The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Why is it that every time I look over the Craigslist listing in London (for example) it's like waking trough a museum of very rare and expensive artifacts...????.

Not to say this is just noticed in the UK. I have also seen this in other European countries.
Would some of our members over there fill me in...????.

gramophone78 wrote:Why is it that every time I look over the Craigslist listing in London (for example) it's like waking trough a museum of very rare and expensive artifacts...????.

Not to say this is just noticed in the UK. I have also seen this in other European countries.
Would some of our members over there fill me in...????.

I never look at it myself. I just did a quick search for "gramophone", and of the 8 items that came up, at least 4 (and probably all or most) are definitely scams which have been advertised for many months, in some cases several years on and off. When you enquire, they re usually in remote places awkward to travel to, such as the Shetland Islands. Those EMG/Expert items, at least, would have sold in a flash at those prices if they were genuine! As far as I know, Craigslist isn't much used over here. Except by scammers, evidently!

I've been saying this for many years without much of an audience apparently. UK Craigslist is NOTHING like US Craigslist whatsoever. On US Craigslist you will often find very many genuine sellers offering absolute steals and bargains galore. I'm simply astounded by the variety of good things that this forum has highlighted and often the sellers are local to someone on this forum and sell items really cheaply! My question has always been: How is this possible in the days of eBay when anyone can freely list an item without requiring any knowledge and yet by cutting out the middle man, often obtain very high "market prices" for stuff? Why don't Craigslist sellers sell for a lot more money / return on eBay where the rest of the world can join in? It makes zero sense to me. It is naive and totally illogical. The notion that some sellers "don't care about the money" doesn't stack up either. They could still "give things away" via the eBay route or other online sites. I don't wish to appear to be a promoter of eBay here as I detest it with a passion!

UK Craigslist on the other hand is full of pond scum, the wretched dregs of human existence whose only M.O. in life is to scam, con, steal or otherwise fraudulently extract money from innocent honest people. UK Craigslist should be banned out of all existence.

As Andy and Steve say---please be EXTREMELY CAREFUL when dealing with items listed on Craigslist UK if the "gramophones for sale" section is anything to judge by. The EMG/Expert items all belong to owners who have either bought them years ago or who have them in their long term collections. The listings are blatantly fraudulent and the "vendor" is certainly not the true owner. At least two of the items have been sold on Ebay in recent years and I happen to know the people who bought them. These examples now form part of their prized collections and are certainly not for sale. Additionally, the advertised prices bear no relation to real market values which are far higher.

CAVEAT EMPTOR indeed !

Steve wrote:I've been saying this for many years without much of an audience apparently. UK Craigslist is NOTHING like US Craigslist whatsoever. On US Craigslist you will often find very many genuine sellers offering absolute steals and bargains galore. I'm simply astounded by the variety of good things that this forum has highlighted and often the sellers are local to someone on this forum and sell items really cheaply! My question has always been: How is this possible in the days of eBay when anyone can freely list an item without requiring any knowledge and yet by cutting out the middle man, often obtain very high "market prices" for stuff? Why don't Craigslist sellers sell for a lot more money / return on eBay where the rest of the world can join in? It makes zero sense to me. It is naive and totally illogical. The notion that some sellers "don't care about the money" doesn't stack up either. They could still "give things away" via the eBay route or other online sites. I don't wish to appear to be a promoter of eBay here as I detest it with a passion!

UK Craigslist on the other hand is full of pond scum, the wretched dregs of human existence whose only M.O. in life is to scam, con, steal or otherwise fraudulently extract money from innocent honest people. UK Craigslist should be banned out of all existence.

I generally will not list anything on eBay that is large, such as furniture, large phonographs, cars, etc. Occasionally if it is something of high value that I think will do very well on eBay, I will list it, but otherwise I put it on Craigslist. Simply put, Craigslist is easier to use, there is no hassle with shipping, and there are no fees. You also have the opportunity to haggle and make the deal in person, which a lot of people prefer. Obviously this comes at a cost, however, since the market is much narrower, and often the prices realized will be lower than if you were to list it on eBay. Still, I would rather accept a lower price as opposed to paying fees, figuring out shipping, etc. I'm sure many people feel the same way.

