Using Craigslist

[Geek007]

Hi,

do you guys use craigslist at all in your area? What do you find most useful about it and what do you avoid? I am finding that I buy a lot more things then I can sell. Selling things is a real pain I am finding. Is it just me?

[PRBori]

I use craigslist when I need a furniture piece,is the best place to find bargains.

Craigslist provides me the cushion I need for Plan B. You can buy excellent items very cheap and when the time is right, turn around and make money out of them. At least that's how I do it.

After my divorce, I sold all my furniture through craigslist. In addition, I sold a car and bought another one within 2 days. I think it depends on what you are selling and where you post it. Besides, people look for quality and good deals, I know I do, because whatever I buy from there needs to be something I can either gain money or get my money back after a few years.

When selling say something like " I paid $400 new less than a year ago, but I'm selling it for $250. Make sure you always list a price that is higher than what you want, is OK to exaggerate a little, nobody knows. That way you will get what you ask. Remember people tend to lower the price all the time, so keep that in mind. Make them feel like they have the power.

Be ready to negotiate the price as well... depending on the item it may take a while but you will sale it.

[geonerd]

I've heard CL is good for "stuff" as the above posters have mentioned. Has anyone else used craigslist for housing and had decent results?

I'm not having good luck so far...but I'm moving to Austin so I think I will have to deal with some sort of hippie, musician, or bartender :/





geonerd added to this post, 1 minutes and 4 seconds later...

oops, that was just one poster :P

[Wapiti]

I agree, selling stuff on CL is a pain. There are so many idiots out there and somehow they all seem to find my adds on craigslist. I avoid giving my number out to anyone I suspect of being an idiot, I never put my phone number in an add, I only give my phone number out through email, otherwise people call at 2am. The most useful part of craigslist is that it is free, otherwise I wouldn't bother with it.

[Firelie]

I've had a lot of good luck on craigslist, but some bad luck as well.

One of my good roommates found me by a craigslist posting I had made.

My bad roommate found me by a craigslist posting I had made.

My new good roommates were found when I replied to a housing post.

I've also bought a dresser, a drawing table, a bunch of moving boxes, and someone to pick up and deliver a bookshelf from IKEA for me.

I've also been on a few dates with guys from CL.

I also use it almost exclusively for job finding, since people around here don't really post jobs anywhere else (why bother putting it in the paper when you can put it on craigslist and describe the job down to the most minute detail for cheap?)...I mean, even the employment agencies post ads on craigslist when they can't find people to take the jobs.

I haven't tried to sell anything on it yet, though, so I don't know how that would work. It seems like people often get buyers who don't show up a lot (this is judging from some of the posts I've seen)

[schwartzie]

You just need to be assertive when selling. I agree with whyme that you shouldn't post your phone number. And set limits on showing stuff to people. I used it pretty extensively to empty out a couple rooms of stuff that had to go when I last moved. It is very helpful as background in finding rentals, and increasingly, houses for sale. Realtors expect that they have to list there, but don't expect much--buyers tend to be much tougher (and tighter with their dollars) than ones that do not come from craigslist. I think that, probably, that means they are more sophisticated buyers than ones that don't know to research on craigslist, and are less likely to just accept a broker's claims.
Ickily, scammers are beginning to work craigslist, like they do ebay. ...

[Vayate]

CL is great for buying (got my subwoofer off there) but poor for selling. It's free to browse, so nobody who's buying has any money.

[notoppings]

I don't use CL I look at it to compare prices but ultimately I prefer to by at an auction, why buy used when you can buy new cheaper. Just look in your yellow pages and call an auction house and tell them what you want and they direct you to someone who does that type of auction, it does get addicting.

[Santana28]

craigslist - rants and raves. great for posing random anonymous questions to random anonymous strangers ;)

[OneBadMother]

I think that my primary use of craigslist is amusement at some of the casual encounters ads. When I want to get something yard-sale style I generally use eBay.

[fripping]

i experienced 9 months of unemployment scanning for jobs on craigslist. . . but i also found my current job on there. it's important to develop a very discriminating eye to weed out the shit posts from the good ones when they're all presented the same way and mostly carefully edited for mistakes or warning signs.

[Geek007]

i experienced 9 months of unemployment scanning for jobs on craigslist. . . but i also found my current job on there. it's important to develop a very discriminating eye to weed out the shit posts from the good ones when they're all presented the same way and mostly carefully edited for mistakes or warning signs.

Interesting, so you think the ads should be perfectly worded/presented or otherwise they are not effective?

[PRBori]

i experienced 9 months of unemployment scanning for jobs on craigslist. . . but i also found my current job on there. it's important to develop a very discriminating eye to weed out the shit posts from the good ones when they're all presented the same way and mostly carefully edited for mistakes or warning signs.

I actually landed my current job through craigslist... which has lasted almost 2 years and allowed me to enter the career I was dreaming off 4 years ago...

I personally look for specific jobs and so far those I've seen were legite. In addition, I actually get more response on those jobs than monster.com... funny enough... nevertheless all I can say is that my career goals are on target thanks to a craigslist job add..

:thumbsup:

[Geek007]

I personally look for specific jobs and so far those I've seen were legite. In addition, I actually get more response on those jobs than monster.com... funny enough... nevertheless all I can say is that my career goals are on target thanks to a craigslist job add..

:thumbsup:

What career are you in?

[PRBori]

What career are you in?


When I was looking at the time, it was for Technical Writing, but it turn out to be an Information Assurance position instead which was a great turn around for me and exactly what I wanted... so I'm a happy camper..

;)

[geonerd]

well, just put an ad up for a roommate. we'll see how this goes *sigh*

[Theodoric]

I've used CL in the past for job finding. Actually turned out quite well, have my current job thanks to CL. I was also able to get a few freelancing gigs as well out of it. Not to mention I've gotten far more and far better responses from CL than any of the other job boards.

Furniture is also good, and surprisingly enough you can find a few treasures in the 'free' section if you know how to look / looking for materials.

[Geek007]

I am looking for a desktop and its' amazing how overpriced most of them are. The majority are several years old and prices higher than brand new ones. P4 systems at over 300$, quads at 3000$ and other such "wonders".

[vad1981]

I found my last 3-4 apartments, my washing machine and my babysitter on craigslist...and almost bought a Thai prostitute from there, but I was a little worried about their quality and lack of proper references... ;-)