Craigslist is commonly known as the world’s largest virtual garage sale. Just about anything you imagine can be put up for sale. In that respect it’s essentially a digital classifieds paper of massive proportions.
Simply getting rid of unwanted items or trading unused items for necessities is one of the most basic ways of turning a profit on Craigslist. You do have to be careful about what you post though. Some items are restricted from being posted on craigslist.
What you can and cannot sell
Craigslist isn’t particularly strict on enforcing its policies. This is because there are so many millions of listings being posted every day that it would be nearly impossible to moderate without automated software.
That being said, they take the safety of their users and cooperation with law enforcement very seriously. The following items are prohibited from being offered for sale on Craigslist.org. You may see listings for some of these items anyway but my advice is to stay clear.
Obscene Material: This is for legal (and arguably moral) reasons. Any type of illegal adult content (especially child pornography) is strictly prohibited from being posted.
Weapons etc.: This includes firearms, disguised/switchable knives, martial arts weapons, scopes, silencers, ammo, magazines, BB guns, pellet guns, tear gas or stun guns (among other things.
Fireworks & Explosives: No fireworks or explosive materials of any kind are permitted to be posted (regardless of safety).
Illegal Drugs & Controlled Substances: This includes drug paraphernalia.
Alcohol or Tobacco: No alcoholic drinks, smokable or non-smokable tobacco products are allowed.
Prescription Drugs & Medical Devices: This includes prescription contact lenses, defibrillators, hypodermic needles and hearing aids.
Blood, Bodily Fluids or Body Parts: This is self explanatory. If you plan on selling any of these on a classified-style website please put the book down and seek counsel.
Pets of any kind: This is specifically in regards to selling pets. It’s okay to adopt out pets even if there’s a small adoption fee. I don’t recommend using Craigslist as a resource for adopting pets, however.
Pesticides: or hazardous substances, or items containing hazardous substances including but not limited to contaminated toys, or art or craft material containing toxic substances without a warning label.
Illegal telecommunications equipment: including but not limited to access cards, password sniffers, access card programmers and "unloopers", or cable descramblers
Stolen property: or property with serial number removed or altered.
Burglary tools: including but not limited to lock-picks or motor vehicle master keys
False identification cards: items with police insignia, citizenship documents, or birth certificates.
Counterfeit currency: coins and stamps, tickets, as well as equipment designed to make them.
Counterfeit: replica or knock-off brand name goods.
Material that infringes copyright: including but not limited to software or other digital goods you are not authorized to sell, warez, bootlegs (without consent of the band).
Airline tickets: that restrict transfer, and tickets of any kind which you are not authorized to sell.
Coupons: or gift cards that restrict transfer, and coupons or gift cards which you are not authorized to sell.
Gambling items: including but not limited to lottery tickets, sports trading card 'grab bags', raffle tickets, sweepstakes entries or slot machines.
Used or rebuilt batteries: or batteries containing mercury.
Used bedding and clothing: unless sanitized in accordance with law.
Non-packaged food items: or adulterated food.
Bulk email: or mailing lists that contain names, addresses, phone numbers, or other personal identifying information Aside from those major things to avoid you can pretty much sell anything. Popular items include: video game systems, computers, computer components, cars, auto parts, trading cards, antiques, furniture, cell phones, toys, bicycles, event tickets and CD’s/DVD’s.
How to Market Your Items
Being able to market your unwanted items is the key to being able to sell them to strangers on craigslist. A poorly written or uninformative ad will not get you any sales and nothing drives potential customers away faster than annoying ads!
Just because you’re selling your own personal items in garage-sale fashion doesn’t mean you have to be unprofessional about it. Using professional-sounding marketing lingo and commercial advertising tactics works just as well on craigslist as just about any other medium.
Using Advertising Language to Market
It’s a good idea to develop a paradigm for how you present your items for sale on Craigslist. Make a template that pretty much stays the same and then fill in the blanks for each individual item. This allows you to have consistency so when people see more and more of your listings they will come to recognize you. Building a rapport with your potential customer base is essential to repeat success.
