Selling Furniture on Craig's List

I've mentioned a few times that my friend Tracey offered to let me sell some of her furniture on commission. She moved not too long ago and decided to get some new furniture to go with the new space. Her and her guy have been meaning to list things online, but have been so busy lately they just haven't been able to do it. These are fairly big pieces, which means they can really only go to local folks, so that means Craig's List or the newspaper. Also, unlike eBay sales, people will need to see these before they purchase, so that means setting up appointments. After a number of meetings with her to see the furniture, get photos and then get keys and access to the storage area... it was Thanksgiving. I wasn't sure if people would be shopping for new bedside tables during the holiday, so I waited until yesterday and put up my first listing.

I've never worked with Craig's list before. The website feels a bit primitive to work with, but it is very functional. Adding a listing was easy - it only took me 15-20 minutes to type up my description and add the photos. After having put up tons of listings on eBay, Amazon and other sites, it was strange not to have all the extra features and gizmos, but kind of refreshing too.

So the ad is up and we'll see how it does. I only listed one piece to start - I kind of wanted to see how it would go before putting everything online. I have gotten an email on it and set up an appointment to meet someone, so we'll see how that goes. Naturally, I'll report about it here. I do have to say though, if you are thinking about listing items for sale CraigsList does has some advantages - namely that it is easy and free.

The other thing I need to do is measure the pieces. I can't believe I forgot to do that! I'm going to grab a tape measure and bring it with me tonight and get some measurements for future ads. Knowing the size is certainly something I would want to know!

Other than that, things look petty good for this month. I had a nice run on some Amazon sales of another friend's toys and I'll be working a couple of my second jobs this month. I also have a few more eBay items in the works that I have to try and get up soon for bargain Christmas shoppers.

So, what are you doing for extra holiday cash?




Photo by: danagraves