OP, did you try to run after him or what did you do after all of that. I would have chased after him in my car.

Wow what a story.

BiN4RY · #10 08-26-2012

I always bring a trusted and physically capable friend along as well as a switchable when dealing with craigslist tradings to prepare for the worst case scenarios. When I'm the seller, we usually stand on two different sides of the buyer so that running away with the product is difficult. Though i have never had to get violent, I'd say it's still better to prepare for the worst.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

rsot · #11 08-26-2012

While I never deal with Craigslist, friend tells me he meets buyers at his gym...he has two good big buddies who stand at the door for few minutes while the buyer comes in.

newjerseymax · #12 08-26-2012

Wow what a story! Did they have cameras in the location?
Who wants to deal with that? I would rather deal with paypal...lol

Its not really worth risking your life to tackle these guys down? You did the right thing by just letting them go. I know my life is worth more then $450

slim jim · #13 08-26-2012

has anyone used craigslist and received payment via paypal?

BigCJ · #14 08-26-2012

I only meet up at banks with guards or at police stations for CL.
You want to try something stupid, do it in front of the cops.

If they intend on robbing you, they will not (most likely) be stupid enough to pull a stunt like that.

For high end electronics, that's a safer bet.

lightmaria · #15 08-26-2012

@loophole: heck no dood that guy might have a knife or a gun

I wouldn't take this risk of chasing after him.

But yeah you should've took em inside a starbucks or a bank. Somewhere super public with a lot of cameras.

As for your google checkout/ craigslist website idea I doubt a lot of people would trust it. I could be wrong but there are a lot of websites like that or ads like that. "pay me via paypal and I will mail you your item." A lot of people think of it as spam or a scam. =X

mercurial333 · #16 08-26-2012

Never had these issues, but I stopped selling on CL. No real buyers (lots of lawballers/resellers) at all since Fall last year. I assume horror stories like these shy buyers away, among other things like spam posts, etc.

It's also a hassle to sell. The spam texts, the lowballers calling and wasting 30 seconds of your life multiple times a day, to name a few.

unkown5454 · #17 08-26-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by slim jim

has anyone used craigslist and received payment via paypal?

Search forum. This has been discussed previously multiple times.

tura910 · #18 08-26-2012

Ask to see the money first before handing them anything. Explain nicely that you've had some trouble on craigslist before. Anyone planning on jacking an expensive item like that will not be carrying around that much cash, well usually. Try to see where he comes from and take down the plate number every time if you can, even if things go smoothly. Good luck!

MM78 · #19 08-26-2012

If I ever do CL transactions I will be bringing:

download3000 · #20 08-26-2012

Dam i suggest you contact the local police on this matter am sure the place has cameras to see the plates?

Javelin · #21 08-26-2012

Craigslist.......man........lotsa seedy people on there.
Have never dealt any kind of business or transaction on there,
but I do belong to a local buy/sell listing site and there has been
no problem with doing meetups with buyers or sellers.

I usually pick the place to meet, and I always select the inside of a mall
to do so. I don't think much about letting the buyer hold the merchandise
and inspecting it, but it has come across my mind that he/she might
try to run with it. But I have good faith in people, and never really do
think anything bad about strangers. BUT, it they do try to run. I have a
sling bag with me, and I like to play quarterback. And also, I run fast,
comes with being a PG back in High School. lol. Plus I make sure there are guards around (there are, cause it's the mall).

Quote:

Originally Posted by MM78

If I ever do CL transactions I will be bringing:

Can't tell if the person is a man or woman.

EbanYtsa · #22 08-28-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by Javelin

Craigslist.......man........lotsa seedy people on there.
Have never dealt any kind of business or transaction on there,
but I do belong to a local buy/sell listing site and there has been
no problem with doing meetups with buyers or sellers.

I usually pick the place to meet, and I always select the inside of a mall
to do so. I don't think much about letting the buyer hold the merchandise
and inspecting it, but it has come across my mind that he/she might
try to run with it. But I have good faith in people, and never really do
think anything bad about strangers. BUT, it they do try to run. I have a
sling bag with me, and I like to play quarterback. And also, I run fast,
comes with being a PG back in High School. lol. Plus I make sure there are guards around (there are, cause it's the mall).

Can't tell if the person is a man or woman.

probably u wear that hair in 80's