Thoughts on Craigslist?

[N&MSchroeder]

I recently made my first purchase on Craigslist. I had watched this person's adds for a while and decided to call. She was offering chickens that usually aren't available locally and told me that she had purchased eggs online. I brought home a FBCM and a Lavender Ameraucana, but I shouldn't have. When I arrived, there were animals everywhere and most were being kept (in my opinion) in appalling conditions. The pullets I purchased were filthy, pecked, and much smaller than my flock who are the same age or younger. I don't believe my new pullets had adequate feed. I don't know if the conditions were bad enough to warrant a visit by animal control (the pullets were quarantined for three weeks and have shown no sign of illness), but I truly wish I hadn't gone there to see what was equivalent to a puppy mill.

 

[m.kitchengirl]

Yes, the conditions I brought my first 3 ducks home from were not completely awful - they didn't have tons of animals or anything - but the ducks were not cared for the way I care for them. The woman and her daughter repeatedly told me they "hated" their animals, especially the ducks because they were "disgusting". I was torn between taking every single duck home and not taking any. I was not surprised when the girls turned out to be boys and be fathering out late since they weren't brooded with mom or with a brooder, just thrown into a small fenced area with a trash barrel lid and a dog crate.
But my chickens I got at a swap with a woman who posted here & CL and had some harder to find layers. All are great birds, but I really struggled with how I could help the ducks at the first lady's house. I have asked a million questions of the woman I am getting my bunny from in 2 weeks, and have seen lots of pictures of her set up and had long talks about her breeding program.
Despite this, I am STILL really nervous.

 

[N&MSchroeder]

m.kitchengirl :

Yes, the conditions I brought my first 3 ducks home from were not completely awful - they didn't have tons of animals or anything - but the ducks were not cared for the way I care for them. The woman and her daughter repeatedly told me they "hated" their animals, especially the ducks because they were "disgusting". I was torn between taking every single duck home and not taking any. I was not surprised when the girls turned out to be boys and be fathering out late since they weren't brooded with mom or with a brooder, just thrown into a small fenced area with a trash barrel lid and a dog crate.
But my chickens I got at a swap with a woman who posted here & CL and had some harder to find layers. All are great birds, but I really struggled with how I could help the ducks at the first lady's house. I have asked a million questions of the woman I am getting my bunny from in 2 weeks, and have seen lots of pictures of her set up and had long talks about her breeding program.
Despite this, I am STILL really nervous.

This is it exactly. I can't get the other chickens out of my mind.

 

[punk-a-doodle]

As a buyer, I've had bad experiences with breeders (as with you, being 'weird'), adoption groups, and buying from friends/people in real life. I have not yet had a bad experience with CL or Ebay. I actually just bought a beautiful pair of English lop rabbits that were being rehomed from a local classified ad site similar to CL, and could not be happier with them. Litter box trained, know their manners, and one is looking like he can pass certification to be a therapy animal. He even sleeps curled up with us in bed. <3 Doesn't mean I won't have a bad experience some day, just means that with all things, I use as much discretion as I can.

 

[kuntrygirl]

I love Craigslist!!!

People will have good and bad experiences. You just have to be careful when dealing with people on Craigslist. Use caution, safety and be a smart thinker. I received 1 gosling from someone on Craigslist and it happened to be a BYC'er (but I didn't know it at the time) and she is a VERY sweet person and was looking for a home for her new born gosling and I (at the time) had a single gosling that had hatched and he needed a friend as well. I drove 1 1/2 hours to get this little darling. Today, I am very thankful to Gracie for allowing me to have my the gosling that she hatched.

When I first started looking thru Craigslist, I was a little skeptical and nervous. I still am but I just use caution with all of my contacts . I have listed numerous animals (free and sell) on Craigslist and have never had any bad experiences with the buyers. I use a "special" email account for replying to Craigslist. I do not use my personal email. And I never give out any personal information. I always search that person's email address, name and phone number when they reply back to me. I always meet in a neutral and safe location for drop offs or pick ups.

