Craigslist - good or bad in your experience?

I've both bought and sold on CL with all good results so far. I sold a folding boat and outboard motor, a motorcycle, and bought a Nikon strobe light and a slightly used snowblower. I always meet at a public place, preferably a police station if there is one nearby, figuring no scammer is going to want to meet there. It also makes the other party more comfortable.


That said I am a bit wary of it because of all the poor results I've read about and having recently joined the nextdoor forum near here I'll be more open to buying/selling there than CL.
 
We’ve had mostly decent experiences, with the occasional no-show as the biggest negative.

I did make the mistake once of posting some aquariums with decent value for free because I wanted them out of my house quickly. I had about six aquariums and some stands with the accessories. I’m guessing that they would have probably sold for say $200, but it might have taken a week or so. I posted them for free with the caveat that they had to take everything.

I got like 40 responses in the hour I had it up. The guy who responded first came over and I helped him get everything loaded into his truck. He wasn’t into aquariums, he was just a guy with no job that scoured the ads for free stuff that he could hopefully sell. More power to him, but when he started talking about aliens and the Illuminati I got a little uncomfortable :) . On the plus side, he waited until we were done loading to bring that stuff up.

In the future, I’ll at least charge a nominal amount for things of value weed out a few people.
 
Craigslist sucks because eBay bought the service and basically does zero to make it better because it competes with eBay.

Some basic improvements to it could make it awesome and largely reduce all the fraud etc. never going to happen.

It’s a textbook example of how big tech kills awesome startups who have a competing offering that consumers might prefer.
 
BeachOrCity said:
Craigslist sucks because eBay bought the service and basically does zero to make it better because it competes with eBay.

Some basic improvements to it could make it awesome and largely reduce all the fraud etc. never going to happen.

It’s a textbook example of how big tech kills awesome startups who have a competing offering that consumers might prefer.
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Ironically, Craigslist did much to kill off newspapers which made a lot of their money off classified advertising. And when newspapers die, government accountability dies, especially in rural areas..........
 
Most "in the Know" don't use Craigslist anymore. Most use Facebook marketplace.
 
I had a Craigslist bad experience lately with the free section. I had heavy pipe fittings from a furnace replacement out front. I should have just let the night scavengers take them. Instead I posted them on Craigslist free and somebody responded immediately. Gave the guy the address and a truck came 30 minutes later. Turned out the people in the truck were day scavengers that just happened upon the stuff. I thought they were the Craigslist guy. Then an hour later the Craigslist guy showed up and he was MAD! He stood on my front stair for a few minutes ranting through my apologies. It was scary. You really don't know who you are inviting to your house with Craigslist.
 
zinger1457 said:
My most annoying experience when selling on craigslist is the one you mentioned about buyers saying they are coming over and never showing up and don't have the courtesy to let you know they are not coming, seems to happen frequently.
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Sure it happens. I figure if they are driving to my home, what is the big deal? I am not standing around waiting for them. (Last night I waited 25 min. for a contractor to show up at my rental house-I anticipate that, and bring a book to read. Those things happen-Why get upset?)

I personally have had good experiences selling on Craigs-40-50 items over last dozen years. I know of nothing else bringing better prices with less cash out of your pocket (for ebay, advertising, flea market, or other sales places). If I get stood up a couple of times to save that kind of money, I can handle the trade off.
 
travelover said:
Ironically, Craigslist did much to kill off newspapers which made a lot of their money off classified advertising. And when newspapers die, government accountability dies, especially in rural areas..........
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Have not had a paid newspaper in 15 years. I read all locals online-free. I see no dying off of the press-just a new business model.

I guess I am reading too much into your comment-are you saying Craigslist is killing the newspaper business and that kills govt. accountability? Did priceline kill the travel business? I would argue no, it just changed the business mode.
 
brucethebroker said:
... I know of nothing else bringing better prices with less cash out of your pocket (for ebay, advertising, flea market, or other sales places). If I get stood up a couple of times to save that kind of money, I can handle the trade off.
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Agreed. When I'm selling or buying camera equipment I use a couple of free or nearly-free camera forums. eBay is absolutely my last choice. Arrogant, expensive, and they seem to think that they are doing a favor for the sellers that pay the bills. On the buy side, I often buy cheap Chinese junk (cables, camera batteries, etc.) on eBay; that seems to be their specialty these days anyway. I have 700+ feedback and have been on there for like 15 years but I have long since stopped selling there.
 
