Ebay vs Craigslist

[Unknown_K]

Is it just me or do you guys prefer buying vintage items from Ebay more then Craigslist?

Every once in a while I find something locally on Craigslist that is useful and I contact (email) the seller to buy it and get no reply. Sometimes I do get a reply written in 3rd world "engrish" and sometimes they will not even negotiate on price (even if it is way above ebay pricing). If a deal goes smooth (happened a few times) it is kind of shocking.

It just seems ebay is a better for buyers then dealing with the local people on craigslist. At least you know if the stuff you get on ebay is not as advertised or broken you have some recourse to get your money back. Lots of people selling pirated software around here and broken items using multiple names.

 

[Chuck(G)]

While I've gotten a couple of deals off of CL, the sellers generally fall into two overlapping categories: (1) don't have the faintest idea of what they're selling, and (2) have unreal expectations of value.

Of course, eBay is full of that, but you can generally weed those sellers out quickly. CL is more difficult.

Many CL sellers don't acknowledge email, don't remove ads when an item is sold or have strange notions of how to perform a transaction (e.g. in front of the "customer service" counter in the local grocery store, so you can never run down the guy if he sold you an item that turns out to be stolen). CL-ers don't take checks or credit cards, as a rule.

 

[marcoguy]

Considering the closest thing to a vintage computer I have found locally is a typewriter that smelled like it had been marinating in cow manure for thirty years, Ebay is definitely my online store of choice.

 

[DOS lives on!!]

I search Craigslist for vintage computer items, but none ever show up in this area. And plus there's some shady people on CL, not saying there isn't on Ebay too. But I think th reason of why we go to Ebay more times for vintage computer items is because there's more related items to choose from, the description of the item is more detailed, and there's a sense of professionalism with the trust of PayPal and Ebay buyer protection. (Does CL have a similar thing?) And your item's shipping cost is right there, no need to go pick it up. (How lazy!) CL is more relaxed on what they allow to be sold, and Ebay has it in categories and promptly says if it's broken or working.

 

[creepingnet]

Neither.....

E-bay has had prices go way too high for most things, and almost nothing "vintage" turns up on craigslist these days. It's so funny, 10 years ago, you could not GIVE the stuff away, in 2012, now it's like "ooh, old 286, must charge $286.99 for it". Either way, enough on that, I"m sure you've heard it all before.

I get most of my "retro computing" goodies either from co-workers, the wanted lists on this forum and uncreativelabs, and occasionally the thrift shops in the rare instance that they actually put something 15+ years old out there on their shelves (Which is very rare these days). Otherwise, I'm rather well done aquiring, I have 3-4 bins worth of old computer hardware (motherboards, cards, hard drives, RAM, various bits and pieces from cases), so it's not like I"m short. Almost everything I have a spare board or parts for that I can use - It's pretty amazing what I find I have when I pull out parts from my pile after many months.

 

[barythrin]

Catching up on the important things in life (the forums) post vacation but I heard but didn't verify that Ebay actually owns Craigslist. That blew my mind. Looking right quick since I hate spreading rumors I do see ebay has something like a 25% ownership of CL but doesn't actually own it. Regardless that shows a pretty heavy intent to buy seeing that they've bought other multi-million dollar companies. I do wonder how that will effect the market though. CL from what I understand does charge a fee for certain posts such as job listings, etc from corporate entities.

Regarding the actual on topic post, I've certainly gained more computers through ebay (probably more though here and other online sources though) and I've had a good share from CL but yes recently I've grown tired of shooting off emails and not getting any response. I can't tell if it's sold, it's a scam, or if my mail didn't go through, etc which adds to some frustration. I don't think I've had any CL interactions that have gone bad though.

 

[kyeakel]

I buy from Craig's list all the time. I usually like it better for heavy hard to ship items. I also like that the sale of the item is restricted (usually) to people that can meet and pick it up. That reduces the price alot of times as there aren't that many collectors near me. Ebay has a wider selection, items usually need to be shipped, and some get damaged. My current purchases have all been S-100, so they're usually quite heavy. I have not had a problem with CL so far. I have had problems with eBay sellers, but eBay has rectified the issues.

I guess bottom line is: if I want it, it doesn't matter where it's listed, I'm going for it.

Kipp

 

[Le_Bear]

I'm thinking Ebay's 25% ownership came from some unwanted action, and that the CL owner actually completely dislikes Ebay? I think it's kind of a twist how for years, Ebay and Paypal were selling the idea of how safe it is to shop online, and about the time they succeeded in convincing everybody it's ok, CL comes along and insists (they'll quickly remove ads that even hint of mentioning any word pertaining to "shipping" ) insists " it is NOT safe to deal online with shipping, they'll ROB you! Meet them in a parkinglot instead" ; )
CL will also completely block email traffic from addresses they've deemed to be a spammer, and this can be from an action as simple as sending yourself a question to see if their email is even working, and, they will not say a word, just block the address. I learned this the hard way, and went through countless other email providers in an attempt to restore an email service, but some email providers block CL mail as well. Luckily my ISP gives me a new IP each login, and I finally got another yahoo email working there. If I wish to test my mails there now, I'll do it from another computer, another ISP, and from another location.