help me get more comfortable with craiglist...

[purpleeyes]

Ok, I know lots of people who use it, and who love it, but I am little freaked out by it, honestly.

I am doing some MAJOR purging/downsizing and have a bunch of stuff I am pretty sure I can get some decent $$ for, but I am not sure I am comfortable having people come to my house, etc.

If you use craiglist (as either a buyer or seller), how do you deal with it? Do you meet people in a public location? How much information do you have to give people?
Any other thoughts appreciated!!

TIA!!

[Melaine]

Well, I guess it is not risk-free, but I use Craigslist all the time and have made a lot of money on it and met a lot of nice people as well. 90% of the time I meet in a public place, usually the parking lot of TRU, Target, food court at the mall, etc. I usually do all the planning via email and only occasionally will give my cell phone number out if needed. If you wanted to create a new email just for Craigslist, then you could use just your first name and not even give a last name. Mine is old so has my maiden name, which I feel is a little better too. We have had people come to our house to pick up big items, but I just schedule it when DH is home and don't give them directions until the last minute.
I have had people flake on me with CL but it can usually be avoided by emailing several times back and forth. Like, someone will email me and ask about an item. Rather than email back and say, "Yes, I have it. Let's meet today, call me at such-and-such" I say, "Yes, I still have it. Let me know if you are interested". Then next email I say, "If you'd like to meet to look at/buy said item, I will be free tomorrow between 2 and 4. What time is best for you?" Then by the third email if they are still being polite and responsive, then you likely have a legitimate buyer who is going to show up as planned, ykwim? Like I said, I have had mostly great experiences, met some fun people (even had a playdate with one), had repeat buyers, etc. Craigslist is how I make most of the money to buy DDs' toys and clothes.

ETA: I just wanted to also add, (you may know this), that your email address will be anonymous until you respond to a buyer's email. So if you get spam (which you will) or just people that sound crazy (which you might), they won't have your real email address if you don't respond to them.

[jenandahalf]

I recently sold my treadmill on CL. The more information you put, the less questions you will get, which also cuts down on people 'coming to look' rather than a buyer with cash in hand ready to go.

I didn't give my address until the last minute and made sure my husband was home. I dealt only by email as well.

[WitMom]

I am by no means a craig's list expert, but whenever I have sold smaller items, I have always arranged to meet the person in a public place, i.e. the Target parking lot or outside my office building, etc. If it's a larger item that can't be easily transported, I always made sure my husband was around when people came to look at it, and if possible, we would move it to the garage or outside, weather permitting. That way people wouldn't be traipsing through our house.

[WatchingThemGrow]

I like to meet people outside Nordstrom as they supposedly have parking lot cameras - or I meet them inside the mall at a set of tables or something. I've also left items on the front porch and asked people to leave money if we're going to be out of the house.

[wellyes]

Meeting in a public place is OK, but everything I've sold or bought on CL happened on the front yard, porch, our just outside a person's house. I don't mind giving my address, it's a matter of public record anyway, but I don't let strangers in and I don't go into stranger's homes.

[wimama]

I sell things and have bought things on Craigs List.

Some people are flakes and I have run into a few con artist. But, for the most part, most people are really nice. For smaller items I meet in public, usually a parking lot during the day and coordinate it around running my errands. I have the person call my cell phone when they arrive and if they are running late. For big things like furniture, I meet the person at home when my husband is home and meet them on the porch or garage.

Beware of any emails stating someone wants to buy something and send a money order or cashier check and they will send someone to pick the item up. That is a common Craig List con. Take cash only.

[DrSally]

Meeting in a public place is OK, but everything I've sold or bought on CL happened on the front yard, porch, our just outside a person's house. I don't mind giving my address, it's a matter of public record anyway, but I don't let strangers in and I don't go into stranger's homes.

:yeahthat: This is what I do, b/c I don't have time for flake-outs with 2 kids in tow. Actually I perfer meeting on my front porch/driveway with kids and DH inside than taking both kids out and meeting someone somewhere.

[Snow mom]

I just finished selling my first batch of postings on craigslist. I posted without an e-mail or phone number so no information about you is put out on the internet. When I received e-mails asking if I still had the item or expressing interest in it I would e-mail back and ask people to give me a call if they were still interested (even if they had provided a phone number for me to call.) I found this was pretty good for weeding out the flakes, although my sample size is small. I got a lot of e-mails stating people wanted to buy my item but 90% of the people never called so I assume these people really would have flaked out. I wasn't in a hurry to sell anything so this method worked for me. All the people who actually called about an item set up a time to come and get it and actually showed (although almost everyone was a bit late.) I just let people meet me at my house. Dragging DD out to wait in a parking lot doesn't really work for me. Everyone who I've dealt with from Craigslist has been perfectly nice, but I think you can weed out people you don't want to deal with based on your early contact. For example, I don't respond to messages (or ads) with serious typos, that aren't polite, etc.