You should also be aware of how you describe your goods. Look up your products at other online retailers and see how they’re marketing. Use key phrases that are associated with your product and point out specific features that are noteworthy.
Your message should be reassuring and hype-building. The viewer needs to be intrigued and convinced that they need your item for one reason or another. For example: If you’re selling a professional-grade camera then don’t just list it’s specifications, tell the potential buyer what he or she can use the camera for and how it’s superior to its competitors. Just remember to consider the “keep it brief” rule while you’re writing your ads. Short, powerful sentences are best. Bullet points and lists of examples or features are also a great tool as they combined thorough explanation of the product with the brevity required to keep peoples’ attention.
Combos, Bonuses and Best Offers, Oh My!
Another thing you see a lot of in professional advertisements is the inclusion of special offers. This is effective as it reassures the customer that, not only are they getting their money’s worth, but they’re getting a great deal as well. On Craigslist this can be as simple as selling a lot of items combined instead of individually.
Let’s say you’re selling a popular video game console and you’re also looking to sell the individual games as well. You can put all of them on a single sales page. Offer the console and the games separately at whatever prices you choose and then, at the end of your ad, offer them all together with slight discount to the overall price as a bonus for buying the whole lot. (E.G. Sell the console for $100, the games for $20 and if the viewer buys the console and 3 games it only costs $140 instead of $160.)
Another thing to remember is that these ads are time sensitive and you can always get rid of your ad when the item is sold, modify it if conditions are changed or delete and re-post it to get a fresh start. A good tactic is to add time-sensitive bonuses. Offer to cut 20% off the price if the buyer responds by the end of the day. Alternatively you can do the opposite. If you’re trying to market a popular or hard-to-sell item then it may be a good idea to start a little high and gradually reduce the price if no one has made an offer.
The last thing to remember about special offers is this simple little abbreviation: O.B.O. It stands for “Or Best Offer.” This is very common in the cars/trucks section of craigslist as people are generally more likely to haggle on car prices then other items. Sometimes mentioning that you’re willing to haggle can be the difference between getting a bite or not. If you’re willing to accept a little less then it doesn’t hurt to mention it but if you do, expect to be almost definitely offered a little less (hence it’s good to start higher than you think the item is worth). If you’re not willing to negotiate on the price and you don’t need to sell the item fast, you can use the keyword firm.
To Sell, or to Toss? That is the Question.
Nobody likes to admit that some of their favorite “treasures” are only special to them and them alone. Some items just aren’t going to sell anytime soon either because they’re personal items that other people are put off by or they’re obsolete items that aren’t appreciating in value.
If you’re going to be posting a lot of ads on Craigslist then it’s important to consider whether or not the items you’re selling are actually going to turn a profit or if you should just toss them. Being a packrat can be a great starting point for amassing a collection of merchandise to sell but it can also be your downfall if you don’t understand the value of what you have. It’s also pertinent to consider when and where you’re trying to sell your goods as these factors play a major role in who’s buying from you. It doesn’t hurt to list these items, you might get a hit. But ultimately you have to decide if it’s worth your time to post an ad with a near-zero percent chance of success. As they say, time is money.
Obsolete & Out of Sight
Some of the hardest to sell items in the world are old electronics and utilitarian devices that have become obsolete. Very few of these things gain value until they become extremely old. Sure, there are exceptions. Anything that was rare, limited or the first of its kind has a good chance of being valuable. Most of these items were valuable when they first appeared though. Anything that was ubiquitous or widespread when it first came out probably hasn’t gained much value.
Old computers are probably the hardest sell as they often have little- to-no value to today’s potential customers. If you have a home PC from between 1987 and 1999 it’s very unlikely that you’re going to sell it easily because even the strongest and most expensive computers from those times don’t even come close to the economy/low-expense computers that are available today. Even a $1,000 computer from 2000 has less than 15% the power of a $500 computer from today’s market. Unless your old PC (or MAC) is a known collectible or rare find, you’re better of recycling it. This also applies to old computer accessories like floppy discs and zip drives.
