Oh how I love buying on CL. I have found so many a deal. They are hard to find - but you can do it. Sometimes it takes a few weeks to get it, but worth it in the end because you can save a lot of money.
I got a matching set of couches (reg couch and a love seat) for $125 for BOTH! The guy had started listing them at $500 but he was moving by small hatch back cross country on Monday ... so the Friday before the move ... he dropped it to $125 .... I had wanted them at $500 but couldn't afford it - so at $125, we snatched them right up. These couches were less then 2 years old. He was a bachelor, with no kids and no pets and he didn't smoke. So they were like new!
That is how you get the great deals - they people who just need it gone and are willing to take any amount of cash.
Altogether we have gotten the couch set ($125), our TV stand and 2 matching chairs (all 3 from the same lady for $100), 2 bookcases that match the IKEA bookcase we had gotten 7 years ago when we got married and they didn't make anymore ($100 for both - orig cost was $500 for 1), my sewing table ($100), my serging table($60), and my husband and my bedrooms set $200 (9 drawer dresser with mirror - two 3 drawer dressers and a head board we don't use because we had already bought a different headboard ($100) off CL) house by CL at a fraction of the price. And all of this is in mint condition and wood furniture. Mostly vintage because I love mid century modern!
Selling on CL!
If you want to make good money .... you have to be patient. Be willing to relist your items a few weeks in a row. (listings only last 7 days) Ask a fair price for what you have. Don't be the most expensive and only if you NEED it to move fast list it as the cheepest.
Honestly most people will try to bargain with you. So I always ask more then I feel I need. Then if I get extra cause they pay the full price, then I have more money for my family. All is good.
CL lists you put up 4 pictures. Take 4 pictures, the better the pictures the more likely to sell. make sure the background is clean and nice looking. If I see something in a dirty room, I assume that these people didn't take good care of the item and I don't even bother calling on it. So make sure it looks like it was kept in a place that was well kept.
Be as detailed in your description as passable. People always want measurements, include those. Include any major landmarks or roads you are buy so they have an idea if they are willing to drive that far before waisting your time.
I sold some baby stuff that folds up. I included pictures of it standing and folded so they know how it moves or will fit where they want to put it.
I like to know why people are selling and how often it was used and thins like that. I realize that people can lie about these things, but CL is really a place where we need to trust. So include the life of the item or at least all you know.
I sold a lamp recently, the house we are living in was built into the 50's. I believed it was from that era. I also know that it was working when I took it down. I was doing an Estate sale, so I had a lot to list and didn't have time to clean everything. I mentioned all that in the listing. They knew all I knew about it.
Always clean it first, you are more likely to get the higher price. (If you have time anyways!)
*When I shop... I shop slightly above my price range, if I want something I cant afford I will email a person and offer what I can afford. Sometimes they take it sometimes they don't.
*When I sell I list slightly higher then I want, sometime it sells for that, sometimes it doesn't.
SCAMS: be careful, if it sounds like a scam ... it is! Cash only, they come and pick it up (if you are selling) If you are buying .... Cash only! don't send Cash and expect it to be delivered later no matter what they promise.
Free Stuff: CL also has a section you can list things for free. Sometimes your item doesn't sell at all - but you still want it gone. List it in the free section. Pretty much someone will take just about anything for free!
Here are the LISTING pictures of some of the items we bought on CL ......
Our couches
This is the vintage concole our TV sits on.
The 2 chairs we got with the console.
My serging table.
My sewing table
A rug we got to go with the couches...
This is the headboard we love ....
This is our dresser set. There are 2 of the 3 drawer dresser. And the long dresser with the mirror and the headboard that we wont use. I knew that if they were sold wood they would clean up nicely and I also knew that alot of people wouldnt call on this set because the pictures were bad and it looked dirty. However when I went to look at it - it had been sitting in a vacant house house for 9 years. These dressers cleaned up wonderfully! And we got a sweet deal and solid wood furniture!
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