Saving $$ on Craigslist

[TromboneAl]

Once I'm sure the Bowflex will fill all our strength training needs, I'll sell the weight bench and dumbbells. When I do, I'll include pictures of the goods, but also pictures like these below.

Sell the sizzle, not the steak!

 

[martyb]

I've sold 2 Martin guitars ($1500 & $1900), a sofa ($25), a poker chip set ($15), a monitor, a desk ($100), and probably another one or two items I'm not remembering right now, on CL. I don't believe I've bought anything off there yet. Oh yeah, just remembered...I sold a mattress set & frame for I believe $60. Most of the above, buyers came & picked them up. One of the guitars, I actually delivered almost 100 miles. Had a good time jamming with the guy & his buddies, so worth the trip. Also just remembered...the sofa I sold listed above, I had previously bought on CL but it was very uncomfortable to me, so I re-sold it.

 

[Sue J]

Down the street from us today I saw this sign on an old exercycle at the curb -

"C'mon, you know you want it!"

It will be gone by morning.

 

[chinaco]

We have not purchased or sold anything using it.

But I am starting to look at it for certain types of purchases.

For sales (to thin out stuff) I will probably use it when we downsize the home for certain items. I will get that hassle out of the way in one painful effort.

 

[kramer]

I sold my 12 year old car on craigslist, it was the only place I advertised.

It was sold within 8 hours of my posting, for cash, at full price. I gave him back $50 as a Thank You for having just returned from Afghanistan duty four days earlier.

The A/C was not working, and it was going to be expensive to fix (a fact I of course disclosed, and I already had an estimate for him). But his specialty was fixing A/C units, so he said he could fix it for $300 instead of $1100 by doing it himself. Perfect!

One thing I think helped is that I disclosed every single flaw in the car. It was obvious I was an honest seller. The guy didn't even test drive it, he just started it up and listened to it idle. I went in the other room to show get him some maintenance records, and when I walked out he had a stack of cash on the table, full price.

Out of curiousity, I left the ad up. I never got a single additional call or email on it.

My late uncle had a saying about selling things -- "There is an ass for every chair"

 

[TromboneAl]

I'm surprised how often people don't bargain. A number of times I get an "I'm going to buy your xxx. I'll be right over" call.

For something like a bike, I always write up a bill of sale with the standard legalese.

 

[martyb]

I've tried selling a few coins on CL, but haven't had much luck there. I'll probably list them on ebay. I've done pretty well there in the past as a seller.

 

[martyb]

After reading Trombone Al's post above, I remembered I also sold 2 sets (4 pcs) of dumbells on CL too! I guess I'm using more than I realized...

 

[Nords]

We've upgraded/refurnished our entire house from Craigslist. Spouse's latest purchase was a $79 Nook.

If the property burned down tomorrow, then after we rebuilt we'd refurnish it completely from Craigslist without ever visiting a retail store.

 

[travelover]

I'm surprised how often people don't bargain. A number of times I get an "I'm going to buy your xxx. I'll be right over" call. ........

I often do that. If the price is right and the seller seems legitimate, I don't usually try to bargain. That said, when I have asked I have usually gotten the price reduced, especially on items that have been advertised for a while.

 

[DavidD]

Love - Hate Relationship With Craigslist..

I love the results with craigslist. Sold two cars and misc. stuff using craigslist. Made great money, but hated the haggling and "meeting" one on one. Just hard to trust people these days, that's why I like E-bay, except for shipping and handling.

 

[Aiming_4_55]

I don't bargain unless the description was inaccurate, but I understand it's used.

 

[omni550]

On CL purchases, I always ask if they'll take less but am not the least bit upset if they won't. I figure they've got the right to set their price wherever they want.

omni

 

[kcowan]

I found 2 sellers selling the same item, one for $30 and the other for $100. I asked the latter if he was offering anything else and he got mad. So I bought the $30 for $25.

 

[KingB]

I found 2 sellers selling the same item, one for $30 and the other for $100. I asked the latter if he was offering anything else and he got mad. So I bought the $30 for $25.

Ask the $100 seller if he wants to buy another one for $50 or so. He can potentially make $50 and you make $25.

 

[haha]

The bike was a Mercier with Reynolds 531 tubing and Campagnolo hubs. It had sat in our basement for 30 years and my DH had cannibalized it for parts so I was selling it with no chain, no rear derailleur, missing cables and a tire that didn't hold air. DH had cut off the rear derailleur hangar for a failed modification and never went back to it. It was in sorry shape. DH didn't want to deal with it, it was kind of a sore subject so he said if I sold it the money was mine.
Image - TinyPic - Free Image Hosting, Photo Sharing & Video Hosting

I sold it for $90 to a young man opening a bike shop and bike co-op in a nearby college town.Crooked River Recyclery | Facebook He knows French bikes and likes to find Reynolds 531 frames. He's also been to a bike building school and was not bothered by the missing hangar, he knows how to braze a new one.

