Though I may have achieved Half.com rock star status, my efforts on Craigslist have produced mixed results. Actually, no results. I have never successfully sold anything on Craigslist in spite of several attempts, or at least 3 attempts.
The book case that A-Rob and I built with our own hands – donated to Salvation Army
The wool rugs that were all clean and rolled up like new – given to a friend
The Ikea TV stand that screams 70′s fab – still in our garage
I’m not very gifted at selling on Craigslist.
So when posting a few large items prior to our last yard sale, I wasn’t expecting much. I was listing a lawn mower, a sofa bed, and the Ikea TV stand (again).
But this time, something magical happened. Within minutes of posting the lawn mower on Craigslist, I got a text from a potential buyer. Then twenty minutes later as I was having coffee with a friend, my phone was ringing every 5 minutes (yes, I was polite and let them go to voice mail, in case you were wondering).
Upon telling my friend about my lawn mower ad on Craigslist she informed me that lawn mowers are hot items in this town. Yeah. I guess I should have seen that coming. We Phoenicians like our patches of grass, they delude us into thinking we don’t live in the desert.
By the time I left the coffee shop, picked up the kids from school and went home, the first caller had met up with A-Rob at our house, and the lawn mower was officially sold for $120. Zero to sold in under two hours. And I spent the rest of the night and the next morning returning texts to the too-laters.
Side note: I wasn’t expecting all the texts from Craigslist folk. The last time I’d done this, texting wasn’t as prominent of a staple in society. I guess it makes sense though. Does that make me sound like a fuddy-duddy?
So, Secret #1 to selling on Craigslist is having something that people really want to buy.
But the story isn’t over. Remember that sofa sleeper I told you about?
I got absolutely no texts, no emails, and no phone calls about this one. Then exactly one week and two days later, I received an email. I had a potential buyer!
She requested to come over and view the merch on a Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately it was during a time when A-Rob was at a gig, and I was hoping she wasn’t really a he posing as a woman wanting a sofa for a 95 year old woman so he could come throw a burlap bag over my head and toss me into a van with no windows.
Fortunately, that wasn’t the case. And she liked the sofa!
I must say, I was quite the maven in my sales skills. No, I really wasn’t. I spent most of the time trying to placate Baby Rock who was freaking out about the fact that I’d taken the cushions off the sofa to show the woman the mattress. Being an eloquent salesperson while calming a toddler’s neuroses requires a level of skill I do not possess.
I actually felt bad I couldn’t ask her about her 95 year old mother, or tell her that she has the same name as my mom. I was half expecting her to not come back the next day to finalize the sale because I was such a scattered and rude mess.
But she came back. And we had $150 more to add to our pot. So I guess, Secret #2 to selling on Craigslist is being gosh-darn lucky.
Before I leave, I have one more bit of housekeeping to take care of:
Dear Mom,
Thank you for getting a new sofa bed for your den and donating your old one to our debt reduction cause.
The woman who bought your sofa has your same name, and she lives in your neighborhood. It will make her 95 year old mother very happy.
Love, Your Mooching Daughter
Aren’t mom’s great? So today I’m adding $270 to our total, which, by the way, is getting closer and closer to four digits. I better let A-Rob know he needs to tweak the code to make room for all those numbers.
I hope these enlightening secrets help you out with your Craigslist endeavors.
October 28, 2010 at 6:39 AM
The time of day and day of the week you post seems to really matter.
I posted my car for sale on a Monday and got no hits. I re-posted it on a Friday morning and it was sold that weekend.
In addition to my car, I sold over $1000 of stuff on craig’s last year in $10-$100 increments.
My big learning: Many people who shop Craigs, shop on the weekends. Now I only post on Fridays.
Do you remember what day you posted the duds vs the sellers?
October 29, 2010 at 6:01 AM
I can’t remember the days I posted the duds, but yes, that does make sense. The first time I posted the TV stand, I actually received several inquiries, but every time I responded to tell them it was still available, I never heard back. I was starting to think my emails had B.O. or something.
Thanks for sharing the tip!
October 28, 2010 at 6:41 AM
Oh and the Friday thing. At first this made no sense to me because if you’re looking for something, you’d search for it right? But some people seem to “browse” categories and they’ll only look at the first page of stuff.
November 2, 2010 at 7:23 AM
I sell on Craiglist all the time and have probably a 95% success rate, always at the price that I want. How do I do it? You’ll have to wait for my post! No, really, it is about what you put into your ad and the time that it’s posted.
November 2, 2010 at 9:02 AM
Be sure to send me the link when you post it. I have a pile of bricks in my back yard that I need to sell too :)
December 6, 2010 at 12:36 PM
if I ever get the courage to actually try to sell something on Craigslist, I hope to remember this post/comments. Didn’t know it’s all about selling locally. I thought you had to SHIP everything you sold. guess that’s e-bay?
December 7, 2010 at 5:42 AM
Too funny. Yes – Craigslist is local, eBay is not. :) (And it really is easy.)
August 1, 2011 at 9:45 AM
I hope this isn’t too long. My huge suggess on Craig’s List with yard sales.I’ll tell you one thing I discovered, having never used Craig’s List before. List your yard sale on there and they will come! Especially if the weather is bad. They want to go and buy somewhere. I was having a estate/moving sale, last minute my Brother suggested I put it on there and start a day early, so I posted it on Thurs. The weather was horrid and we had record rain. I put rain/shine it all goes INDOORS!! I had a shed out back and a garage and store room in the house, and used the kitchen too. They could do a walk through. Even though it was raining cats and dogs, Friday morning we started getting SLAMMED. My yard ended up being a mud puddle but I made over 1K in 2 days. I asked everyone how they heard Fri and SAt and 90% said Craig’s List. Amazing. It went so well I had another the following weekend. Made $800 more selling my parents’ things.
August 1, 2011 at 11:22 PM
Wow, that’s amazing that so many people found your sale from Craigslist. I did the same thing when we had our yard sale, but I never really knew how many of them actually came from that listing vs. just driving by.
August 2, 2011 at 6:19 AM
I was blown away! I would never have thought to even put it on there. When I reposted it the following week I put in the ad that there would be new stuff from different family members. That was a major factor with the money though. My parents were divorced over 20 yrs and died within 13 months of each other. It was my father’s home so all of his tools and everything else you can think of and my things from caring for him when I moved in a yr earlier. Then my mom moved in afterward before she became ill. I hadn’t put everything out at once. They foreclosed on the house. I know one thing I will never spend money on newspaper ads again. I never dreamed so many people looked on Craig’s List for yard sales. I know some of them were dealers, but what the heck. LOL Ebay has just about pushed the small seller out of the picture with their fees. I used to sell on there regularly. Etsy is something I have been looking at for a while now for my crafts, now that I am settling into my new place. Continued success to you!