How to Use Craigslist to Buy Items

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By christianmom
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Craigslist Screen Shot

Are you wishing for a new look for the living room without spending a fortune? Is your daughter going off to college and in need of some inexpensive furnishings? Or perhaps your son needs a new drum set. You could scour the classified ads, walk endlessly through the mall, or wait until Spring for the garage sales. Or you could go to Craigslist. Craigslist is the newest classified-ad webpage containing local postings for your area.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Craigslist membership

Step 1

Create a membership in Craigslist. This is free.
Step 2

Click on your state and then your city. Now you are ready to shop for the item you want to buy. You'll find incredible bargains on everything from chic retro lamps to used limos. Shopping on Craigslist is like finding hundreds of garage sales right in your living room.
Step 3

Enter a search term. By typing in "rugs" in a large metropolitan city, I found 46 varieties ranging from a tropical fish bath mat to room-sized rugs for $250 each. By narrowing the search to "area rugs" the options were reduced to 11 items. Going one step further, I typed in "green area rugs," which yielded 2 ads to choose from.
Step 4

Click on the listing you are interested in. This will lead you to the complete ad for that item. Many ads have pictures. In your initial search, you can limit your options to just those ads that include pictures.
Step 5

Carefully read the ad. Beware of overly grand descriptions. Someone may think the bookshelves their uncle built resemble the work of Frank Lloyd Wright. Ads should include age of the item, price, brief descriptions and seller's location and/or phone number.
Step 6

Once you have decided to purchase an item from an ad, you can reply to the seller. Some sellers prefer not to be contacted directly at first. Craigslist posts an anonymous secure response address. This will send your email request to Craigslist and on to the seller. Some sellers may not mind receiving inquiries at home. Don't be afraid to ask more questions or even request another photo. One request for an additional photo caused the seller to simply disappear.
Step 7

Agree on a selling price. Advertisers are warned of fraudulent buyers and are encouraged to accept only cash. Be prepared to pay cash for your item.
Step 8

Finalize the sale by agreeing when and where to pick up your purchase. Most sellers do not deliver, though some may for a fee.