Wednesday, May 2, 2012

So Yes, After Snapping Pics At Treasure Aisle Yesterday Fellow Blogger Nick And I Had A Little Brasilia Adventure! Status: (Already!) Gone..

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Woke up Monday morning and checked c-list as per usual. Nothing really jumped out at me. Moved the trash cans away from the street, looked again...nothin'. Pulled some laundry out of the dryer, checked one more time (for good measure...or 'cuz of the OCD, you decide) and BAM there it was!


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A couple on the south side had placed an ad for a nice complete set of Brasilia, listing it only as

"retro". Well, of course I shot an e-mail off right away. It was priced quite right and I wasn't the

only one who noticed it. Nick from Mid-century Midwest spotted it at about the same time I did

and ALSO sent an e-mail to the seller. This all happened about Noon and I (having included

a # and a request to pick up ASAP) was hoping for an immediate call back. It did not materialize

and about 45 minutes later I got a text from Nick saying that HE was going to pick up a Brasilia

set later in the afternoon. "No - Effing - Way!" I thought. I had shot that e-mail off within mere

moments of that ad going live!

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But he had gotten an e-mail back from the seller, so... Oh well, I don't have any room for  

another bedroom set around here anyway...good for him! We texted back and forth for a few

minutes while I waited in line at Burger King for my Whopper Jr. but then I had to get on the

road and drive to work. After I got to work I too got an e-mail back from the seller. Now I was

confused. Well, I though, maybe he was going to get a set of dining cabinets that had been listed

Friday morning (that I SO missed out on!). I texted him and asked if this was so and he said that

no, he was going to pick up a bedroom set that had been listed this afternoon. Like I said,

confusion. Why did they e-mail us both back saying we were able to pick up the set later in

the day?

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It seemed a little fishy but I guess they were each answering the replies without talking to each

other (sharing an e-mail address? weird.) or else they were hedging their bets. They needn't have

worried. It was gettin' bought! But still, neither of us had a set in stone time or even an address.

I was resigned to Nick getting the set since he got the first reply. We had even discussed this

point but Nick said that if they offered it to me first that I shouldn't decline. Then I got the call.

The seller, for whatever reason, called me to set up an appointment. I made the appointment,

hung up and thought about the situation for a moment. I called Nick and offered to go in halvsies

on the set with him to flip and split the profit. He gladly accepted and we came to an agreement

that I'd pay 2/3s and he'd pay 1/3 plus store and physically sell the items. Everybody's happy!

There wasn't much going on at work so I took the rest of the day off and did my little mini tour

of Treasure Aisle then met up with Nick.

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We both drove to the sellers address and we both loaded the set out. Nick drove his van and I

had Frank (the Focus Wagon) so we had plenty of room to move the whole set at once. We

packed it up and tooled over to Nicks joint (which BTW is starting to look A LOT like the my

Garage!) to shoot some quick pictures and get it inside before dark. We hung out for a while.

Nick showed off his loot stores up in his loft space (he's got so much good stuff, watch for these

items of c-list in the future!). He's been busy curating his own inventory and he's got a good eye.

But that goes without saying...I mean, we both stepped up on this great Broyhill Brasilia

bedroom suite and were both ready to pretty much buy it sight unseen! We know the good stuff!

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19 comments:

  1. Hi Chris, did you ever ask the sellers why they sent both of you e-mails.what if you hadnt known Nick as a friend. Did they want to see a Brasilia fist fight?? I wish I found this stuff on clist in MA. I have the room divider and would LOVE a bedroom set.

    John

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    1. Probably just trying to cover their butts. Selling on Craigslist is a tough go. I'd say that 90% of the people that I get who say they're definitely going to come pick up an item never show, so it's always good to have at least one buyer waiting.

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    2. Hi John. If we hadn't known each other we wouldn't have even known that the seller had emailed us both. It's not at all unusual for a seller to contact multiple potential buyers but this seller seemed to let us both believe we each were going to be the buyer. For all I know that happens all the time!

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  2. Way to double team! Gotta love the more generic listings...

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  3. Replies
    1. Hi Rachel. I really wish I had the space to keep the Door Chest! I love that piece but I just can't find a place for it.

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  4. Dang, I saw it too but you guys must have already gotten it because I never got a reply.

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    1. Hi Nick. Yup, we were all over that listing! But somehow we both missed that Friday listing for the Brasilia china cab and server!

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  5. Great find. I'm scouring my area for a MCM bedroom set. I thought I had found a gem (Kent Coffey set) hidden in the background of a photo but was severely disappointed when I finally got a reply saying that it was sold. I worked him for more information on how much he sold the set for and was sick to my stomach to find out that he sold the bed (headboard and frame), dresser, highboy and matching end tables for $200. I initially thought I had a great shot at the set because it wasn't even listed on C-List with his other items. After finding out it was sold and what it went for I even tried to get the buyers info so I could snag it back for a bit more than they paid. No such luck.

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    1. Hi OMM. Dang! That would've been a serious score! Sorry to hear it didn't work out. Should be plenty of good stuff there in OK though. I'm sure something good will find it's way to you soon. And cudos on looking in the background!

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  6. Nice find...but really crappy of the sellers to contact both of you like that. There are too many people on CL who make promises they have no intentions of keeping, especially if they think they can get a better offer. Glad it worked out for you...but AtomicHipster is right. What if you hadn't been friends? One of you would have made a trip for nothing, and that's not right.

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    1. Hi Dana. The sellers never gave both of us an address and a time to meet (I've heard of this being done intentionally and for reasons I'm sure you can guess). The email I got would have lead me to believe I was the only buyer "in the running" if I hadn't already heard from Nick and I'm sure his read likewise to him. But obviously neither read like a done deal.

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  7. I saw that set and just knew you'd either buy it or post a ”CL Alert”!

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    1. Hi Wendy. Can't resist a good Brasilia deal!

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  8. Sold! It was a pleasure doing business with you Mr. Mod. They loved the set. Everyone wins!

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  9. I am so glad I don't live in STL; you guys make all the scores!

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  10. I think due to so many no shows people sometimes have multiple buyers lining up. Recently, my fiance tried to buy a chair off of someone on c-list, she was really back and forth with it about when and where for days, wouldn't answer him, give him her phone number, and they would decide on a day (twice) and he'd wait to hear from her and never did. Finally, after promising they'd do it on a Friday, she emails him on the Monday after asking if he could pay more! Because she knows someone who said they would (literally) give her $5 more than what her and him agreed on him paying. We said forget it and didn't respond any more.

    When I picked up my vintage Cosco step stool, I emailed the person and they didn't respond for a while, thinking I'd missed out (the listing was posted over a week before I sent an email, but was still there, I thought it was worth a shot), and gave them my phone number. A lady responded saying she had been out of town, but that someone else before had arrangements to meet on a Sunday night. So Sunday came and I waited around all ready to go, stalking my email and phone, and finally got the call to come get it, but she did tell me she had THREE other people behind me! So I was glad I was rearing to go. I got there to pick it up in a record time of 12 minutes after hanging up the phone! :D

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  11. Hi, ModA, Sending you a link.....did you see it? It is beautiful, but we already have ours....Let me know what you think. Your south-side friends in HH.

    University City Estate Sale by The Great Estate under EstateSales.net

    Lagniappe50

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