Good follow-up question Jeremy. I sent it via encrypted email, with no other information.

I use craigslist quite frequently for both buying and selling items, and I’ve gotten pretty good at spotting a scam. I’ve found that when it comes to electronics and other high ticket items on craigslist, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. A 6 year old hdtv for $150? Ok, not a bad deal. A brand new still-in-box hdtv for $150? Yeah, it’s probably stolen.

Now, here’s a follow-up question for you… how did you give them the credit card number? Phone? Email? Some other service?

Anyway, glad to hear the situation will turn out ok .

I ran into a weird situation when I bought my car on Craigslist in New Jersey. The couple selling it said they were selling the Accord on behalf of their 30-something son, who was traveling on business and didn’t have time to do it himself. That seemed to make sense, but the weird thing was they had me make the cashier’s check out to her, rather than the son. Same last name, but still a little strange. Everything turned out fine. In retrospect, I could have been scamming them — they let me take to it to my mechanic to get it inspected after I gave them nothing more than a $500 check as a deposit.

Hindsight’s 20/20 and all that… beyond a potential scam, I’d want to see the merchandise in person to confirm it worked. The “sight unseen” would bother me. I’m sure this guy convinced more than one person to turn over their info. Security expert Gavin de Becker’s book The Gift of Fear talks about how we tend to minimize our nagging concerns, which leads to avoidable problems (primarily in violent situations, but also in general).