I have met A LOT of wonderful people on Craigslist who turned out to be "contacts" (attorneys, doctors, farmers, etc) and we keep in contact and share information about animals, feed, sales, new customers, etc. I met this one attorney who was renovating an old house and he had placed an ad on craigslist because he was giving away something. I made the initial contact with him about a year or so ago and today we still keep in touch if he has something to give away. He also purchased ducks from me to put on his pond and is an egg customer..

For the most part, I can say that I have had an A+ experience with Craigslist. I know that everyone will have a different experience.

Craigslist can be a very resourceful tool but at the same time it can be a nightmare.

 

[mandelyn]

Craigslist is a funny thing. You just need to remember that all types use it and to act accordingly by being wary, asking a lot of questions, and always understanding the fact that there are a lot of weird people out there. Sort of like an unspoken "terms of use".

I haven't gotten as many animals as I have sold off of it. I get enough responses from the traffic that the site gets that I can pretty well take my pick on the different types of homes that present themselves. I won't fool with cats and dogs... that's one of the uglier sides of the site. I don't need any dogs or cats anyways. I tried to find homes for kittens once and I just got so weirded out by some of the responses I gave up and placed them with a rescue so that they could muddle through people.

Once I pulled into this driveway and walked around back with the seller and was instantly hit with the desire to take everything he had, have my husband beat him up, and then burn the place to the ground. It was that bad. Then a lady came to me to buy some birds and she had also been to that place. She was so relieved when she got here and went on and on about how clean it was and how nice the birds looked. We were both upset that animal control couldn't do anything to that guy because they had food, water, and shelter. If you wanted to call it that.

Because of selling chickens on CL, I now have a waiting list for my ducks when I start hatching. Everyone that came for other birds wanted some Saxony. I turned down $40 for a pair... I'm not parting with any of my ducks. But I will part with ducklings come Spring after I hold back another trio for myself.

It's a tool, and as a tool it can be useful or harmful.

I scored a rabbit hutch for $50 that Petsmart wants $150 for. Free land scape stones to finish out a project husband was doing. Roll of unused fencing for cheap. Free lumber. Seen some good deals on sheds but I don't have an immediate need for one. Saw some beautiful antiques for sale but the people are trying to get what they paid 15 years ago since in theory those should hold their value or appreciate... but the furniture market has tanked and I'm not paying full retail on outdated prices on CL.

 

[dewey]

For another source, you could try contacting local 4H leaders and breed clubs. Although many of them will be using CL to sell livestock.

 

[chickened]

I sell several things on CL and one rule I do follow is nobody and I mean nobody comes to my home, I meet them nearby and that is just a safety issue. If they persist I tell them to get lost if they do not get the message.

 

[Willowpark4]

Here in NZ we have several Auction places and with the main one being TradeMe they have the market share and 'traffic' - others miss out. So unless you can find another auction place or listing service that has a lot of people selling stuff then your options change. If Craigslist had star rating for each person and feed back on each person profile then you have a little bit of "History" to go by, Bye or Buy.

From a Auction Junkie here.

 

[HHandbasket]

m.kitchengirl :

I am not trying to start anything here.

But, I wonder -

Many of us deal with CL as either buyers or sellers/re-homers of livestock, farm pets, etc. At the same time I think most of us would caution against getting animals from CL and posting our beloved animals on CL.

How do you deal with the dichotomy?
What would your advice be to people who are not in a position to acquire stock in other ways?

I found myself in a long conversation about this today. One where I advised some folks to wait until next year and look for a reputable breeder rather than search Craigslist for the ducks her husband wants. Another girl agreed with me, but admitted we have both gotten animals on CL and re-homed some there as well.

We are hypocrites. But are we wrong?

I sell chickens on craigslist all the time. I have bought a few from craigslist, as well. Whether you buy an animal from CL or any other source, examine the animal prior to purchase. If you know anything about the animal you're trying to acquire, you can tell if it's healthy or not.

I do not see a dichotomy. We are in an extremely rural area, and CL is the best (and really only!) way for me to advertise the chickens I have for sale.​