Beware of Craigslist?

Susan

Feb 26

I'd sold a thousand dollars' worth of tea cups and dinner plates the year before. When Sis moved in with me, I had to let all that inventory go. It hadn't been selling that well on Etsy anyway, and Etsy had just changed its policies and had kicked me off their site.
Why? Because they wanted my bank account number on file. They wanted me to accept all credit cards. For a company that charged me a monthly fee, it seemed like a conflict of interest. I wouldn't give them my bank account number. They shut me down.
I advertised the dishes under wedding/tea party. People came from all over the Bay Area. The first week a woman came and bought 200 plates for her daughter's wedding. The next week another woman bought 100 tea cups for her daughter's big day. A third woman was putting on a cancer survivor tea. One couple wanted a Beauty and the Beast theme at their wedding and picked all the tea cups with gold on them.
I still had stuff left. I marked it down some more. People scooped up the dishes deal until there wasn't enough to bother with.
So when the three-decades-old sofa bed spoke to me and said, "I am so heavy. Why do you still have me?" I went to Craigslist and put it up for free.
The first woman seemed so excited, but she never showed up. I stayed home and waited. I even lined up my neighbor to help move it for her. It was a no go. The next morning I got a text.
Is the sofa bed still available?
Yes.
When can I come look at it?
This afternoon.
Okay, let me find a guy to help me.
I mentioned to a male friend that I was doing this.
"Put in on the curb. Don't let them inside."
"Uh, it's a sofa bed. I can't move it."
"You need to be careful with Craigslist," he said. "I've heard stories."
I walked my dog and realized no one on my whole court was home. What if these two guys from three towns away came into my house and saw that I lived alone and was an old lady and . . .?
I stopped at a chorus friend's house on the next court.
"I'll come over and wait with you until I have to leave for my appointment," she offered.
While we sat there with both dogs leashed up and at the ready to attack (JK) my neighbor with the three little girls came home.
"Go ask him if he'll help you," the chorus friend said.
I went over and rang the bell. The poor guy. How many times had I asked him to put out my garbage cans or to help me with this or that?
"I'm going on a conference call, but I'll be here," he said. "Call me if you need me."
I guess it's hard for a young strong male to understand an old woman's thinking about strange men coming into her home. If I really needed him, how was I going to be able to call?
When the first guy showed up, he was a Santa Claus and a decade younger than me. He talked about fishing and his boat, and wasn't my town a nice one? He came in and looked at the sofa bed. I suggested he take out the mattress to lighten it up. Then his brother-in-law showed up and came inside. I had Daisy on a leash and let Pepper run over and jump on them.
"I'm the one that saw your ad on Craigslist," the brother-in-law said.
"Yeah, he called me this morning to tell me about it," said Santa.
Everyone was polite and business like. I even shook Rick's hand. The brother in law commented on the pile of mulch in my driveway. I gave him the name of the tree company that delivers free fresh mulch if you're willing to be flexible on when you get it. I gave them some rope when the sofa bed started to open up as they tried to carry it out the door.
Everyone was happy. Rick got a free sofa bed and freshly washed slip cover. I got both out of my house. The brother-in-law got a tip on free mulch.
Our town has a safe exchange parking lot by the police station. It would work for jewelry or electronics, not so much for a sofa bed.
Craigslist has always worked out for me. People are people, no matter what town they live in.
I told Rick he needed to pay his brother-in-law a finder's fee.
"I'll take him fishing," he said.
"Hey," said BIL. "That's alright by me."