Safest way to sell an amp on Craigslist? Should I let someone come to my home?

[JoJo68]

No, don't do it. I meet them at Guitar Center. Luckily I've made friends there and it's not an issue.

[JoJo68]

 

Musicians are usually cool people.

 

 

HAHAHAHA !!!! LOL

[Jerry_L]

 

HAHAHAHA !!!! LOL

 

 

I'm excluding rappers, DJs, vocalists, and keyboard players. The rest may be a bit flakey, too, but mostly aren't hard-core thugs or thieves.

[RaVenCAD]

I'm excluding rappers, DJs, vocalists, and keyboard players. The rest may be a bit flakey, too, but mostly aren't hard-core thugs or thieves.

 

 

I agree with JoJo.. I met one guy on CL and we agreed to meet about a guitar. He didn't show. So I emailed him and thanked him for wasting my time. Dude went psycho! I was very glad I never met the nut in person.

[JoJo68]

Hell my last singer pawned 2 of my guitars and ran off with our drummers wife !! You can't be too careful.

[sleewell]

i have people over, they all meet yogi. never had an issue.

would you try to break into a house that is guarded by this guy?

[Funkwire]

Get him to ring you for a chat. If he sounds like a reasonable bloke then 99.99% chance he probably is. If he's only willing to communicate through badly-spelt emails typed in block capitals, then probably best avoid him. Even in public. Either way, it's your call. Don't do anything you feel uncomfortable with. But you can't go through life being paranoid either.

 

 

This. I sold an Epi G-1275 on CL. The buyer e-mailed me to ask if it was still available. I responded, he sent me his cell number. We ended up chatting for about 45 minutes. I had made arrangements with a local music store to meet potential buyers there. But I told the guy to come to my house. I had gotten a pretty good impression of him. He tried out the guitar, loved it, said "I'll take it"...no haggling, cash on the barrelhead.

 

I would still have an option away from the house, but exceptions can be made.

[fretmonster]

It's kinda weird to me that musicians look for fellow musicians on Craigslist all the time and yet are so paranoid about doing any kind of business in their home. I've recently done a ton of business on Craigs. Two were parking lot encounters because they were low money items. On one I went to a guy's apartment because I wanted to hear the bass amp I was trading for and in another I got a good vibe on the phone and allowed a guy to come over and plug into my Peavey Delta Blues which was for sale. In the last transaction, we ended up jamming for over an hour, reached a deal and I feel like I made a friend. I do qualify buyers on the phone first, but if the vibe is good, I invite them over and don't worry about it. I mean life's a gamble no matter how you look at it. I'm not going to stop driving because the roads are full of idiots.

[Jerry_L]

I did meet one guitar buyer in a parking lot once, but mostly because he was afraid he couldn't find my house. Nice guy, though, he bought the guitar without haggling and it turned out he jammed regularly with a friend in my neighborhood.

[reverberlayed]

I've had people come to my home and I've gone to other people's homes with no problems. In fact, one guy let me play a bunch of his of vintage guitars he has bought off craigslist. Just be cognizant of the email/phone correspondence and you should be fine. Y'all are paranoid.

[reverberlayed]

 

It's kinda weird to me that musicians look for fellow musicians on Craigslist all the time and yet are so paranoid about doing any kind of business in their home. I've recently done a ton of business on Craigs. Two were parking lot encounters because they were low money items. On one I went to a guy's apartment because I wanted to hear the bass amp I was trading for and in another I got a good vibe on the phone and allowed a guy to come over and plug into my Peavey Delta Blues which was for sale. In the last transaction, we ended up jamming for over an hour, reached a deal and I feel like I made a friend. I do qualify buyers on the phone first, but if the vibe is good, I invite them over and don't worry about it. I mean life's a gamble no matter how you look at it. I'm not going to stop driving because the roads are full of idiots.

 

 

+1

[Jerry_L]

I've had people come to my home and I've gone to other people's homes with no problems. In fact, one guy let me play a bunch of his of vintage guitars he has bought off craigslist. Just be cognizant of the email/phone correspondence and you should be fine. Y'all are paranoid.

 

 

Well, if you know from experience that you are not a good judge of character at first meeting, than act accordingly. And vice-versa.

[Canadian Jeff]

Extention cord

Someone did this to me once. Brought out a wah I wanted to buy with a little L6 Spider for me to try in the hallway of his apartment. I didn't really mind though, the aroma of piss was overwhelming when he had the door open.

[JTEES4]

That reminds me...I recently sold a Bad Monkey pedal for $20. Guy comes to my house, a State Trooper in full uniform and a huge ass gun on his hip. I was a bit surprised, but felt safe.

[JTEES4]

He is cute as hell.....You can't fool me. Yogi would do no more than slobber all over me...right?

[JR13]

I've had two people over for low value items. I just let them in the first room of the house and don't show them the rest of my gear. No problems so far

[craigny]

Craigslist can be usefull but to me mostly it's a f***ing PITA bringing the flakes outta the woodwork BUT i have sold things on it including a couple of amps....so i have had people at my home but have also offered to go to them also...me being the guy that looks like the one you wouldnt want in your house with the shaved head and all the tats helps i guess....ever since ive found HC and other forums ive pretty much abandoned Craigslist.

[Hookandcanman]

I like to believe people a generally good...but I still don't think I would let a complete stranger around my home and family based on a response to an anonymous ad on a website. It's like going to the mall, picking someone at random and inviting them over...while 99 times out of 100 everything may turn out fine -it only takes that one time.

[HanSolo]

I put all my other guitars and stuff in the spare bedroom and set up only what I need to sell. I go as far as my living room only and make sure either a buddy or my son is there just in case the "buyer" turns out to be a creep.

