Advice for selling stuff on craigslist?

[ryan]

I'm selling my old ps3 on craigslist. Any good suggestions about not getting burned?

Never sold anything there before, and all the stuff I've bought/sold online has been from local people that I know, or people in the off road club that I trust

I'm very skeptical of it all right now. Don't even know what forms of payment won't get me burned other than cold hard cash

 

[kevinsranger]

dont take checks obviously, and expect to get a bunch of b.s. fake emails and a bunch of tire kickers asking for pics of every angle.

 

[GoodysGotaCuda]

meet someone somewhere, gas station, whatever. bring a counterfeit pen and take cash

 

[LittleHorse]

I dont take anything other than cash. Seems like most of the people I encounter over craigslist are clowns of the highest degree. Like the kind of guy that will tell me his '88 Bronco 2 runs and lets me drive a freakin HOUR to go look at it, to discover through my own detective work that it hasn't been driven in 3 years and hasn't run in at least enough time for the gasoline to become completely non-flammable, and has pure water in the radiator when it's getting down to 20° on a nightly basis. All while he tells me to my face that this stone cold engine was running two hours before I showed up. And then acts insulted when I offer $400 under his $800 asking price (for a non-running truck with shoddy bondo work and unrepaired body damage???).

Every now and then I find someone with a shred of intelligence and honesty and the deal works out great for both parties.

 

[kevinsranger]

oh yea, dont ever have them come to ur house, alot of them guys look around for how ur house is set up or how u lock ur garage and all.

 

[fastpakr]

Yep, cash only (or Paypal if you sell by mail) - no checks, money orders, etc...

 

[Psychopete]

I would accept cash, paypal (tell them to make it for a service, I think that is the one that that doesn't tax you fees), or a money order. There was a time that I bought off of Ebay and money order was the only method of payment I used. Anything else is pretty sketchy to me. Obviously don't ship or sell until you have money in hand. Whether you get burned or not is how well you can deal with hagglers.

Pete

 

[ryan]

i went craigslist so i wouldnt have to ship, so i figured that was the first step to not getting burned

is there a problem with people passing off counterfit bills? i figure it's pretty low risk, but what do i know?

i'm selling it cheap -$300 with some other odds and ends - so i'm expecting the freaks to come out. so far, not much. not even one obvious scam email!

 

[Shran]

I have sold some things on Craigslist but in all honesty, I hate it. Like was said above, the worst sort of people gravitate to it for some reason. In my experience you will get a couple people who will say they're 100% commited to buying it, then never come through. Or the ones who try and get you to sell it after you've promised it to someone else, then act offended when you say it's sold.

My guidelines for craigslist sales:

- NEVER meet at your house.
- Cash only, counterfit pens are always necessary.
- Post your prices as firm, otherwise you will get people who will try to jew you way down
- I never offer any kind of warranty other than saying it works when it leaves my possession
- Keep a blacklist of people who are not good customers. That way you won't have to deal with them in the future.

Craigslist is a decent way to sell things sometimes. Plus there aren't nearly as many asshats as there are on Freecycle or swap and sell, if you have those.

 

[baxtej44]

i recently sold quite a few things around the house...

it takes a while to get someone who is willing to give your full amount, or offer something reasonable, but it comes. keep reposting it like everyday

include GOOD pictures... not cell phone pics
give list of entire items

etc etc..


basically like everyone else said
cash only
public place
bring the biggest friend you can find haha.


meet only in the daytime

 

[triumphrider-1]

I must be doing something wrong; I have yet to recieve 1 e-mail for my jeep (slicitors or actual interest).

As far as selling other stuff, I get cash; money orders would probably be good, but I don't know how to tell if their counterfeit or legit.

 

[ryan]

finally got my first scammer!

asked normal questions with the first email, and then obviously copy-pasted something from an email that was a scam in a follow up email

 

[baxtej44]

I must be doing something wrong; I have yet to recieve 1 e-mail for my jeep (slicitors or actual interest).

As far as selling other stuff, I get cash; money orders would probably be good, but I don't know how to tell if their counterfeit or legit.

you can look for all the security things in like 20's and above..

watermarks, colored ink, security strip...

best bet is to just use a counterfit pen



am i the only retarded one and didn't know money was made out of cotton until like a year ago? (gee, i hope it's true, cuz if it's not i'm gonna be pissed lol)

 

[v-8power]

If you take a money order only get one from the post office. They have a phone number on them that you can call to verify the amount it's worth.

 

[pimtool]

I have had great luck with craigslist. I bought and sold several things.

Couple of replys by email and a final phone call to set things up and take cash only.