These days selling just about anything people can really be odd, they generally don't like to talk (for the most part it's not a bad thing) but before you come to my house we will have a short conversation just to make sure you aren't crazy and no I'm not wasting my time driving around town and selling you that thing for $100.


Most of the time when they get to the house they will text or FB message me "here", what I might do one of these days is not talk to them at all just text them when they are standing next to me.
 
When I sell on Craigslist ( I use CL as a last resort) I ask to meet at the local police dept parking lot, they have an area set aside for Craigslist sales. Several times when I am talking to a potential buyer and mention meeting the the Police Dept, the potential buyer just hangs up. I figure if they are not willing to meet at the police dept, they are up to no good. I think Craigslist is scary.
 
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I have bought and sold many things on Craigslist and have never had a situation that made me uncomfortable.

I do hate all the no-shows when selling something. I go to the trouble of scheduling a time to meet and waiting around, then they never show without so much as a "sorry, changed my mind".

I also hate the haggling process. I have to post things at higher prices than I'm hoping to get, knowing they will try to talk me down to what I really want. It's all a stupid game. That's what I like about Ebay, I can post an ad with the price I want and that's what I get, no haggling.

I don't mind helping people load big items, but many times people don't think things through. I sold a dining table to a young gal last year. She drove over an hour to come see it and showed up in a compact car to pick it up. Uh, that's not gonna fit. :) I was able to dismantle the table and squeeze the pieces into her car. Hopefully she figured out how to put it all back together. Another guy showed up in a small compact SUV to buy a large armoire. Obviously it wouldn't fit, so he didn't buy it after making the long drive. I always post dimensions, but no one takes the time to measure.
 
BeachOrCity said:
Craigslist sucks because eBay bought the service and basically does zero to make it better because it competes with eBay.

Some basic improvements to it could make it awesome and largely reduce all the fraud etc. never going to happen.

It’s a textbook example of how big tech kills awesome startups who have a competing offering that consumers might prefer.
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Sorry. Fake News. eBay never had more than a minority stake and that stake is long since gone.

From Forbes, June 19, 2015: "On Friday, eBay said it sold its 28.4 percent stake in Craigslist back to the San Francisco-based online classifieds company.

"The company also noted in a blog post that the deal also came with the agreement that all litigation between the companies will be dismissed.

"Craigslist repurchasing of EBay's stake ends a rocky relationship between two of the Web's largest online marketplaces. In 2008, eBay sued Craigslist for diluting its stake in the company in a move that caused the online auction firm to lose its board seat. Craigslist later restored eBay's full stake, but an eBay representative was not reappointed to the board."
 
mountainsoft said:
... I also hate the haggling process. I have to post things at higher prices than I'm hoping to get, knowing they will try to talk me down to what I really want. It's all a stupid game. That's what I like about Ebay, I can post an ad with the price I want and that's what I get, no haggling. ...
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I must be the only guy on the planet who enjoys negotiating as a sport, but here is how I handle CL:

It's normal to get one or two lowball offers shortly after an ad appears. My response is this: "It is possible that I will consider a lower price after my item has been for sale for a week or two, but I have just listed it and I think the asking price is fair, so for now I won't accept less. If you're still interested next week or the week after, feel free to contact me again." Often this will produce an immediate full price sale.

When scheduling a meeting: "Let's make sure we agree that the price is $xxx. If you plan to offer something less, let's have that discussion right now so when we meet there is no need to discuss price any further." This has worked for me 100% of the time.
 
Neutral - - no experience with Craig's List, no desire to use it either.

Instead, I follow "Use it Up, Wear it Out, Make it Do, or Do Without". Or if it just WILL not wear out or get used up, then give it to a friend or to Good Will.

That seems to work just so much better for me than, "Meet a total stranger for a monetary transaction, being an unarmed, well heeled, elderly, partially disabled female and alone, in a city known for having one of the highest murder rates in the country". I mean, seriously? Gimme a break. I am nobody's fool, and I have other things I'd rather do with my precious time.
 
OldShooter said:
I must be the only guy on the planet who enjoys negotiating as a sport, but here is how I handle CL:

It's normal to get one or two lowball offers shortly after an ad appears. My response is this: "It is possible that I will consider a lower price after my item has been for sale for a week or two, but I have just listed it and I think the asking price is fair, so for now I won't accept less. If you're still interested next week or the week after, feel free to contact me again." Often this will produce an immediate full price sale.

