The List

I am addicted to Craigslist. And fortunately, I am also very good at finding things on craigslist. Good enough that I could probably support myself on buying and selling through the site for a profit.

This started several years ago when I realized that my dream had come true in a user friendly classifieds website that was community driven and highly interactive. Ever since I was a kid I have always enjoyed buying used stuff and/or trading.

Several years after my discovery of the list I have purchased things including a refrigerator, freezer, multiple surfboards, guns, truck box, wetsuit, tons of furniture, vacation rentals, chevy tahoe, boat, blackberry, yardwork and the list goes on and on. Additionally, I have sold a kia sportage, a dodge ram, furniture, surfboards, bicycle, auto equipment and again the list goes on.

One of the things that I love about craigslist is that even though it has gotten so big now there are still those golden moments when you get a product for a great price before anyone else has had the chance to get it. I once bought a GE stainless steel refrigerator for $200 that retailed for 10x that but I had to drop everything I was doing and haul ass to Daniel Island before anyone else could get there. There was also the time I bought a brand new sleeper sofa, chair and ottoman for less than $200 only because I was the first person to get there. I responded to that ad within 30 minutes of him posting it and he had already had over 20 people call...one poor lady even started crying on the phone when he told her that he had sold it. Its kind of sad but not really and that lady is pretty pathetic if she's crying over a used couch. Probably time to get it together.

While I love a good price I absolutely despise someone who overprices their product. It actually really makes me made enough to call them and debate the reasoning behind the price. For that reason, I am going to set the three rules of pricing your item on Craigslist.

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO SELL A USED ITEM AT A NEW PRICE - if you bought a guitar amp for $100 2 years ago and played it two times you can not re-sell it for $95. The product is now outdated and you will never sell it. The only person who will buy for that product is someone with pity on you for being an idiot and pity should not exist in the world of used goods. There was a line 6 guitar amp being sold in Columbia, SC last week that was used and actually being sold for more than you could buy it new at retail. Good luck sir.

DO NOT EXPECT PEOPLE TO PAY MORE FOR SOMETHING THAT HAS SENTIMENTAL VALUE TO YOU - Its really nice that you have had a little piece of land out in the country for a long time. But, believe it or not I dont want to pay more for it because you dont seem to want to let it go. In fact, I want to pay a lot less for it because I am hoping that you have no idea how much its worth and I want to get it as cheap as possible. So when I call about it and you say things like "I dont even know if I want to sell it" and "You can make me an offer but I want whoever will pay me the most for it" I realize that I am talking with someone who has no business using the internet. Instead, you should go sit on your rocking chair and live in your dream world where rich men appear out of nowhere to offer you unlimited sums of money for your trash land. This particular conversation with a man in Adams Run was 15 minutes of my life that I will never get back.

DO NOT PRICE SOMETHING AGGRESSIVELY HIGH AND RE-POST IT EVERYDAY BECAUSE NO ONE IS BUYING IT - The majority of the time this product is also something that absolutely no one wants. This can also often times be related to rule number 2 in that someone has done a lot of work to a piece of junk and now it is simply a slightly more appealing piece of junk - putting lipstick on a pig. One place you'll see this a lot is with cars and boats. For example, to the man who took the ugliest foam/strange fiberglass boat and put a coat of blue paint on it along with a retired johnson outboard and called it "fully restored", you sir are guilty of breaking this rule. No one will pay $3K for your boat and to be perfectly honest everytime you re-post we all get a little more angry. We're frustrated that you dont get it and that we have to look at your post on a daily basis. Either (a) dont ever put a dollar into it and actually spend your money on things that are not junk or (b) take a hint when you dont even get one email response to your boat in 6 months and consider dropping the price even just a touch.

There are more rules to come.