Sure, we've all dealt with idiotic Craigslist sellers out there, but this woman was too greedy not to have this coming to her:

I collect vintage road bicycles, of which one showed up on our local Craigslist for $100, being sold by Greedy Bicycle Lady (G.B.L.). It is an upper-entry-level road bike by one of the better English manufacturers of the 1970s. At best, it's worth $300 cleaned, fixed up, and perfect. As it is now, $200-250 tops.

I know a good deal when I see one, so I email G.B.L. with my phone number and tell her I can come by within the hour and buy it. Shortly thereafter, I receive this response in my inbox:

"Ok, So I know realize that the bike is worth more. I've upped my price to $200. Give me a call if you're interested."

It's not as good a deal as before, but it's still a bike I'd like to have in my collection. This time, I call her to confirm an appointment time.

I haven't been talking to her for 30 seconds before I am informed that the price is now $350, based on the latest inquiry she has had, which have been "numerous."

I don't mind a bit of friendly competition, but this is ridiculous. Sure, she has a right to getting what the market will offer, but deals cannot be made with sellers that cannot stand behind their word. I ask if she's willing to stand by this price if I commit to driving halfway across town to pick it up right that minute.

"No."

"Lady, I doubt you'll find anyone willing to put up with this nonsense. I could drive across town and find that you've doubled the price by the time I get there. Good day."

Edit: I think it should be noted that I'm really not interested in the bike anymore at this point. Vintage roadbikes were unusually common in my city at the time of this story, and I knew - with time - I could put my efforts towards something much nicer (and I did, with the acquisition of two chrome Schwinn Paramounts shortly thereafter). Not to mention that my collection was already quite sizable (at the time, a fleet of over 15 classic and vintage road and touring bicycles. Yes, I had the N=N+1 syndrome quite bad back then).

But back to the story. My last email seemed to end any hope of further discussion...but too many old movies have taught me that the greedy person is the easiest to have "fun" with. Especially when "spare" email addresses are close at hand. No longer was it about the bike.

Within 10 minutes, G. B. L. had a $500 offer from Mr. A, ready to come by. And 5 minutes later, Mr. B just had to have the bike for $750. And thus G.B.L. told Mr. A that the price was now $850. So Mr. A confirmed that he'd match that offer, while Mr. B dropped out.

But then Mr. C pops up: "will buy now no questions asked $1,500"

And of course, G.B.L. will take Mr. C's offer any day of the week. But Mr. C can't commit to show up until the weekend - almost a week later. That's fine with her. Mr. A, however, soon gets an email with the new $1,500 price. Mr. A can match it.

But Mr. A drops off the face of the earth come his appointment time the next day.

So she tries to get Mr. C back, who confirms for that weekend...then drops off the face of the earth too.

The day after Mr. C. misses his appointment, Mr. A gets back in touch with our greedy bicycle-owning friend, who apologies for his "family emergency." He makes an appointment for the weekend after.

...and Mr. A misses that appointment too.

In the meantime, Mr. B wants to know if she'll do his $750, as the "ad still appears to be up."

...and Mr. B doesn't show up for his appointment.

And thus begins a vicious circle of emails from Bicycle Lady to Mr. A, B, and C, as she desperately tries to get at least one sucker with more money than brains to her doorstep, following three weeks of runaround.

Of course, nobody ever replies - and by this point, no real buyers from Craigslist are willing to bother with her nonsense either.

And so the bike disappears off Craigslist. But almost exactly a year later, G.B.L. posts the bike back up. Same seller name, new pictures, nothing done to improve the bike's condition. The asking price is a flat $500.

Thus I emailed her from my original address (as myself), just to be a pest:

"Remember me, lady? When you want to talk about that $200 price again, give me a call. Maybe you'll actually get to sell it this time."

Rimshot.