Since we scaled back our home-based cookie business, I’ve been trying to sell our Eddie edible ink printer. It’s an investment, but it prints amazing images on royal iced sugar cookies.
I listed it on a dedicated message board as well as a local online marketplace. I’ve sold lots of items there, just nothing this expensive.
Over the next few weeks, I got lowball offers which I rejected. I was offering a great price, so I wasn’t coming down much.
Then we got a phone call from a woman in Boise, Idaho. She asked if we had recently sold an edible ink printer. She saw our business information in a picture the equipment and tracked us down. A person in Eau Claire, Wisconsin had copied my photos and created a fake listing on Craigslist. If she had sent the money, it would be gone and she’d have no printer. She was wise to check it out.
Everything I sell is for local pickup. And it’s been working well. I list items, someone stops by with cash or sends money via Venmo and takes it home. But I hadn’t tried to sell any high priced items. Ten to twenty bucks at the most.
I wouldn’t try and box up the printer for shipping. I hadn’t kept any of the original packaging. Plus, it would be expensive.
I found the listing on Craigslist and reported the fraud. It was creepy. I felt violated. Craigslist is like the wild west of online shopping, rife with scams and lies. I wasn’t surprised that it showed up here. I was just surprised to find my item here.
No one is going to mess with a ten dollar bin of baby toys or Mr. Potato Head parts. But you get into the thousands of dollars and you better watch your back.
Waite for it... 