I like to save money whenever possible, and Craigslist has made it possible for me to save a few thousand dollars, and sell some un-needed things too. Some Craigslist items have round-tripped: I bought them and resold them after the need was gone.
Excuse me while I brag about the money I didn’t spend. I bought a stair-stepper machine, Ebay price about $1500 plus shipping, local retail about $1700 delivered, for $250 from Craigslist. Yes, I’ll use it. I’m a member of a ski patrol, and these thighs need to keep in shape for next season.
When a local appliance dealer’s rudeness and appalling service annoyed me enough to cancel the purchase of a new freezer, I checked Craigslist. Cool! Some guy is selling a freezer for $75, he’s only 3 miles away, and he will help me load it into my truck. After moving the contents from old freezer to new freezer, I had one too many freezers. Craigslist to the rescue again, but this time as a seller. The freezer sold in a day for $50. Total expense for an almost-new freezer twice the size of the one I started with = $25. Loss to the appliance dealer = $400 short term, and much more long-term because I’ll never set foot in his store again, nor will I recommend it to anyone.
Speaking of the truck that hauled the freezer and stair machine, I bought it from Craigslist from a private party for 30% less than what a dealer was asking. I sold it last fall for 30% more than a dealer would have paid. I bought it after the seller had it inspected by the mechanic of my choice (I paid). When I sold it, the buyer brought his mechanic with him, checked out the engine and handed me a lovely wad of $100 bills. It’s nice to avoid car salesmen.
I have been unsuccessful selling some things: exercise equipment (Total Gym), miscellaneous used furniture, office equipment, and computer parts. Looking back, none of it was anything I would have looked for on Craigslist, so I shouldn’t have expected to sell it there. Unlike selling on eBay or the newspaper’s classifieds, failure to sell cost nothing.
Tips for Craigslist buyers:
* If you don’t have the knowledge to evaluate appliances, either take someone along who does, or buy from a reputable used appliance dealer.
* Don’t buy anything that you can’t transport, because delivery fees will eat up any savings.
Tips for Craigslist sellers:
* Write good descriptive ads, take clear well-lit pictures, and make sure it’s clear from the title what you are selling. “!!!Great car!!!!” won’t get you as many responses as the accurate but boring “2002 Honda Civic” does.
* Make sure you have a contact email or phone number in your ad.
* Cancel your ad when the item sells, unless you want to chat about what a great deal the caller missed.
* Be reasonable on price. No one cares that you paid $4372 for that purple suede loveseat. They’ll be comparing its price with the purple suede loveseat at Bargain’s ‘R Us used furniture store, or St Vinnie’s.
* If you wouldn’t be willing to buy it from a stranger, don’t expect to sell it to a stranger. Yes, some people have listed used cosmetics. Ewwww!
* If possible, put the items you are selling into an area where potential buyers can look at them without entering your house. It only takes one rip-off artist to ruin your day.
