OT Use of Craigslist.

dmiller · Nov 17, 2009

I have watched craigslist for a while in my local area. Find it interesting. I'm thinking of posting some hay on it.
Anyone post on it? What does it cost? What do you like/dislike about it? What do I need to know before going this route?

whizkidkyus · Nov 17, 2009

Craigslist is completely free . I've posted on it before but you still run the risk of getting spammers on there as well as here .

Whizkidkyus

S.Crum · Nov 17, 2009

I use it frequently to peddle stuff I collect. As stated you always get several spammers but I just delete them. It is free and usually the stuff you list sells if there's a buyer looking. Nice thing about it is you can wheel and deal as you generally meet the buyer face to face. I needed a hundred bucks a while back to by something I wanted but didn't want to dip into the savings to buy. I sold some oak lumber 2 hours after listing it and when the guy showed up with the cash, I sold him another $200 worth of junk I was going to scrap.

kyplowboy · Nov 18, 2009

Only thing I have used it for was to find homes for some free pups. Found homes for more that way than I did 4 local newspapers and it was totaly free. Like others have said, few scamers even with free puppy add. Had a bunch of folks from over 500 miles away say they would take all of them if I would just email them my full name, adress, and phone number. Most of the folks I delt with seemed pretty nice.

Dave

Uncle Ernie · Nov 18, 2009

I have bought and sold several things on craigslist. It gets LOTS of attention. That is good and bad. I have found I get a lot of lookie-loos and no shows. I never give out my phone number, address or times to come until the second contact and only after I have their phone number and name and I call them back. Use craigslists blind response to weed out some of the whacko's. I legitimat prospect will have no problem giving you their contact info.

Vito · Nov 18, 2009

I use it and have had good results buying and selling.

Vito

Gary MN · Nov 18, 2009

I have sold many items on ebay with no problems.
The cost is free.
I usually set up a free email address on Hushmail
and deal with the buyers on there until it is determind they are legitimate.

LOL Gary

JOCCO · Nov 18, 2009

He is my exsperiance of it. 1. If you are very rural it is not much good. 2. lots of scammers how you weed them out is up to you. No cost that i know of.

omahagreg · Nov 18, 2009

I sold some stuff last spring. Yes, it is free. At least for me, you needed to set your price at double what you wanted, because EVERYONE offered half what I asked. I needed the $, and the stuff was doing me no good, so I let it go. Not sure I should have-oh well. Spammers were not hard to detect. Greg

Nancy Howell · Nov 18, 2009

We listed our hay on Craigs List and sold quite a bit of if through the listing. Some no-shows, but worked well for us.

Patrick Klise · Nov 18, 2009

I needed some horse hay for the winter and saw an ad on Craigslist for just what I wanted. Contacted the fellow arranged for delivery and things worked great. The hay seller told me he only uses Craigslist now and finds it works terrific for him. I'm in the Minneapolis area.

chuck41 · Nov 18, 2009

Craigslist as mentioned is completely free,
however they have a posting for donations which
they ask you to do if you regularly use it. Chuck

JDemaris · Nov 18, 2009

Craigs List makes all its profit from coporate real estate clients and its free to anyone else.

It's great for now. Ebay bought into it and is now a part owner, so I suspect it will get eventually get ruined, just like Ebay has.

Chances R · Nov 18, 2009

I have advertised items and services a few times, and have bought a few items on there. I have found if you put your email address on there you get a lot of spam emails. Put my phone number and I only get good honest calls. So far so good! I just wish more people would use it.

TimV · Nov 18, 2009

Use it all the time here in NY--it's one of my daily visits. Have bought several things and sold a few, the largest sale being my '79 Gold Wing. There's no cost to individual sellers. Because of that, it's a magnet for spammers and scammers, but as usual, they're fairly easy to spot--flag them and move on. The CL flagging system actually works pretty well--most scams are removed quite quickly. You'll also get quite a few scammers responding to your ads, but again, they're easy to spot and you can just ignore them. The CL e-mail system is set up as a blind system for both parties on their first e-mails--you won't know who's e-mailing you the first time and they won't know who you are when you e-mail back. After that, both of your e-mails are known to each other. For that reason, you can just ignore obvious scam e-mails and they won't get your "real" address--all they'll have is the CL e-mail address that disappears as soon as the ad is removed. Craig's List as pretty much killed the newspaper classifieds, at least here in NY, as it's much faster, more convenient, reaches a wider audience, there's no issues with the newspaper mis-printing your phone number, and it's free.

omahagreg · Nov 18, 2009

Be careful when posting your phone number. 2 weeks ago, a used car dealer in Omaha posted, and did not use ANY email contact, only listed a cell phone number. He had one number wrong, and it was my wife's number. I had CL remove the ad, because there was no way to contact him on a weekend. He reposted, wrong again. Fortunately he had a vague address listed and a picture of the car. I went driving thru there and found him and had him change the phone number NOW! Greg

Anonymous-0 · Nov 18, 2009

You can put a sign out in the front yard and attract scammers. Same applies with newspaper adds, ect. My point is, there's no more chance of drawing a crook with Craigslist than with any other avenue of selling stuff.

