Run Over By Craigslist

As part of our preparations to get ready for our full time life on the road, downsizing has been the mantra around our abode.  One item that had to go was my 2008 Honda Civic, the car I used to do my daily 330 mile commute in.

Honda makes a great car and the Civic was no exception.  It ran and ran and never let me down.  I'd head out on the highway, set the cruise control at 76 miles an hour and zip back and forth to work.  After three years, the little car had 154,000 miles on it, but still ran like a top.

Unfortunately, with that kind of mileage, the blue book value is kind of low.  I figured what-the-heck, I'd add a $1000 to the listed value.

Never having used Craigslist before, I was a little nervous about trying it.  My daughter, Heather, is a Craigslist wonder, selling all kinds of unneeded stuff on it with great results.  When I asked her how to use it, she said it's so easy, it's idiot proof.  That sounded like it was right up my alley,  I've been know to resemble an idiot from time to time.

I snapped a few pictures from different angles and then, with sweaty palms, Goggled Craigslist.  I followed the directions and after about twenty minutes, with three aborted attempts and two edits behind me, I got the car on Craigslist.  Note to self:  It helps to sell something if you put contact information with your ad (Duh!).

Within a minute, my cell phone rang.  It was a guy calling about the car, before I could tell him about the car, my phone beeped indicating another call.  Putting the first caller on hold I took the second call and just a few words in, the phone beeped again.  Another call.  Getting back to the first caller I got more calls and then the text messages started coming in.  The first caller said he'd be there in 15 minutes, the second caller said 10 minutes, the third was on his way in twenty minutes, and the phone kept on ringing and receiving texts.  It started to resemble the famous Running with the Bulls in Spain.

Some of the calls I had to laugh at, one guy texted me an offer two thousand dollars less than my asking price.  I texted back the listed price.  He kept trying, offering more increases by $500 increments.  All the time I was still was still getting calls, some were hilarious.  "I'll give you double your price if you'll hold the car for me until next month", or "Will you finance the car?"

The phone rang and rang and was still ringing when the first buyer showed up, as well as the second and the third.  They were circling the car like buzzards over a roadkill, and giving each other the stink eye.

I did the right thing, the old "First Come, First Served" model.  I sold the car to Bob, the first caller.  He coughed up the asking price in nice, crisp $100 bills.  I tried to sign the title over to him as the phone kept on ringing.  I finally shut it off so I could count the money and affix my John Hancock in the right place on the title.

As the car drove away to its new home and the other two buyers dejectedly walked to their cars, mumbling under their breath, I ran inside and quickly took my ad off of Craigslist.  I pulled out my phone and turned it back on, finding 15 missed more calls and 5 more texts.  I scrolled through the texts and had to laugh at the messages, some ridiculous, others almost pleading.  I couldn't believe, when I looked at my watch was that only a half hour had passed.

Maybe I should list our house on Craigslist, if this is the kind of results you can get, the house would be sold already!

Thanks for visiting and feel free to leave a comment.