we've heard about mr. craig and his list,however, not all of us are sold(pardon the pun)or familiar with his benefits and rewards
i wanted to offer you a novice walk thrufrom someone who's dabbled.warning:i am not a professional.
i'm sure if you searched you would find someonefar more suited, craftier and more cleverto offer their expertise.
once again,i am not a professional.
but here is my humble take on the process:
rather than donate a good piece of furniture,a decent household item or even a collectible toyour local goodwill chapterwe now have a new money making alternative.
craigslistcraigslist is a local online classified ad(if you will)
you can buy, sell, trade or even give away items through craigslist.
remember this post?my girls wanted to replace their too-small bicyles fornew and improved beach cruisers.
so here we are.selling the old ones on,you guessed it,craigslist.
step one:pricing
you want to price your item correctly.first we must research: click over to your area-specificcraigslist and actually search the itemyou are attempting to sell.we are looking to find out whatwe will price our own item for.*don't price too low, don't price too high.i looked up 24" bikeand found bikes priced between $25 and $75.
looks like our magic price will be someone in the middle.
step two: photos
take close up, clean photos.(doctor them up on picnik, if you are feeling it)
*see this post if you have no idea what picnik is
step three:post
click back over to your area craigslist.select the category in which you will post. for sale, jobs, personal, etc.once there, click the 'post' button up in the right hand cornerhere we go...if you don't have an account yet,you will need to do this now.it's okay.walk into the light.once you are good to go and have your account, you will follow the prompts to post your item.top three headings are:posting title pricespecific location then you will write a brief description of your item.be specific, concise and direct.
*refer interested listers to your email only.do NOT list your cell phone.finish following the prompts until posted.presto!done.
you will then get a link to your post from craislist.
good job.
do you feel like an accomplished money maker now?
here is a look at my final product.
now just a few things to keep in mindas you bargain, haggle and show your item for sale...
-once contact has been made with you by an interested party (via email, because that is all you have listed in your post, right?)you can eventually give them your cell phone. only do this when you are sure they are a serious buyer.-only accept cash(and make that be known in your email exchanges)-when it comes to actual sale of item, chose to meet in a public place (starbucks is always good) if you itemis small enough to shuttle in your car.if not, meet in front of your house. be wary of letting people into your home.if your item is simply too large, i would suggest hauling those larger pieces into garageto eliminate going into your home at all. i have been known to drag piece of furniture into driveway to eliminate going inside at all, even the garage.
if unavoidable and item is in the house, going nowhere, make sure hubs is home, or call a friend for reinforcementsas a stand by when potential buyer need to go in your home. oh and bring rover inside too. make his presence be known.
i hope i covered it all.
good luck.
for all you out in blog land who are experts
and have gone through this process already,
would love your thoughts.
feel free to add anything i might have forgotten,
or things i perhaps don't know at this point.
would love to know your success stories,
or pitfalls to beware of.
as always,
thanks for being here.