The funny thing is the guy called the night before and said he was going to be here. If you're not interested just say so pal... Sold it to some other guy who showed right up and bought it after looking at it for a minute. Now that's how I like to deal!

That Jim guy replied to my email. Trying to get me to ship the stuff again. I should ship him a big box of bricks with my neighbors name and return address on it.

 

I love the people who call and wanna do payments on a $500 car....

 

Should tell them the down payment is $750 on $500.

 

I've done quite well both buying and selling via craigslist. Just have to listen to that inner voice the first time it speaks to you.

As to shipping...I once shipped a 5.5 hp Evinrude OB via the UPS shipping center, weighed 120 lbs including the pallet I lashed it to, they didn't like it but it was under the 150 lb limit and secure. Cost something like $90 to ship ~Bill

 

I don't think a cylinder head is unreasonable to ship. I've shipped many o' heads from Ebay sales all over the country, even one to Hawaii. I don't think I've ever paid more than $40-50 shipping one.

NEVER, EVER use a retail outlet for your shipping. Even if they carry the UPS / Fedex name (UPS Store, Fedex-Kinko's, etc.), they apply a retail POS "tax" to the price, which is nearly double so far as I can tell. The post office is outrageous for anything over about ten pounds. Fedex has always been cheaper than UPS for heavy items, in my experience.

Just register for shipping online, you can print Fedex / UPS labels from your home computer. Simply guess the weight, and if it weighs more than what you told them, they simply adjust the rate that's charged to your card accordingly (similar to how a pay-at-the-pump gas station works, they preauthorize your card for a set amount, then reconcile it once you're done pumping).

Sure it's easier to sell things locally and not deal with the hassle of shipping-- but many times the headache pays for itself.

 

The thing is, I posted it to my local Craigslist, not countrywide. That guy was persistent as could be. He wouldn't leave me alone for a good while.

 

God, the stories I could tell...

I show up if I say I will, call if I'm late or something happened and have cash on hand.

When I bought my tow truck the guy told me he wasn't a "car guy" and told me to come look. It had a bit more wrong than I hopped and so when it came to the money discussion I asked if he could do 2,500. He was asking 3,500. He asked what my time frame was an I whipped out a pile of hundreds. Seemed like the fastest way to answer that question. He had a few people offer him junk to trade, a late 80's non-running v6 camaro for example, and others who wanted to make payments. Money talks and I'm sure you know what walks...

One of my favorites was selling a 70's 4-bolt chevy 350 for $350. Complete less carb, 100k miles. I can't tell you how many people balked at the mileage and said they could find engines with 30-40k on them for less. Then they'd offer to take it off my hands and get it out of my way. I ended up giving it to my local machine shop.

 

I find it hilarious sometimes at the tools on there. I've had FREE concrete skirting off our house on Craigslist for landscaping fill. I've had several people call and not show up now.

 

I sold a 70's camaro posi rear for $150 and the guy who bought it grilled me. Does it make noise, what's the fluid look like, does it leak, etc. He agreed to buy it and I commented about how the 3:08 ratio would be a good cruising ratio and he said "oh, I'm going to put, 3.42's in it." Um, are you going to use new bearings and seals? Yeah. Then why the 20 questions?

 

I recently sold a WORKING FX cruise o matic transmission. I didn't know the history of it, but it worked good and the fluid came out really clean. The guy wanted to take the damn pan off right in my driveway. It's a $50 working transmission guy, with EVERYTHING going with it. Modulator steel line, dipstick tube, etc. Some people...