Is this a brilliant rip-off tactic?

[Den82]

I was thinking there is a good chance the guy behind this is a member here, but who cares? I hate this the idea behind this and I'm never one to hold my tongue.

http://newyork.craigslist.org/que/wan/2542848827.htm

Does this seem like bull to anyone else? It does to me. As if the main point is to get people who are naive and have no clue to bring there stuff...and since they call themselves "experts", they can say it's worth any lowball amount. Why not just open it to public to buy too? That's the part that annoys me the most.

I buy to resell to and will be the first to admit it, so no hypocrite accusations here.

[toys2cool]

no doubt about it, I bet they pay pennies on the dollar for stuff...I hate that crap, try showing up with something really rare and expensive and see what they offer

I saw one similar here In Miami a few months back...I acted as if I knew nothing about toys and a family member had left me all this junk, I sent him pics of everything...mego's Joes ,vintage Barbies you name it...the guy offered me crap then I called him out on it and he never replied...He was offering me like $20 a doll mib he said he was a dealer and was only gonna make a few dollars and keep most of the stuff

I let him have it

[Den82]

HAHA...that's what I wanted to do. Take my best stuff, throw it in a ratty looking box and play dumb.

...or a better alternative would be to just stand outside and buy stuff off people coming in and out

I'm sure the organizer would LOVE that.

[sauce]

I would bring a few Kenners and then just mostly see if the garlic bread was any good. That would be a good test of their character, if you ask me.

[sauce]

I just reread the ad.

Make sure you go to Nathan's up the street first and walk in to the Italian place with some mustard on your lip and a few crumpled napkins in your breast pocket.

[msgdman]

I like this double talk:

Since we only deal with toys and dolls the wait time is very short, average wait time is usually only 10-15 minutes! ............... We are also buying: TIFFANY ITEMS, OLD COSTUME JEWLERY, Sterling Silver, Advertising items & signs and other UNUSAL ANTIQUE ITEMS.

[palitoy]

The guy who runs this is a friend of mine, I've known him almost 25 years. Most of the time he doesn't break even doing these and then sometimes, he gets stuff like this:

Mego Museum: Lost Treasures of the Mego Showroom

[bp1701a]

Nothin for nothin, but I also buy other collections to resell them so as a buisness,, just like if you watched Pawn Stars,stock market,housing market,, I try to buy low to sell high, I mean comeon, of course they are going to try to buy it at a low price,, isnt that the idea of running a buisness?if I buy a boxed figure off you for lets say $50 and i can only sell it for maybe $10 more,, would it not be more of a buisness sense to buy it from you at b$20 to resell it at $50? so before we yell at someone ,,lets try to remember how a buisness works. Its all about profit,,,,, and if you as the seller are not educated enough to know about what you are selling,, why is it my responsability to educate you about it?
Just sayin,,,,,,

[palitoy]

I agree with Brian. Nobody holds a gun to anybody's head at those events and no high pressure tactics are used. People bring in the goods and an offer is made that the seller knows they can get return on. The seller is running a business and in many cases a lot of the toys they uncover may never see the light of day otherwise.

In the case of the Mego showroom find, the person came back three times and it took days of negotiating.

[MicromanZone]

The guy who runs this is a friend of mine, I've known him almost 25 years. Most of the time he doesn't break even doing these and then sometimes, he gets stuff like this:

Mego Museum: Lost Treasures of the Mego Showroom

Here is the Mego Museum thread on the collection; apparently scored a collection of an ex-Mego employees stash from the 1974 toy fair:
Lost Treasures of the 1974 Mego Showroom - Mego Talk

But part of the problem is not the seller or merchandise. It’s Craigslist. I don’t know about smaller cities, but here in NYC Craigslist is past useless. There are so many real questionable posts and so many spambots trolling posts it’s nothing but a headache to use. That said there are few viable alternatives, but man Craigslist doesn’t add an air of legitimacy to anyone’s posts.

And here is the dealer’s eBay id/listings. Seems 100% legit.
eBay Feedback Profile for littlemarz

[bp1701a]

Matter of fact, I have bought many comics and collectables on Craigslist,, I am in Nj though,,,,

[MicromanZone]

I have bought lots of stuff and sold lots of stuff off of Craigslist over the years. 5-6 years ago, the place was decent. The past 2 years? It’s become unusable. For example, sometimes I have household stuff I would like to give away to someone in my neighborhood. 5-6 years ago I could post, get a few reasonable responses and then within a day, the stuff has gone to a new home. Now? Barely any humans, tons of spam and all after weeks of posting. Not worth the hassle anymore.

[toys2cool]

Nothin for nothin, but I also buy other collections to resell them so as a buisness,, just like if you watched Pawn Stars,stock market,housing market,, I try to buy low to sell high, I mean comeon, of course they are going to try to buy it at a low price,, isnt that the idea of running a buisness?if I buy a boxed figure off you for lets say $50 and i can only sell it for maybe $10 more,, would it not be more of a buisness sense to buy it from you at b$20 to resell it at $50? so before we yell at someone ,,lets try to remember how a buisness works. Its all about profit,,,,, and if you as the seller are not educated enough to know about what you are selling,, why is it my responsability to educate you about it?
Just sayin,,,,,,

yea I get that, but they usually have something like "we pay top dollar" which is BS

[Den82]

I've had some really good luck on Craigslist. Some of my best finds were a result of the want ad I put up there every so often. That's for finding stuff though. Selling stuff on CL can be a nightmare, as 9 out of 10 people are time wasters and no-shows.

[jwyblejr]

I'm not sure what I'm missing here. It seems to be the same stuff you would see in your local paper with the ones that are buying coins and what not.