Buying stuff on Craigslist - What do you guys do to be safe?

[Phicks]

For safety...I stay off Craigslist. Particulaly after that woman claimed she had killed 20 people she met on Craigslist. And I have been kinda expecting some sort of followup on that story. You would think police would want to talk to her and then either confirm or deny her claim.

[youmechooz]

Thanks guys. I'll call him and feel him out and my wife has his address so it should be cool. Anyone who has comics can't be all bad . . unless he killed the previous owners and is squatting in his house.

Don't ever worry about meeting someone at their house for comics. Ever. Give the address to your wife, tell her the exact time you will call. Bring as much as you think you will need. You show up to their house, they have the Edgar church collection part 2, you reach into your pocket and pull out your $30 or $100 from the other pocket. Now you have to leave and go get money and because you can't trust the owner, they are taking out some big books and hiding them so when you come back, you going to look through 100 boxes again for another 6 hours? If they are going to rob you, at their home no less, it's probably because you are calling about an escort.

[youmechooz]

But if you show up and it's like the scene from boys in the hood when USC scout came, with 6 Crip members outside drinking 40's on the porch, don't go inside.

[zuulioso]

I have no qualms about going to someone's house. Generally if someone is giving you their address and it isn't a bad neighborhood then you don't have much to fear.

 

Still to be safe, I never bring a single penny with me and I share the address with my wife.

 

If the deal works out, I go to the bank and come back. If it is a big collection, I will go through it again when I return using the excuse that I want to take one last look. I don't care if it is 10 boxes or not. Better safe then sorry.

 

Even so, I have their home address if they pull something.

[kav]

post the home address in case you drop off the boards we can notify the police

[Hado]

I met Comicwhiz at his house, I was admittedly a little nervous, until I took one step in his house and he introduced me to his wife and infant.

 

Pretty much, welcome. There's my wife, there's my kid, now come look at all my cool stuff!!

 

(thumbs u

 

If memory serves, I think I was just finishing-up appraising that lady's collection too

That's right, you were outside going over a collection she brought over.

[Cemetery]

Usually have no problem meeting somewhere and I usually bring a buddy

[Conan_Aficionado]

People should know how the areas where they are headed into are. Honestly, I avoid craigslist ads that take me into East New York, Harlem or the Bronx to give an example. Bayside is A.O.K.

 

But seriously, you are buying comics, the most you have to fear is fat and stinky, I can say that because I'm fat and stinky....

[kav]

if you show up at their house and they have a plastic tarp spread out on the floor get the heck out of there.

[Conan_Aficionado]

if you show up at their house and they have a plastic tarp spread out on the floor get the heck out of there.

 

I would be kind of cool to be the victim of a serial killer that becomes famous.

[Bomber-Bob]

True story, years ago I answered an ad in the newspaper about a GA Wonder Woman collection. When I called I was told this story. The guy's girlfriend was the housekeeper for a collector who just passed away. According to him the family gave her the books and he was looking for a quick flip. My spidey sense told me this was wrong and I passed along the info to a local dealer. He followed through and it was a scam = they tried to rob him. I don't recall the details but he got away, barely. My point, this stuff happens. Be cautious. Good luck.

[slym2none]

People should know how the areas where they are headed into are. Honestly, I avoid craigslist ads that take me into East New York, Harlem or the Bronx to give an example. Bayside is A.O.K.

 

But seriously, you are buying comics, the most you have to fear is fat and stinky, I can say that because I'm fat and stinky....

 

Yeah, the Flatbush end of Bedford is kinda sketchy as it is, but the other end... no way...

 

::

 

 

 

-slym

[1Cool]

The guy was cool but he did rob me of 15 minutes of my life. Complete 90s drek with a couple 70s mags that were best to heck. With all the copper keys popping up you would think he would have something. Best book he had was a FN copy of Spawn 1. Oh well.

[slym2none]

Unfortunately, that is 95% (or more) of what you will find on CL. I had one guy go way out of his way (and put me out of mine) to meet him over some books. When we finally did meet, it wasn't until then he told me had a list of his books, which I looked over, and saw he had drek. Not even any runs of stuff to read. I thanked him for his time and went home, but was a little POd that he took me out of my way (twice, as he screwed up the first meet) and as I found out, he had to drive 45 minutes just to meet up! If he had just given me the list over the internet, he could have saved both time and gas money on both our parts.