This doesn’t just apply to personal computers. Just about any communications device from the past 20 or 30 years is of limited value. Old cell phones aren’t even usable today, pagers have been obsolete for years and even corded telephones are scarce these days. Even if you find buyers for some of these items, remember that this is generally an in-person pick up situation. How much money will you really get for a single corded telephone that’s 10 years old? Will that be worth your time and gas money, or the customers?
One exception to the electronics rule is the video game console. Most of the time these are considered collectible and regardless of what time period they’re in they can still be useful because they’re entertainment devices and not utilitarian objects. Keep in mind the same cannot be said for cassette tapes, video cassettes, beta cassettes, laser discs and 8-tracks. Despite the entertainment value of those devices they’re generally not held in as high of esteem as game consoles and only the rare and collectible will turn a profit.
The last thing to remember about obsolete products is software. Computer software that’s more than 10 years old is very likely to be obsolete and of limited value. These might be worth trying to sell if you have a large collection and plan on selling the entire thing. Not all customers have a concept of what software is relevant or up-to-date so there is some leeway here. If you can convince the customer that there is a big deal to be had and lots of content, you might get away with selling obsolete software. Just make sure it’s at least compatible with modern computer technology.
Family Treasures
Junior’s macaroni Picasso might look great on the fridge but it’s probably not going to draw in a lot of customers, at least not the kind you want to meet in person and do business with. Some items are best left in the family or, if there’s no other choice, thrown away. Homemade items do have a place on craigslist but you have to remember that not everyone’s idea of quality is exactly the same.
Engraved sports trophies, homemade art projects and used school supplies aren’t exactly at the top of the “hot items” list when it comes to selling things online. If there’s a small market for these types of nostalgic treasures it’s decidedly small and of questionable value. Old toys and used personal items might be sellable but consider the condition they’re in and how useful they might be to a potential buyer. If you’re selling these types of items just to get rid of them then you might consider just throwing them out or stuffing them in a shed instead.
Is it Seasonal? Timing is Key
How often do you decide to go out and buy a new winter coat? Is it something you’re considering during the sweltering summer? What about bathing suits and sandals, notice any good deals on those types of items during the harsh winter? Some items are seasonal and really don’t make sense to try and sell at the wrong time. Even if you do get a buyer they might expect a much lower than normal price because it’s off season.
Fall & Winter: Coats, gloves, pants, fur boots, pajamas, heaters, firewood, umbrellas, ponchos, blankets and (In the Northern Hemisphere) Holiday Decorations are items that tend to be popular during the cold autumn and winter months but aren’t particularly popular during summer as they aren’t really needed. Popular items also sell very well during the gift- giving holidays (winter in the north, summer in the south) so it may be pertinent to wait until those holidays come close to sell heavily popular and hard-to-obtain items as they will fetch a higher price. Pets will also have an advantage if adopted in the winter because the spring population boom will saturate the market and make them harder to place.
Spring & Summer: Bathing suits, sandals, sunglasses, fans, coolers, shorts, tank-tops, sunscreen, tanning lotion, bottled water, sporting equipment, school supplies, flower/grass seed, swimming pools, gardening equipment and construction tools tend to sell more during the summer than the winter (again for utilization reasons).
Safety Tips for In-Person Exchanges
Craigslist is a wonderful tool for advertising, marketing, communication and networking but it has it’s pitfalls as well. One of the weaknesses of selling items on Craigslist is that you will generally be expected to meet people in person to trade the items for money etc.
Unless the item is something extremely large it is recommended to meet the person in a public place like a diner or café. If you’re meeting this person for the first time it is a good idea to bring a friend with you. When meeting someone in person cash is always preferable. Avoid taking checks, money orders or anything that can’t be verified right away. If the customer is willing to pay in advance, PayPal is a safe and acceptable form of payment.
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