I’ve sold furniture and a bike on craigslist, i’ve always had a great experience. when i asked a smidge above what the stuff was worth, i got offers within a week, for exactly the $ amount i paid when i bought the stuff on CL. when i sold stuff at or below value, it went within a day, with no haggling. i think the trick is to be realistic about how much you will make/save as a buyer or seller. if you are asking for 75% of what something will cost new (or from a trusted reseller), then most people will pay the extra 25% and get something that comes with a receipt and a guarentee. likewise, if you only respond to dirt-cheap ‘just want it gone’ ads, then most likely there are about 50 other people after the same bargain.
but if you don’t like it, then just don’t use it. trust me, your post won’t be missed.
Wow. I just sold my pc on cragislist and was going to start a thread and one was already here.
I’ve sold many items on there (8 or so) and had no real problems. I’ve probably underpriced them though which is why they sold so fast. Most stuff sells within a day or two of posting.
My latest that pissed me off though is that I put up my computer for $250 and explicitly stated that I will NOT come down because if I cant sell it for 250 I would just hook it up for the kids.
First guy sends me an offer of 150. Mental Giant there.
It sold for $250 today though (listed for less than 24 hours).
Always include a good picture. You email should be about two to four concise paragraphs in length. Tell them what you liked about their specific ad and why you liked it. Don’t be a smartass. Spelling and grammar count.
We tried to sell a bar we have that is on rollers, we didn’t get any calls. We’re donating it to an artist loft we’ve recently come into connection with.
Love Craig’s List. I’ve bought band saws, Pelican shipping cases, various other items and a freakin’ 1995 Toyota Camry LE that is in lovely shape that my 17 year old is now driving. ( Just got it a few weeks ago ).
For me, it works. I don’t know that I’d sell anything on it but I sure love buying shit on it.
I think Craigslist is great for what it is. That said, when I’m buying useful stuff (like pretty good electronics, cameras, that sort of thing), I find that Craigslist sellers tend to seriously overvalue their goods. I buy the useful stuff on eBay–it’s usually significantly cheaper for me. Craigslist is good for the big items like furniture and stuff that you need to pick up in town.
To be honest, I’m not really sure what your complaint is. If you weren’t getting the price you wanted on Craigslist, why didn’t you just list on eBay? It’s not the fault of Craigslist that the type of item you were selling wasn’t interesting the buyers on that forum.
Exactly. That’s one of the benefits of Craigslist, you get to examine the item before you purchase. As a seller I expect no different, particularly with larger ticket items. We bought an energy saving Euorpean dryer for $900. Of course we tested it before we bought it. You think we’d spend $900, load the big thing into the car and lug it up to a second floor apartment without first making sure it worked?
We sold a really nice couch and it took several potential buyers to come and see it before someone bought it. It was a designer name couch and expensive. It’s something you want to be very sure is right for your home decor and comfort. It might look great in the photo but be totally uncomfortable. If you’re dropping $1,200 on a couch, it should be one that you are certain you are happy with.
I don’t begrudge any potential buyer the opportunity to see an item for themselves.
We’ve just posted my husband’s mechanic’s toolbox for sale and a condo for rent. I believe we will be able to weed out the Nigerian car mechanics and the hot Russian models looking for a place to stay while they work at Disney.
Trying to sell 10 year old speakers for only $25 less than you paid for them? I’m not surprised they were hard to unload. Stuff depreciates. I get rid of a lot of stuff on freecycle. I’ve only had one bad experience with it, a woman who wouldn’t come pick up a bicycle.
I’ve bought MacBook Pro, iPod, cell phones, bicycles, etc on Craigslist. Never been ripped off, always got to try things out. Also bought a wonderful pine armoire, IIRC.
It’s a crapshoot. Craigslist out in the very rural areas is a dicey thing. You’re going down a driveway where nobody knows you are there and nobody can hear you, walking up to a stranger’s door and hoping you are safe, and won’t be ripped off.
Tougher to do in the city. More people, to my thinking much safer.
Aside from the armoire, every purchase was completed in a very public place. ( Starbucks, etc. ) I rode that bicycle on the street with plenty of other people driving / walking by.
-shrug- I think it’s fantastic. And yes, Freecycle is an entirely other experience. Zero cost items, god knows what you are getting. I think Freecycle exists because people are unaware that Goodwill and Salvation Army will come and pick up stuff for free- and give you a tax donation receipt to boot. Who wouldn’t want junk to be turned into a tax write-off?
I recently sold 3 items via Craigslist and am trying to sell several more. I put in my ads that the price is firm. I get inquiries asking to lowball, but I refused. eventually I sold getting very close to the asking price. Everyone that came to the house to look, bought.
Yeah, I would stick to eBay. The reason is that more people actually go there and you can actually make your product look good. That site, and the selling pages on it just look way better than the plain white and black look on Craigslist. Not only that, but you can advertise your product much better there by adding numerous pictures and adding lots of description. I always sell eBay, and usually advertise it really well. Evidence for which, I was able to get 4 people to bid on an item which practically no one would care to look for or would look for, and on top of that it was used. I advertised it really well and was able to get it in the first few results for many relevant search terms. I also once put up a used Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 there and it sold in a day.
Stick to eBay! You can do much more there and it’s not scammy! The only downside to it is that you have to pay a fraction of your profit to eBay which kind of sucks, but hey, at least your product sells (and you can usually sell it for more on eBay than on Craigslist).
People who don’t itemize their taxes. Some things that are given away on Freecycle have no real value. And Salvation Army and Goodwill will only come pick up if it’s a large item. If you’ve got a box of clothes, they won’t come out.
Yup, I know it’s a zombie from 2007, but the thread title is classic.
Attention! Craigslist ads (for private sellers) are FREE. Note old adage: You get what you pay for.
Also, Sellers hate being low-balled (that always makes me laugh) and Buyers hate overpriced items. I really wish Sellers (and I’ve sold tons of expensive stuff myself) would face realty long enough to permanently rid themselves of indignant attitudes toward lower offers. If you’re willing to let complete strangers come to your house to buy stereo equipment, getting a low offer to buy it is going to be the least of your worries.
My experience selling on CL has been pretty good so far. Minimal scammers and the low ballers tend to try via email first so I weed them out right away. I’ve sold a car, major appliances, furniture, and exercise equipment with little hassle. Maybe I’m just lucky (knock on wood).
I had a good Craigslist experience. I was looking for an ereader but I was very specific about my needs. No wireless, no touchscreen, no DRM but it had to have epub support. After doing some research, I determined that the Sony PRS family fit my needs, particularly the 505 which had been out of production for several years. So I created an RSS feed to monitor any mention of that model in Craigslist. Ads would show up in my feed reader often only minutes after their being listed. Long story short, after a couple of months I finally found a seller, we met at a local pub and I got exactly the ereader I wanted for just $30.
Or you could have gone to eBay and gotten one for $30 with free shipping without having to go to a pub. (Though I realize that’s not a positive for some people.)
