How to post on Craigslist quickly and effectively
79I have been a Craigslist junkie for over a year now. For those who have not heard of craigslist.org or are new to this site it is a free classified site. Craigslitst is garage sales and flea markets meet the Internet. It is a great place for bargain hunters. Craigslist has local pages for many of the cities/areas of every US state, plus a long list of countries has joined the site. Craigslist or CL (as frequent users refer to the sight as) has message boards, job listings, business ads, personal ads, and classifieds.
For those new to the site you may be wondering how to effectively post your ads. Many people find Craigslist preferable to sights such as eBay where you have to deal with actions, fees, and shipping the item you wish to sell. With Craigslist you will be dealing with people from your area. You wont be shipping the item and they do not charge a fee for placing adds or selling the item. Now more importantly you have some stuff taking up space in your garage or attic you need to get rid of. How should you go about posting a successful ad? Here are some tips I have found that work quiet well of from buying and selling on Craigslist.
Before you even post your ad grab your digital camera or a friend's. Take pictures of the items you wish to sell. Make sure they are good pictures and show the items condition. If there are any imperfections in the item take a picture of those as well. You can only post four pictures, but trust me you will get emails later asking for more if you don't have good pictures. Be sure that when you take a picture of the item the area around the item is free from clutter. Just as with any other advertising image is everything.
If you plan on selling more than one item you will want to set up an account with craigslist. This makes posting and editing you ads much easier. If you do not have an account you will be sent an email to activate your ad and you must save the email if you want to delete or change the ad.
Choose the best category for your ad. Placing your ad under the wrong category could cause it to be flagged for removal. The Craigslist community can be picky we monitor our own board and one of the big pet peeves is miscatigorized items. Not only this, but you want people to find your ad. So it should be placed in the most likely spot to find those items. Don't place your ad in more than one category or in multiple cities your ads can be removed as spam.
Give your ad a clear title. Refrain from using all caps in your title or your post. For those who may not know but in Internet lingo all caps are the equivalent of yelling. Only give the most basic information in your title. Just like writing an article for hub pages you want your reader to know what they are looking at.
When you write your ad make it clear what you are selling, what condition the item is in, and how much you want for it. This will reduce the amount of emails you receive asking a million and one questions about the item. Not everyone that emails you will buy the item so it will save frustration on your part if you give as much detail about you item as possible. Make sure it is clear the method in which you want to be contacted. You will sell your item faster if you give a phone number to be reached at.
Keep in mind that most people on Craigslist are looking for a deal. You may want to check the site for prices on similar items. If you are asking too much you item may take longer to sell or may not sell at all. Be reasonable with your pricing you may be able to get more selling your item with another site. Just because you think your item is worth a lot does not mean your community does also. So if you are trying to get rid of collectibles or antiques you may want to look in to other places to sell your item.
Don't get frustrated by some of the email you may receive. Some people will try to offer you a lot less than your asking price. Just kindly tell them you are not willing to accept so little. If your price is non negotiable you may want to state that in your ads.
After you have posted your ad you will want to do follow up by checking your email regularly. Craigslist has the option to forward emails from perspective buyers to your email account. This leaves you the option of keeping your personal email private. By having the email forwarded to your address it keeps your email address anonymous, but it you choose to respond the buyer will then know your address. I know some people who set up a new email just for craigslist. If you are serious about selling your item you will want to answer any questions in a timely manner.
Following these tips will not guarantee you will sell your item. Sometimes items just do not sell. Using these ideas though will help to make the process smother and more successful. I have not sold every item I have ever posted but I have sold the majority of items posted.
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Thanks so much - great information. I love the idea of posting on firdays - I had no idea abotu that!
That is good information to remember about Craigslist. I use it to find writing jobs but you have to beware. Some of them are frauds. I just recently accepted a job of writing 10 articles for a guy and he sounded very legitimate. He asked for 10 articles, said he liked my writing style, and would payout through paypal when he received the articles. I sent the articles the next day and never heard from him again. My only contact with him was through email so I tried to email him to find out what the problem was and the email was sent back to me and was told the person had deleted the email account. Go figure!
