What is wrong with people today????

[GreenDragon]

So I recently decided to upgrade my home gym, and ordered a new setup. I put my old one on Craigslist. Due to COVID, I know money is really tight for a lot of people, so I thought I would pay it forward and list it for free.

Not surprisingly I received ~50 replies the first day and I responded back in order received. I had 5 people, over the course of two days, say they were on their way to pick up the weight bench... AND NEVER SHOWED UP! I'm giving away a couple hundred dollars of equipment for FREE, and you can't even text me you that you changed your mind?????

I finally read through all the responses again, found one that actually included complete polite sentences inquiring about the availability, and called him. He was a very nice 63 year old gentleman who was genuinely thrilled to hear from me. His doctor recommended light weight training for his health. He even called me this morning to assure me that he was actually going to show up and pick up the equipment today.

So doing some quick math, it appears that approximately 2% of the local population is actually worth interacting with.

 

[deluxestogie]

The underlying problem: "free" means it's junk.

Electronic contact is vapor. Personal contact is commitment.

Bob

EDIT: My impression is that many of the folks who respond to "free" items on Craigslist are looking for things to resell for a profit.

 

[Jim D]

Bummer man, glad you found a happy recipient!

 

[pottsS]

I know what you mean...I've tried so many times with some good things and I've come to the conclusion that usually I'd be better off just throwing it in the garbage. It is so sad, but at least you have a happy ending. I think Bob is right. Lately I've parted with a few things by getting my son to post them and say "posting for my Father". He also ups my asking price and since it is my stuff he can't really answer a lot of questions....but it works, I guess because people probably assume I'm borderline dementia and my son doesn't really care what it is worth, he just wants to tidy up the estate, and as a bonus my son gets all the inquiries!

 

[Byronodmon]

My favorite is when you post the item with a detailed description and then get text after text asking for the details that are literally IN THE TITLE of the post. Had this happen selling 2 old vehicles this last year. Very annoying!

 

[plantdude]

Year ago when I was a teenager my friends sister wanted to get rid of a couch. We hauled it to the road and put a "free" sign on it. It sat there for over four hours. The garbage company would charge her for it if they had to haul it away so she told us to put a for sale sign on it for $20. It mysteriously disappeared in under twenty minutes after that. Something about setting a value works sometimes apparently, even if it doesn't say the best thing about human nature.