I used to be into eBay to sell stuff, but now my friends keep telling me that Craigslist is the way to go. Since it lets me side-step the whole shipping issue, and definitely seems to lower the chance that I’ll be ripped off if I’m meeting someone locally to do the deal. Do you ever sell stuff on Craigslist, Dave, and if so, can you offer some tips?
You’re in luck. I not only continue to use eBay to both buy and sell stuff, I also use Craigslist extensively and, in fact, just this week sold my old Apple iPhone 3G through Craigslist, a transaction that was terrific: I had two inquiries within about four hours of listing the phone and closed the deal – in person, cash – within six. A definite win, and it reduced the price of my hardware upgrade to under $100, which is a far better deal than what AT&T was asking, but that’s kind of out of the scope of this post.
Before you start with Craigslist, know that it’s organized by region and that they recommend – and I concur – that you stick with your own geographic region when you post any products for sale. You might add a close major metropolitan area (as I might add Denver though I’m in Boulder, a suburb about 30 miles away) (well, not a “suburb”, per se) but Craigslist receives a LOT of spam so they have lots of sophisticated filters that will detect violations of their terms of service, which include posting the same ad in a lot of different regional Craigslist sites.
Okay. Go to craigslist.com and pick your local region or, perhaps, the desired region within which you want to sell your product. On the top left you’ll see this:
As you can see, you’ll want to click on “post to classifieds”, which then shows you this:
Assuming this is what you want, click on “for sale”, as I have done. Now it’s time to pick a specific category:
There are a lot of categories, so take the time to dig around and find the one that’s a perfect match. For my iPhone I chose “computer & tech”.
Finally, we can see the classified ad form itself:
I filled out the form fields and suddenly, the craigslist classified advertisement is starting to look real:
Some Craigslist sellers omit the price from the subject but since the search allows you to constrain your results by minimum or maximum price, I recommend against that.
I do, however, strongly recommend that you add photographs any time you can, even if they’re mediocre photographs. For mine, I took pictures with my new iPhone of my old iPhone and it was clearly sufficient to do the job.
To add images, click on “Add / Edit Images” on the bottom. Now you’ll see four spots where you can add graphics:
Click on “Choose File” and select each image, then when you’re done, the image filenames will be shown:
Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on “Continue” to upload the images and jump straight to a preview of the advertisement you’re about to run:
Move down just a bit and you’ll see the images
Coolness. Now we’re getting somewhere!
Next step is to accept the Craigslist terms of use, which are long and complicated. Ideally, you’ll read through it, but realistically, you won’t. I don’t. Actually, I just wish there was a nice succinct bullet list at the top of “key points”…
So, since you didn’t read it, well, okay. So click on “ACCEPT the terms of use”.
Did that? Good. Prove to Craigslist that you’re not a spam engine next:
In this case I enter “gloated section” (which ain’t easy to see here!) and can proceed. In fact, there’s not much to do at this point:
You’ll want to switch now to your email program and look for a message from Craigslist.com. In my mailbox, I see:
You’ll want to, nay, need to click on the “post.craigslist.org” link, which will prove to the Craigslist server that you’ve entered a valid email address. It doesn’t take more than a second or two to see:
As it explains, you need to click on “publish” here to have the classified advert go live. If you want to fiddle and tweak it more, click on “edit”, but if not, “publish” is the way to go.
You’re up, and you’re live. Congratulations, you’ve become a Craigslist seller. I hope you see quick success.
Oh, and a tip: locals can write bad checks too. In fact, my advice is to always meet with potential buyers in busy public places, not your house. If you do meet at your house, at least meet outside. Safety first.
I’ve sold successfully using Craigs List, from a car to a tennis racket, but now I’m downsizing, and selling tons of items myself would be overwhelming. Are there any “resellers” who would buy my items, individually or in bulk, and then sell them on Craigs List. If so, how do I find them and know their reliable?
thanks,
Dave –
Thaks for all the above info – great. I do have one question since I have never done this before- I do not own a computer and would rather use my telephone # in the ad. Is this possible or do I have to use my email only?
Thanks for your response.
Dave, I need some info.
After having loaded my pictures from my camera into the computer and have
done the listing how do I transfer the pictures into the ad? Can you please
be specific as I am new at this. Thank you so much. Judy
Sorry Dave, I am a novis I don’t know my web site
or URL
I would like to list a .Shaft Hedge Trimmer.Its about 3 years old & hardly used. It cost $600.I would like to sell it for $200
Anthony, Craigslist is pretty lax about things as far as I have seen, so if you legitimately have a dozen or two things to sell, you are free to post them one-at-a-time, as appropriate.
Paulette, it’s free to post for-sale items and other categories vary based on region (like real estate listings). In terms of the transport of items sold, that’s up to you and the seller, Craigslist only acts as the posting venue,..
is there a charge for posting iterms? also, am I responsible for transporting any items sold?
I am new to this and I don’t want to get banned before I start; so here’s my question. I see that you are only allowed 4 pictures per post, but is there a limit on how many post you make as long as it is different items each time? Or do you have to wait for each item to sell before you can make another post? Thank you; and have a good day.
I agree to your terms
I cant sell on craigslist because they claim i am giving them the wrong email !
How do I get started to sell my things on craigs list
If you’re unsure what to price your item at, check out worthmonkey.com. It’s a free and easy way to find out what a product’s current worth is based on recent sales and asking prices. Enjoy!
Your friend is right instead of ebay you can advertise your products in craigslist without any fee except in some cities.
I would like to resubmit an adv. that did not sell. Can I do this simply?
I would NOT meet at my house. Even outside. then they know where you live and could come back to rob you.
Also, when meeting locally, only agree to cash. NO checks of any kind. If you can, bring a bill cheking magic marker.
That said, I sold my 8 GB iPhone last year for 300, the night before I went in and bought my 3G
I am buying a 3Gs next week, and plan on selling the 3G for 400 (it is 16 GB, 2 months old due to a theft, and other than the iPhone [which has been in a case and had a screen on since day 1,] not one of the other pieces were removed from the box due to it being a replacement for a stolen iPhone).
While AT&Ts upgrade prices may be high, I have found it relatively painless and cheap to upgrade on your own with the help of Craigslist. Reliable unlock and jailbreak solutions for the 3Gs will not be around for months, and until then someone looking to use an iPhone on T-Mobile will most certainly buy your iPhone 3G at a reduced rate than what they would have to pay (Out of contract 3G 8 GB, 499. 16 GB, 549 (while available). If you can sell them a pretty much new iPhone 3G for 400, they will be pretty happy at the savings…