pagefly.ioCraigslist is an online-community, it’s an amazing way to find, trade, or sell services, items, and more. Today we will be sharing our 8-step Money-Making guide, tips and a secret to successfully sell on Craigslist.org.
In order to sell on Craigslist, here is what we recommend, our 8-step Money-Making guide:
01. Go to Craiglist.org and choose the place where you reside.
To start selling on Craigslist it is vital that you choose the place you live in.
You can browse your state or city. Remember, only post your Ad once, and always check that the place you first picked is correct, as posting the Ad on multiple places is against Craiglist policies.
02. Go to the top-left side and click on the option “Create a posting.”
If you’re from a big city, after clicking the link, you probably will need to be more specific with your location. Be sure to pick the option that’s closer to your actual home.
03. Choose your “type of posting”
In order to sell on Craigslist, you need to understand the types of postings. You need to limit each posting to a single area and category, every two days.
- By Owner means you’re a private individual, therefore, you -probably- are selling for one or two items, usually used items that you don’t use anymore.
- By Dealer means you have a stock or inventory, and -probably- sell multiple items online.
Other postings include job services, services offered, and even community and events.
*Before posting, make sure to check the prohibited list according to Craigslist. Items include:
- weapons; firearms/guns and components; BB/pellet, stun, and spear guns; etc
- ammunition, clips, cartridges, reloading materials, gunpowder, fireworks, explosives
- offers, solicitation, or facilitation of illegal prostitution and/or sex trafficking
- exploitation or endangerment of minors; child pornography
- recalled items; hazardous materials; body parts/fluids; unsanitized bedding/clothing
- prescription drugs, medical devices; controlled substances and related items
- alcohol or tobacco; unpackaged or adulterated food or cosmetics
- pet sales (re-homing with small adoption fee ok), animal parts, stud service
- endangered, imperiled and/or protected species and any parts thereof, e.g. ivory
- false, misleading, deceptive, or fraudulent content; bait and switch; keyword spam
- offensive, obscene, defamatory, threatening, or malicious postings or email
- anyone’s personal, identifying, confidential or proprietary information
- food stamps, WIC vouchers, SNAP or WIC goods, governmental assistance
- stolen property, property with serial number removed/altered, burglary tools, etc
- ID cards, licenses, police insignia, government documents, birth certificates, etc
- US military items not demilitarized in accord with Defense Department policy
- counterfeit, replica, or pirated items; tickets or gift cards that restrict transfer
- lottery or raffle tickets, sweepstakes entries, slot machines, gambling items
- spam; miscategorized, overposted, cross-posted, or nonlocal content
- postings or email the primary purpose of which is to drive traffic to a website
- postings or email offering, promoting, or linking to unsolicited products or services
- affiliate marketing; network, or multi-level marketing; pyramid schemes
- any good, service, or content that violates the law or legal rights of others
04. Choose your Items “Category”
You’ll have to pick the type of item you’re selling, make sure to read through each category, as there are more than a dozen options.
After finding the option that suits you the best, you will be ready to start describing your item of choice.
* Check the “Recall information” before posting, make sure your items are legal:
- Consumer Product Safety Commission (cpsc.gov)
- Reseller’s Guide to Selling Safer Products
- SaferProducts.gov (saferproducts.gov)
- Recalls.gov (recalls.gov)
- Safercar.gov (safercar.gov)
05. Describe your item of choice, and fill the sale information
It’s time to start describing the item you’re selling. Take your time and be as specific as possible, every single detail counts when it comes to selling on Craigslist.
06. Location, location, location.
Double-checking your location is especially important when selling on Craigslist, that’s why, -sometimes- after you’re done filling the sale information, you will need to specify the location of the item you’re planning on selling on Craigslist.
07. Don’t leave it to the imagination… Take a photo of it!
Make sure you upload quality photos of the item you’re selling; good images are -almost- a requirement for you to succeed selling on Craigslist. You can upload up to 24 photos, take advantage of it.
*After uploading them, you can drag the images from side to side to change their order.
08. 15 minutes and you’re Published!
When online selling, you can never be “too careful”; that’s why we recommend double-checking every single part of your Ad after publishing it, after all, accuracy needs to be as good as possible in order to gain the trust of your potential clients.
*You can always access “Edit text” or “Edit Images” after, in case you need to change any relevant detail from your Ad.
Craigslist is updated every 15 minutes, meaning your Ad will be active after 15 minutes of publishing, however, this only applies for active users.
For first-time users who don’t have an account, Craiglist will send a mail notification asking to confirm the posting, this action is crucial if you want your Ad to sell on Craigslist
. That’s it. You’ve done it! Congratulations on publishing your Ad to sell on Craigslist.
Is selling on Craigslist worth it? Costs, Fees, Tips and more…
Craigslist’s main differentiator is that you get to buy or sell -almost- everything for free. Buying or selling on Craigslist is easy, the whole process takes just a couple of minutes, however, you must remember postings expire, and so, you need to be as accurate as possible when posting an Ad.
Now, the million-dollar question, is selling on Craigslist worth it? Solemnly from a business perspective, selling on Craigslist seems like a no-brainer. Why?
- There’s a huge online community that utilizes Craigslist on a daily basis.
- There are no fees for selling on Craigslist.
- The UX (user experience) is great, uploading and publishing an item takes less than 15 minutes.
- You can decide if you’d like to accept cryptocurrency, if there’s delivery available, and if you want to show more Ads by you as a link.
- There’s a 2-way email relay to help stop spam and scams, meaning the buyer won’t get your real email address and vice versa.
We encourage you to go and sell on Craigslist now!
*We want to clarify that Craigslist, as every online-community, can get tricky; that’s why we have compiled a list of useful tips for your own good.
- Safety first: The Internet can be a dangerous place, do not share delicate or personal data, try to meet the buyer in a public location, preferably with someone else.
- Sizing matters: Misunderstandings can happen to the best of us, be as specific as possible when describing the item you’re selling, add accurate photos, and never lie about what you’re selling.
- Something for everyone: If you’re looking to sell something random, craigslist is the place to be, there’s something for everyone to sell on Craigslist.
For more in-depth tutorials like this, check out:
- Selling on Wayfair: How It Works & What To Sell
- Selling on Rakuten: The Definitive Tutorial & Best Practices
- Selling on Facebook Marketplace: How To Leverage Local Purchasing Power
- Selling on Walmart Marketplace: A 05-Step Seller’s Guide
