Crazy Craigslist Curiosity!

[Star and Goldie]

Very random trail of thought here... nothing to do with doodles at all....

Craigslist gives me the creeps more often than not but I must admit I have bought several things from there.  When you have a toddler and you are living on a very tight budget buying toys and things new that they will grow out of or bored of in just a few months isn't always reasonable.  I've have landed some pretty amazing deals on CL including a brand new $250 dollhouse still in the box for $40, $150 play kitchen for $20, Suzuki drum set less than 1 year old $30,the list goes on.  In toddler cash this all adds up!

Of course I am so overly cautious when I arrange a pick up that my friends and family completely laugh at me. I text the name and address of the person I am meeting to at least 3 friends/family members. I will make one person my point of contact and tell them when I am pulling up to the location. I tell them I will call them in 15 minutes. If I don't call they are to call me. They are to try 3 times and if I don't answer then call the police.  Thankfully, it's never gotten to that. Yes, I'm THAT paranoid. Haha. You can never be too sure. 

There are several things in my house that I have acquired over Craigslist and actually I have met some pretty nice people.  There are people in wealthy areas near me that sell kids stuff in excellent condition for so cheap because they don't really need the money. On the flip side I've met single parents selling anything they can for cheap just to get money to feed their children.  Sometimes it's an eye opening experience.  Sidenote: the movie Craigslist Joe was very eye opening as well. A gentleman who lives completely off of CL for 1 year. Very interesting documentary. He had to eat, sleep and survive solely off of people he encountered via Craigslist. That took a very open mind!

Whenever you hear the word CRAIGSLIST it seems to have negative connotation and I suppose, rightfully so (think Craigslist killer and all of the nightmare stories you hear). Thankfully, I have never had a bad experience and I don't go into anything blindly.

However, I am just on there looking for legit sales and not browsing the crazies! Apparently there is a pregnant woman in NJ selling POSITIVE PREGNANCY tests on CL. What in the world???

Do you have a safety plan when you purchase something on CL or any other kind of community online sale?

What's the craziest thing you've seen posted on Craigslist?  There is some really WONKY stuff out there. From positive pregnancy tests, haunted coffee cups, people looking for impersonators, searching for the person they saw once from a distance at the hot dog stand that they fell in love with,  someone renting out their extra bathroom as a room, the list of crazies goes on!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

LOL, Joanne! That must have been Krista! I'm sure she was relieved to find out it was you!

I would never post a dog on CL again either. 

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Yes, beautiful Krista!  I love her.   We had a good laugh.  But I knew, from the wierd email, I would never try this again. I did not get one application from trying CL

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Oh no. My neighbor does FreeCycle too!  UGH  Maybe that is where the new young girlfriend came from.

Strange people are always roaming through his backyard when he is not home..just to pick up stuff.

So glad I have a fence

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Honestly, FreeCycle was a good experience for me. The people who came for the furniture were so polite and genuinely excited to be getting it. One young couple was furnishing their first home and planned to reupholster my old sofa themselves. I really loved that sofa and it made me feel good that it would get a facelift and a new "family", lol. And it's nice to be able to leave things in the driveway and not have to deal with the people at all, too. 

[Jennifer and Jack]

Our version of the FreeCycle here in SC is where I found the puppies today...it is a FB based thing people trade or give stuff for free to...

[Judi, David & Maddie Irishdoodle]

I live in Ontario and we have just had a case where a young man from Ancaster Ontario, about 15 minutes from my hometown was selling his truck on kijiji (similar to craigs list). Two men came for a test drive and went with the owner Tim Bosma in the truck. They never returned and Tim was murdered and his body burned beyond recognition. You can google the story - it is an ongoing investigation and two men have been arrested at this time.

I don't blame you for being extra careful and I'm not trying to stop people from buying and selling online. I have bought and sold through Kijiji but since the Tim Bosma murder I will be extra cautious from now on. Please everyone just be very careful

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

OMG, how horrible.

[Jennifer and Jack]

Oh dear Lord.....that is horrible.......

[Christine & Camus]

I sold Camus' first crate, which he outgrew on, and a computer on Craigslist with no problems.  However, I was a bit wary but in both cases all went well and the purchasers where very nice people. 

Star, on another subject - toddler toys.  What I use to do when my son was a toddler was rotate his toys.  Every few months I would take some of the toys he was not playing with (he had far too many anyway) and trade them for a few I had put way earlier.  It was like his birthday every 4-5 months!

[Wendy and Myla]

I did the same thing - I had two toy boxes and just switched them up every few weeks - worked great, especially if I did it on a rainy day!

 

[Star and Goldie]

Love this idea! I don't think it would work in our house though because I would want to bring them out to play with them. One reason my daughter has so many toys is because I have to play them with her so in true toddler fashion, I get bored with some and want a variety. Haha. I'd know there was a super cool toy waiting in the closet for 5 months later and just wouldn't be able to wait!

[Adina P]

My daughter would LOVE you!  I am the mommy who hates to play toddler/little kid games.