How to Earn a Living on Craigslist

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By John Rapp
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I Sold This Guitar In About An Hour

Ever wondered just what the deal is with this whole CraigsList thing? Let me tell you, I know how you feel. I was totally in the dark, out in the cold, left hanging high and dry myself until yesterday. That's when the whole mystery of CraigsList was revealed to me, and I'd like to take this opportunity to unravel it for you, too!

I sold my items within an hour, and people are still messaging me and calling asking about my items. This website is crazy.

Want to rock out CraigsList like me? Keep reading and I'll let you in on a few exclusive insider secrets. And I wouldn't normally do this, but today I'm feeling generous.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Computer
Internet Connection
Items For Sale
Super Cool John Rapp Mojo

Step 1

The Pigtail Crooks Will Rock You to Sleep... For a Fee

What do you have to offer, anyway?

First things first, you're going to have to have some stuff to sell. It doesn't have to be physical items, either. You can advertise your services, whatever they may be. If you'd like to make some extra money helping folks move heavy stuff, do it! CraigsList is awesome because everything is localized. You aren't dealing with folks from all over the world, like eBay and other places. You're talking to your community, your next door neighbors. Browse through the services offered and you'll see what I mean when I say you can literally advertise any service you could possibly think of, and there's a pretty good chance someone will take you up on it. There's a post from a guy here in Indianapolis who will be your personal security guard for any times you feel unsafe leaving your home. Great idea! Bizarre, but still great. I say the weirder the idea the better. Just make sure it's something you actually feel comfortable doing, because if you get lit up with responses like I did you're going want to be able to come through with the goods.
Step 2

The Bone Fags: Masters of Stealing Information and Passing it off as Their Own

Mind-numbing thoroughness is a plus.

If you're selling a particular item, do a quick Google search for more information. The more technical information you can give, the better. For my musical instruments, I grabbed information from Best Buy, eBay auctions and other online stores. Just make sure you've actually got the exact same model as what you're biting from the store web sites.
Step 3

Relevant Pictures are Also Very Fifteen Minutes Ago

Words are yesterday's news.

Pictures are where it's at. Pictures can make or break you. Just like on eBay, CraigsList puts a special icon (it's actually text, but whatever) next to listings that include pictures. Don't have pictures? Don't give up just yet. When posting my items I didn't have access to a camera and didn't want to wait around until I did, so I hit up eBay and other store web sites and found people selling the same used equipment as I was. I found lots of great pictures of items in pretty much the exact same condition as mine were. Download them, upload them to CraigsList, and BAM! You've got some sweet pictures in your listing. Be sure to tell folks if your item differs from the picture, but if it's close enough that no one could really tell the difference, I say why make it confusing?
Step 4

Brianna Sitting and Watching the CraigsList Pot

Watch the pot 'till it boils.

Stay close to your e-mail after you post your listings. Another awesome thing about CraigsList is it's free. They don't take a cut of your earnings. Nice, huh? There's no red tape slowing down your sales. People reply directly to your e-mail address.

This means you've got to be on your toes because if you don't keep up with your e-mail, you could become swamped with responses. Another reason is people are fickle. You never know what they've got going on. You want to respond to interested buyers as soon as possible, before they have time to lose interest or find something else. Get at them while they're still thinking about it or before they change their mind.

If you don't check your e-mail regularly then be sure to include your phone number in the listing. You might want to do this anyway. The more ways people can contact you, the more chances they can contact you and the more likely you are to sell your stuff.

Comments

yellowstar2000 said

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on 11/19/2009 Thanks for the nice article on how to earn a living on Craigslist ...love it! Craigslist has been a big help more than once.:) And pictures def. work better than words...for sure. As far as the addiction goes, I'm down to only checking it out once a month now :) ha. lol.

bluemoongoddess said

on 9/10/2009 Good information.

sunnyglitter said

on 8/5/2009 I love Craigslist. Whenever I'm too tired to take stuff to Goodwill, I put up a post that says "Free Stuff-Priority Goes to Whoever Can Pick Up First". I once had 13 bags of stuff picked up in less than an hour...just in time to pretend like my house was clean for months when my friends stopped by. LOL 5*