Me and Craigslist are besties. It’s true. We bought our house on Craigslist, I found my current job on Craigslist, and many of my most beloved furniture pieces are Craigslist finds too. It’s actually somewhat surprising that I didn’t find Kyle on the website. Kidding, of course!
I’ve bought and sold countless items on this lovely site, and along the way, I learned a thing or two. Here are a few of my Craigslist tips I’ve learned over the years..
10 TIPS FOR SELLING ON CRAIGSLIST
1.) Use ALL CAPS in the headline. It grabs people’s attention when they are looking through listings.
2.) Price the item fairly. What’s the first thing you look at when you see something that catches your eye? The price. So make it reasonable and people will look at your ad a bit closer.
3.) Describe the item’s color, condition and style. Is it cherry or dark walnut wood? Is the item in excellent, good, fair or poor shape? Is it an antique or a mid-century modern piece? I also always add that the piece is from a smoke-free, pet-free and clean home. Never hurts to share that the piece has been well-maintained.
4.) Give dimensions. Measure the item’s width, height, and depth. Potential buyer’s can measure the space they are hoping to fill and this prevents someone from thinking the item was much larger or smaller than it really is in real-life. Photos can lie when it comes to scale.
5.) Take legit photos and post 3-4 of them. The buyer wants to SEE the piece. They want to see close-ups and images of anything unique or different. In short, photos are worth a million words.
6.) It’s always easier when someone else hauls away your junk. Denote that in your post – UHAUL.
7.) Only take cash. Denote that in the post and their will be no surprises when the piece is picked-up.
8.) Have a buddy. When someone comes to take a peek at the piece you are selling, do not be alone. End of story. You never know what might happen and it’s just a good idea to have a partner in crime. There are no exceptions to this rule.
9.) When the potential buyer comes over, put the piece close to the door if possible. There’s no need to take them on a house tour and convenience sells.
10.) Count your money. We’ve had people give us folded cash and by the time we got around to count it, they shorted us by a few $20 bills. Lesson learned – count your cash!
Here’s a sample ad I recently posted…
Some of these tips might be no-brainers, but I thought since I was making a list, I might as well include them all.
Do you guys have any great Craigslist stories? Any killer finds? Any tips of your own that I may have missed? Do share!
