eBay isn’t the only site you’re stuck with selling personal items on you know? Craigslist has really expanded and become a leading competitor for online selling. You can sell anything from your vehicle, to a home or apartment. You can also sell services or request an employer for a specific task.
Craigslist really is useful because it blends the traditional classified listings in the local newspaper only the whole world has it at its disposal.
Your first step is to log onto Craigslist by typing “Craigslist.com” in your URL browser. The home page shows listings by all 50 states as well as foreign countries. If you do not have an account with Craigslist, first you must sign up for one. Don’t worry it’s free and quick!
Go to “accounts.craigslist.org/login/signup” for a free online listing. Briefly, an email you be sent to your email containing a link. Click on that link, which leads you to a page where you must enter a password. Create one that you will remember and write it down.
Review the terms of use then click “I accept.”
Now that you are logged on, submit a post by selecting the city from which the seller or product is located. Remember the city is useful because interested buyers will search for products in their own area. They’re not going to search for a car in California if they live in Vermont.
After you choose a few more options, you are sent to a title posting text box. Enter the title of your product. Remember the title is your first step to attracting buyers so enter in all the useful information such as brand, model, and year. You may even want to include price, especially if you are offering a great deal. Avoid common sayings like “great deal” or “too good to pass up.” If it’s really that good, people will take notice by the brand, year of product, and price.
You will also enter in the product’s description and an email all interested buyers will submit too. What’s nice about Craigslist is they protect your email, not showing the actual email address on the product page. Instead Craigslist only posts a default “craigslist” email address thus protecting your privacy. For the description, I would stick to what you know about the product. Avoid one or two sentence descriptions. This proves the seller has little knowledge and interest in providing the interested buyers with all useful information.
Say you are selling a used car…what should you include? Start with miles on the vehicle, state of the interior and exterior, as well as major repairs or damages. Recently purchase new snow tires for the SUV? Make sure you mention that in the description. Always make sure you state a price in either the title or description. If you don’t mind exposing your privacy, post a phone number for quicker contact.
Click “Continue” and wait until a posting confirmation screen appears. Wait fifteen minutes and then check back to see if your listing is up.
photo by cloudzilla
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I remember when vehicles were first offered for sale over the internet and a lot of people felt it was absurd to sell something such as a car online. Well, years have passed and vehicles (especially used) are still sold with massive success online. In fact, when I went to search for a new used car last winter I found that online classified, such as Craigslist were actually more dependable and included more listings then the local newspaper.
The formula is simple. Average people like you and me want to sell their own products online now. Look at eBay. Look at any of the thousands of online retailers for the “average Joe.” Look at Craigslist.
Craigslist is the number one online classified web site. It’s extremely dependable for cars, jobs, and even apartments.
A lot of people may think it’s strange to sell apartments online, but it’s the “foot in the door” philosophy that sparks people’s interest.
Craigslist is really helpful for individuals who are looking to move out of town in the next half-year. Craigslist will provide an overview of the area and the apartments available. Can’t afford your own place? Craigslist also lists apartments for “roommates wanted.”
You can access Craigslist by typing in Craigslist.com in the URL box. At the main page you will see a list of all 50 states as well as many foreign countries. Let’s say you are looking to move from Arizona to California in the next three months. You’re curious about housing and want to get a general prospective on some of the apartments in the area. At the home page you would click on “California.” The next page that will load will break down California into sections or cities. Say you are interested in the “Fresno” area. Click on that name.
Under housing you will see, “apt/housing.” Click on it and go to the next page. On the apartment main page for Fresno, CA you will find apartments listed by date posted. The top listings were recently posted, perhaps just minutes ago.
The title on the listing, usually states the size of the apartment and sometimes the price. To the right of the listing, some will include parenthesis (telling you exactly where the apartment is located) and an orange icon will notify you that there are pictures. Most people only want to browse listings with pictures, which is where advanced options come into effect.
In the advanced search options box (top of page), you can search more specifically. You can search by the minimum or maximum you are willing to pay, if the apartment allows pets, and search for listings only with images.
When you click on an individual listing you will find more information on the apartment, photos, and contact information.
Craigslist usually only posts 100 listings per page, so once you reach the bottom of the page, a link will direct you to the next 100 listings.
As you can see, Craigslist is an extremely handy and useful guide for finding apartments. The ability to narrow down your search to a specific area, price range, and individual needs make Craigslist second rate to none. If you are looking for a new place, especially out of town, I recommend you start with Craigslist and move along from there.
photo by s.t.riatic
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