Spent $400 on a floral cooler off Craigslist and it ruined my whole weekend

Thought I was getting a steal on a used cooler from a guy in the next town over. Got it home, plugged it in, and it ran for 6 hours before dying. Lost about $200 worth of premium blooms like garden roses and peonies overnight. Anyone else get burned buying used equipment on a budget?

3 comments

3 Comments

casey34222d ago

...I mean, I get being annoyed but $200 worth of blooms that were gonna die in a week anyway? Sounds like you're really blowing this up more than it needs to be. Craigslist is always a gamble, you know, you gotta expect some risk when you're buying used stuff off some random dude's truck. Maybe test it for a full day before stashing all your expensive flowers in it next time (or don't, live your life). Honestly, for $400 you could probably find a cheap new cooler on sale somewhere and skip all the drama.

milesbarnes22d ago

You said "gonna die in a week anyway" but that's not totally true for all flowers. Some cut flowers like chrysanthemums or alstroemeria can easily last two weeks or more if they're kept properly chilled (I've had some go almost three weeks in a good cooler, believe it or not). And even for the ones that do only last a week, that's a whole week of sales or a wedding or something where the flowers need to look perfect from day one. So losing $200 worth of product because a cooler craps out overnight is a real hit, especially if you're a small shop or a hobbyist who sinks a lot of time into sourcing nice blooms. It's not just about the money, it's about the trust you put in the equipment and the work that went into making those flowers look good.

wyattramirez22d ago

Right, because nothing says "reliable purchase" like a Craigslist dude who probably had that cooler sitting in a field for six months. $400 for a new one on sale, sure, if you enjoy hunting for a unicorn during a blizzard. Casey's got a point about testing it first, but you bet most folks are just gonna plug it in, toss in their best blooms, and hope for the best. At least with the gamble you got a story about a dead chrysanthemum instead of just a boring weekend.