Have any of you ever used "Craigslist"?

[tommy tunes]

So, in further pursuit of raising "spa-fundage"  I've been liquidating certain things that are taking up space (past hobbies and the like) through the use of ebay and other "genre specific" classifide ads.  A friend of mine suggested Craigslist after I expressed some frustration with ebay pricing and some real "low ball" auctions for similar items.  Have any of you had any luck selling on that site?  I noticed it's very geographically sorted.  I'd rather hit a larger group of people. Did you post listings in more that one geographic area?  How was your experience?

Thanks much! 8-)

[mattNY]

Craigslist rocks.  It's especially great for selling large/bulky items that you'd never want to ship, and real cheap or free items.  I'd recommend it highly, just be aware that there are people on there like anywhere that will waste your time, try to take your money, etc. so use a measure of caution.  I have Craigslist to thank for my hot tub  

[Dr. Spa™ Ret.]

Craigslist is typically know as a place for bottom feeders. People want what you have but don't want to pay anything for it. That said, it is free to post as ad, so you really have nothing to lose. Just be sure to ONLY accept cold hard cash (and it might not hurt to get one of those pens to check the bills).

We sell a lot of "odd" spa covers on it. Brand new, some were made the wrong color or the order was mis-ordered or canceled, or what ever. Brand new, not seconds, nothing wrong with them. $135. I get people offering me $50 all the time.

[Ruby]

I agree with Matt.  Craigslist is awesome!  I have bought alot of things and I have sold a lot of things.  I sold my first hottub(Marquis SA Reward)  so I could upgrade to my Marquis Epic.
A couple things that might help though: 1.) POST PICTURES (I never even look at an ad if it doesn't have pictures)  2.)  Specify "cash only"  When I sold my tub, I accepted a cashiers check, but what I've read since then is that they can be forged too. 3. ) I've had issues with "no shows".  Not sure what advice I can give you here, but it's really frustrating.  4.)Don't delete your ad until the item is out the door because you can't repost the "same" ad for a day or two.  The trick here is to reword the ad, otherwise the program comes up with a message saying that you duplicated it. 5.) Yes, you can post an ad in more than one city or state, I've never done it.  6.) big stuff sells faster than small stuff (in my experience)  

Good Luck!

[Chas]

I have sold several items on Craigslist. I don't like 'no shows,' drives me crazy. So I tell them all to come at the same time. I'm real up-front about it: I tell them that I am showing the item at 9 am Saturday morning, and that others have promised to come.

I once had three people show up at 9 am on a Saturday morning. Funny thing is, I had about six who absolutely, positively promised me they would be there. That was the only time that happened - usually I will get five or six who promise and one shows up.

First one to put cash in my hand gets it, if there are more than one who wants it. I have sold some used tubs, a boat or two, some motors, parts, building supplies, doors, and other things.

One other thing I have found - get phone numbers. If a person tells you that they want the item really bad, and they can't get there until the next day or whatever, be sure to get their phone number. If they will not give it, they are not serious and will waste your time. If they do give it, but the item sells, you can give them the courtesy of a call to let them know they missed it. BTW - taking a number and offering to call them if the item sells may just help them find a way to get there sooner...

 8-)

[apple]

Craigslist is the bomb! Just ths weekend I got rid of basemnet clutter and made $100, but I did have someone try to give $10 instead of $25 for my printer and a few no shows. That is a good idea abut getting a phone niumber. I will do that from now on.

[tommy tunes]

Thanks for the great responses! and the sound advice.  I think I'll give it a shot if my current methods fail me.  I seem to find some bottom feeders on ebay too.  I just had some guy offer me nearly half of my starting bid AND have that include shipping!  Bear in mind my starting bid is already <half what I paid and the item is basically brand new.  Some people........

[Zep]

Agreed CraigsList is awesome in it's niche.

Basically it's a "local e-bay" that is free.

Hell I don't know how they make any money
but hey thats not my problem.

Craigslist is great for things you need quick
and don't want to wait for several shipping days
via e-bay or other sources.....you can go pick up
the item the same day....so it's quicker and
also cheaper....no shipping charges.

Plus it's great for large items that are
much harder to ship via e-bay.

I sold my hot tub cover lifter within
24 hours after I decided I did not want
a cover lifter. I also sold a couch on CraigsList
that would have been a nightmare to ship
on e-bay or I would have had to pay for an
add in the Dallas Morning News and the ad
would have run for only a few days. On Craigslist
the ad is free and no time limit!

I recently had a party and wanted some beer banners
and beer signs to convert my gargage into a bar for one
night.....BINGO....Craig's list had all I needed and I went
and picked them up the same day.

http://dallas.craigslist.org/

[mattNY]

More in-depth Craigslist info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craigslist

And an excerpt: "As of 2007, Craigslist operates with a staff of 24 people. Its sole source of revenue is paid job ads in select cities ($75 per ad for the San Francisco Bay Area; $25 per ad for New York; Los Angeles; San Diego; Boston; Seattle; Washington D.C.), and paid broker apartment listings in New York City ($10 per ad).

It serves over 5 billion page views per month, putting it in 34th place overall among web sites world wide, 8th place overall among web sites in the United States (per Alexa.com on December 29, 2006), to 10 million unique visitors."

[st18901]

I got my hot tub from craigslist!

[tommy tunes]

I'm giving it a shot, and I'll see what comes my way.  The only thing I didn't like is that the terms of use agreement says you can't post in more than one metropolitan area.  So I posted in one more populated than mine.  I find it rather strange that you can search western MA, but it wasn't an option for posting an ad.