Tips and help for posting ads on craigslist

[C.Linton]

Did a search, couldn't find exactly what I wanted to know. Any tips or hints/help with things I should keep in mnd when posting an ad on CL? I've never done it before and I'm not sure what I should do to keep myself from getting scammed. One thing I will likely do is, the item I have for sale will be strictly a local pickup, cash only deal. After that, I'm not sure what else I need to do to do a relatively safe transcation.

[MJ5150]

Do you have the appearance of someone who can handle yourself? If not, bring a friend along for the transaction. Meet people in well lit parking lots during hours when people are normally awake.

I set up a freebie e-mail account, from Juno, I use for all CL deals.

State clearly the details about the local pickup and cash only, but don't come across like a prick about it.

Just delete the scammer e-mails. It isn't worth the hassle to reply in my mind.

-Mike

[slaps76]

Even if you put "local deal, cash only," you'll still get emails from scammers. It's not like they actually read the ads, so I think that line is pretty useless anyway.

Only way to avoid being scammed, is do not except any cashier's checks, ect. If you do find a buyer that wants it shipped, make sure you can speak with them on the phone, and don't ship anything until money clears. However with CL, you'll find 99% of CL buyers are going to be local anyway.

So far I've had great luck with selling and buying on CL, except getting the obvious scam emails, but now I can immediately tell which ones those are. You'll even get an email that says "do you still have available?", which after you reply, you get a follow up with the long story about shipping, paying extra, all that crap.

[MJ5150]

Other than a couple no-shows for arranged meetings, CL has been trouble free for me as a buyer and seller. Even when it is legit, I refuse to ship anything I have for sale to someone. To me, that kind of ruins what CL is all about.

-Mike