Buying used things/equipment - Farm auctions or MarketPlace/Craigs list..?

[mikester]

Ritchie Bros for heavy equip, local farm auctions for entertainment

I've stopped going to auctions because of excessive buyers premiums, corrupt auctioneers, and bidding against owners who tend to win their own items and re-list them 15 minutes later in the same auction.

The farm auctions were interesting to meet neighbors and the owners of local dealerships looking for deals.

 

[ve9aa]

The only tractor "my size" (B7100) that I was interested in whatesoever went for cr@zy crazy money. ($6500 or so iirc) and it was literally rusted, bent and needed serious electrical work. Had it been $1000-$1500 I would've jumped on it. People here think their sh!+ is made of gold.

Not tractor related, but recently I saw an older ham radio transceiver (*think super fancy CB radio/Shortwave radio for those that have no idea what I mean) that was probably a $600-$800 radio on a good day for sale for $500---the kicker: It was stone cold dead. Would not turn on ! (probably lightning damage is my guess)

 

[motionclone]

I've never been on FB, but I scan CL 1 to 10 times a week, for machinist stuff, tractor stuff, and metal stock.
I've probably been doing it for 30+ yrs.
Of all that scanning, I have only actually made 5 purchases- a short PU load of metal stock, a sheet metal shear, a diamond/alox grinder, a bunch of machinist cutters/tools, & a pair of 75lb weights that became tractor wheel weights.
Decent deals, but a lot of ads to have to sift through to find those.

Lots of idiots also.
One ad was for a large quantity of 2" aluminum barstock, for a decent price per stick.
Location was within 3/4 mile from me, so I called several times, but never got an answer. The ad ran for months, and I kept calling occasionally, but never got an answer. Finally, one day a guy answered, and I asked about the aluminum. He said "Oh, I sold all that months ago." I asked why he was still running the ad months later. There was dead silence for a while, then he said "I don't know." and hung up on me.
TaterHaid.

Nobody really posts on craigslist anymore so you wont find much. Me and my wife created a facebook account specifically for using marketplace so its not that stupid drama/mess that usual facebook is.

Not sure where you are at in Arizona but in Mesa there is a nice looking set of Mitutoyo 103-907-40 Outside Micrometer Set with Standards in a box for $500

 

[Lil Foot]

Not sure where you are at in Arizona but in Mesa there is a nice looking set of Mitutoyo 103-907-40 Outside Micrometer Set with Standards in a box for $500

Thanks, but I already have mikes through 6", & calipers through 24".
Coincidently, we're heading out to spend the day in Mesa antiquing, for the wife's birthday.

 

[My Barn]

One of the reasons situations like you describe is because you can not delete an ad on CL if you don't have the original link to confirm to post it in the first place. If that email gets deleted for any reason, accident or on purpose, you have no access to the post you made!! On the other hand, some folks don't pay any attention to a listing once they have sold an item.

Just so, you know you can remove (CL) the add, I done it many times! Also you can change the add...Last 4 numbers of your phone number I change to "sold".
CL also removes the add as it ages out. I think it 90 days. I sold one of my tractors 2-3 years ago. As I remember a (CL) charge on that add and they remove too.
We sold furniture on Market place and purchased stuff to! All them have scammers and low ballers' on the sites. Just use common sense and weed them out?

 

[Biker1mike]

The big yearly auction for my area is coming up in April. Best buddy will drive in from CT.
Our plan is simple, egg sandwich and coffee, walk around and see what is out there. We will debate about what we see. We may or not may not bid, this also depends on what we may need to explain to the wives. A junk food lunch with a few beers and continue the auction.
The past few years have been mainly a social event with the prices way to high for us.
I sell more than I buy. I tend to chain items to a tree by the road and the first person to stop and make an offer can have it. You know they are serious when they have a trailer and cold hard cash.
Non mechanical stuff is left for free as many here need it more than I do.

 

[country_hick]

up my way you have to be willing to travel a little to get a deal. I stopped even looking at craigslist since it seemed like only thing there was scams. Marketplace owns the market for local selling and buying.

In Maine almost everything is either in Aroostook County at the top of the state or below Portland at the bottom of the state.
Facebook is filled with scammers too. And annoying sellers. Why does anyone need to post the same tractor for sale 5 or 6 times in the same section at the same time? I am tempted to call them up just to say I will not buy your tractor because you posted it for sale to many times at once, and about every week, and I avoid things that annoy me.

One way to tell for sure a sale is a scam is when a seller (probably a hacked account) has the same tractor for sale in many different locations in several states. Then they say they are selling it for a friend or neighbor but will not give their phone number or address.

 

[D2Cat]

In Maine almost everything is either in Aroostook County at the top of the state or below Portland at the bottom of the state.
Facebook is filled with scammers too. And annoying sellers. Why does anyone need to post the same tractor for sale 5 or 6 times in the same section at the same time? I am tempted to call them up just to say I will not buy your tractor because you posted it for sale to many times at once, and about every week, and I avoid things that annoy me.

One way to tell for sure a sale is a scam is when a seller (probably a hacked account) has the same tractor for sale in many different locations in several states. Then they say they are selling it for a friend or neighbor but will not give their phone number or address.

And they want $1200 for it!

 

[country_hick]

And they want $1200 for it!

One wants $14,000 for a John Deere (expensive scammer). But when the same tractor is listed in multiple states i question its very existence. I asked the scammer for the location. Naturally they sent me an email for contact information instead. I asked for the phone number so I could talk to the owner only to receive no reply.

I sent a message saying I will bring my trailer and pick it up. Just tell me when and where. I did not get a reply.

 

[Vlach7]

Yes, Scammer's offering great deals, "If it sounds to good to be true". I asked for the address for the tractor 1000 miles away, had relatives in the area and the Scammers don't respond.