I know a lot of sellers on Craigslist get upset and think it is a joke to deal with the people that use the website. I will admit, sometimes you need thick skin when trying to get rid of an item on CL.
I get a ton of phone calls and emails from “buyers” asking stupid questions or questions that are already answered in the ad I posted.
I will put the age of the item in the description, and I will get people calling to ask how old the item is. I will say that everything works normally, and I will still get people calling to ask if it works.
However, if you brush off the idiots, dumb questions and insulting lowball offers, it can be an easy way to unload some unwanted items.
Buyers Will Test You
Keep in mind, just because you get a response from someone that says they want to buy your item, that doesn’t mean you are going to sell it. A lot of buyers contact many people about similar items. They are just feeling out the people they contact and they are trying to get the lowest and cheapest price possible.
A buyer might contact you to find out exactly where you are, how much the item has been used, what your lowest price is, etc. If you don’t meet their needs and offer the lowest price, you won’t hear back from that buyer. They will move on to the next seller selling the same item cheaper and closer to their location.
Sell Easily, Especially for Time Sensitive Events
Here is an example: I have a friend that had tickets for a time sensitive event. The event was taking place Sunday morning. He put the tickets for sale Saturday evening. He sold the tickets Saturday night. Here’s how…
Most of his competitors with tickets to the same event were posting tickets for about $35 each. He posted his ticket for $30 and gave the exact location and area the ticket was located. Shortly after the post went live on CL, he got an email.
Email Can Be Slow and Frustrating, but Still Works
The email communication broke down a bit (slow responses via email), however, since the event was taking place the next morning, my friend didn’t want to miss the opportunity for how to sell on Craigslist and get rid of his stuff. And, his buyer had also contacted 4 other people with the same ticket.
To sweeten the deal and solidify the sale, my friend said that if they came to pick up the ticket at his address by a certain time, he would sell it for $15 instead of $30. He made the sale an hour later. So, my friend didn’t get the full $30 he was asking, but he made the sale, probably leaving other sellers with their tickets stuck in their pockets. And that is the secret to selling on CL.
That’s Why Craigslist Isn’t a Total Joke
It is not a joke if you are selling an item people are looking for. The trick to actually making the sale is that you need to make yourself available, and you need to offer it cheaper than other people. People obsess over ads because they are constantly looking for the best deal. New things are posted every 15 minutes.
I worked with a guy that really wanted a particular shelf from IKEA. He watched new ads like a hawk for two months to see if someone posted an ad for that same item used before he finally went to IKEA and bought the shelf brand new.
So, if you offer the best deal and you have an item someone is looking for, you will make the sale.
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Nick is a seasoned professional with over a decade of experience in successfully selling products online across various platforms. With his extensive knowledge and expertise, he has honed his skills and has become an expert in the field of online sales.
Craigslist is a JOKE . I have tried using it to sell something one time and had some idiot contact me with first stupid questions and then when he could not get me to lower my price started contacting me making threats towards me. I was a State Policeman now retired so his threats meant nothing as he would have ended up in deep doo doo if he had tried anything but I finally had to have him blocked and banned. My few other experiences with them in attempting to buy anything have been met with no responses at all. The sellers won’t even respond ! It is a total waste of time. Sure I know they get “Idiot” Questions from folks but so do Evil Bay sellers. At least they will respond to questions even though they have hit the Thrift Stores, yard sales and estate sales and then try to sell something they paid a dollar for at 50% to 100% more than the same thing sells for new ! Yes you will get Questions like “Was that used Football, used to play football with” ??? But the Stupid we will have with us always! My point is don’t waste your time on sites like Craigslist, Letgo, and Auto Trader you are scrapping the bottom of the barrel.
PS
I stopped at a local Thrift Store one day and actually saw people waiting at the doors where the stuff was brought out for shelf placement and there was a whole bunch of EBAY sellers with their cell phones there grabbing stuff out of the carts before it could be put on the shelves for sale. They would check something and look up what it was selling for on EBAY and then throw it back breaking items all over the place. To folks actually got into a fist fight over who saw something first and wanted it to resell on EBAY ?? Sign of the times I guess !
About 9 years ago an employer used my phone to put a help wanted ad on Craigslist so now Craigslist is blocked my phone number and I can’t do anything on it 10 years later I still can’t use Craigslist