ive bought and sold alot from CL as well, a variety of items from clothes to baby items to firewood and hay, and alot of sewing machines. To be honest, if you don't have a way to email you other than phone calls, I dont respond to the ad. Email is easy to delete, and if i have to give out my phone number to contact someone initially I'm not comfortable with that. Thats just me though. When I post for sale on CL I always use the anonymous email address they provide. I've never had a problem getting spam as a result of posting things for sale or buying there.