When scheduling a meeting: "Let's make sure we agree that the price is $xxx. If you plan to offer something less, let's have that discussion right now so when we meet there is no need to discuss price any further." This has worked for me 100% of the time.
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This is great, I'll have to use this next time. :cool:
 
W2R said:
Neutral - - no experience with Craig's List, no desire to use it either.

Instead, I follow "Use it Up, Wear it Out, Make it Do, or Do Without". Or if it just WILL not wear out or get used up, then give it to a friend or to Good Will.

That seems to work just so much better for me than, "Meet a total stranger for a monetary transaction, being an unarmed, well heeled, elderly, partially disabled female and alone, in a city known for having one of the highest murder rates in the country". I mean, seriously? Gimme a break. I am nobody's fool, and I have other things I'd rather do with my precious time.
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I love this saying!
 
I sold my craftsman lawn tractor on craigslist for $500.. I hated that machine it was a bad design and I had lots of problems with it. When they drove away I spit on the ground and said “good riddens”. After it was gone i got calls like: “That machine is worth $750 all day long” .. AS long as you dont let anyone in your house and are prepared for cheapoos who will try to low ball you ... craigslist is fine.

By the by i am a decent sized guy..were i to be a woman/small person i might not meet with anyone alone.
 
We sell on EB, FB, NextDoor and gunbroker, with great success. I use them as my personal garage sale and to sell my custom jewelry. I love getting pocket $ for doing something I enjoy anyway! Hubs has sold some stuff on CL but he found it really frustrating, with all of the time wasters & lookie-loos. For his yard tools (mover, edger, etc.) we did have folks come to the house, but we generally will meet someone in a busy parking lot.

We buy on all of the platforms as well. Between Amazon & EB we do close to 80% of our non-grocery related buying online. It is just so convenient, and we are usually buying staples. I have found that if I don't go in (retail) stores, I don't spend much money.
 
I have bought and sold on Craigslist, and have mostly been happy with it. My only complaint is that most people do not want to pay. I assume they buy things for almost nothing, and try to re-sell them.



The best thing is that if you want to get rid of stuff for free, people will also take anything! When we renovated our house, people took 30 year old drapes that were disintegrating. I would have had to take a lot of junk to the dump, but people came and took it away for free.
 
Used Craigslist to sell many items, both large and small, (partial list below) over past 5 years as I cleaned out Mother-in-law’s house and later mine in preparation to move. Overwell decent experiences and never felt unsafe. Simply ignored low ball offers and only had a few people not show up as promised. 95% of items sold from my garage, providing address only after I felt comfortable with them. Met a few people in parking lots when it worked for me. Also held several “curb alerts” for stuff I just needed gone (or haul to dump and pay to dispose).

One couple I met (moved back to MN from ME) told me they sold all furniture in ME on Craigslist and were now buying furniture to fill their house in MN. They stated it only took a few days at each location to sell/buy, was pretty much a wash money-wise, and they saved 8-10k in moving expenses.

Probably had 40k worth of transactions, all cash except for boat (which I stored for a few months after sale):

- boat lift $2600
- small Honda ATV $3700
- 12 year old Zero turn Ferris mower (professional) $5400
- 20 year old Dodge 4x4 pickup, no rust, 60k miles $3900
- 12 year old 19’ hybrid camper $7400
- 25 year old 17.5 Starcraft fish/play boat $7700
- 30 year old 16’ tandom utility trailer $700
- 400 pound fireproof filing cabinet - free, they loaded.
- old light fixtures $30, $65
- old chainsaws $50
- kitchen tables & chairs
- oak kitchen cabinets I ripped out from remodel $200
- old large projection TV Free, would have cost me $60 to dispose
- new deep cycle battery $60
-air hockey table $70
- an old but working goat Milking Machine $650 (the happiest buyer I ever had)
- high tensile fencing supplies $550 (half the price of new)
And a whole lot of other stuff...

It’s a great way to sell stuff. My trick was to provide great descriptions and pictures, then post at a reasonable price.
 
I sold my friends camper in 4 hours on Monday.
 
Right now I want to flush Craigslist down the toilet. Had two no shows on items this weeek. Grrrrrr.
 
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