topic for discussion: CL

[Minrelica]

Ben,

I'm fortunate enough to have cheap rent so other than working 10 hours at a bar on the weekend my main source of money has been from craigslist and eBay.

As far as the ads go... there's more good than bad but then again that would depend on what you're searching for. I don't search for coins, currency or gold but I would imagine you'd run into many more bunk ads than if you were looking for a bicycle. One thing about CL is you must remember that whether you're buying or selling... people flake... if you always remember that and learn to just say "oh well" you'll have a much better CL experience.

You mentioned 'I have answered countless ads with "Ill take it, what time can we meet?"'... If you've ever sold something on CL you probably got a few spam emails that you ignored/flagged.. I receive them every day... "do you still have the item for sale?"... "I hope the item is in good condition"... "Please send more pics to my email address" etc... Quite frankly, "I'll take it, what time can we meet?" falls into the same category and is probably being ignored by the seller. The best way to not get ignored is to mention the item or don't be so short. "Hey, I just noticed your listing for the 1885 V nickel and I'd like to take a look at it and possibly buy it. Hope I'm not too late. THX" or another thing that gets my attention is someone stating where they would be coming from.. town, city etc. Then I know I'm dealing with someone that is less likely to flake. I guess I'm lucky to live in the middle of town on a busy street above a bar because I have everyone come here for the sales.. I refuse to drive and meet anyone unless I sense the person is paranoid and the price is right... Having them come to me eliminates the frustration of someone not showing...

Funniest experience: I mentioned that I live above a bar on a busy street... I had been texting with someone that wanted to buy an axe that I was selling... the person sent me a last text stating that they were downstairs outside of the bar... I ran downstairs with the axe and when I opened the door there was an absolutely beautiful 30ish year old woman standing there with a big smile and 3 guys outside of the bar smoking that were hitting on her... she handed me money, I handed her the axe and the guys jaws hit the sidewalk as she walked past them and crossed the street... I was expecting a guy to show up but this was much better.

I've met some awesome people that have purchased items from me and put money in my pockets. CL is a beautiful thing and we should be very happy that it exists. I know I am

 

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[Minrelica]

I have not done much on craigslist lately for the same reasons.
Craigslist is still good for finding yard sales and for free packing supplies.

If you have an iPhone, get "Garage Sale Rover".. It will pull up garage sales and Estate sales from craigslist(misses a few), sort them by date, color code them and pin them on a map.. It's pretty cool when you're out of town and you can just open the app and see where all the sales are around you. Unfortunately it's no longer available for Android but there's a different one called Yard Sale Mapper or something like that.

 

[Minrelica]

If I put something on craigslist I list it for I will take and put "firm". I get tired of the ridiculous low ball offers and even out right beggars.

I totally understand that but it's MUCH easier to make a sale if you list the item for $5-$10 more than you need to get out of it and let the buyer talk you down and "win". You have to treat it as a virtual yard sale and where there's a yard sale, there's hagglers.

 

[Iron Patch]

Ben,

I'm fortunate enough to have cheap rent so other than working 10 hours at a bar on the weekend my main source of money has been from craigslist and eBay.

As far as the ads go... there's more good than bad but then again that would depend on what you're searching for. I don't search for coins, currency or gold but I would imagine you'd run into many more bunk ads than if you were looking for a bicycle. One thing about CL is you must remember that whether you're buying or selling... people flake... if you always remember that and learn to just say "oh well" you'll have a much better CL experience.

You mentioned 'I have answered countless ads with "Ill take it, what time can we meet?"'... If you've ever sold something on CL you probably got a few spam emails that you ignored/flagged.. I receive them every day... "do you still have the item for sale?"... "I hope the item is in good condition"... "Please send more pics to my email address" etc... Quite frankly, "I'll take it, what time can we meet?" falls into the same category and is probably being ignored by the seller. The best way to not get ignored is to mention the item or don't be so short. "Hey, I just noticed your listing for the 1885 V nickel and I'd like to take a look at it and possibly buy it. Hope I'm not too late. THX" or another thing that gets my attention is someone stating where they would be coming from.. town, city etc. Then I know I'm dealing with someone that is less likely to flake. I guess I'm lucky to live in the middle of town on a busy street above a bar because I have everyone come here for the sales.. I refuse to drive and meet anyone unless I sense the person is paranoid and the price is right... Having them come to me eliminates the frustration of someone not showing...

Funniest experience: I mentioned that I live above a bar on a busy street... I had been texting with someone that wanted to buy an axe that I was selling... the person sent me a last text stating that they were downstairs outside of the bar... I ran downstairs with the axe and when I opened the door there was an absolutely beautiful 30ish year old woman standing there with a big smile and 3 guys outside of the bar smoking that were hitting on her... she handed me money, I handed her the axe and the guys jaws hit the sidewalk as she walked past them and crossed the street... I was expecting a guy to show up but this was much better.

I've met some awesome people that have purchased items from me and put money in my pockets. CL is a beautiful thing and we should be very happy that it exists. I know I am

I know a couple guys who live above a bar, but they're not in the axe business.

It sort of cracks me up sometimes that I make as much, or more than some of the dealers around here, only the "drugs" I push are totally legal. Another funny thought is I tell very few people what I do, they never see me working anywhere, but I always have money in my pocket.... So I'd bet they don't think... he must sell stuff on ebay!

 

[Minrelica]

I know a couple guys who live above a bar, but they're not in the axe business.

It sort of cracks me up sometimes that I make as much, or more than some of the dealers around here, only the "drugs" I push are totally legal. Another funny thought is I tell very few people what I do, they never see me working anywhere, but I always have money in my pocket.... So I'd bet they don't think... he must sell stuff on ebay!

