Nov 10 2008
5 Ways To Screw Up On CraigsList
Craigslist is a great site. 
I have bought and sold on it for a good while now, and it has replaced eBay as my daily site to browse for deals. I have sold two cars on CraigsList with an average time of listing to sale of under six hours! So, it amazes me how people can screw it up for themselves. Too many listers think that since the ads are free that they don’t have to put any thought into creating them. Not true.
So, let’s look at the most common ways people screw up their listings on CL so that things don’t sell.
- No Picture – This one kills me. Almost every cell phone in the world these days can take a picture. Crappy little digital cameras can be had for under $50. (I didn’t say it had to be a good picture.) So why would you not have a picture of your item? People are simply going to move on to the next car, boat, or computer listed if you can’t show them what you have. And the ads for cameras without pictures? Freakin’ absurd.
- No Price – If you want to sell something, you know what you want or will take for it. Come on, give us an idea if you are a reasonable person or one of those people who thinks your crud is gold. Best you can hope for if you don’t list a price? Lowballers or people who have the same thing wanting to know what theirs is worth.
- All Caps – Same goes for emails, discussion groups, advertisements, and all other forms of communication. NO ONE WANTS TO BE SHOUTED AT! If an ad is hard to read, people won’t read it. And if they don’t read the ad, you can sell the item. That simple.
- Lame Description – You have all seen them. The are the descriptions that have absolutely no info but just say “call”. Sure, right. Better yet, drop dead. Then there are the descriptions, especially common in computers and electronics, that just are a copy and paste job of the manufacturer’s product brochure. And these are often accompanied by a “representative photograph”. Sucks, but at least there is some picture. Come on people, tell me about the item you are selling – give me specifics and experience, not just quoted marketing speak.
- Broadcast and/or Non-Location Posting – If I am looking for a car in Charleston, SC, I really don’t care that you have a car lot in Las Vegas, Nevada. And if I am in a big city like New York or LA, I need to know what part of town you are in. Are you a 15 minute drive or a two hour trek. Come on people, the glory of CraigsList is that it is localized. So post local and tell us where the item is. This is guaranteed to get you more qualified shoppers.
Again, CL is a great tool. You can buy and sell all kinds of the stuff you need, or at least want, without a lot of the hassles of eBay or the local newspaper. But you have to use it correctly and not abuse it to make those sales.
While I was writing this I kept thinking of other things in the ads that piss me off, but I don’t want to put them down just yet because maybe I am the only one. I know I am picky, so maybe certain things (like spelling) just tick me off. Let me hear your thoughts on Craigslist. Anything that really gets you going about the posts there? Or maybe even the service in general? Sound off!
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Tags: classifieds, communication, craiglist, selling
15 responses so far
I am not permitted to get rid of anything on ebay, craig’s list, or by any other means. It get’s stored away in one of the outbuildings for future use. When I commented that we might want to get rid of some of the junk we’ve accumulated over the years, he said he would just build more sheds. I give up.
snow vandemores last blog post..Blog Makeover: Free Icon Sets For Mac, XP and Vista
Snow, are you my stepmom?
Heathers last blog post..Countdown To Turkey Day 2008: November 7
I have never bought or sold on CL but had some things I was going to try, so good advice for me a newbie. Thanks!
Ants last blog post..Ritual Hearth – Blue on Top
Craig’s List can be very frustrating if you live in the wrong city. I a big place where people have money in their jeans, you can easily sell things for a fair price. However, in a place like New Orleans it is very difficult. It seems things don’t sell here at the lowest of prices, never mind Craig’s List – if you are ready to give it away on Freecycle you get people wanting you to bring it to them.
I know its not my bad ads or unreasonable prices, as I have lived elsewhere and had no trouble. Just a look at the stores which are here and the stores that are missing tells you this place has no market for things beyond necessities.
One can take a shopping trip to Houston or elsewhere, but pity one cant take a selling trip somehow.
I had someone just come to get some chickens I had listed. He told me people were listing the other side of Kansas as Central Kansas. Maybe people need to get a compass or map.
Lisas last blog post..Busy Day Again
@ Heather — dang! I told the agency it was to be a closed adoption!
snow vandemores last blog post..Blog Makeover: Free Icon Sets For Mac, XP and Vista
Just last night we were pokin’ around on CL and there was a table listed that included “that wood thing in the middle”
um…..the leaf?
Yeah.
@Snow – You are too funny!
@Ant – Always happy to help.
@Heather – That is just disturbing. Very disturbing.
@terrifik – I can understand that. Sometimes the necessities are just where it is at. Why not find someone in another city to help you sell your stuff?
@Lisa – An amazing lack of direction and distance is always an advantage when buying and selling. Some people are just disfunctional.
@kari – OK, that is hilarious. Obviously they were too lazy to look that one up. Amazing.
The eBay sale was an old Apache Hardside popup, so there was a following since it was a specialty type camper. Boat Care
Michael — Heather and I will gang up on you if you don’t mind your manners —
snow vandemores last blog post..My only constant is Angus Young
@snow – And that would be bad how??
We have sold recently all our inventory on CL! It’s a great tool.
Susanne in Charlestons last blog post..Do you believe in luck?
Nice site thanks!
simple site.
Great article! I’m loving your website;
Thanks for the compliment!