dwasifar's daily gripe

What is it about Craigslist free items that makes people into such dicks?

Try to give something away free. Just try. People say they want it and then jerk you around, or vanish.

Here are some of the things that have happened when I’ve listed things this way:

• The first time, I made the mistake of mailing something to someone on a promise that she’d send me postage costs. She seemed sincere enough. The postage never arrived, though, and the email address was shut down. The money doesn’t bother me, it was only a couple of bucks, but really, who would do this? For two or three bucks?
• I listed a bunch of used cables to give away for free and was jerked around for days by some yahoo in Iowa who pretended to be interested and promised to send a postage-paid envelope to get them. Eventually it became obvious that he was just screwing around with me.
• I boxed up a bunch of lighting fixtures for a guy who was supposed to come get them, and left them out for him. He never showed up. Emailed me later saying he had not received directions and promised to come get them Monday. That was a week ago. He apparently evaporated.
• One guy promised to pick up an item and then emailed me four days later that he wasn’t aware that I was in another state, and asked if I would COD it to him. COD a free item?
• Another guy said he would be glad to come get an item because he “also lives in Villa Park.” I don’t live in Villa Park. It would take hours to drive from there. The name of my town is clearly listed, same as every other Craigslist ad. Can’t you read?

What is the problem here? I’m trying to give things away rather than throw them away. It’s the responsible thing to do. You’d think people would want to actually come get the stuff they ask for, especially if it’s free, but it almost never works out. Why?