I’ve seen a lot of shit on craigslist that has pissed me off so I made up a list of CL rules (for buying/selling)…if I missed something, let me know (leave a comment).
1. Delete your post after the item is sold – don’t put “GONE” on the post, it’s easier to just delete it!
2. Don’t post in the wrong city – if your state has multiple CL cities, only post in the one closest to you…if you have another one within 30 minutes, that’s fine too, but if you post an ad in a city/area that’s 2 hours away, you’re wasting your time and the time of others who will have to look at and flag your ad.
3. Put a damn photo of your shit on there! And make sure you turn a light on so we can see what it is. If you don’t have a camera, use google search to find a stock image.
4. Cash or trade only (or Free) – do not ever accept a check, especially if it’s a money order or cashier’s check – they are ALWAYS fake.
5. Do not sell broken electronics or dirty old furniture. Give them away for free. Computers that aren’t working are OK since many people know how to repair them. The Free section is your best friend. If your TV doesn’t work, give it away – don’t try to scam people into buying your big TV or old fridge which you would have to pay Waste Management to haul away either. If they’re willing to take that risk of having it be garbage, let them have it for free.
6. Don’t ever use stupid special characters in your post’s title (&(#%�*#@_#####$$@@$$$ – that shit is just annoying and NOBODY is going to click on it!
7. When creating a post, when it asks for Price, do not put $1 unless you only want $1! You have 2 options – put the price that you’d like (i.e. $235) or leave it blank! And don’t try putting 40-50 in that box, it will end up looking like $4050.
8. For Specific Location, when you’re creating a new ad, just put the name of your city please! You can also put in things like “Chicago – North” or something more specific, but never, ever leave it blank or just put the name of your state in that little box. No one will click on your ad if you leave it blank.
9. OBO – NO! If you really want to sell an item or items, do not ask for best offer. This is not eBay – give them a specific price, if they decide to make you a lower offer, that’s fine, but never say you’ll take the highest offer or say “$50 or best offer” – you will never get $50 if you let the buyers know you’ll go lower.
10. Post your ads under the correct category. If you are selling a computer, it goes under “Computer”, if you’re selling a TV, it goes under “Electronics” – an XBOX 360 goes under “Games and Toys” not “Electronics”. If you are offering to fix computers, post that under Services>computer, if you want free computers, that goes under…WANTED!
11. Garage Sales – this seems pretty self-explanatory, right? Wrong. Everyone seems to think that the garage sale section is the place to post all your random shit…no, that would be “General” (anything that doesn’t fit under the other categories FOR SALE). If you post under the garage sale section, people will assume you have a garage (or yard) that will be open to the public for browsing – they will not be looking for people selling single items like ice skates or Nintendos.
12. I’ll just go through all of the different categories and tell you what should be posted there:
barter – trades (i.e. trade laptop for moped)
bikes – bicycles and accessories (not motorcycles)
boats – speed boats, fishing boats, canoes and boating accessories
books – books and magazines
business – items that you would use in a business (shelving, cash registers, security cameras) — not merchandise
computer – desktops, laptops, Mac, accessories, monitors, printers
free – anything that you want to give away for free — no wanted ads or pets allowed
general – items for sale that do not fit under the other categories
jewelry – bracelets, necklaces, watches, earrings
material – lumber, building materials, shingles, bricks, flooring
rvs – recreational vehicles, motorhomes, travel trailers, snowmobiles, 4-wheelers
sporting – sporting goods (hockey equipment, baseball gloves), workout equipment, skis, no guns
tickets – tickets to events, must be face value or lower
tools – hand tools, power tools, shop tools
wanted – asking for a specific item that you’d like to buy (or beg for it for free)
arts+crafts – fabric, buttons, sewing supplies, patterns, scrapbooking stuff
auto parts – tires, CD players, seats, accessories for cars or trucks
baby+kids – items that would be for babys and young children like clothing, strollers, baby formula
cars+trucks – sell your car or truck, van or El Camino (no motorcycles or RVs)
cds/dvd/vhs – CDs, DVDs, VHS tapes, record albums, 8-track tapes, cassette tapes, no porn
clothes+acc – shirts, pants, hats, shoes, purses, socks, underwear, jackets
collectibles – beanie babies, knick-knacks, coins, stamps, trading cards
electronics – TVs, home stereos, DVD players, PDAs, no computers, no car audio, no cameras
farm+garden – farm tractors, farming supplies, plants, seeds, lawn mowers, garden tools
furniture – couches, chairs, tables, beds, desks, shelves
games+toys – game systems (PS2, XBOX, Wii), children’s toys (not baby toys), stuffed animals
garage sale – open to public sales in a garage or yard with address and date/times listed – no virtual sales
household – kitchen appliances, utensils, rugs, wall art, things you would have in your house that aren’t furniture
motorcycles – Harleys, mopeds, dirt bikes, scooters
music instr – guitars, drums, saxophones, musical accessories and carrying cases
photo+video – still cameras, video cameras, camera cases, tripods and other accessories for cameras
12. If you’re buying something, please don’t no-call, no-show. If you decide you don’t want it or can’t make it, at least e-mail them. I have waited so many times, having to change my own plans because these people never showed up.
13. Learn how to spell or else don’t use words you cannot spell. Use spaces between lines, don’t describe your item in one big paragraph with no puncuation. Actually describe your items! If you’re selling a computer, don’t just post, “Computer for sale” – tell us what exactly you have (i.e. Dell X45566 desktop with 40 gig hard drive, 1 gig ram, 17inch Samsung LCD monitor model 443566).
14. If you are selling an item, do not post something like this: DVD Player for Sell. You’ll sound like a moron. It is for SALE. I see this every day.
15. Flag the scammers and spammers. If you see an ad that is blatantly a scam or the same item is being posted many times per day, just flag it! It’ll take you 2 seconds and it will help clean up CL.
