i never put my phone number in a craigs list ad.
i learned my lesson after the first time with idiots that feel just because they are up at 2 am everyone else should be too.

 

On average, I make $400 to $600 a month on CL buying and selling. I do mostly seasonal, buy lawnmowers in the fall/winter (or non-running in the spring) and sell fixed up for a decent price in the spring. A couple years back, I went nuts with snowmobiles. I had a dozen I paid $40 or less for, got running and was selling for $200 and up. It snowed on halloween, and I sold my most expensive one that week. It didn't snow again that winter, and I took a bath on them in the spring. Overall I broke even.
I have had some great things off the free section that I turned around and sold for a very nice profit.
Then you get the know-it-alls who tell you your item is worth so much more. I had a vintage 1969 couch in like-new shape I listed for free, nobody wanted it but several told me how much it was worth. I relisted it for $200, and could have sold ten of them.

 

Don't get me wrong---CL can be a great marketplace. When I was on a serious hunt for a very specific Snap On box it was the most helpful and probably only way to find it. Naturally it was a 2 hour drive one way to pick it up but it was what I wanted in near new condition so it was well worth it.

Its very interesting how we each weed out the tire kickers; some using emails and others like myself via phone conversations. Whether we'd blame or congratulate the "music business" for my terse way of dealing with lookers I learned a lot and honed my approach quite a bit dealing with those in the "industry". Talk about tire kickers.........

Most of our searches on-line or in person tend to be different and effective perhaps based more on us than the venue?

 

Wow, you guys are harsh. I love a good haggle mixed with some BS and hunting/fishing/truck stories. That's why I use Craigslist and always put make offer or OBO.

I haven't had any bad experiences with Craigslist outside of the occasional scam e-mail. Of course I'm sure living in the middle of nowhere helps - it's a long drive for anyone not too serious.

 

Fair enough----but let me ask something.........do you assume the haggling is automatically part of any item's advertised listing? Because you love the bickering or haggling over price others do too?

I'm not bashing you, just curious.

 

Even if the says firm, I do ask if the seller on the phone if they are sure that they won't take less - but only once. Then if I show up I will again pose the same question and then drop it. I have got $500 off of a truck listed for $8500 firm - it never hurts to ask, IMO.

 

the few items i bought the price was fair and the responses they got i was happy to pay asking price,,,guess it all depends on item and location,,,some things that never move becomes time to barter,,, never tried any of them

 

I was thinking the same thing... I never list something for sale at the lowest price I will take for it... Of course I've been a horse trader for most of my life...

Tim

 

My favourite is when I get an email asking if I still have it. I'll say yes and ask if they'd like to see it. No response. Every time. Every single time.

For the record, I hate this. I feel as though that it is the seller's responsibility to name a price and not that of the prospective buyer's. Even if I really want something and it asks to make an offer, I'll skip right past it because I don't want to bother. Just give a ballpark OBO price and haggle.

 

It can work out well in the sellers favor to just say make an offer. I've sold quite a bit of stuff (not on CL) for way more than I would've taken for it. The best was an old PTO driven generator, a guy found out I had it and stopped by one day (I wasn't even trying to sell it) I told him I had no idea what it was worth and to make me an offer (I had a number in my head, $400) he said he'd give me half of what a new one cost, which turned out to be $2500. So I made $2100 more than I would've by keeping my mouth shut...

Tim

 

When people don't want to make me an offer (I only leave the price off of parts for sale) I will normally just double what I want for it. If they seem like a jovial sort of a fellow, I might just throw out "a million bucks" with a dead serious expression.

 

If I see an item for sale with no price listed, I just figure they want too much for it (and know it!) and are embarrassed to list the price, and I move on.

I never list an item for the lowest price I'll take for it, I've been lowballed on virtually every ad. The transaction I mentioned the other day went well, though I didn't think it was going to at first. I was selling some wheels/tires. I wanted $650 for them so I listed them for $750. This guy offered me $350 and I said no way I could let them go that cheap. He said he understood and thanks anyway so I figured that was the end of it. A day later he offers me $550, I said I hadn't had them listed for very long and I felt I do much better than that. He came back with $650 so I said okay and it was a done deal. He showed up when he said he would (we exchanged phone numbers after I agreed to his offer and we kept in touch by text and phone) and he was happy with the tires, and is interested in some other stuff I have for sale too.

My best CL sale though was when I found a '70 Bumpside in my local wrecking yard with a newer 390 swapped in, and a pair of factory cast iron long-tube headers on it from a '63'64 Galaxie. I got them for 75 bucks, sandblasted them and painted them with cast-iron high heat paint, and replaced the flange studs. I saw a couple sets for sale on eBay. one guy wanted $1500 for them but had no bidders. A couple other sets were in the $750-900 range so I listed them on CL at $850. Got a response from a guy in Arizona and after emailing back and forth I felt he was legit. We talked by phone and I wound up selling them to him for $800 plus shipping. He paid me with PayPal and we kept in touch for a while after the transaction, he even emailed me some pics of his Galaxie undergoing restoration. Sometimes you can just tell when a guy is on the level.

 

I have never sold anything on Craigslist. I have listed one thing, river rocks, hundreds that I wanted to get rid of for free. Many called, a few said they would come by, I said first come first served and in the end one woman showed up who took them all.

I have bought three vehicles though. My Park Lane in 2003, the F100 in 2005 and the Polara in 2009. The Park Lane was owned by someone in a sister club to my Cougar Club and that buy was easy. I showed up for the F100 when stated, looked over the truck listed at $1200, and decided it was worth the money. Bought. The Polara I showed up to look at it and talk with the young owner. Told my interest and that I would be back the next week with brother in tow. It was listed at $1600, which I considered a good deal, showed up with the money and drove it home. Previous callers only wanted parts off the car.

 

And I'd be okay with this approach. The dynamic when standing face-to-face with someone after a bit of conversation and friendly discussion and the for sale item is far different from trying to negotiate over the phone.

I attempt to reinforce I won't negotiate as a way to let them know I'm not strapped for cash and they won't be walking away with a half-off deal.

I'm what you'd call a bit of a hard case---if you're being nice that is --when it comes to selling things, whether that's good or bad depends how much you want something I'm selling.