Newspaper TWO, Craigslist Zero
Our craigslist experiment has come to an end. I reported the other day that, despite craigslist having a major headstart, we ended up selling our couch based on an ad in our local paper. And now this… After craigslist generated virtually no interest in our refrigerator, we ended up getting a number of inquiries from our newspaper ad and ultimately sold it within three days for our asking price. So there you have it… Plain old classified ads seem to be more effective than craigslist (at least in our area and for the types of items that we were selling).






Craigslist is highly dependent upon where you live. I’ve used it in three metropolitan areas and have been very successful as a purchaser of items or looking at job postings. (Got a job from it in 1998 when it first went from a mailing list to the web.)
Even if it didn’t go so well this time, I’d still give it a chance since it’s free, and growing all the time.
Plus Craig is really nice.
Comment by mapgirl — Aug 18th 2006 @ 8:51 amHi there, I’ve had the opposite experience. My hubs has sold computer gear on Craig’s List (it flew out the house almost, we got calls just a couple minutes after he posted!) and with our rental house that is how we have found our tenants.
Comment by finance girl — Aug 18th 2006 @ 11:27 amI have actually found it pretty useful for several items in the $10 to 50 range. I didn’t post in an ad in the newspaper or anything other sources because I was able to sell them very quickly. The area you live in might be a big factor too.
Comment by Jason — Aug 18th 2006 @ 12:42 pmI had insane response on Craigslist for selling a ton of stuff when I was moving at the drop of a hat. Metro Nashville, for what it’s worth. Granted, I priced stuff to move, but with buyer-picks-up for all - However, I moved everything from an elliptical machine to a dining room set to some bookshelves to a doghouse (for free) and more. I didn’t find buyers for my wheelbarrow and Ronco Rotisserie, though.
But seriously - I got more e-mail about the stuff than I could keep up with.
Comment by dforester — Aug 19th 2006 @ 6:55 pm