Selling on Craigslist - some questions

[MichaelD]

I'm getting ready to put some car stereo stuff on CL; but I've never used CL before at all. I'm looking for any tips beyond the common sense stuff that I may miss.

I'm going to price the stuff low enough that hopefully it goes quickly. When I sell, I'm planning on meeting in the parking lot of huge supermarket in my area and insisting on cash. In my ad, I'm thinking that I should use a disposable email addy and not list a phone number. How's this sound so far? Any other tips?

 

[Mike Gayner]

Millions of other people have figured out how to use it. I'm sure you'll manage.

 

[QueBert]

list it higher than you want to sell it, lots of low ballers on there, I use to sell 10 or so things a week. I don't care how low you list an item. There are tons of perpetual low ballers on there. If you want $200 for it list it @ 225. If you want $200 and list it @ 200 expect to have 50 people say "will you take [insert retarded counter offer] for it?"

For car audio stuff I absolutely recommend you have it hooked up in your car to show them it works. I made the mistake of selling a few amps years ago without showing the buyer they worked. I knew they did, but apparently the buyers did not hook the shit up right and were calling me asking for their money back. And definitely meet somewhere around other people. Aside from that just stick with it, I've had many things I'd re-listed twice and had totally forgot about sell literally on the last day of a listing.

CL is the best place to sell shit, I've bought and sold hundreds of things and never been robbed or anything bad. Worse was a few guys purposely showed up with less money than we had agreed on figuring at that point I wasn't going to walk away over a few bucks.

 

[MichaelD]

Thanks, QueBert. I don't think it will be possible to have the stuff hooked up and working in the car b/c the reason I'm selling it is b/c I removed it to make room in the trunk. How do you do your "contact info?" Disposable email addy? I just moved into town and would hate to have my shiny new cell or home numbers wind up on some BS telemarketing list. I pay money to have my numbers NOT listed...

I'm not too worried about low ballers. I'm not desparate to sell the stuff. I just won't be using it again and it's taking up space. It'll be priced low enough anyway that anyone who really knows what the stuff is worth will be happy to get it so cheaply.

 

[QueBert]

Thanks, QueBert. I don't think it will be possible to have the stuff hooked up and working in the car b/c the reason I'm selling it is b/c I removed it to make room in the trunk. How do you do your "contact info?" Disposable email addy? I just moved into town and would hate to have my shiny new cell or home numbers wind up on some BS telemarketing list. I pay money to have my numbers NOT listed...

I'm not too worried about low ballers. I'm not desparate to sell the stuff. I just won't be using it again and it's taking up space. It'll be priced low enough anyway that anyone who really knows what the stuff is worth will be happy to get it so cheaply.

CL doesn't list your email, it comes up as sale438749847498@craigslist.org the only way the buyer gets my email is if I contact them back. I weed thru the spam, which there tends to be a decent amount of. I use my regular gmail, for a phone I use Google Voice most of the time.

 

[QuEeNyGuRl]

Use google voice if you're worried about giving out your real number. If they're paying in hundreds, check it to make sure it's real.

 

[Ms. DICKINSON]

Small items, meet at Starbucks or other places with crowded ppl.

 

[Zeze]

Meet in a public place- dealing in person weeds out 99% of scammers and will have you meet normal people.

I sold a used Nintendo DS for $100 and we met in front of Chase bank. He was a nice guy who wanted a gift for his niece.

Even my immigrant mom sold a used car for 3 grand to another mom looking for a beat-up car for her own son. I helped her draft a sales agreement that both parties signed.

I sold lots of shit on CL. Real-person like writing + your own pics go a LONG way in selling them fast and at great price. I always say no low-ballers period and that reduces lots of useless emails.

 

[yllus]

Yeah, don't worry about not using your real e-mail - Craigslist will anonymize yours for you. And I always meet the person either at a Starbucks or my home (if it's a large item), never at their place or somewhere I don't know.

I do a little bit of Facebook and Twitter snooping of the person's name once I get their e-mail. And I trash replies that look like this immediately.

 

[kami333]

I never list my phone number on my ad, but usually say something like "Please include a phone number when replying". The people who do tend to be the serious buyers since they took the time to read.

 

[fatpat268]

I'm not too worried about low ballers. I'm not desparate to sell the stuff. I just won't be using it again and it's taking up space. It'll be priced low enough anyway that anyone who really knows what the stuff is worth will be happy to get it so cheaply.

