I’ve never used Craigslist.
[ul]
[li]Does it charge for ads?[/li][li]Advice On Selling On Craigslist?[/li][li]Hi Opal.[/li][li]General Input?[/li][li]Advice on avoiding fraud via Craigslist?[/li][/ul]
We’ve sold two cars and and bathtub on Craigslist. It might not be worth the hassle for small-ticket items. There was no cost. We posted pictures, relevant information and the price we were looking for. We priced to sell, that is what we knew was a good deal. Got some calls and emails, set up some views, made the deals.
For safety, we never let viewers into our home, only the garage. We accepted cash only. We made clear that there were no warranties, everything was “as is”, no deliveries. We allowed accompanied test drives, after being shown a drivers license (our insurance covers someone borrowing our car).
A friend of mine had problems with “lookee-loos”, people who want to see the car, but weren’t really interested in buying. Pricing below market value, we didn’t have that problem. We never got scammy-type emails or calls either.
Did anyone test drive the bathtub?
We’ve had a number of hijackings in my area from Craigslist transactions. Some of them wer in obviously bad sections of town and some weren’t. I wouldn’t sell a car or anything of value unless I met the person at a police station and phoned in a license number to a 3rd party.
The site is relatively straight forward from start to finish. Emails between potential buyer/seller are done through the site so addresses don’t show. I would establish a separate email to use for craigslist so that any new correspondence is noticed and then set your email software to include the new address.
I sold a bunch of furniture on Craigslist. I was leaving a college town at the same time a new term was starting and a bunch of new students were getting into town. So it was easy. My stuff was mostly from IKEA anyway, so it wasn’t exactly pricey to start with. I took pictures, listed it for about fifteen dollars less than it was new, and pretty much everything sold within 24 hours. Easy peasy. I’ve also sold a few football tickets - Craigslist doesn’t let you sell for more than face value, and it was convenient enough.
No charge for ads. I’ve sold three cars and a shitload of other stuff on CL.
Post photos: they help.
I don’t normally give out my email to CL. I want to actually talk to a potential buyer to get an idea as to what sort of person is going to show up. I’ve even asked for a phone number to call them back on.
I wouldn’t advertise gold or silver for sale and then allow someone into your home to see the goods. I’ve sold both items on CL, but met the person in a very public place for the transaction.
Craigslist sends you a confirmation email. Don’t forget to click on the link in order to publish your ad, or you’ll end up sitting there wondering why nobody is calling ( :smack: ).
Place your ad just before the weekend to maximize exposure. The ads appear in the order posted, so your Monday ad could end up buried 300 lines down by Saturday. I sometimes put a key word in all-caps to set it off from the surrounding ads. People search by key words, so “leather recliner” doesn’t pop as much as “LEATHER RECLINER” when browsing.
One in four house rentals on Craigslist are Nigerian scams.
We’ve furnished a good deal of our condo via Craigslist. I wouldn’t even bother with a furniture ad without photos, though. Many people’s idea of “gorgeous!” certainly isn’t mine.
I sold a $3,000 diamond tennis bracelet on Craigslist. I listed it as a “local sale only” and would only meet a perspective buyer at a local reputable jeweler of their choice. The appraisal was paid for by the buyer and the sale went without a hitch.
Scammers responded to my add by offering slightly more than the asking price and naturally since they were overseas, wanted me to ship the item to them for a brief inspection. To show how kind and sincere there were, they even agreed to forward the shipping costs!
I sold two cars for neighbors in under an hour each. You have to be ready because the phone starts ringing off the hook in seconds after the post hits. Craig’s List is not without problems as bad people can respond. Always have backup people with you and meed outside if possible. It’s a great resource, but be aware.
I’ve bought and sold lots of stuff over Craigslist. I love Craigslist.
If you’re going to post an ad, please for the love of all that’s holy, include at least one picture and make sure it’s legible. Nothing worse than something for sale without a pic, or a pic that’s so dark or blurry I can’t even begin to tell what it looks like.
I’ve always included my phone number, because if someone is waiting for me to respond to email, it may take awhile. Most stuff, especially the stuff for free, will be gone in HOURS after it’s posted. Always first come, first served, and always take down the ad once the item is gone. (It’s okay to post PPU–pending pick up–but don’t post that the item is gone.)
Never let someone in your house–haul the item out to the garage/porch/yard. If it’s listed for free, I usually have someone contact me, then give them my address–never post the address on Craigslist.
I also never go to a Craigslist pick up by myself. I usually take (over six foot) Hallboy, who has the money in his pocket. Once I give the go ahead, “Okay, I’d like to buy this”, Hallboy will pull out the cash and hand it over then load it in the car for me. I dislike going inside of people’s houses (and want to tell them, “You don’t know me from Adam–I could be very evil and you just let me and Hallboy into your house.”)
If you have more than one Craigslist city within a short driving distance (I have three), then you can post similar ads on each (but not the same ad)–that will increase your chances of more people seeing your ad. However, make sure you reply to the email to activate the ad, and likewise with removing the ad.
The Straight Dope of 2002 called, and wants its meme back.
And its moderator.
I’ve used Craigslist quite a bit. I rented a house found through Craigslist - no problems in that arena. Selling items (or, mostly, posting free ones), I’ve had the occasional money gram scam email but they’re easy to spot. I also post garage sales there, have hired services like handymen through Craigslist, applied for jobs and gotten interviews, et cetera. My sister has bought a ton of good-quality furniture for her home by watching Craigslist. A friend often buys and sells cars there. No horror stories, just a few inconveniences here and there.
It’s basically just no-frills, largely free online classifieds. Nothing to be afraid of.
Generally, the people who are going to scam you are international. As long as you do all transactions in person, and take basic precautions (e.g. meet in a public place if you don’t feel comfortable), the biggest thing you need to be concerned about is whiners and time-wasters. These people always want the item for half price, to deliver it across town to their horrible neighborhood, etc. because they’re crippled and alone and nobody loves them, et cetera. These people are pretty easy to identify, too.
This seems like a pretty misleading statistic.
Maybe 1/4 of the rentals posted are, but those postings are removed almost immediately as scams. And if you spend even a little bit of time on craigslist, it’s quite easy to spot the obvious scams.
There are some sophisticated scams that are still hard to suss out, but the general rule of “if it looks too good to be true, it is” will keep you safe.
I’ve bought and sold 3 cars and a motorcycle on craigslist, sold lots of small items, and found several apartments with no more trouble than the occasional spam email and person who doesn’t show up to a test drive.