Laser Sailboat Craigslist Posting Police

Craigslist, that barebones classified ad service, has rules and apparently the means to enforce them. Among the rules regards frequency which limits sellers to posting ads in one category and in one city, no more than once every 48 hours.

We suspect it was this rule that triggered the seller’s response on Craigslist:

Dear Dudley Doright Laser Sailboat Posting Police,
I want to thank you for taking the time to delete my Laser ads, because we all would hate to see good sailboats land in the hands of sailors who want to go sailing or other crimes against humanity.

As I am sure you are a self-professed expert in all things, including the secondary market for used Laser sailboats, I am sure you know that the efficient market for Used Laser extends beyond the artificial geographic limits of Craigslist posting, particularly when the Used Laser is located in a place like Deltaville, VA.

This is a location not served well by any specific Craigslist market, which is why people, like myself, who live there, post in multiple markets and especially the markets where prospective Laser sailors are located, such as my ads you have so thoughtfully deleted in Washington DC, Annapolis and Richmond.

While I am sure you sleep well at night and have a high level of self-satisfaction at all times with regard to all things, I doubt that you appreciate that I have helped over 100 Laser sailors find the boats that fit their needs and helped get both new sailors and sailors returning to their roots get back into Laser sailing, despite your best efforts.

And if you happen to have an ad out there for a Laser that has not sold during the time I have sold 10 boats and you have sold none and are cutting my ad so that people will only see your ad, please know that I have sold 10 boats, including the one you blocked three times, in the time you have sold none.

When something that is in the marketplace does not sell, that is the market speaking to you – you either have the wrong product, wrong market, or wrong price. Or you are just a bad person and God is speaking to you in general.

Fortunately, in the case of the new-to-Lasers junior sailor to whom I delivered a boat to yesterday in Annapolis, your best efforts at defeating an efficient marketplace went for naught.

But, please, you keep being you and I will keep trying to create more happy sailors and fewer potential jetskiers.

Best Regards,
An Actual Laser Sailor Who is Trying to Help Keep our Sport Alive