The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I would never express interest on a Craigslist item that was too far, or inconvenient for me to see and pick up in person. USA Craigslist is region specific. If you shop within your city or region, you are less likely to get stung.

I don't know anyone in the UK who has ever heard of Craigslist. Even if I asked everyone I know to ask everyone they know, I doubt I'd find anyone who had heard of it, never mind used it.

Everyone has heard of eBay. Most people I know use it, and almost everyone will know someone who uses it.

I can't emphasise enough the difference in "mind share" between the two.


Some people have heard of Gumtree and Freecycle. Nowhere nowhere nowhere near as popular as eBay, but far better known than Craigslist.

http://www.the-saleroom.com/ is pretty well known in the antiques/collectors world, but I doubt anyone has heard of it outside of that.

I know these things aren't all comparable. I'm just trying to find examples to show how irrelevant Craigslist is in the UK.

Cheers,
David.

Of course here in the States there are far more sellers on eBay also, and I expect most collectors monitor it as I do. The reason I pay attention to Craigslist is that one is far more likely to find a bargain there, and buying locally you can inspect the item before purchase and do away with shipping costs/issues. It just requires patience waiting for something desirable to show up, but from time to time that patience pays off. For me, eBay and Craigslist is not a matter of one or the other, but both.

Clay

My experience is similar to David's. Until I joined this forum I had never heard of Craigslist.

Out of curiosity I took a look at the UK version and did not like what I saw. I have not looked since.

By contrast, my experience of eBay both as buyer and seller has been almost entirely positive.

Roger.

The reason I had also asked about the Dutch version of a online free market called "Marketplaz" is because...for a short time the Daughter of the owner of the Paillard #205 had the machine listed on there. However, it seems that many who saw the ad seemed to think it was a scam. Much like you see on the
UK Craigslist site.
I guess sometimes you just never know.