I've bought and sold quite a bit of stuff on CL. I live way out in the country. Any form of local advertisement would have limited reach. Craigslist gives me a much broader market. I'm VERY happy with it.

As mentioned, use phone # and not email addy. Less "tire kickers" that way from my experience.

Cas · Nov 18, 2009

I have bought, sold, and put want adds on
Craigslist. How do they support themselves?
I understand the concept of Web advertising.
But, this seems to me to be an expensive operation to maintain. I know there is no
Mr. Craig. Who owns and maintains Craigslist?

AcFarmer89. · Nov 18, 2009

I'm selling hay on craigslist right now. Isn't costing me anything to put ads on it.

Paul from MN · Nov 18, 2009

I sell small squares of hay on craigs list. I do not put my phone number in the ad, nor to I put my e-mail address.

Interested buyers simply click on the "reply to" link. This keeps my email and phone number private until I see their information and determine they are a legit buyer. Believe me separating the legit from frauds is pretty easy.

The great thing about Craigs List is the ability to reach a large group of folks with ads including picture(s) at no cost.

BCnT · Nov 18, 2009

yes there is a Craig and he's a multi billionaire...the non profit organization he created runs and pays the bills of the site...read the "about us" collumn next time youre poking around.

Dean · Nov 18, 2009

DM:

Craigslist is a known phishing site so do not post your email address and do not answer suspicious inquiries such as "Is item still available?" or any inquiries without phone numbers unless you want to receive Viagra spam for the next several years.

Dean

dmiller · Nov 18, 2009

Thanks for the input. Sounds pretty good to me. Nothing in life is perfect or totally without risk.

PeterE · Nov 18, 2009

Craigslist charges fees for a few types of ads: job postings in major cities, and apartment listings in New York. From this the company earns an estimated $150 million per year, which is enough to keep it running. The founder, Craig Newmark, is quite open about the fact that they could make more money, but he claims that he isn't interested.

rhouston · Nov 18, 2009

Ebay owns 50% of Craigslist

rhouston · Nov 18, 2009

correction ebay owns 25% of craigslist

deere guy · Nov 18, 2009

There"s a way to search on Craigslist by multiple regions, how do you do that?

chevytaHOE5674 · Nov 18, 2009

craigslist helper will allow you to search multiple regions within a certain distance from your zip code.

James Howell · Nov 18, 2009

We have posted hay for sale and had good results.

As a seller I listed my phone number/answering machine at the farm.

There was no cost to post the ad.

As a buyer I like the ability to contact the seller by either phone or email to get information on the item(s) for sale.

As a buyer I like the ability to go inspect the item(s) for sale.

We've bought at least 3 tractors and several other pieces of equipment listed on Craig's list.

Really have no dislikes about the service itself.

Have noticed that some ads get "flagged" on occasion for whatever reason.

Be sure to describe your hay as best you can; [b:654c4848f0][i:654c4848f0]Coastal Bermuda, 1,000 4x5 round bales, 99% weed free, fertilized, 2nd cutting on 7/4/09, kept in barn, net wrapped/twine tied[/i:654c4848f0][/b:654c4848f0].

Be sure to state your price and terms of sale; cash, check, money order. [b:654c4848f0][i:654c4848f0]Cash on delivery - NO CHECKS or MONEY ORDERS[/i:654c4848f0][/b:654c4848f0].

Be sure to state if you deliver or not. [b:654c4848f0][i:654c4848f0]NO DELIVERIES - bring your truck and/or trailer to be loaded[/i:654c4848f0][/b:654c4848f0].

Be sure to add photos of the hay to your listing.

<a href="http://s200.photobucket.com/albums/aa5/jameslloydhowell/Haymaking%202009/The%20Hunt%20Place/?action=view&current=IMG_1593.jpg" target="_blank">

IMG_1593.jpg" width="500" height="400" border="0" alt="Photobucket

</a>

What do I need to know before going this route?

You need to know that folks will still ask questions about any or all of what you stated in your listing.

Anonymous-0 · Nov 18, 2009

Craig's list is mostly a waste of time, for hay sales, for me. I used to post round bales, 500 lbs, type of hay, and location. Man you would not believe the # of absolutely stupid questions that the ad generated. I also advertised the bales as bow and arrow targets for deer hunters. sold 1 or 2 that way, then the antihunters started flaggging the ad, then the other ad, cause they claimed it was miscategorized! If you advertise there, it has to be absolutely generic, with no attempt at humor, or originality, or the thought police get it kicked off. I don't know if it was the location that I am in, (D.C), or what, but it was a waste of time! I sell just as much from a bale at the end of the driveway, with a sign on it!

Rick(MN) · Nov 18, 2009

You could make a good living buying and selling from Craigslist. Lots of good buys if you watch closely. You have to be ready to MOVE the second a bargain comes on or someone will beat you to the punch. When listing, give as much information as possible to save you answering stupid questions. Always specify that you want CASH. Just use common sense both as a buyer and a seller. No more risk of scam e-mail than listing here.

steve n carol · Nov 18, 2009

Check out "search tempest". It will hook you up with craigslist and a host of others (if you choose) in as many areas as you want, all at the same time!

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