So I just decided to use the articles elsewhere. I have received a few writing jobs from craigslist though. Not all of them are frauds. I have also used the classified ads to list things for sale.
Even though I am also using craiglist, the information from you is something new and good, thanks a lot for the hub and also for the request made.
Good information ..thank you for sharing ...will check it out.
Great information, posting on Craigslist effectively is crucial
Hello HGTG. Greetings from a Bryan-born (Go Aggies!) now California hubber. Love Craigslist, it really helps me rent my apartments. Thanks for the all caps tip---that is so Texan--like pulling off to the side when someone behind you is going faster than you. Forgive me for this friendly advice: Did you know your title says "quicky" instead of "quickly?" Also, when you acknowledge our comments, it is the Texas equivalent of hospitality. Nice to read a fellow Texan, I miss the gracious people there. =:)
Dear homegrowntexasgir, I'm new to hubpages, and I just posted my first hub about Craigslist. I wanted you to know that I linked this hub to mine so that others can read your thoughts and tips, too.
Awesome tips!!
Thanks for all the wonderful comments. I am sorry, but I have been away from hubpages for awhile and not been keeping up with things.
Great tips,it is true many people send you junkie messages but it is helpful if you got at least 40% positive reply.
Good point, Paradigm! Time of week, and time of day are important! As you stated though, Fridays are kind of hit or miss for me. As long as it's not for a garage sale this weekend, or something like that, I find Monday's to be great! People seem to be browsing at work or something. True story!
Thanks for this detailed information about CL. I have used it on several occasions before and have been very happy with the results. Nowadays, I distribute my ads on different medium and small classified sites.
Good tips. Here's one more for your readers: Post just before paydays. People have money on paydays. Even if they have been saving up for a larger item that last $20 will come in on a payday and then they are ready to go shopping. I agree with posting on Fridays too, people have time to go look at things on the weekend. Always let an ad ride for a week or more, reposting too frequently will annoy people and draw flags. You don't want your ad to wear out it's welcome (like a higher priced item that is going to take awhile to sell.
When you post an ad on craigslist you provide a way, on the web, for anyone to contact you. Spammers will take advantage of this to send you spam. They cannot be stopped. They do it to everyone, don't take it personally. Simply delete the spam emails and don't waste a second thought on them. Your ad was free, deleting some spam is the price of the free ad.
If you request, in your ad, that people provide a phone number then the spam emails become very easy to spot. Spammers don't have phone numbers. In fact, they don't even read the ads, they are responding with bots. Perhaps say something like: "Please reply with a phone number and the best time to call. No number; no reply. Thanks!". Then you delete ALL responses that don't have phone numbers.
Avoiding spam is only half the battle, you need to avoid the flakes too. Some "legitimate" responders won't include a phone number, even when asked. Just delete their emails. They didn't read the ad and they will waste your time. Real buyers read the ad, usually several times. Sometimes kiddies will send you fake replies just to see if you'll stick to your No number; No reply statement. Stick to it.
When people reply with a phone number call them and leave a message with your own number if needed. Only call once, ever. If they can't answer the phone or get it together to return a phone message, forget them. They won't get it together to come buy your item either.
Putting your own phone number in the ad can be an iffy move. People may call at very odd hours and they will call long after the item is gone and the ad deleted. Posting your phone number out on the web is generally not a good idea, there are just too many privacy and security concerns.
I find that posting on friday dose work very well especialy when posting ads for my carpet cleaning service !
Thanks for nicely explain this post about classified ad. I found it very essential for me and my site.
Great hub, lots of useful info. I regularly use Kijiji and craigslist so all of this info is very effective. Thanks!
Thanks, I love using craigslist when I can't use ebay.
ParadigmShift... 3 years ago
I think it is also important to note that items posted on a Friday have a better chance of being seen than say, on a Monday or Tuesday. the majority of people check craigslist on the weekends. I know I have a habit of checking on Sunday, but only going back as far as Friday. Needless to say i'm not your average dedicated bargain hunter, so your results may vary. Also, the only sure fire way to get rid of an item is to mark it down to some ridiculous price.