I was glad to get any cash out of something sitting in my basement for decades but mostly I was thrilled that the bike was getting a better life with someone who would appreciate it.

Maybe $90 wasn't much for one of these. I wasn't going to put any money into it to make it more attractive. Honestly, if this buyer had hesitated I would have given it to him for free just to get the space back in my basement.

I have two of these Reynolds 531 frames, with assorted and partial add-ons, and 2 Ideale seats. I think I will advertise them also. $90 each wouldld please me.

I have no plans to ever ride a bike on the road again, after seeing what an inattentive driver was able to do to me while in a good car, I hate to even imagine the possibilities on a bike.

Ha

 

[Brat]

After we had an offer on our house we had a huge garage sale (husband & I had a list with prices so it only took a week to prep the garage). We advertised the sale on Craigslist with photos and also listed a couple more expensive items in the For Sale section of Craigslist. Because we lived at the extreme end of the Island I feared our efforts would be wasted.

Responders to the latter effort included a foreign physician and his wife who just purchased a house, and a returning missionary family. They not only purchased speciality items they got a good start furnishing their homes from our garage sale stuff. We netted enough $$ to hire movers to load the truck for our move.

 

[Sue J]

I have two of these Reynolds 531 frames, with assorted and partial add-ons, and 2 Ideale seats. I think I will advertise them also. $90 each wouldld please me.

I have no plans to ever ride a bike on the road again, after seeing what an inattentive driver was able to do to me while in a good car, I hate to even imagine the possibilities on a bike.

Ha

You might want to start a little higher than $90 if you are in a big biking community. I'm in northeast Ohio which has a limited biking season. I just don't think of this as an area with a large interest in vintage bikes.

It's easy to change your Craiglist ad if you want to change the price. I started at $135 and dropped it a few times. The bike was in a sad, neglected, incomplete state.

 

[haha]

You might want to start a little higher than $90 if you are in a big biking community.

Thanks for the suggestion. Seattle has more bike shops than liquor stores, and our current mayor is on a tear to create bike lanes everywhere.

Ha

 

[Brat]

My experience with FreeCycle has been mixed. We used to live on Bainbridge Island where FreeCycle works well because of the relatively low population. I obtained all my moving supplies using that resource.

Now we live in Portland. I looked at it early on and it seemed much more difficult to utilize because of scale.

 

[tuckeverlasting]

I have bought and sold many items on craigslist with great success, including nice furniture. However as I have recently become aware through various online postings, there is a risk of bedbugs, which apparently can hide by the multitudes in furniture and maybe other objects, and not only beds. I hope my fears are overblown, but I am rethinking the whole craigslist/used route of acquisition. At the very least, and although it is no guarantee, I would recommend sticking strictly to higher end venues. As this is what I have always done anyway, maybe that is why I have never brought any bugs home--and I don't want to start now (shudder). Sorry if this is unnecessary fear-mongering--I don't mean to put a damper on CL or the recycling of objects, which has served me well. But it has become a real concern.

 

[REWahoo]

At the very least, and although it is no guarantee, I would recommend sticking strictly to higher end venues.

I hear bedbugs are an equal opportunity insect and don't discriminate based on end height.

I'd suggest staying away from any upholstered furniture just to be safe...although we did recently buy two very nice leather recliners for our RV off C-List. I figure sitting for a few weeks in the closed trailer during what passes for "Spring" in these part would do them in if we did accidentally import a few hitchhikers. Interior temps have been topping 115 the last few weeks.

 

[Nords]

... there is a risk of bedbugs, which apparently can hide by the multitudes in furniture and maybe other objects, and not only beds. I hope my fears are overblown, but I am rethinking the whole craigslist/used route of acquisition.

I think your fear of bedbugs may be overblown. Many people never know they have them (we certainly didn't) until the population grows [-]bloated[/-] large enough to leave signs.

Some Raid pesticide, a couple loads of laundry, occasional vigilance during the next few weeks, and no more bedbugs.

As far as we can tell!

I think centipedes and mosquitoes are far nastier than bedbugs. Yet you don't see any websites maintaining hotel databases of those infestations...

 

[kcowan]

Ask the $100 seller if he wants to buy another one for $50 or so. He can potentially make $50 and you make $25.

Problem was that I needed the phone. Granted it was listed for $149 new but hey the market sets the value!

 

[GregLee]

I've bought lots of hi-fi loudspeakers on CL. Loudspeakers don't often break (unlike electronic gear), and sellers often seem not to know what they're worth. Most recently, I paid $600 for a set of Axiom speakers that would have been $3300 new.