I met-up with a Craig's List seller today who had
"Laser Discs (Assorted) - $25 (Raleigh)
18 Laser Discs for sale, make me an offer for each one individually or buy the entire set for $25"
when we met, they were all CED.
sigh.
what a let-down.
I let him know they were not LD for future reference, but since he met me where I wanted to meet, I bought them...after all, I have a friend that has a Selectavision player, maybe he will want them, or something. I hate leaving a hunt empty handed.
How to prevent this in the future without sounding insulting to the seller?

I buy a lot of stuff from Craigslist. I never buy anything without a picture. If they can't provide a picture they are obviously too clueless to be trusted.

never had that happen, but i guess you have to ask before are they silver or inside plastic cases.
that's all i can think of.

This one didn't have a picture, and this is only the 3rd time i've ever used Craigslist....The picture thing is good, I can always ask "got a pic?" for those that don't. But it always annoys me to see people list CEDs on eBay as Laserdiscs...and now it happened with Craigslist. I live, I learn.
The titles are interesting:
Sands of Iwo Jima
The Hunchback of Notredam
Charlie Chaplain in "The Great Dictator"
Casablanca
Ghandi [2 disc set]
Chariots of Fire
The Patriot [2 disc set]
Black Hole
The One who Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest
Planet of the Apes
On the Waterfront
The Boat
The Out of Towners'
The Wizard of Oz
Annie [2 disc set]
East of Eden
The Hustler [2 disc set]
A Soldier Story

I think another member had posted something similar about someone selling a particular LD they were wanting, and after confirming several times to be sure it was a LD, and driving to get it, ends up it was not a LD.

The idea being you go all that way, you will buy it anyways, or buy something else in the lot, and as long as they can get you there too look is all that matters.

He offered to not sell them, but I figured it was still an interesting find. CEDs are maybe rarer than LDs...except I can't watch these on any device I own. The BLACK HOLE is the main one I wanted.

Yes I remember the cover of the Black Hole. I can't remember if I owned the CED or just rented it, but was a good one.

problem here with waiting for a picture is: someone will swoop in and buy the lot while you wait for that picture.

Yes if you sleep you weep! I've seen listings in the US and asked for more details on condition to confirm.
By the time they replied the auction had sold. Sometimes you have to take a chance on it if it is 'worth the risk'!

On auctions on eBay that is true, but there didn't seem to be any competition locally for these.
I guess I should have red flags go up if there are no titles on the list from the 1990s. It seems that every lot I've seen is predominately 1990s laserdiscs, and we know that CEDs died way before that [CED 1981-1986, according to Wikipedia]

I hate when buyers dont know what lds is and buy it before asking. And before payment ask if he can play it in his DVD/record-player.

Yes, I most certainly do.

I make a point of contacting eBay sellers to warn them that they're liable to wind up with an irate buyer when selling CEDs in an LD category. They don't like to be told, but that's too bad.

On a similar note, I saw someone selling a PAL DTS laserdisc the other day...

I don't really mind as long as they include pics so you can see what it actually is. When I see that it's CED I just move on.

Like these . . .

http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/clt/3488862278.html
http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/clt/3488861271.html

. . . except that guy keeps putting the ad back up week after week, so I have to see that every time I search for "laser disc" on Philly's CL.