Friends of ours recently relocated to Chicago from London, and of major concern is how they are going to furnish a new (much larger) apartment from scratch. We introduced them to Craigslist, which exists in London but with a very small presence/following, apparently.
As a professional "Scavenger" for Apartment Therapy (and a pro user personally, long before AT came around), digging through what's for sale has become second nature.
But to those new to the game, there are really three key elements for making it work for you:
- Have a clear idea of what you're looking for, so that searching is specific rather than a frustrating free-for-all.
- Know what things cost when new, so that you have bargaining power for the used.
- Be patient. Look every day for a week for something specific, and it's bound to turn up.
There are a lot of useful tips for the seller as well, but if you're most interested in the shopping side of things, we say the time and effort involved is well worth the money you'll save and the fun you'll have when scavenging.
Above: Herman Miller plywood chairs for $495 each obo
Gumtree is the larger equivalent of Craigslist here in London.
view Sox's profile
I heart CL. Every time I am considering buying something, I -always- look there first. Its absolutely amazing what you can get on there.
I purchased an awesome antique entire dining room set (table, 3 leaves, 6 chairs and a buffet) for less than $300. A cool velvet rust colored living room chair for $20, countless kitchen items, Waterford & Wedgwood and so much more. One man's trash... I guess.
People moving or getting divorced or just looking for some extra cash these days makes CL the most amazing place to find things.
Looking for something specific? Set up an RSS feed. Looking to get rid of something? Post an accurate description, include lots of pics, post a fair price and respond to your emails promptly.
view deirdre's profile
p.s. I would gauge 'fair price' to be roughly 50% off retail (if you are looking to move your item in a reasonable amount of time). Slightly more if its still in the original box/new or very very lightly used and less if it looks rough. Also check eBay for the going prices there - you gotta be competitive if you really want to move your stuff!
People who list and re-list and re-list stuff for like $5 less than the retail price need to have their heads examined. Plus, they are really annoying.
view deirdre's profile
I bought a DWR Twilight sofa a few years ago via Craigslist. Every search on Craigslist has an RSS Feed (look in the lower-right corner for a big orange button) -- e.g., http://newyork.craigslist.org/search/fua?query=twilight
Take the URL for the RSS feed and "subscribe" to it in Google Reader (or Bloglines, or the feed reader of your choice) -- it will update whenever a new item matching your search shows up on Craigslist, so you don't need to return to CL and rerun every search, scanning for what's new...
view Scott T.'s profile
Craigslist is wonderful! I cannot tell you how many items my husband and I have purchased and sold there. Our most recent purchase was a phenomenal set of perfect bunkbeds for our two boys! We have also purchased a camera, printer, television set, you name it. I agree with deirdre, whenever we are planning a purchase we ALWAYS look there first! You can buy new-but someone is always moving out of town or going through a life change where they must "get rid of something right away." If I want something specific, I always check back constantly under the specific heading and have had luck getting things that someone just posted. That has happened to us as well. We post something and voila, minutes later we receive a call or e-mail and coordinate the sale. I cannot say enough fantastic things about the site. It is amazing!
view rusticmodern's profile
If you user FireFox as your browser, download the Craigslist Image Preview extension: http://www.craigstoolbox.com/
Best FireFox add-on ever.
view FiatLex's profile
I love the craigslist image previewer mentioned in the post above. Makes going through craigslist so much faster!
view girlonthem00n's profile
Here's a pretty good primer for newbies--the comments also include some valuable tips: http://stylenorth.ca/blog/2009/01/making-the-most-of-craigslist/
view ChrisToronto's profile
If you're in a small city, then multiply the 'every day for a week' by at least four if not more. That's about what we've got in my part of the world.
view wc_canuck's profile
wow fiatlex thanks so much for that tip - gonna download it right now!
view lovelyrita's profile