Free house plant. Not sure the variety. The pot is NOT included.

June 23, 2009 1:05 PM

Item Not As Described:A website that explores the differences between items for sale on craigslist and the photos provided. ( via Miko via metachat )
posted by The Whelk (27 comments total)

Most of those items looked exactly as described, so is the site eponysterically named?
posted by mr_crash_davis mark II: Jazz Odyssey at 1:10 PM on June 23 [4 favorites has favorites]

I clicked thinking I'd see entries where the CL ad and included photo would be listed, followed by new photos of the item which was actually offered for sale. As it is, all the photos I looked at were EXACTLY what the ad was describing. Am I missing something?
posted by hippybear at 1:17 PM on June 23 [2 favorites has favorites]

Most of those items looked exactly as described, so is the site eponysterically named?

"Item Not Described Exactly As Shown In Picture" or "Item Described With Optimism and Hyperbole" just don't have the same ring as "Item Not As Described." Plus INDEASIP and IDWOAH are awkward initials, compared to INAD.
posted by filthy light thief at 1:20 PM on June 23

It seems like it is less "this is not what was described in the ad" but more "Holy Crap! I can't believe the shit people try to give away/sell on craigslist".

I'm still entertained though.
posted by sir_rubixalot at 1:20 PM on June 23

Try plugging a California Kingsnake into an RCA plug and you’ve got trouble. They’re just not shielded very well.

That's so true. You get a horrible hissing sound.
posted by ryoshu at 1:22 PM on June 23 [4 favorites has favorites]

ryoshu, to the punitentiary. now.
posted by exogenous at 1:24 PM on June 23

Psalms : from King James:

Thy Brestises r like two sheeves of weet and r exackly as discribed on teh box
posted by longsleeves at 1:25 PM on June 23

These people could have saved a lot of trouble with some antimacassars.

And I don't care what the downsides of having a trebuchet are: you pick up this baby and you have a fucking siege engine in your yard. The Hutchinsons will think twice about mowing their lawn at 7:00 am Saturday, let me tell you.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 1:27 PM on June 23 [1 favorite has favorites]

I was completely won over by the trampoline and the skate ramp.

Not the first trampoline we’ve noted, but the first featuring exciting new DeathSlot* technology.
posted by everichon at 1:27 PM on June 23

I want this one.
posted by Artw at 1:33 PM on June 23

This site is like a visit home. Hell, apparently I should be selling stuff from my parents' yard on craigslist.

free rusty filing cabinet. includes 4 moldy life jackets.

WASHING MACHINE - MAY STILL WORK - U MUST RETREIVE FROM CLEARING IN THE WOODS

Propane tank for gas grill. good condition except for 1 bullet hole.
posted by little e at 1:36 PM on June 23 [7 favorites has favorites]

Coulda happened to any fridge.
posted by merelyglib at 1:39 PM on June 23

Oh yes, little e.

about 50 pounds of mixed cast iron steel and aluminum on a flat-bed trailer. Free to haul away but note that the trailer has no wheels.

NON-FUNCTIONAL Chevy pickup. Large "speed hole" in hood. Good tires though!
posted by muddgirl at 1:42 PM on June 23

***BEST OF THE WEB!!!*** CLICk here
posted by univac at 2:09 PM on June 23

There is NO FREAKIN' WAY that this Lil Wayne Impersonator Needed for My Blind Kids Birthday Party is real. It's some sort of bizarre attempt at humiliation/robbery/something even better than I've imagined. But it has still, for some reason (probably one that speaks very ill of me), made my afternoon.

granted, I'm not having a particularly good day.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 2:14 PM on June 23

...the only fridge I ever trusted...
posted by blue_beetle at 2:31 PM on June 23

it seems like it is less "this is not what was described in the ad" but more "Holy Crap! I can't believe the shit people try to give away/sell on craigslist".

Agreed. And for that laudable task, I much prefer yousuckatcraigslist.com.
posted by kaspen at 2:31 PM on June 23 [1 favorite has favorites]

This gave me a much needed belly laugh today. Love the trampoline with the Deathslot. Going to buy it for my neighbor's kids...
posted by mnb64 at 3:06 PM on June 23

I'M ON CRAIGSLIST!
posted by bwg at 3:51 PM on June 23

I'd like to take this opportunity to register a complaint.
posted by Item at 4:17 PM on June 23

That guy needs to turn down the JPEG compression on those images.
posted by delmoi at 4:59 PM on June 23

This guy doesn't know what he's talking about in a lot of cases. If nothing else stuff like the cattle feeder are worth a significant amount as scrap iron.
posted by Mitheral at 6:23 PM on June 23

Reminds my of the best LOLCat pic ever.
posted by aeschenkarnos at 8:10 PM on June 23 [1 favorite has favorites]

Actually I thought most of the items were pretty much as-described. You could find a lot worse trolling around the depths of eBay. A lot of them are junk that I can't believe anyone without a serious hoarding problem would want, but the descriptions didn't seem like they were really misrepresenting anything.

It's really more of a "when 'Free' is too expensive" blog, and it succeeds there. I just don't think it lives up to "item not as described," which was a pretty intriguing premise.

Frankly, if all commercial advertising were held to the standards of the CL ads in question, it would probably be a significant improvement.

My personal favorite is probably:

Older model side-by-side, fridge side does not work , it would be good for a smoker or maybe taking it out and shooting it somewhere.

That's honesty right there.
posted by Kadin2048 at 10:04 PM on June 23

I'd like to take this opportunity to register a complaint.

oh I'm sorry, but this is abuse.

You want room 12A, Just along the corridor.
posted by DreamerFi at 10:10 PM on June 23

It's really more of a "when 'Free' is too expensive" blog, and it succeeds there.

That's exactly right: Item Not As Described is an offshoot (and, in the early stages, a retread) of Vintage Microwave, which had the tagline "Free may not be cheap enough."
posted by Elsa at 6:42 AM on June 24

That blog is even worse. Shoehorned in between a cavalcade of ugly couches is stuff with value to at least a few people. The steel racking is the most obvious example; a few hours with a rail saw and you'd net hundreds of dollars (probably thousands, can't tell what it is from the pictures but it looks like ~4" square tubing) worth of steel. If that was local I'd have been over there as fast as my truck could carry me.

Or this tool cabinet. It'd cost you at least a $1000 to buy it new and a days work with some sandpaper and a couple spray bombs of tremclad and you'd have a wrothy addition to your shop.
posted by Mitheral at 8:13 AM on June 24