Craigslist Safety

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Yes, there have been some horrible situations, murders etc, however, when you look at the stats of the number of transactions, the number of crimes, I would bet a real nice cup of coffee that it is less than the random crimes. 

Meeting in a PD parking lot is a nice touch, considering a 911 call will reap action in about 10-25 minutes, if you yell in the parking lot, it may only take 5 minutes.

I have sold and bought on CL hundreds of times.  I just take normal cautions.  You know, lights, hidden cameras and 5 friends with semi auto weapons hiding around corners.

Just kidding on that last part.
 
We have a lot of "dark" police stations around here. Press the button on the door box and you're taking to a regional dispatch center, which could be several towns away. The PD parking lot is probably not as safe as Walmart.
 
HappyWanderer said:
We have a lot of "dark" police stations around here. Press the button on the door box and you're taking to a regional dispatch center, which could be several towns away. The PD parking lot is probably not as safe as Walmart.
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And in the Wal-Mart parking lot, you'll get to watch the WalMartians as the enter and exit the store.  Not to mention the occasional, too good to be true, overstock 60" HDTV, still in the box (full of rocks), being sold in the parking lot by a nameless "insider" who you'll never see again! ;)
 
I have purchased a couple of antennas and a golf cart on CL and was given the home addresses of the sellers that were in nice neighborhoods and consummated during the day.


We sold a m/h parked on our lot at Happy Trails.


I am just not sure what needed to be changed in all these transactions.
 
I think it's a great idea. I have a friend who bought a treadmill off craigslist and I helped him lug it to his truck. It was in the basement of a home. The woman was alone. I remember thinking this was really a dumb situation.
 
I have been buying and selling on CR for years and I never once gave a thought to safety. Prior to that I have been selling my used stuff with local newspaper ads. I never had a problem or worried about my safety. I don't see why people are concerned about safety and CR.
 
I have bought and sold my last 3 pick up trucks, our current trailer and our previous one, our Sailboat,  2 Skid loaders, numerous woodworking power tools, dozens of boat related accessories, live stock,  building materials.

Never had a single problem. 

Did have one Nigerian offer me $3500 to my PayPal acct for my $500 computer projector as long as I would ship immediately to Nigeria for his daughters birthday  $150 for shipping.  The money did show in the fictions PayPal link he sent me to my email account,  when I checked my real PayPal acct, there was no money in it.   

So yes there are scams. 

The old couple we bought our current trailer was terrified of getting scammed.  I had to send them $1000 cash overnight mail to hold the trailer till we got home from South Carolina and had our old trailer picked up and paid for so we could take that money to their house plus many 1000s extra in cash to pay for this trailer.  Both transactions were done via phone and email except for the actual payment of balances and the pick up of the two trailers.

Never even a hint of fraud or hassle.

Tom...
 
PancakeBill said:
Yes, there have been some horrible situations, murders etc, however, when you look at the stats of the number of transactions, the number of crimes, I would bet a real nice cup of coffee that it is less than the random crimes. 

Meeting in a PD parking lot is a nice touch, considering a 911 call will reap action in about 10-25 minutes, if you yell in the parking lot, it may only take 5 minutes.

I have sold and bought on CL hundreds of times.  I just take normal cautions.  You know, lights, hidden cameras and 5 friends with semi auto weapons hiding around corners.

Just kidding on that last part.
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Of course you're kidding Bill, I bet they weren't hiding!?  ;D ;D ;D
 
Kidding, yes, hiding, no they were the ones I was kidding about, I don't have than many friends with semi auto guns.
 
As to issues with safety on CL, seems many of these issues were using the men seeking women, women seeking men, men seeking men columns.  There was a national news story that centered in my old neighborhood.  Guy got beat up, but it was a tryst gone wrong.  These arre probably not the CL deals one would complete in a PD parking lot, unless it is one of those dark ones referred to.

The Kenyan scams are entertaining,  my dining room set got one.  Told me he would send postal money order for double amount, I should cash it, give the guy picking up the set 1/3 of money and to keep the rest.

I told him to send the money order to his friend, have him cash it, and bring me the cash.  Never heard back.
 
PancakeBill said:
Kidding, yes, hiding, no they were the ones I was kidding about, I don't have than many friends with semi auto guns.
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I wouldn't think you would need many. One maybe two would do. ;)
 
What happens after posting an interesting link never ceases to amaze me.  ;D  We sold our Bounder MH on Craigslist with supervision from our credit union and the buyer's credit union.  No problem at all.  We posted a collapsible bicycle once and received an "Nigerian Agent's" offer.  What a joke!  Sold it to a trucker who was happy to have an exercise opportunity at truck stops on his route.  I think it was nice of PDs to offer their parking lots to use when a buyer/seller "smells a rat".  "Meet me in the PD parking lot" would seem to deter anyone with nefarious intentions.
 
Found a link someplace, while back, that had a long scenario, most likely all happening in the mind of the writer.  He took the lost fortune scam to a really funny path.  Insisting on meeting the scammer, going hunting for some rare bird, all was OK with scammer, finally culminating in a meet in Switzerland where writer shows but doesn't reveal himself.  Very entertaining.
 
Like almost everything, this all depends. One of my local police stations is a great place. Theydo their dispatching from that station, the jail is there and they have contracts with several other local jurisdictions to house their prisoners, so there is a good amount of traffic thru there day and night. It is also the courthouse with the appropriate security for that. So the place is busy, the parking lot camera is monitored and there is only one road in/out of the place.

I have a friend whose son has a rather bitter custody battle with his ex. The visitation exchange times kept getting "forgotten", "misunderstood", and people arrived late for the exchange. Eventually this led to a court ordered time and place of exchange so that there was no dispute as to when and where the exchange actually happened. Neither of the parents lived in this town, but the order was that the exchange would be done in that Police parking lot so that if there was a late or failed exchange it was easily proved who was on time.

That police station is 3 miles from where this Craigslist killing occured,  http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/05/07/craigslist.diamond.killing/ in beautiful downtown Fife WA.

While many have never had a problem, it certainly doesn't hurt to take reasonable precautions. I personally would never invite someone who saw an ad of mine on Craigslist to my home. I would always arrange to meet in a public area.

Ken
 
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