With the ease of the platform in mind, here are six of our top tips for selling your stuff on Craigslist quickly and painlessly.
1. Choose the Right Craigslist Market
Ultimately, with a bit of common sense, this part is not very difficult. Craigslist is a global community. Choosing the right location to sell will be the first step.
Most people will simply default to choosing their own town’s local Craigslist market. Sometimes, however, the best place to sell might be the next city over. For example, college towns are often great places to sell.
So if you live near an area where things are busy or young people are in desperate need of used electronics, you should certainly give it a shot. If you live in a small town, the pickings may be slightly slimmer.
Once you’ve chosen your location, the next step will be deciding which of the thousands of different categories you should be posting under. You’ll probably find yourself in the For Sale category, and from there you can find and appropriate subcategory.
Another thing to consider may be doing business on a totally different site, like eBay or Facebook Marketplace. Check to see where other people like you are selling similar items.
2. Re-List Weekly
If you want to cut through the noise, you’ll need to make an appearance frequently until you finally sell whatever you’re trying to get rid of.
It’s a good idea to re-post your listing at least once a week if the Craigslist forum that you’re posting to is very active. Markets that see less activity may never push you down into obscurity.
If you’re trying to sell on a site other than Craigslist, the anti-spam rules of wherever you’re posting to might also factor themselves into the equation. Proceed with caution, in accordance with the local rules of the road.
3. Use Strong SEO Keywords
It may be a long shot in some cases, but you can never go wrong by trying to reel people in with the right SEO keywords and key phrases.
Good keywords are descriptive; make sure your listing includes the name of the product and any relevant model numbers or other identifiers, if applicable. This makes it much more likely that anybody searching for your product randomly on Google may end up stumbling across your listing.
The dimensions, the color, and the state of the item in terms of its condition should also be indicated clearly. Honesty and transparency are always the best policies to maintain—the last thing that you want is an angry patron after you’ve already sealed the deal.
4. Take a Good Photo
The best Craigslist photos are high-quality and honestly show the product off. Use a window or take the photo outside, as natural light is more flattering than light from artificial light sources. Make sure that the background is clear and that there is nothing distracting in the photo.
If you’re selling an electronic device, give the people a nice flat-lay of all the cables and accessories that come with it, just to show that you’ve got them and intend to include them. If anything is missing or broken, you should be very upfront about the problem. Your asking price should reflect the completeness of the package.
As far as preparing your item goes, give it a little clean and polish. Make sure that you’ve removed any third-party accessories, especially if you do not intend to sell them with the product. Make the object look as enticing as possible.
5. Keep an Eye On Your Inbox
If you get a response, be sure to follow up as soon as possible. This goes for both people who you would like to continue working with and people who are either too late to buy your item or who feel somewhat sketchy. It always pays to be courteous and kind.
And, when you’ve found a legitimate taker to bargain with? As a general rule, it’s a good idea to be respectful of other peoples’ time. You’ve got something of value, and they’ve got cash. Do what you can to make it happen quickly, so you can both move on with your lives.
6. Choose a Competitive Price
Is it ever best to choose Or Best Offer? Perhaps. Even if you decide to go down that route, you’ll want to establish a solid baseline to begin negotiating around. And, as always, cash only, no matter what.
Pricing your listing appropriately begins with a little bit of research. Check out similar listings, as well as the official price for a new version of whatever you’re selling. After evaluating the state of your own version, you can choose a fair price that everybody will be able to agree with.
You’ll want the price to be reasonable enough to grab people’s attention, without leaving you high and dry in the end. If it’s a used piece of hardware, you’re unlikely to break even when what you paid for it brand new is taken into consideration, but you’ll probably regain a good portion of the original price that you paid.
Selling on Craigslist Doesn’t Always Have to Be for Chumps
If you’ve got something worth owning, chances are, you’ll find the perfect new home for it on the platform. Hopefully, these tips get your Craigslist offering where it needs to go.
It can often seem daunting to try and sell your items on such a popular and active site, but by promoting your post well, you’re much more likely to make a sale.
