Am I in the wrong? Bad craigslist experience...

[Polygon]

I'd say, next time just prepare the cash in advance.

[b1sh0p]

It just wasn't meant to be. Hopefully you find the gear cheaper.

[AllDay]

Could have easily went into a bank and taken out upto $9999 without them questioning anything. You chose to do atm which has limits and whatnot. Your own fault

[arsman]

If i needed to meet up with someone, I have the cash already not getting it the same day as problems like that will arise.

Its not written by law but i guess its a rule of thumb when doing that kind of trading.

its either you trade an item or deal with cash no checks. though here in the Manila I can issue checks as good as cash. just write cash in the check and you are done. or you could have just taken out money over the counter not atm. they do not have limit in withdrawing and do not raise a red flag.

[deevey]

though here in the Manila I can issue checks as good as cash. just write cash in the check and you are done.

Dude you are brave, I'm in Manila too and I'd 1 million percent not take a check off someone I didn't know personally. Checks are only as good as the cash in the issuers bank account and IMHO they are too easily forged unless you know exactly what you are looking for. If someone wants a weekend purchase from me and doesn't have cash, they can wait until midweek or hope I'm willing to reserve it until the following weekend.

BTW back home in Ireland I actually got issued a check through post from an Irish bank for the purchase of a laptop .. seemed dodgy and was not what was agreed on (especially as the check was sent from freaking Nigeria!), so I brought the fed-ex parcel, check and details of the sale to the police.

Turns out the check was actually "real", it WOULD have actually cleared in the local branch and would only have been noticed as a fake 30+ days later at the main clearinghouse (and the amount then subsequently deducted from my account).

[Rhashime]

Personally, if I was the seller, the minute you said "check" I would stop talking to you. CL is full of scammers that come up with very convincing stories of why they can't pay in cash.

To give you an idea of how wacky they get, a fellow co-worker was once trying to sell some old bedroom furniture on CL. She got an email from a supposedly deaf elderly buyer from a couple states away wanted it for their granddaughter. She wanted to pay for it by check and once it cleared she was going send some movers to pick it up. The furniture was listed for $250. My friend got a check in the mail for $2500. When she contacted the buyer, the buyer said it was a mistake, but to cash it and send her back the difference. At this point there were too many red flags and my friend took the check to the police. It turns out the checks were stolen.

This kind of mess seems to happen a lot. My number one rule for selling/buying on CL is: if there is 1 red flag, don't do it and your situation was full of red flags.

[deevey]

To give you an idea of how wacky they get, a fellow co-worker was once trying to sell some old bedroom furniture on CL. She got an email from a supposedly deaf elderly buyer from a couple states away wanted it for their granddaughter. She wanted to pay for it by check and once it cleared she was going send some movers to pick it up. The furniture was listed for $250. My friend got a check in the mail for $2500.

Exactly the same scam as mine above, abiet for a smaller amount ($200 difference) .. really scary that the checks actually clear initially.

I was getting phone calls from Nigeria for a week afterwards

According to local police charities were the worst hit with it .. one even lost a Car :-O

[slinkydisc]

If I was hanging around for you too pick up some gear after you'd talked me down on price and then did not show I would be pissed, if you haven't got the readies put the money down on a deposit at a store.

[Xonetacular]

Yeah, he did nothing wrong and you have kind of unreasonable expectations from a craigslist seller. I would never accept check for a craigslist transaction. Shit happens but I've been run around by craigslist buyers plenty and have had my time wasted- he was pretty patient but after a point of waiting around all day for you to get cash in order he had to draw the line somewhere. From this thread title I was expecting him to have run you around or tried to screw you but don't see any problem there. I would be frustrated if I were him too.

Craigslist transactions should be painless. Have cash ready, meet on time where and when you agree, and make the exchange.