Clueless guitar sellers

[LScottK]

I just had a reminder of why selling on Craigslist is a no go. I was trying to orchestrate a trade with a Craiglist guy for a Gibson Custom Shop Johnny A. Over 4 days we exchanged about 20 email. I sent him build sheets and hang tags and extra photos of what I was offering in trade, a Tone King Imperial mkii and three different guitars that I was considering trading, including either a core PRS DGT, a mint Knaggs Chena, or a mint Don Grosh Set Neck. All are excellent instruments that, when new, were in the same ball park price wise to the Johnny A. During our email exchange I made several requests for his first name and phone number. He ignored these request, not even acknowledging that I had asked. I had explained that I lived a good two hours away and that I was having surgery on Monday morning, so if he wanted to make a deal I would need to do it this weekend. Mid-afternoon yesterday (Saturday), he sends me an email telling me that he wants me to drive the 2 hours from Olympia to North Seattle (minimum time - could be more if there's an accident or freeway construction) and bring all three guitars plus the Tone King so that he can try them all out and figure out which one he wants. And he wants me to meet him at 5pm the night before I'm having surgery, guaranteeing I won't be home earlier than 8pm (quite possibly well after 9pm), with no agreed upon trade options, knowing that I wouldn't be home until late the night before my surgery. Yeah, I'll drive 4 - 5 hours to bring over more than $10K worth of gear to a stranger I don't know who wants to cherry pick his favorite and won't give me his name or phone number. Right . . .

I told this knucklehead that the trade was off. I can hardly believe the nerve of some people. This is why so many avoid dealing with people on Craigslist. I had a bad feeling early on in our email exchange. I've wanted a Johnny A for 15 - 20 years, so I went further than I should of. I should have listened to my gut early on and avoided dealing with this chuckle head. Let's trade thousands of dollars worth of gear but I won't share my name and phone number. What a tool.