<p>So we’ve moved into this new house and, of course, nothing fits. I mean, virtually nothing that we moved from the old house works here. I’ve posted several items on Craigslist and every few days I re-post them, so that someone who wasn’t looking a few days ago will see my re-post. So far, however, I’ve only had one serious looker – who, unfortunately, didn’t purchase the item.</p>
<p>(I have made the acquaintance of several b.s. spammers, however. How interesting, and how stupid they must think people are. Or maybe some people really are that stupid.)</p>
<p>What has your experience been? Will I need to keep posting from now until eternity to get rid of all of this stuff?</p>
<p>I’ve never sold anything on craigs list but I have purchased a several items off of there. There are serious buyers. It just depends if you’re selling what they’re looking for. When I was looking for a poker table I inquired to several buyers for additional images and only one replied with the photos and that’s who I eventually went with.</p>
<p>I’ve had very good experiences. But you have to price your stuff right… take what you think and knock it down by at least 1/3 (maybe even 1/2). </p>
<p>Occasionally I will post something and forget about it, then get an email a few weeks later. Happened with a set of tire chains. I do not generally “repost every few days” (I think that is actually a violation of the service term agreements). Once the listing expires, then I would repost. I have adjusted my price downward on my initial post a few times.</p>
<p>Accept cash only. I only did one transaction ever by mail, some expensive boat equipment. Made the buyer pay through Paypal before I shipped.</p>
<p>We’ve had very good luck buying and selling on Craigslist. My husband uses eBay for smaller things that can easily be shipped, but we’ve gotten rid of a piano, furniture, books, games, antiques and even a car. Right now I’m looking for bedside table lamps…and I’m in CT…</p>
<p>The key really is pricing it right. If you really want to get rid of something and don’t need money out of it, list it as free. I assure you it will be gone quickly!</p>
<p>We have sold two cars and some furniture on CL. The cars both went in just a couple of days. Selling the smaller stuff was more of a challenge. I just furnished an entire vacation house on CL purchases. Having experience now as both buyer and seller, I would say that it is all hit or miss: if someone is looking for what you are offering right when you are offering it, it will sell in a heartbeat, and if not, you will have to repost. Photos were key to my purchases: if no photo, I didn’t even bother responding to an ad. And, be willing to at least entertain the idea of taking a check for a sale. Go with your gut and decide on case by case basis. You want to make it as easy as possible for your buyers while still protecting yourself as seller.</p>
<p>I have just started buying and selling on craigslist. It seems like items over $300 will attract at least one scammer every time it is listed. I think it’s the same scammer, as the response is always worded a certain way, with poor grammer. I report the e-mail address to craigslist, but they pop up again with a different e-mail. I relist my items every 2-3 weeks and change the title. You would be surprised at how adding or changing one word in the title, attracts different buyers.</p>
<p>For us, it has proven to be a waste of time and we have either had shady people interested or spammers. Just doesn’t feel right for us, but I know others have had luck…</p>
<p>I’ve sold a car and a trailer on Craiglist and I have bought a dining room table and chairs. The table was very reasonably priced and I’ve been delighted with it. I was pretty firm re the price of the trailer - it was worth what we were asking though several people wanted it to be a fire sale price. It took several weeks but in the end I got very close to asking price. I think I priced the car too high - looked at KBB prices and comparable models on CL , but got very little interest just a few rather peculiar calls. In the end I found out what I could get for it from a dealership ( probably roughly the auction price ), added $1000 and sold it on CL within 24 hours. Perhaps that price was too low but who can tell with a 10 year old car and I was tired of the process and glad to have the cash. I think it sometimes depends on how long you can wait as to whether you’ll get the best price. On the whole I’ve been very happy with CL. Hang in there VH, if I’m looking for something specific I’ll use the search function and that way find less recent postings, so no need to repost frequently.</p>
<p>toledo, so far I’ve had the same experience with scammers. Their name appears in my email list as something totally generic like “John Scott” or “Bob Anderson.” Yeah, right. And their email address is jscott49@**********, so it could be anyone from anywhere. </p>
<p>And for the rest of you advising that I cut the amount I’d really like by half or two thirds – I’ll probably wind up doing that after another week or so of no real replies.</p>
<p>I think your descriptions are too vague. “black leather 3-piece sectional couch” or “flowered chintz 3-piece…” How many drawers in the bureaus? “5-foot-tall, four drawer bureau”</p>
<p>If the $500 for all of that? Or some? I would advertise each item individually.</p>
<p>Did you attach pictures to your ad ? People want to see the item before bothering to inquire or make an offer.
$750 seems high for used couch. It’s probably really nice and maybe worth the $$ but most on Craigslist are looking for a great deal.</p>
<p>We had good luck both buying and selling on Craigslist when we sold our house.</p>
<p>Yes, pictures are attached, and dimensions are listed. All the information is there for someone to decide if they want to see the item in person. I think the issue is the prices. You’re right; people want a great deal if they’re buying from Craigslist. I know I do.</p>
<p>Your stuff might be a bit pricey for craigslist. Consider selling on ebay with a starting bid at $.99. Ive sold everything from cars to riding lawm mowers to broken computers on ebay, always starting at $.99, and I always get a decent price. Be aware ebay keeps about 10%</p>
<p>You could also look at auction houses. I sold my Moms furniture there and was surprized how well we did.</p>
<p>There’s no question - they’re, by definition, priced too high. ‘By definition’ simply means you have a price you’re asking but no buyers at that price. </p>
<p>I’m certain people are scanning CL looking to buy a couch, bureaus, desks, etc. but they don’t want to pay a lot of money for the stuff. IMO it seems that CL is biased towards the low cost side meaning people looking for higher end stuff and willing to pay for it aren’t looking for it on CL and generally the sellers are selling at the low end. The exception is with cars in which case it’s basically just a typical used car ad with the blue book setting the price points. Your stuff is only ‘worth’ what someone is willing to pay for it and when it comes to furniture the value drops tremendously as soon as it’s off the showroom floor and heads downward from there. To get a sense of what might be reasonable you’ll need to scan CL, eBay, and other outlets to see what similar stuff is apparently selling for, which will be somewhere lower than the asking price usually.</p>
<p>Consider - </p>
<ul>
<li><p>Lowering the price to the Craigslist target marketplace - i.e. lower end.</p></li>
<li><p>Sell them through some other means but I’m not sure what that would be.</p></li>
<li><p>Donate them to a charity and take the tax deduction based on what you think is a reasonable resale price for them.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>You might want to seriously consider the last option. This last option is the safest for you and the easiest as well. You can just phone a charity and they’ll come out and pick the stuff up and give you a receipt. In addition to the tax deduction (assuming you itemize), you can feel good about helping both the charity and the people who buy stuf from the charity.</p>
<p>If you’re going to sell it on CL (or other means) be careful. You have to consider how the people will get the stuff. Do you want them to come to your home and see where you live? You could load up a truck with it and meet them somewhere but then you’re in some random location and they could take it and not really pay you. Make sure if you meet them you only do so in daylight, in a populous location, and with someone else along with you, preferably a male.</p>
<p>Price is the key, and will give you information in both directions. No replies/inquiries mean your price is too high. The flip side is - and this happened to me twice - if you get 10 emails in 30 minutes that say basically, “I will buy it, when can I come by and get it?” perhaps you should research your item a little and rethink your price. Call me evil, unethical, but I told people it was gone, did the research I should have done before advertising the item, and ultimately kept it.</p>