Anyone here familar with selling on Craigs List?

I've used ebay (buying and selling) for over 10 years with very few issues.

I have some snow tires and other stuff I don't want to bother shipping. Strictly local sales and cash only.

There are tons of Craigs List sellers that write stuff in their ads that indicate they get lots of spam etc. I've tried e-mailing a few (3 or 4 local to me) over the past year to ask what kind of problems they have, but have not received any replies.

I'm guessing step 1 is to set up some temporary Yahoo e-mail account or something. Many people put their phone number in their ads, but I'm a bit uneasy about giving someone a phone number until I first hear from them by e-mail.

Suggestions?

Thanks

Personally I haven't experienced spam, just the odd useless response.

You don't need to post your email address on the online ad itself. There's an anonymous email address listed in the ad, and craigslist forwards the responses to your email address.

When you're done with your ad, delete it.

You will find "low balling" happens from time to time. That's simply because some people don't have the balls to offer you $.25 on the dollar to in person, but typing it is easy.

I have sold lots of things through craigslist, and they seem to sell quickly as long as the price is right. If you're looking for top dollar, be prepared to have your things listed for a while and spend lots of time fielding responses.

Craigslist Joe

And if you make a mistake, such as listing in the subject line a car for "$13k blah-blah-blah" and Craigslist strips the "k" after the "$13" be prepared for a flood of useless bullshit to your inbox, with half of them asking "is it REALLY only $13?" and the other half demanding you drop it off at their house for free ("and would you take $9 for it, BTW?".

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Parfois, on fait pas semblant!

I am:
I know:
I am from:

Nobody.
Nothing.
Nowhere.

What do you have to sell? I have a friend or two in the Hartford area who are always kinda looking for extra tires and whatnot.

Otherwise, use the anonymous email thing, and don't reply to obvious emails of "I have cashier's check for One Meeeeeeeeeeeeeellion Dollarbucks, give the tires and the change in cash, please!"

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Andrew Steere
Lyndeborough, NH
KB1PJY

The more information in the least amount of words the better.
Put the tire size and brand and model and price in the title.
I put this at the end of all my ads.

Email me and say something intelligent about something to do with Denver such as, "How about them Broncos..." or "I live near 84th and Wads so am not far from you" so I know you aren't just a spam bot.
Emails with just a phone number also tend to not get returned. Maybe if you say, "I'm really busy and will be running around capitol hill dumpster diving so can't check email but give me a shout and I'll work my way down Speer to your neighborhood at your convenience." Then I'll call you. Just saying "call me" doesn't work.

Craigslist amazes me though. Some stuff I get top dollar for. Other things I end up scrapping. I had a really nice Lennox furnace, 3 years old, started at $150 and kept going down on price. Near end was at "bring me some beer." Eventually took it to the scrap yard. Similar with a working Maytag washer that we had replaced with stackable in order to gain closet space.

Don't respond to emails that do not look like they were written by a real person. Don't call people that send messages that only say, "call me." Spam bots can send as many emails as they want to your craigslist anon email but they get your real email when you respond.
Gmail does good at filtering but my spam folder grows by a few messages each day. Pretty sure most are from craigslist. Pretty convinced that most of the time they've gotten my email address from an ad they posted and I replied to.

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Grant Hughes

Make sure you're accurate. There was a guy selling "4x100" VW wheels and went to the trouble of listing just about every car ever made that could fit 4x100 wheels. It was very helpful. He also posted several nice, detailed pictures which clearly showed the 5 bolt holes they all had.

Tim.

We've done well with both buying and selling on CL, even some high dollar items. You learn to deal with the flakes and dead beats. Lots of good stuff and good people on there, but a few bad guys can ruin it. I haven't seen the spam issue either and I'd bet most of the poster haven't they are just spreading the rumors.

"Can you hold it for me, I will be there in a couple of hours" First money in hand takes it. Want me to hold it? Paypal me the money.

Quote
SeanP
"Can you hold it for me, I will be there in a couple of hours" First money in hand takes it. Want me to hold it? Paypal me the money.

This--never dink around with waiting or holding. First with cash wins-- period

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____________________________________________________________-

One. Class -- 2WD

www.quantumrallysport.com

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/Quantum-Rally-Sport/281129179600?ref=nf

Also, not that you have to worry probably, but don't divulge your entire schedule and the buyers do not need to see inside your house or garage.
I always meet people somewhere else or for larger things, in my driveway. Maybe a bit overly cautious but I have heard stories of people using craigslist to rob houses. One neighbor of ours had his house robbed while he was at work not too long ago. They pulled a box van up and started loading stuff up. Big enough outfit to look legit so no neighbor questioned it. And in our urban hood with good mix of white and hispanic, no one seems to really know or talk with their neighbors.

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Grant Hughes

Quote
NoCoast
....And in our urban hood with good mix of white and hispanic, no one seems to really know or talk with their neighbors.

Grant Hughes
www.nocoastmotorsports.net
Denver, CO

Yeah I remember Denver back in the 70's. I lived in Ft. Collins, Englewood, Aurora, some suburb near Red Rocks, and up in the foothills in Conifer.

Was working in a shop in Denver for a while. Some crazy Mexican with a machete came running through the shop chasing some dude. The shop owner grabbed his gun, but the Mexican had already left the building.

That was over 30 years ago. At least there were still some cowboys there then, but Colorado was already being overrun with California hippies and a bunch of rich dicks in Aspen.

Aspen used to have a short road race track (some SCCA races held there including Trans Am I think). The owner used to let me practice there for free. Man, those days are gone.

accurate and thorough information and at least one decent picture

check your emails regularly and get back to people quickly, if they email you at 10 am on Thursday morning and you don't reply until noon on Friday, they've probably already moved on and disguarded you as a flake

if you do put "ad will be deleted when items are gone" make sure you delete your ad as soon as the item is gone

pocket of cash in one pocket, pocket of Glock in the other. Lot's of CL ripoffs as of late in our area.

I've sold things I wanted to get rid of without having to have hauled off somewhere or worry about adding to a landfill. Had great luck, my tips: Price it to get rid of it Tell people in your ad to email you with a phone number you can call them, this will weed out the people who aren't genuinely interested and allow you to call back from a blocked number for privacy. State in your ad this is for privacy reasons so people know you're for real. I've done both. Helps if you're in a larger city, if not consider posting in a bigger city near you if you have a friend or something who could help out. Good luck, In general I am not a fan of Craig's List and dislike most everything about it including Craig so use it and get out as quick as possible.

I'm not ending the thread. Any further comments are welcome.

From what y'all have written I feel a little better about trying listing on Craig's List.

Thanks!