CL is like any other place, you have to know what you are looking at. I see an average of 1-2 great deals a year, and a handful of decent deals yearly as well. One thing I have learned though, is that if you see that "great deal", you have to be agressive and jump on it quick, meaning that if you really are unsure about the item, you stand a chance of taking a loss. We've all heard the story about "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is", or "this must be a scam". Here's a true story with me about a year and a half ago.
I was checking out CL, and I saw a listing of an old Grandfather Clock for sale for $350. The photo appeared to be of an early clock, but it just looked too good to be true. So, I called the number, and found that the poster works with running estate sales, and will usually post the higher priced/quality items on CL to get more interest(It was legit). I got off the phone with the woman, gave it a minutes thought, then called her back. I told her that I wanted the clock sight-unseen, and just wanted to know where to meet her to pay her. She informed me that the estate sale started on Friday morning (this was Monday I when I was speaking to her), and that she could not accept my money, because she said "once I take your money, I can't refund it if I wasn't happy". Then she proceeded to tell me that she had an appointment in that general area Thurday evening, and if I wanted to meet her at the house where the sale would be, then I could look at the clock, and then pay her. I would then have until Saturday afternoon to pick it up.I went to the house that Thursday night, and couldn't believe it! I whipped out that $350 so quick, it would have made your head spin!
I picked up the clock the following day, took it home, and it keeps near perfect time, and has been running ever since! I did my research, and found it to be a Period one Grandfather Clock, dated about 1790, English made, and with a value ranging from about $4,000 to $6,000! It was a high-end clock in its day. I am still surprised that this woman that was running the estate sale wasn't more educated on the actual value of things she was selling.
I recently missed another "Great" deal on something else, because I wasn't looking through the CL adds at work. The add was posted about 8 hours before I finally saw it. I have also gotten several other great deals from CL, but again, and I must add that you have to have a knowledge of what you are interested in, and remember, there is a lot of junk offered for sale, and you can easily get taken if you aren't educated on that subject matter you are wanting to buy.
Back to the original subject, I run an add on CL having to do with my business. It too was flagged, and I also believe that it was my competition that did the flagging. No problem, I just re-posted the add. There are a lot of idiots that go through these adds as well, and I have had so wierd people come in about the add. I say, just keep reposted an add that gets flagged.