 

*sigh*

 

 

 

-slym

[underthebigw]

Back in the 90s, when I lived in Baltimore, I went to look at a collection in an apt.. Guy pulled a gun on me and asked for my money. He looked incompetent, so like an fool I told him something along the lines of "Do you think I'm a m0r0n. It's in my car". To which he responded, "Are you f'ing serious?". Me: "Yeah, I've been doing this long enough. I'm not dumb." At this point he actually apologizes. I tell him "i'm out of here".

 

And here's the kicker: "What? You're not going to look at the books?"

 

I left and learned a lesson. Leave the money in the car. On that charming evening, it was right in my pocket.

 

I also buy pinball machines. You have no choice but to meet in someone's house, garage, storage space, etc. Never a problem. Just leave the money in the car or bring someone.

[comicalgems]

I usually just give them an address of a house that's sitting empty. Then I climb through a window in the back and wait. When they get there I tell some story about the comics being the only thing left to move out then lead them to a back bedroom where I knock em out cold with a stun gun and take whatever cash they have then drive their car to my fence...to be safe I wear gloves for the window entry then put brand new batteries in the stun gun and never take Tony a car older than five years old. Learned that lesson the hard way!

[techvoodoo]

is there anything else you guys typically do to protect yourself before going to look at a collection?

 

 

Glock 19

 

 

But seriously, if you live in a state where concealed carry of a firearm is legal and you're routinely putting yourself in situations like going to strangers to preform cash transactions I'm not sure why you wouldn't already have a permit.

 

That said, a firearm should be your last line of defense. Do the obvious due diligence before you ever are in a situation where your only way out might be a gun fight.

 

Feel the person out on the phone. Meet in public if possible. Be aware of the area you're going. Make someone else aware of exactly where, when and how long you will be there. In the event of an emergency try to deescalate and evade if at all possible. Dealing with the repercussions of the deployment of lethal force, even if justified, in all likelihood will be somewhere between the largest inconvenience you've ever had to deal with and outright ruining your life.

 

Years ago my friends father was robbed at gunpoint in a parking garage. He did everything they asked, and in the end they still shot him in the head. Who knows if being armed would have saved his life, but it couldn't have gone any worse.

[zuulioso]

The only time I ever was nervous (and that was only for a moment) was about four years ago when I went to see a "$10k collection" out in the mountains of West Virginia.

 

I took a drive out on a weekend because the material seemed promising and a drive through the Appalachians is nice.

 

Well, it was an old man in a small house with about 30-40 boxes of books. Tons of material and I wish I could have bought it all but it might have retailed for $10k-$12k. There were some nice books in there for sure but he was looking prices of books I was interested in off of one of the online price guide sites. I can't remember which.

 

I was nearly done and my pile was getting bigger that I was interested in and before I was finished, he brought out his guns to show me. Yeah. Granted we were on the topic of firearms for some reason or another (hunting I think) but still when he brought out his rifle and handgun and I then realized that I was alone out in the middle of nowhere in West Virginia I admittedly got nervous.

 

He wasn't a threatening man and he was honestly just excited to show off his guns to me as I got the impression he didn't get a lot of visitors but it still freaked me out a bit. I was totally able to brush it off and act like "Oh yeah those are some great guns".

 

Being the stubborn I am, I still made a low ball offer.

[bffnut]

The guy was cool but he did rob me of 15 minutes of my life. Complete 90s drek with a couple 70s mags that were best to heck. With all the copper keys popping up you would think he would have something. Best book he had was a FN copy of Spawn 1. Oh well.

 

That has been my typical result from comics off of CL. That's why I stopped looking.

[comicalgems]

All kidding aside...I always leave the address with my wife and tell her to call me at such and such time. Although sometimes she forgets to call and I accuse her of hoping a serial killer got me! We joke like that.

 

Usually everything goes smooth. It's either overpriced drek or overpriced Silver. Only two great deals stand out in my mind. One was cover price bronze runs. Guy just wanted em gone, the other was keys but inheritance and guy wanted a fixed price and I gave it.