Incidentally, anything phonograph related, I always list in our Yankee Trader section first. It's even easier than Craigslist, and you know you are dealing with genuine good people!

HisMastersVoice wrote:

Steve wrote:I've been saying this for many years without much of an audience apparently. UK Craigslist is NOTHING like US Craigslist whatsoever. On US Craigslist you will often find very many genuine sellers offering absolute steals and bargains galore. I'm simply astounded by the variety of good things that this forum has highlighted and often the sellers are local to someone on this forum and sell items really cheaply! My question has always been: How is this possible in the days of eBay when anyone can freely list an item without requiring any knowledge and yet by cutting out the middle man, often obtain very high "market prices" for stuff? Why don't Craigslist sellers sell for a lot more money / return on eBay where the rest of the world can join in? It makes zero sense to me. It is naive and totally illogical. The notion that some sellers "don't care about the money" doesn't stack up either. They could still "give things away" via the eBay route or other online sites. I don't wish to appear to be a promoter of eBay here as I detest it with a passion!

UK Craigslist on the other hand is full of pond scum, the wretched dregs of human existence whose only M.O. in life is to scam, con, steal or otherwise fraudulently extract money from innocent honest people. UK Craigslist should be banned out of all existence.

I generally will not list anything on eBay that is large, such as furniture, large phonographs, cars, etc. Occasionally if it is something of high value that I think will do very well on eBay, I will list it, but otherwise I put it on Craigslist. Simply put, Craigslist is easier to use, there is no hassle with shipping, and there are no fees. You also have the opportunity to haggle and make the deal in person, which a lot of people prefer. Obviously this comes at a cost, however, since the market is much narrower, and often the prices realized will be lower than if you were to list it on eBay. Still, I would rather accept a lower price as opposed to paying fees, figuring out shipping, etc. I'm sure many people feel the same way.

Incidentally, anything phonograph related, I always list in our Yankee Trader section first. It's even easier than Craigslist, and you know you are dealing with genuine good people!

Size, shipping, and fee issues certainly come into play, as HMV relates. There are other factors as well. While eBay is probably second nature to us, there are a surprising number of people to whom the thought of using it is intimidating. This is perhaps especially true here in Florida where we have a fairly high number of older retirees who grew up before the age of electronics. And there are the cases where someone just wants the object gone in connection with things like having to move residences, or clearing out the house when the parents pass away; that sort of thing. And I have experienced the situation one or two times where it is a collector who just wants to meet potential buyers and assure themselves that "their baby" is going to a good home.

Clay

As an aside to this discussion, and the comments made about Craigslist vs Ebay, it's interesting to note that Ebay has maintained a financial stake in Craigslist for nearly 10 years:

On August 13, 2004, Newmark announced on his blog that auction giant eBay had purchased a 25% stake in the company from a former employee.[19] Some fans of Craigslist expressed concern that this development would affect the site's longtime non-commercial nature. As of April 2012, there have been no substantive changes to the usefulness or non-advertising nature of the site—no banner ads, charges for a few services provided to businesses.
FROM: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craigslist Also -- http://www.craigslist.org/about/press/ebay.stake

Since Craigslist does not have a staff that polices the site--it's supposed to be monitored by "the community"--the only recourse is to flag dishonest ads by clicking on the Prohibited button that appears on each one. It takes a certain number of flags from different users (ISPNs) to pull down an ad; however if a poster's ads are repeatedly flagged, his/her account will be suspended.

Craigslist was started as a community bulletin board, and in theory, all of the ads, announcements, job postings, etc., are intended for the various local communities. But because everyone in the world can view the site, of course, it's evolved into a global marketplace.

Joe

So, now I'm curious....does the site in Holland or ??? call "MarketPlatz" have the same "warnings and short comings" as Craigslist UK...??.

I sold an Amberola I on eBAY in the USA a few years back. Within a month after having sold it, my pictures turned up on Craigslist UK offering an Amberola I for sale. How could such a scam work. Who would buy something like that on Craigslist without insisting on seeing it in person first?

HisMastersVoice wrote: Incidentally, anything phonograph related, I always list in our Yankee Trader section first. It's even easier than Craigslist, and you know you are dealing with genuine good people!

I too!