Craigslist, discuss

Ah, Craigslist.  The joys the horrors.

I just had an interesting experience.

I listed my chair and ottoman free to whoever wanted to come pick it up.  Here were the pictures and description:

Pick up only, please. Four year old chair with matching ottoman from a pet-free and smoke-free home [Editors note: notice how I didn’t put kid-free home.  That’s kind of why I’m ditching this chair]. One side cushion is gone. I have 2 remnants of matching upholstery fabric that could be used to repair, if desired [if you’re not lazy like me]. There are light stains (see pictures) that could be removed with a good upholstery cleaner [if you’re not lazy like me]. Call 515-***-**** if interested. Thanks.

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I had a call within literally a minute after I posted this thing.  The gal wanted to know if she could come and get it.  She was unsure of whether or not she could get it in her trunk, so I measured the chair and gave her the dimensions.  She discussed it with her husband and decided they were going to try it.

I gave them directions to my house and waited for them to come.  I had slid the chair and ottoman to the front door so they wouldn’t have to come through the house.  The wooden feet at the base of the chair could unscrew to take some inches off, possibly helping in a tight spot.  Once the couple got here, we did that immediately.  They had a VW Jetta.  There was not a chance the chair was going to fit.  Not a prayer.  Not even a possibility with the trunk wide open, flapping in the August air.  No how, no way.  The ottoman, however, did fit nicely in their back seat.  Win.

This was a very young looking couple, 30 tattoos between them, maybe.  I’m not judging, just painting the picture.  They were very amused by my children from the moment they arrived.  And who wouldn’t be amused by my two?  As soon as we had visitors on the premise, the boys were running ‘round their car, yelling their names out: “I’m Jett and I’m 3!” & “I’m Jude and I’m 4!”, showing off their new Transformers, presenting twigs to them as gifts, opening their gas tank door, trying to get in their backseat, and looking in their open trunk. 

The Craigslisters were very sweet and took it all in stride, commenting how cute the boys are and how they look like twins.  “Are you having another boy?”  Mrs. Craigslister asked.  “Ah, yeah, how’d you guess?” I replied.  She just chuckled.  I told them that since they were there to do the lifting, I’d let them load the chair into our Pilot and I’d follow them to their house (Drake area in DSM).  What else were we going to do?  They’d come all that way out to our house.  Besides, an hour of seat-belt restraint for the boys sounded pretty good.

They were beyond thankful and accepted.  I loaded up the kids, they loaded the chair and off we went.  It didn’t take too long to get to their house, they unloaded everything and we didn’t even have to leave the car.  They thanked me profusely, wished us luck with the new baby and we went our separate ways.  Besides it being worth it for me to unload the extra furniture before our new chair arrives (TONIGHT!), I also got some peace and quiet in the car when the kids fell asleep on the way home.  It ended up being a fun adventure.

I always call Josh before I have an interaction with someone on Craigslist.  The conversation goes something like this: “Hey Josh.  It’s Heather from the Drake area if someone murders me, they’ll be here pretty soon.”  Josh: “Ok, bye.”

Overall, I’ve had pretty good luck with selling (or giving away) stuff on Craigslist.  I haven’t bought anything yet.

What about you guys?  Have any usual experiences?  Give me your best Craigslist story!