Thursday, January 26, 2006

Why does everything have to be a scam.

Last year I decided that I wanted a “good” digital camera, so I went out and bought one. Well I never really used it because it was too big/bulky/didn’t fit in my pocket/always forgot to take it, etc. So it’s been sitting in the box in my cupboard.

So the other day I decided that I would try to sell it. I thought I would go the eBay route since that seems to be the best way, but I didn’t want to deal with the whole shipping process. I figured I was going to lose money on the deal anyway so why use up more money to get rid of it.

Instead I decided to try selling it on Craigslist. Have you been to Craigslist? It’s a very cool “tool” that allows people to basically post classified ads for anything from selling pots and pans to soliciting sex partners to leaving a “just missed” message for that hot chick you saw on the train.

So I took a picture of the camera (with my other camera) and posted it on Craigslist. I got 4 responses, they were all basically the same:

I really want your camera, I’ll pay you by USPS money order and I’ll give you my FedEx account to ship it.

It just “smelled” of scam to me from the very first one. The bad grammar, the bad sentence structure, the I’ll pay you more than you’re asking becos (sic) I really need it (you REALLY need a digital camera that badly?) So I emailed each person back and said that someone else was in line in front of them (which there was) and that if they didn’t want the camera I would then move onto the next one.

Well, each one came back saying “give me your address, I’ll send you a postal order today along with my FedEx account number.” So I ended up pulling the product and not selling it to anyone.

Why does EVERYTHING in this freaking world have to be a scam!

All I wanted to do was sell my digital camera, why is that so tough?

6 comments:

SwissTwist said...

well uhm.. why not show US the camera, you might have a blogger buddy who is interested.

CanadianSwiss said...

Good idea, Swisstwist. I think you should do that Michael. What have you got to loose anyway? :)

The Big Finn said...

Michael...
Put up one of those "free ads" where you walk in at your local Dominicks or Jewel. You'll end up standing face to face with the person, and you can demand CASH! You'll sell the thing in a couple of days.

Karen said...

Is it an SLR? I'll take it!!

... but seriously, how odd that there were several identical responses to your ad. You are right though, it does smell fishy!

Kat said...

That really sucks. The more technology we get, the more scams pop up. Wasn't it supposed to be the other way around?

btw, did u get my postcard?

Xmichra said...

gods. Every trickin site is riddled with some nature of scam artist. Thank the gods you know I am the one in mine..hehe

Sent your post card and birthday card today ( I know.. i suck). Hopefully it will get there soon!