Lots of "no shows"

Hi,
I live out in the country, so I get lots of "no shows".  I usually end up selling my items really cheap or give them away before anyone comes out to see me.  Unless it's something that they really want!  Furniture does pretty good.  Healthe 

yea that could be kind of tricky! they make an appointment to come see you then mapquest your address and change their mind! lol

Heck I live in a big city and have lots of Craigslist noshows.  I do find that if I put something on for free it normally goes in a few hours with many people  calling.  hard to get real money for most common items but it is a way to get rid of big objects. I recently gave away a huge chest freezer that did not work. First call in 15 minutes and 4 more before I could pull the ad.  First call took it came with a huge truck full of junk he had been picking up all day.

I use the option to have them call me at home rather than answer by email. This totally eliminates the spam factor.

When they call if they get my answering machine I call them back and we talk about the item. If they give any indication they want to make an appointment for the next day, I have them call me back the next day a half hour before they want to see the item....that tends to either weed them out completely or give me a good indication of their sincerity.  They give me a time frame on the first call...say 10 a.m. for a meeting, so I have them call me at 9:30 am the morn of the meeting to confirm.

Oh, and since I don't want them coming to my home I have them meet me at my storage facility where the advertised item is stored. If the item is actually at my home....I take it with me to the storage unit and get there earlier than they do.

Showing them the item in the storage lkr is good too as they sometimes see other things they are interested in.

Hi,
I live out in the country, so I get lots of "no shows".  I usually end up selling my items really cheap or give them away before anyone comes out to see me.  Unless it's something that they really want!  Furniture does pretty good.  Healthe 

I agree with movieman. Hvaing people call instead of email helps with no shows. You cut out all the spam emails but I also find that if someone is willing to pick up the phone and call you they tend to be more serious than someoen who just replies and shoot you a quick 4 word email. You also tend to get less lowball offers adn offers for trades.

It really chaps my hide when people call you and ask if you will take less that what you are asking for an item. I usually tell them to come out and look at the item and I'm sure we can work something out. I had one guy who called me on an item that I needed to get rid of quickly. He asked me If I would take a lot less for the item and I said yes, if you are coming to get it now. When he arrived, he tried to talk me down even further. I really don't like people that waste your time.

This is one of my many pet peeves with Craigslist (or more specifically with people).
You get the insulting offers, the no-shows, the people who want to ask a million stupid questions, the "you still have this?" emails.
I have gone so far as to accept people's ridiculous offers (hey, would you take $10 instead of $150?)...and they still don't follow through! Ridiculous!
"You still have this" usually gets a "yes" from me. And that's typically the end of that conversation.

The serious buyers that get my attention are the ones who respond to my ads the same way that I respond when I want to buy something (and I do buy a lot on CL!)
"Hello, I want to buy your such-and-such. Let me know when I can come give you money. Here is my phone number. Thank you"

Pretty simple, really.

Movieman has a good point. Leaving no email to reply to not only cuts down on spam but personally I find people who call are serious people who email are not. People also are more comfortable offering stupid trades or low ball offers through email where its less personal than over the phone as well.

You'll be amazed how much it cuts down on the back and forth and how much more serious people are when you deal only on the phone.

I generally have people come to my house. I totally understand some people not wanting to and if i lived alone with my gf or something I would probably be the same way but I live with my roomate a buddy or mine, he's a bigger dude, we both got guns and I got a 100lbs dog so not really all that concerned about safety issues.

I try to find a day when I'm around the house doing yardwork, washing the car, etc and schedule everyone to come on those days. If you show up an hour late I don't care as I was busy anyway and wasn't just sitting around waiting for you.

Good to know I'm not the only one having this issue. Yesterday I had ten people call and say they were coming, four said they were in the car and on the way, and only one showed up! I guess my city is no more flaky then any other. 

I live in the foothills and have the same problem with people from the Valley. Just loaded up the Lapidary Equipment on my trailer so I can meet with the guy that bought it. I hope he doesn't no show as he's coming from Napa/Sonoma area so he has a long drive. I'll meet him at the freeway to make it easier for him.