[slushpup96]

Even if the guy doesn't murder you, I'd be worried about them coming back later and stealing all of my other gear.

 

 

This is much more likely than a murder or whatever. Most people won't try and rob you when you can see them, but they'll take note of the ins and outs of your house so when they come back later, they can steal your gear and get out fast.

 

My advice: take it to guitar center. If an employee asks what you're doing, tell him you want to hear how a certain guitar sounds through your amp before considering buying it. Have the guy play through amp. Don't buy guitar. Have him buy amp once you're outside. Done.

[mnhhngbfs]

Meet him in the parking lot of an open business, one that actually has people coming and going, not a ghost town. Just be weary of the Libyans wanting their cut. They think the secret to good tone is plutonium.

[Sillypeoples]

I'll just add that women buying or selling should stick to daytime transactions, in public, bring a guy that can handle himself....best to not even let the other person see their car or get a plate....do it in a Burger King...don't give last names or addresses. Deals go quick in public.

 

My boss had a friend that was the father of a very famous rape/torture/murder case..the daughter was selling jewelry out of her apartment...two guys showed up....very sad story...went very badly for her. She didn't live in a bad area or anything.

[codecontra]

I have had lots of people at my place to try out stuff I was selling on CL and I have been to people's homes and apartments and never had 1 issue. I mean, I'm a fairly big and ugly guy. I wouldn't recommend it for some hot chick, but I'm not really worried about it.

Having said this, I always talk to the person on the phone first and ask a few questions. Generally speaking you can get an idea if he is a musician and/or fairly sane.

Of course there are no promises, but I think some random guy coming to your house to murder you in the middle of the day is fairly slim. Just ask a buddy to come over while he is there.

[epi56ebony]

I've sold 2 amps.

 

1. At a Denny's restaurant they had an outlet outside

 

2. Supermarkets generally have an outlet outside

 

rule one: NEVER let anyone come to your home (are they casing your place?, are they coming to kill you? don't trust complete strangers)

 

rule two: NEVER go to anyone's home. I broke this rule but I let someone know where I was going, address and that if I didn't phone him by a certain time to call the cops

 

there's a lot of crazy people out there

 

try and meet in the middle of parking lots where it is hard to get out

 

Here's a story: a guy selling his xbox. met in an isolated field. 4 teenagers (who lived in section 8 housing as was later reported) come out and try to rob him. A good samaritan with his kid in the car jumped out with a bat. The oldest teenager kills him (his kid is still in the car) and then shoots the seller with a flesh wound and he runs.

 

This story happened near my post office.

 

Ages of the 4 teenage thugs 13 to 17. They caught 3 of them. They caused a lot of havoc at their Section 8 Apt building.

 

Four people especially teenagers get out of a car, I would have gotten back in my car and left.

 

People have speculated that the seller really needed the money given our bad economy because he fought to keep the xbox instead of just giving it to them.

[SDshirtman]

This thread reminded me of a cool story.

I bought my Mesa amp through Craigslist about 5 years ago I picked it up from a guy who lived in a trailer park. I drive over and when I get there and he tells me he has it set up inside and invites me in to his trailer to test it out. I go in and its an absolute mess. He guides me into and into the living room and we pass a tiny kitchen where there are disgusting dishes in the sink that look like they've been sitting there for two months.

 

As I enter the room I see my future amp sitting on top of a TV and between probably 30 vintage amps of all brands and sizes stacked up on the floor. Amongst all these amps are maybe half dozen or so old beat up strats and Les Pauls.

We start talking about the gear laying about the room and stacked up against the walls. He starts talking my leg off telling me stories about how he acquired each one and what year they are ect.

Turns out many of these guitars strewn about the room are high dollar vintage models. Fifty something Les Paul blah blah, sixty something strat this and that. Some were just sitting on the coffee table with all the other trash this guy had. At this point Im marveling at a mid 50's Les Paul he has laying in a corner and he tells me to plug it into the amp I'm going to buy. I do and I noodle around and play a few riffs. Then the guy asks me If I want a shot of tequila which I accept. It turned out to be the first of what was to become a half dozen or so over the next few hours.

 

This guy ends up taking me into his bedroom where he's got another at least another 40 Marshall amp heads stacked up and the sides of his bedroom walls from every decade. It almost looked like wallpaper there were so many. I've seen music stores with less inventory. He then shows me his closet and there are no clothes, just guitar cases. So many that he can hardly walk in to pull them out which he starts doing one by one and opening them up on his bed to show me whats inside. It was freaking unreal. You name a brand and model and he had one. Tesco, Harmony, some obscure europian brands as well as gretches, more gibsons. You get the idea. He's pulling them out from under the bed and even pulled a few out from his bathroom. I couldn't even guess the value of gear contained in his little {censored} hole trailer but it had to be well into the hundreds of thousands.

From the outside of his double wide trailer you would have never guessed what was inside. Just a musical goldmine.

 

It was very cool and I'll never forget it, but I could have been anyone and he just invites me in for guitar show and tell. Maybe he was just lonely, but it was just freaking mind blowing. Just thought I'd share.

 

That being said.

 

Personally I used to sell and buy off CL quite a lot and never had a problem having people come over to my own house, but I always caught hell from my wife for doing so. Late last year I gave a potential buyer my cell phone number and he started texting me some incredibly screwed up pictures and so fourth. It freaked me out so much I ended up notifying the cops. I have a daughter in my home and it really woke me up to the screwed up people in the world. My wife was freaking out. I still sell off Craigslist but now I just have buyers to meet me at my local drugstore parking lot. Its just not worth the risk.

 

(Wow that was a long post!)