I like your thinking, and you'll probably see it soon enough, but it doesn't matter how cheap something is, you'll get quite a few lowball offers. Hell, I listed a 2 month old macbook (that retailed for $1000 new) for $600, and I still got offers of $350-$400.

So yea, I understand you're not desperate to sell, but always list higher than you want. Most people are going to haggle you down to your accepted price anyway... but you might get lucky and find someone who is willing to pay that inflated price. It's a win win, IMO.

 

[Leros]

list it higher than you want to sell it, lots of low ballers on there, I use to sell 10 or so things a week. I don't care how low you list an item. There are tons of perpetual low ballers on there. If you want $200 for it list it @ 225. If you want $200 and list it @ 200 expect to have 50 people say "will you take [insert retarded counter offer] for it?"

For car audio stuff I absolutely recommend you have it hooked up in your car to show them it works. I made the mistake of selling a few amps years ago without showing the buyer they worked. I knew they did, but apparently the buyers did not hook the shit up right and were calling me asking for their money back. And definitely meet somewhere around other people. Aside from that just stick with it, I've had many things I'd re-listed twice and had totally forgot about sell literally on the last day of a listing.

CL is the best place to sell shit, I've bought and sold hundreds of things and never been robbed or anything bad. Worse was a few guys purposely showed up with less money than we had agreed on figuring at that point I wasn't going to walk away over a few bucks.

You'd also be surprised at the amount of money you can get. I bought a monitor for $200. Two years late I listed it on Craigslist for $250 and got an offer for $220.

 

[Anonemous]

Another tip, look at the prices for similar items in your area on Craigslist/ebay should give you a reasonable price range for your stuff.

 

[MikeyLSU]

if you are pricing it for what you want to get for it and will not budge, just list is a a FIRM price.

When I buy something off of CL, I have a price in my mind and it may be lower than most sellers, but I will offer every person selling the item that price and eventually I will get it for the lower price as long as I am patient.

But if someone lists it as firm, I don't bother contacting them.

 

[God Mode]

For a fee, I'll wait near the transaction site with a bat to protect you if SHTF.

 

[mwtgg]

Yeah, don't worry about not using your real e-mail - Craigslist will anonymize yours for you. And I always meet the person either at a Starbucks or my home (if it's a large item), never at their place or somewhere I don't know.

I do a little bit of Facebook and Twitter snooping of the person's name once I get their e-mail. And I trash replies that look like this immediately.

Picturing this guy when I read that dude's email to you.

Just be smart. Ignore the obvious lowballers and general trash. Meet in a public place. Hopefully they don't just to say you scammed them after the purchase.

 

[SP33Demon]

Never had a problem having them come to my place to pick the sht up.

 

[SaDiZTiKStyLeZ]

I always handle every exchange at gunpoint. I do not fuck around.

 

[Soccerman06]

I bought my Dell 3008 awhile back for $1200 on the fs/t forums here and just for kicks threw it up on CL earlier this year to see if I could sell it and was offered $1500 cash (whether it was real was up in the air).

Just be real about what your selling, include pics and real words. DO NOT COPY/PASTE, esp from websites like amazon or newegg.

 

[MichaelD]

Wow, great tips! Thank you, everyone for the advice. Some great stuff here. I'll be putting the stuff up later this week...I'm still sorting through the 892 boxes that the movers dumped in my living room. Funny how when your stuff's been in storage for a long time, that you don't remember half of it. LOL! I'll post my results back here. I have a feeling they are either going to incredibly lulz-worth or incredibly boring...nothing in between. Thanks again!

Mike

 

[dud]

I'm getting ready to put some car stereo stuff on CL; but I've never used CL before at all. I'm looking for any tips beyond the common sense stuff that I may miss.

I'm going to price the stuff low enough that hopefully it goes quickly. When I sell, I'm planning on meeting in the parking lot of huge supermarket in my area and insisting on cash. In my ad, I'm thinking that I should use a disposable email addy and not list a phone number. How's this sound so far? Any other tips?

The only advice I can offer is to expect the unexpected ...

 

[Ns1]

cash or get the fuck out

 

[KingGheedora]

Why meet in a parking lot? If someone wanted to rob you they could easily do it in a parking lot. If they wanted to scam you there's a good chance no one would see the person's face but you.

Meet in a public place like a cafe, and then walk out to your car to demonstrate that the equipment is working (if you are doing a demo). That way there is a good chance that cameras will be there to document your meeting, and also no one will be likely to pull anything since they are in a public place.

That's how I always do it when I sell stuff online.