Fredericton — For the first time since the classifieds website’s inception, Kijiji has been used properly by someone responding to an offer in Fredericton.
“A guy answered my ad with full, coherent sentences,” said Ron Hartwright of Nashwaaksis. “That in itself was pretty weird. But when he arrived at my door at the agreed-upon time with exactly the amount of cash for the old bike — no haggling, either — I was simply floored. I thought this process was always supposed to be a massive pain in the butt.”
Hartwright said when he posted the ad last week selling his daughter’s blue Schwinn, he expected the usual Kijiji experience. “You know, I thought it would get a few hundred views, and I’d have people offering me $20 instead of $100, that their grammar would be so bad I wouldn’t be able to communicate with them. I assumed people would offer me an old Nintendo game instead of cash, that we’d plan on meeting and the person wouldn’t show up, or that they’d turn up with $50 and say ‘take it or leave it’ — all the normal weirdos who come out of the woodwork to answer these posts.”
We spoke with John MacIntyre, who bought the bike.
“We agreed that I’d go to his house Wednesday night at 7 p.m., and I’d give him a hundred bucks in exchange for the bike, which looked to be in decent condition,” recounted MacIntyre. “I got there at about 6:58, rang the doorbell, and when this guy opened the door he looked stunned. He was like, ‘OK, I don’t want any trouble. Do you have the money?’ Then I flashed a $100 bill and he nearly fell over. I’ve never seen someone so surprised that things worked out as planned.”
Hartwright aims to have similarly positive buying-and-selling interactions using Kijiji in the future. “I’m not getting my hopes up too much — I’ve been burned bad before — but now I know things can sometimes work out. Now and then, all your plans come together, and God smiles on you.”
LOL best article ever