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Probation worthy?
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Started by thewritestuff,

34 posts in this topic

thewritestuff

thewritestuff

Posted
Posted (edited)

Hello, everyone. I am somewhat new around here. I've only done a handful of sales/purchases, and I try to avoid getting caught up in the drama that sometimes arises on these boards. That said, I have had a negative interaction with a member of these boards (through a completely unrelated sales venue) and was wondering if I should "out" that person for shady practices.

My experience goes like this: Last spring I was trying to raise money for an upcoming vacation. I rarely sell comics, but I needed the cash, so I put together a little batch of Gold and Silver age comics to sell on Craigslist. Well, no sooner had I listed the books then I received an email from a potential buyer expressing interest. Almost immediately after CL sent me a message saying that my listing had been "flagged" as inappropriate and was deleted.

I re-posted the listing, which is time-consuming (CL does not let you re-post the original listing, so you are forced to create an entirely new one). Seconds later, the same guy sent me another message, sort of on the pushy side, basically demanding that I call him immediately. Within seconds, my listing was deleted again.  Hmmm...

Believe it or not, I thought I had accidentally violated a CL rule or something. Remember, I rarely sell there. This same pattern went on for hours. I'd re-post my listing, and this pushy dirtbag would delete it.

His motive was clear: He wanted to eliminate the competition, so he was having the ad removed, probably thinking he'd have an edge over the seller (me) if no one else appeared interested in the lot.  At one point, I actually wrote him a message saying "I would like to upload a list of the comics to Craigslist, but my ad keeps disappearing." His response was basically: "Yea, I don't know anything about that, but give me a call and we can work out a deal."

The a-hole actually pretended as though he had nothing to do with it!

This same thing happened again a couple weeks ago. I had a batch of books ready to be sold (in order to raise money for the holidays). I had a buyer lined up, but unfortunately he had a family emergency. Once again, I turned to CL. This same dirtbag reached out and then flagged my listing. He did this several times, so in retaliation I began to seek out his "Wanted to Buy" ads and flagged them. Then I sent him a private message and told him I would continue to flag his ads unless he left mine alone. He did not respond, but from that point on he left my listing alone.

The thing is, he's still doing it! This guy is on these boards, and has probably been around a lot longer than me, but I was wondering if I should call him out on here....

 

Thoughts and opinions welcome!

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by thewritestuff
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MustEatBrains

MustEatBrains

Posted
Posted

You need some proof that he's the one responsible for flagging your listings that might prove difficult in this situation.   PL are not limited to transactions just conducted on the boards it applies to any venue. Usually the PL nomination is reserved for getting resolution to a deal that goes sideways i.e. No payment, seller fails to ship book etc...  However if what you say is true I'd sure want to avoid any dealings with that person.  Honestly I don't use craigslist but you should contact them directly to see why they continually remove your listing and explain to them what you think is going on.  Very doubtful that you'd get him on the PL based just on this but I'm sure others would appreciate the PSA on him/her.  

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Bird

Bird

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Posted

There was no transaction so I don't think you can nominate him. But you can say whatever youwant, although personal attacks are against the rules here. You can say that you believe boardie X is doing it I think. What exactly are you hoping for in response? Revenge won't fly and your proof is circumstantial. I agree to check with craigslist to see why they were removed.

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thewritestuff

thewritestuff

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Posted (edited)

My proof is the fact that, on both occasions, many people reached out to inquire about the comics. But each time a listing was flagged and removed, it was within seconds of this one particular person demanding I get in touch with him immediately. 

If you don’t know how Craigslist works, if you send a message to a seller and then delete the ad by getting it flagged, you can still message that seller, even though the ad is effectively “gone”. Neat trick, huh?

Furthermore, Only when I called him out on it did this practice stop. I never suspected anyone else because he’s so dumb he didn’t realize or care how obvious it is that he was the guilty party. To take it a step further,  for the hell of it, I recently posted another ad in this fellow’s neck of the woods, just to see what would happen.

As expected, he reached out asking that I call him right away. When I didn’t respond in the hour, he reached out again, then my ad was flagged and deleted a few minutes later per his usual MO.

He didn’t realize it was the same seller, see? My other ads are still up since I called him out, but he’s still out there being shady. 

Edited by thewritestuff
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thewritestuff

thewritestuff

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I appreciate the inquiries, but my motive for posting this thread is to get this guy to stop this practice. Who knows, maybe he has already seen this? Hopefully that would be enough to do the trick. Anyway, I pulled my listings until after the holidays. If he attempts the same stunt when I re-list, I will follow up with his name and info here. 

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Bird

Bird

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Posted
Just now, entalmighty1 said:

The only way to put a stop to stuff like that is sharing the individual's identity with the rest of us.  You'd be surprised how polite people are when you remove anonymity.

Yes, there is power in numbers! He has little to no incentive to stop now as you have already asked him multiple times; that didn't work apparently. Now you gotta step up your game! :sumo:

 

(ps, I love sumo man emoji!)

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comix4fun

comix4fun

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On 12/8/2018 at 10:24 AM, thewritestuff said:

My proof is the fact that, on both occasions, many people reached out to inquire about the comics. But each time a listing was flagged and removed, it was within seconds of this one particular person demanding I get in touch with him immediately. 

If you don’t know how Craigslist works, if you send a message to a seller and then delete the ad by getting it flagged, you can still message that seller, even though the ad is effectively “gone”. Neat trick, huh?

Furthermore, Only when I called him out on it did this practice stop. I never suspected anyone else because he’s so dumb he didn’t realize or care how obvious it is that he was the guilty party. To take it a step further,  for the hell of it, I recently posted another ad in this fellow’s neck of the woods, just to see what would happen.

As expected, he reached out asking that I call him right away. When I didn’t respond in the hour, he reached out again, then my ad was flagged and deleted a few minutes later per his usual MO.

He didn’t realize it was the same seller, see? My other ads are still up since I called him out, but he’s still out there being shady. 

You've approached this reasonably, and there is more than one reason to believe it's the same person. If it was any one of those things alone it might be a stretch, but when it's all of them taken together it's hard to believe it's not the same person.

At this point don't feel it's a bad idea to share the information you've gathered as it may be the only thing that prevents something negative happening to another collector. As you yourself said, he's still doing to others. 

So I guess what I'm saying is:

tenor-11.gif.b1f9b58f59ee313d2847c57da1f46db8.gif

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