I've been a regular in this bar for 23 years and letting everyone know what I do has been nothing but beneficial to me.. I get people every week that ask me to sell something for them or they just want to give me things that "might be worth something" and want nothing in return... I may not have as much money as I've made at some of my past jobs but I'm happier than I've ever been and proud of what I do.

 

[Iron Patch]

I've been a regular in this bar for 23 years and letting everyone know what I do has been nothing but beneficial to me.. I get people every week that ask me to sell something for them or they just want to give me things that "might be worth something" and want nothing in return... I may not have as much money as I've made at some of my past jobs but I'm happier than I've ever been and proud of what I do.

Connections and word of mouth would definitely help you, but not so much for me. And for the record it doesn't bother me telling someone what I do, I just don't bother because I know there's a lot of questions that will follow. That's unless they think you poor guy, how can you live off $50 ebay money a week.

 

[jerseyben]

I am resurrecting my own thread to discuss a recent CL interaction:

I listed an HTC Droid for Verizon on CL last week. I had all the details of the phone in the ad. A guy contacts me and asks all sorts of questions and agrees to buy it. Then his final question was, "what carrier is this phone for"? I told him, "the ad says Verizon". He replies, oh, ok, nevermind then...

WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Fushek]

Must admit that I've had good success on Craigslist on both the sales and the purchasing side. Most things that I list for sale have sold (yes, with an occasional idiot issue) and some of my best purchases have come from Craigslist. They can scare you though ... for instance ...

I found someone advertising an Estate Sale and they mentioned an Amiga 2000. Old computers are right up my alley so I emailed him asking for pictures and price since he was an hour drive away. He responded with pictures of multiple Amiga computers, around 50 boxed Amiga games and lots and lots of accessories for $300. Knowing the value, it was a great deal with lots of profit! So, I emailed back asking him to hold it for me if he could and to call me, even offering to pay via Paypal to hold it. He went COLD ... nothing. The day of the sale, I figured that I'd take a shot. I took time off work, drove 1 hour hoping that it was still available and that I wasn't wasting my time.

Got to the address at 10 AM (no time listed in the sale ad) and ... guess what ... no one was there other than some other woman who was waiting for him to show up as well to pick up some furniture that she had bought last week. His mother stuck her head out the door and let us know that he was on his way and that everything was in the garage and we were free to look. Lo and behold ... the Amiga stuff was still there and, after he showed up 15 minutes later, I was able to buy the stuff and walk out with around 10 boxes full of disks, games, Amiga parts, magazines, accessories, etc. I went home VERY happy that I didn't waste my time and gas ...

So ... yes there are idiots out there BUT there are still deals to be had especially when just searching for specific things. Myself, I have about 20 saved searches bookmarked in Firefox that I review daily ... that way, I seem to avoid more of the idiots ... but your mileage may vary.

 

[insontis]

Just tried posting something for sale/trade on craigslist for the first time. Had a few people respond. Cash offers were low, few trade offers.. I agreed to one and after they asked about a time/place to meet up & I responded and - silence. Three days later I'm reposting and the cycle continues.

 

[mjlalt]

I have had a some good dealings with craigslist later .

I recently traded some decent used truck tires ( yard sale find $20) for a nice dewalt cordlass drill.
Also found a high end laser printer w/toners the I made good profit on.

So if you can filter through the scams and idiots there are some good deals to be made.

 

[NHBandit]

My craigslist story and the very last time I used it to try to sell anything. Probably happened 4 years ago now. Had a 1987 Monte Carlo SS I wanted to sell. Needed a little cosmetic work but a running driving car. Advertised it on c-list for $2500. Specified local sale only, cash only, no trades, etc. Ran for about 4 months. Had everything but a cash offer. One guy wanted to send me a bank check (for extra of course) if I would ship it to the Bahamas. Can you say fake check scam ? Another guy came to look at it. Young kid with his dad. Took it for a joyride, haggled me down a couple hundred then said he would be back the next day with cash as soon as the bank opened. Never saw them again. Next joker was a guy who wanted to come fight with me because I wouldn't trade it for a canoe & a laptop computer. What part of no trades is difficult for some people ? Also had the usual rash of stupid emails. Don't bother to make an effort to actually come look at the car just email me and ask if I'll take $800 bucks for it.. DELETE.. Bottom feeders piss me off.. In fact call me old school but don't even try to negotiate the price one little bit unless you have seen the item and you're standing in front of me with cash in your hand.. So I got sick of screwing around and listed it on Ebay with a $2500 starting bid. It sold 5 days later for $3800 plus the buyer paid another $800 to have it shipped to Arkansas. Done & gone. craigslist can KMA. I have still bought a couple of things using it but the success rate for having a deal actually happen once I've made contact is about 10%. Barter ads are a joke. "I have a box of broken RC cars and a seized 20 year old dirt bike. Will trade for a good running Harley" "Harley must be in mint condition and you must bring it to me and include a full tank of gas"....

 

[2ndisbest]

I have sold high end items on CL a bunch of times. 2 sets of speakers, one set for $800, the other for $250 (Old bose set with punctured cones). A pair of stools for $250 and my latest sale a Thorens turntable for $250. I have sold many many dog cages for between $40-$70 a pop. My tips would be don't do email. I always list my phone number. It at least gives you a hint about the people you are dealing with when you can talk to them. Always ask where they are coming from so you can give them the best directions. If you know how far away they are traveling you know how much it would suck for them to go away empty handed.

I know listing on CL will get a lot of lowballers. You have to deal with it. My friend is one of those lowballers. He actually does very well. He makes dozens of calls a day until he finds someone who is willing to sell for well below market so he can resell.