You can find nearly anything from used furniture to used basketball shoes in the vast world of Craigslist, but the website has its dangers.
Freshman Amber Eisenbraun bought a 2001 Volkswagen Jetta last semester on Craigslist and sunk $3,500 in repairs less than four months after the purchase.
“You can have good experiences on Craigslist, but you can’t expect the world to be full of nice people,” she said. “As much as (we’d want) to, you can’t give everyone the benefit of the doubt.”
The vehicle’s advertisement looked legitimate, she said, and the family selling it seemed trustworthy when she arrived to test drive the car. She asked if they’d taken it to a shop and they said yes. She had to email them about the vehicle’s accumulated miles because they weren’t included in the ad, but she said the only significant “red flag” was the cracked windshield that wasn’t visible in the website photograph.
Eisenbraun said she consulted several of her male friends and their fathers about the vehicle during the process and a few of those friends helped her with the test drive of the car.
The car drove smoothly at first, but needed extensive repairs a few months later, she said. The mechanic who fixed the Jetta told her the sellers must’ve known about the issues. Eisenbraun said she believes the sellers tested the vehicle but wanted to get rid of it before the mechanical issues occurred.
She said thorough research is worthwhile with these kinds of purchases on Craigslist, and the website isn’t a good medium for technology and mechanical items. The quality of your experience depends on what you buy, she said, but the basic idea of Craigslist is admirable.
“I think the purpose of people selling to people is good,” Eisenbraun said.
Marguerite Crawford, employee with University of Idaho Tutoring and Academic Assistance Programs and non-traditional student, said she used to help her father sell vehicles on Craigslist. She’s bought and sold cell phones, sold an engine starter from one of her own vehicles and sold another vehicle within a half hour of listing it online.
“I’ve never had any bad experiences,” she said. “So far, so good.”
Crawford said she doesn’t buy or sell with Craigslist ads without photographs. She would only buy electronics if she could inspect them herself, she said, and she isn’t sure that vehicles should be purchased on the site.
“I could pay you for the car, I get five minutes down the road, the engine blows,” she said. “But then again, you take those chances no matter where you go and buy a car.”
Senior Brett Middleton said he’s bought a television and sold a Sony PlayStation 3, among other things on Craigslist. He said his experiences have been generally positive and there’s an atmosphere of trust among collegiate Moscow-area patrons.
“I think that we tend to trust each other more in this area because we know we’re all in the same boat, we’re all college students and we’re kind of broke,” Middleton said.
Middleton said the lack of shipping costs and ability to examine products and pick them up locally make buying and selling simple. He said scams and tricks aren’t ubiquitous, but he watches for requests for personal banking information or offers to send money orders and he never takes checks.
Middleton said Craigslist is handy when you’re in a hurry and you can even find decent deals. He received more money from selling his Sony PlayStation 3 on Craigslist than he would have from Hastings, he said, and the buyer paid less than retail price.
“It’s just a good deal for both people,” Middleton said.
Crawford said increased anti-fraud and personal safety policy from Craigslist isn’t plausible, since the website already includes warnings. Personal awareness and understanding risk is important, she said.
“I think that a lot of the responsibility lies with the buyers and sellers,” she said. “Craigslist is basically just a free website for us to post our unwanted stuff that we might want to get a couple bucks out of.”
Matt Maw can be reached at [email protected]