Whether you’re a veteran Craigslist watcher or you’re new to selling items online, here’s a few tips to help you avoid scams, make the maximum profit on your goods for sale, and sell your items quickly and seamlessly.When to Post
Without a doubt, you’ll have the greatest success in selling your goods if you post at highly trafficked times–these generally include Friday afternoons through Sunday evenings. These are the days when the majority of the purchasing populace is off work, after all. These are the times that buyers have the most time to peruse, and so, consequently, post your ads during these times to secure the most views for your items. Craigslist will not allow you to post the same exact ad over and over, and they won’t let you “renew” your posts if you’ve only just placed them the day before. What you can do, however, to ensure that your item doesn’t get lost and looked-over in the weekend traffic is to do modified re-posts. Essentially, change the wording of your initial ad, add some more description (or take some out), perhaps lower your price and mark your ad “reduced” and you’ll be all set to be at the top of the posts for the hour.
What to Post
Remember, it’s the general populace who is reviewing your CL ad–don’t get caught up in fancy language or cute comments or vague generalities. Keep your ads concise and specific, and, if at all possible, upload pictures. Visual displays sell, quite simply. After all, wouldn’t you be more likely to buy a desk chair if you could see the picture before you traipsed over to the owner’s home? Of course you would. When creating your ads, anticipate what you, as a customer, would like to know about the item you’re selling. For instance, if it’s a table or bookshelf you’re selling, type in the condition, the material, the color, and the dimensions. If you’re attempting to offload that extra sofa or accent chair, add a brief but descriptive and adjective-filled caption including dimensions, color, and, for instance, if there are any stains or tears or if it was kept around pets. If, however, it’s a classic guitar, your target audience is musicians–be specific in technical jargon, list the details of the item for consideration. Think of what you, as a consumer, would want to know before you buy, and write it! This streamlines CL selling for several reasons. First, a detailed post draws in truly interested buyers and filters out semi-interested stock. Secondly, you eliminate the guessing game that is CL–you won’t get riddled with requests for pictures or more information–you can get straight to arranging meetings and negotiating price. Make your title heading descriptive and urgent. Add a “must go” to your title. Use caps, or special symbols–make your items stand out above the competition. Be sure to also include an email (which will be made anonymous) or a phone number where you can be contacted at–but do be sure to specify the times you can be reached and also (as a security measure) SPELL OUT your phone number to filter out scammers. You’ll have an ad that will be fit to sell and strategically smart, all in one.
What Price to List
One factor that frustrates many potential sellers about CL is the fact that they often get “low-balled” on their asking price. But, let’s face it, CL is like an online garage sale; people want to negotiate and get the best deal they can. Wouldn’t you? So here’s what you do: ask yourself what price you would ideally like to get from the item (ie, what it’s worth in current state), and also ask yourself what you, yourself, as customer would be willing to pay for it. Make the number halfway between your expected price, and post the actual price as $10 or $20+ above. This is a particularly useful model to employ for high-quality items listed for sale on CL–you don’t want be shortchanging yourself on profit, but you also don’t want to list an unreasonable price that will deter sellers. For instance, if I was selling an Ethan Allen sofa in good condition, I’d like to get $300 for it. As a consumer, though, I would only want to pay $200 for the sofa. So, I set my expected price at $250 and post the price at $275. Here’s why this model works–if a customer sees the couch, loves it, and wants to buy it without any negotiation, I get a great price for it that is close to my ideal price and above my expected price. If, however, time passes on and I’m not getting as many nibbles as I want, I can offer my potential buyers a price of $250 as a “concession.” They’ll be happy that they’ve “negotiated” you down, and you’ll still be receiving your anticipated price. Setting a middle-of-the-range price allows room for buyer negotiation without the seller being “sold,” if you will. Also, always be sure to explicitly say “cash only” in your CL ad–don’t go down the road of potentially false checks and “insufficient transfers.” If you’ve already strategically lowered your price to your anticipated dollar amount (or below), now’s the time to attach the words “FIRM” to your price. Most buyers respect that. As an additional note, please understand that (especially with furniture and household goods) there’s a lot of competition out there. You want your items sold at a fair price; don’t be expecting to get back what you paid. That’s a mistake many people make–but honestly, if the tables were turned, would you be willing to pay $30 for a kitchen canister set that’s been used? Likely, not. So consider carefully, and set your “smart price.”
What to Ignore
Another pet peeve of CL sellers is the annoying “false contacts” from spammers. Learn to quickly (and easily) safeguard yourself, and learn which offers to simply ignore. When writing your CL ad, cut spammers out prematurely. When listing your phone number, spell it out instead of using numerical symbols. Ask potential buyers to put a particular subject line in their emails to you if they want consideration. Always insist on cash only. This will eliminate spam attempts, and these practices are understood among serious buyers. Any customers that would be deterred don’t need to be buying from you. Also, on a defensive end, ignore any emails that say simply “hey, please call me at xxx-xxx-xxxx.” These are all scams, generally involving the phone numbers of uninvolved people who are subject now to the annoyance of people calling them in reference to items they’re not selling. Absolutely and always ignore emails of seemingly-interested buyers who say they will have their “assistant” mail you a check if you send them your address and information. Never fall for this trick–these scam-buyers also typically enact foreign accents and have “plans” and “business trips” that would have brought them to your area, and then these “plans” change. If anyone talks about wiring money, or having their “assistants” arrange for “pick-up” of your items–don’t even bother responding. Seriously. Finally, never arrange to meet someone at your home when you’re by yourself. Instead, meet in a public place, or have a friend or spouse with you at your home when the buyer comes to meet you. Conversely, if you’re a buyer, don’t go alone. Ladies, especially, can never be too careful.
Many wishes for success for you in your sales endeavor! I know these strategies have worked for me time and time again, and I’m certain they’ll be an aid to you as well in streamlining the CL buying/selling process.