Cheers,

JJ

For electronics…never buy from anyone who can’t boot up and prove that the item they’re selling works. Some folks will say “it worked when I last used it, but XYZ messed up and I can’t get it to work, but if you replace XYZ it will work fine.” Don’t trust them. Others will say “well, I don’t have the AC adapter to get it to power up, but other than that it works fine.” Maybe they’re not lying, but don’t chance it.

Only buy things you can show up, inspect, and see in operation. If the seller is hesitant to let you see the item in action, then that’s a huge red flag.

Also beware of folks who use the words “like new” and/or “GREAT” a lot. They will say “looks great, like new, really nice!”, but won’t give more details about the item. These folks are clueless about what they’re selling, and you’ll waste too much time playing email tennis to interrogate details out of them just to find out it’s not what you want.

But, yeah, some of the best stuff I got from CL was from the free section. One person gave me a whole lot of collectible Star Trek memoribilia.

You should also hang out in the regular sections and keep an eye out for free things. Another person was giving away a free copy of Sun Solaris OS. He didn’t post it in the free section, because folks responding there would just email him asking a lot of dumb questions (IE: if you have to ask what it is, then you’re not the one he wants to give it to). He posted it in the computer section, and nobody noticed except me. I read his ad and noticed he was giving it away free. I contacted him, got it, and it works perfectly for an old SUN machine I have.

One other time, I was scoping out the computer section and just typed in the search word “free”. Turns out this guy was cleaning out his storage shed of old PC hardware. I picked up several older laptops and other accessories…all for free. Again, he didn’t want to post it on the regular free section, because he wanted to give it to someone who would actually use it and appreciate it, not just hock it at a garage sale for $5.

I personally have given away several older computers in the free section…working computers, like P3′s and P4′s. I collected some to do BOINC science project crunching, but when I moved I didn’t want to take them with me. So, I posted them for free. Got rid of them that night to a guy who was very grateful to get them, and already had a project he was going to do with them in mind.

I recently used http://www.therentables.com they seem to have a lot of ads that are on craigslist too, but a lot better organized.

-Tom

Jason

It plots craigslist’s apartment listings on a fullscreen map and lets you filter by all the usual things, and then build a favorites list. Much easier to use than Craigslist itself.

Another great resource to add to your list is http://www.mapthatpad.com/

I recently came across it via a friend and its a pretty useful app to help with your apartment/housing searches on craigslist.

I agree that it’s important to reply to all of the emails you get from craigslist. I got tired of the email-tag and haggling over prices, so I put up a website help order the transaction and let people build up a persistent trading reputation: squaresandwich.com

Hope it helps!

[...] Craigslist – Again, I have not done this myself, but I know many people who have and it is obviously a very popular resource. Check out this link to learn more [...]

[...] JD gives 24 Craigslist tips [...]

[...] Use Craigslist to sell bulky items, or to get rid of stuff that just won’t sell. (My Craigslist tips.) [...]

[...] when I was trying to look for a cheaper place to stay in Manhattan, I took to heart the advice from this Get Rich Slowly post about craigslisting and did three [...]

[...] over at Get Rich Slowly wrote a great entry today called 24 Craigslist Tips, Tricks, and Resources. If you’re not a Craigslist lover now, you will be after reading that Share: These icons [...]

[...] Feb. 1st: 24 Craigslist tips, tricks, and resources [...]

However, I prefer Craigslist. And I do agree that many people are asking way too much for their used items.

I also agree with checking emails daily. One of the most successful things I’ve done is to constantly communicate. If I have a potential sale, I inform everyone else that I do and will email/call regardless of if I sell the item. People respond well to it. In fact, many have asked if I had other items for sale that I hadn’t posted and end up buying the items.

I’m also straight forward with people. I inform them that I could go back and forth between potential buyers to get higher prices, but I do not because if I wanted a higher price I would have listed it at the price.

I normally mass email all the buyers bcc’ing each, stating that whoever arrives first gets the item. Just think of yourself, people are going to respond better if they know they are going to be treated fairly in a sale.

The bad thing about CL are fake items and the Nigerian scammers.

[...] 24 Craigslist Tips, Tricks, and Resources Cragislist is one of the seven wonders of the internet. You can use it to find a job, buy a car, get a date for Saturday night, and sell that old couch. (tags: shopping money) [...]

[...] Get Rich Slowly has come up with a big honking post on Craigslist tips, tricks and resources. My experiences have mirrored his and I have to say I love Craigslist despite the scary stories you hear about it once in a while. J.D. has been a long time blogger for a while, maintaining a bunch of other sites besides this one. [...]

I love craigslist, though they really, really, really (really) need to beat down the spammers. People include “keywords” which have nothing to do with their sale. Guess what, guys, the dude looking for the Acura could care less about you selling your Minivan that you included every car make in the ad–and your ad now has a much more likely chance of being flagged down (I religiously flag those).
Y
ou can quickly separate the clueless from the motivated, which is nice. When you see two identical items priced more than 300% apart–often, with the better condition item cheaper–it’s fun.

If you’re really looking for a bargain, be ready to act. And by that I mean have your “bargain” cash in hand, and be ready to get in your car as soon as you hear from the seller, and even insist on going ASAP. My experience with craigslist sellers is that they aren’t much interested in worrying about who’s “in line” for an item, they just want it gone. So if you’re looking for a car that typically sells for $5000 and someone posts an ad for that machine for $3000 because taxes are due or an emergency has come up, go! Now!

(By “bargain” cash I mean an amount that covers your top “I don’t even need to think about this, that’s a deal” price. If you’re looking for a $5000 car and they typically sell for that, and there are a number generally available, obviously there’s not much pressure to act. But if you’re willing to wait for the aforementioned $3000 bargain listing, you need to be ready to act when it comes up–that guy is going to sell it very quickly, and his interest in hearing about your loan app is slender indeed.)