Sounds like he may be visiting this forum and lurking in the shadows.

johnyringo might be right, I once saw a kit on craigs list and post pics of it here on VDF. Turned out to be a rare kit and was worth much more than his asking price. One day later the guy called and raised his price. I was able to get him back down closer to his original price but it cost me. When I picked up the kit I asked why he suddenly raised his price, answer was he was reading my thread,lol. After that i kept my Cl discoveries to myself.

You may be spot on with this Mark, who knows. What gets me is his basement from what he said is full of gear. He was doing the buying and selling but is sick of it. I know he doesn't want to go through and sell piece by piece, otherwise he would be doing so ( I would think ) He mentioned one of the stands could be sold for $150 - well what stand and why? Is it N.O.S? Something rare? It's been my experience that hardware doesn't command top dollar, unless it is in stupidly great condition. I would like for this deal to happen, but I can't base my deal solely on the one kit he knows has value in the pile, especially since the list of things he wants is all the main items of value. Basically I keep the good, you take my junk. Which I am fine doing, but only for the right price.

I think since he's doing his share of wobbling, and you're doing all the driving, that you should be prepared to wobble on your price as well when you get there. Especially if you see he's decided to keep anything that was in the original picture, on which presumably you based your offer.

I think his flip flopping is a problem. I would not invest my time, money, hassle of walking out my door until it is crystal clear what is included in the deal. It is not right to shoot a pic and ask you to make an offer unless everything in that pic is included. It is a form of misrepresentation. He mentions a "few hundred dollars" then says that 500 is not enough????? My dictionary defines "few" as 3.

He needs to get his s**t together.

Another thought - if he is a player and intends to continue to play, you can bet he will not be letting cymbals go. Why would he, unless it was acquired to flip in the first place. Cymbals don't take much room and we all like a wide cymbal vocabulary/arsenal.

I appreciate this deal, just not the dealer. He needs to get clear before he asks you to name a price.

I did a big deal like this once - and it was about 3 hours away. Borrowed my neighbor's van and spent the whole day. BUT - my seller made it clear: We would negotiate right then and there with each item or each lot of items, and it was clear what was included. I recommend you insist on the same, unless he makes it crystal clear, in writing, what all is included. The way he is operating right now - makes it easy for him to pull items out that should have been included.

If this happened on this forum - he would be getting all kinds of grief from us all - for a reason.

The first red flag for me would have been.... "He made it very clear he has no idea what's really down in the basement"..

But he sure knows there's a ludwig classic kit in there that's worth 800....

jason

Better pics and he would know "what" he has, that`s what we do here.

You're 100% with this. The other thing I thought ( especially once he started listing what he wanted ) was I might get there having agreed to a price, and he may " oh I want that " to items. It's funny, he reached out to me in response to my CL wanted ad. And I make it clear I'm looking for inventory to buy and sell. Looking for big bulk buys. I thought that he wanted someone to come by and clear him out since he messaged me, the guy who in his ad says " I'll come and take it all away " And if you want top dollar or even half for items then why do you not have them all cataloged and listed? I'm starting to see this deal not happening. But hey they won't all work out.

Now honestly if I could talk to his wife ( who wants to refinish the basement ) she'd probably have taken my offer and said come and get it. I have a strange feeling that if he starts to pick and prod the pile she may get on his butt. I really hope so, I hope he tells her about me and she says sold for me,lol

This is my wanted ad and how it reads. Maybe I can improve upon it? I tried to keep it basic and to the point. --

I'm looking for bulk buys of vintage drums, hardware & cymbals. The cymbals & hardware can be newer but I'd prefer the drums to be from the 1980's and prior. I'm looking for higher end gear such as - Ludwig,Slingerland,Rogers,Leedy,Gretsch,Sonor,Tama,Pearl,Yamaha, as well as 1960's MIJ kits ( star,apollo,crown,mercury.etc... )

If you have a basement,garage, or attic full of gear and you just need it gone, I'm the guy. I'm not looking for individual drums / kits, but if you have a few loners you need taken away I'm the guy.

Not interested in kids kits,or any of the lower drum lines. I'm not looking to pay top dollar,I'm looking for what you need gone. Help me help you. The drums can be dirty,incomplete,etc.. I do repairs & restorations so that's no issue.

So if you or anyone you know has more drums sitting around than they know what to do with, reach out today. You'll have a clean room and money in your pocket.

Should I add anything else to that?

Red flags all over this one. Since he responded to your ad, suspect he is on a price fishing foray. DJ333 has it right. Don't waste anymore time until what for how much gets sorted. Agree that he knows what is there.

Have scored over the years on deals like this but many more that were run from quickly :-).

A friend does quite well with: "Wanting to buy your old musical musical instruments. Drums, guitars. etc. Let me know what you have. Call...". Spends quite a bit of time sorting through the calls but finds gems.

Hope it turns into a score!!

Creighton