apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

We recently did something similar. Just in the last week I believe you posted two danish teak chairs for $695 and we owned one that only differed in cushion color and gave it away!!! I now totally regret doing that, we could have re-upholstered it or something but now it's gone.

I regret now taking advantage of CL sooner. :)

I really feel bitter defeats on Craig's List. There was a Danish modern dresser set (high boy and low dresser) that needed some work, but went to some fast buyer for $75 bucks. They were even in my neighborhood, we could have been friends. Instead, I had to wait half a year for another combo like that, and this one doesn't have the same pedigree, but cost way more anyway.

i sold a limited edition red Kartell Componibili end table because i didnt think i had room for it. i've since moved to a bigger place and have serious sellers remorse :(

Thankfully I've not had a lot of CL remorse ... I've sold a lot and bought a lot on there with much success. I suffer worse from eBay remorse (I miss my collection of James Bond watches!) and missing out on great buys (damn the guy who beat me - by 12 seconds - on that kickass 60s chrome chandelier!) I did, however, recently buy a set of dining chairs on Craigs (see lower left-hand corner of this pic http://flickr.com/photos/ridge_van_winkle/2212221491/), and as cheesy as this sounds, it was the slowest hour of my life waiting to find out if they had been sold yet. I just kept checking and checking my email.

I had to sell my furniture FAST when I moved from Atlanta to Los Angeles. I sold it all on Craigslist which worked wonderfully but I sold it all really cheap to get rid of it quickly. I kinda wish I had tried to get a little more money but I just didn't have time.

I do remember one woman that bought my tv. She had knocked her son's tv over when cleaning his room and it broke so she was thrilled to be able to replace it for him. That made me feel better.

Slightly off-topic, but... Do you have any advice for a newbie seller? I've never sold anything on Craigslist, but I have a nice music keyboard that I think I can get some money for. What should I know? Thank you!

Pteetsa - post a picture!!!! As a frequent buyer that's the most important thing for me (though I don't buy instruments, generally). Several shots are good, from a couple of different angles and give a sense of scale for the object. And make sure the pictures are a reasonable enough size that they'll actually load on CL (cut them down to half or quarter size with a photo editor).

My advise is to bless whatever you are selling and let it go!! It doesn't make sense to keep something that doesn't work in the hopes that one day you will need it, and paying storage for something that doesn't fit in the hopes that one day it will is just a waste of money!!

Let go!!

I never have buyers remorse just remorse of not buying something and then going back for it and it's already gone. I have a lot of those stories!!

Oops ... that link didn't work right. perhaps this:
http://flickr.com/photos/ridge_van_winkle/2212221491

RARE PERSIAN RUG - ANTIQUE - $1,500
No deliveries. Pick up only. Will trade for your time as artist model. Send pics.

ridge_van_winkle - i really dig the chair in the photo. Did you get it used or new? Where from?

I have sold a bunch of stuff on craigslist and my only comments would be... pick a meeting place in public, not your house. Maybe i am too cautious but I didn't want to invite strange folks home... though none of the stuff I have sold was too big to easily move.
Be honest about any issues with what you are selling.
As mentioned pictures are important.
Make sure the price is worth the hassle, unless you really want to get rid of it! I once sold a little stuffed animal that I had gotten for free from some wildlife group for 2 bucks. I missed the buyer and ended up taking it to her house, hardly worth the time and gas but I didn't want it and didn't want it thrown away.

Ah! Thank you, Sara! That was my biggest concern - having strangers come to my house. I was wondering if I was being silly, but I'm glad to know someone else feels the same. That's the other thing I'm wondering: if I sell my keyboard for $100 or less, is it worth all the trouble? I read the AT article on the downfalls of Craigslist - buyers not showing up, etc.

two brand new herman miller eames signed LCW's in ebony for 500 dollars. just one of them is 649 new. i was checking CL on my phone on an airplane. after i saw it i made a note to email them when i landed, i did. they were gone.

it's alright, i really want the walnut version more.

Post a picture. I don't buy anything from an ad with no photo.

Sara ... you mean the blue chair? It was on clearance from Urban Outfitters of all places ... they still have pictures of it on their website, but they haven't sold it in a couple of years.

I've been thinking more about this reselling/recycling thing while I was out walking around. A few years ago I listed a high bistro table and stools that I had bought for my first "big girl" apartment, so it had a lot of sentimental value, but I didn't really have room for it anymore in my current place, nor did it really fit the decor anymore. I just remember how important it was to me when i got it ... it was my first major furniture purchase, and I got it to wedge into a weird spot in my little kitchen. It was the just the right size/color/style to fit perfectly into my new home. I was so poor I had to buy the table and three stools one piece at a time (thankfully there was only room for three stools, since they sold out before I saved up for the fourth) and my friends and I used to love hanging out at it making cocktails after work.

Then, even as I had the posting up years later on CL, I was really torn inside about whether or not to part with it, but I felt better once the buyer showed up. It was a young girl with her roommate and they were furnishing their first place ... they took one look at it and were so excited: "Look! It has three stools so we can fit it in the corner! And it's the right height that we can pull it out for parties and people can stand around with us and have drinks!" Then I knew it had gone on to be in its next perfect home.

Pteetsa , not only post a picture but rotate it so it's vertical. I see so many posts with pictures of the thing on it's side. I don't bother with those. So - rotate, rotate, rotate.

ridge--love your Brasilia stuff--I have the same! Also I tried to get an id on a chair like yours from UO on AT and no one responded. Glad I know, now.

I have no craigslist remorse. I buy and sell almost everything there. Sell low, buy low. No regrets!

Ridge - I'm so jealous of your apartment. Great pieces in that photo.

I did mean the blue chair, though all of your place looks great!

Pteetsa - For the record when my sister recently moved she sold a bunch of stuff on CL right out of her place with no side affects (though she was also moving across the country in about a week).
I have only had people not show up once and was able to re-schedule with little hassle. I try to pick places i would normally go... coffee shop or lunch place that way it really isn't out of the way to bring whatever i am selling with me.

The story of the table reminds me of this bright orange steelcase desk chair i sometimes put on CL but am ambivalent about selling. I don't really use it but just can't seem to give it up. I was hoping for an experience like Ridge's table where someone would be really into it and it would get better use then just sitting on my porch.

Squiggle ... You know what's funny is that credenza was one of my longtime eBay regrets ... I'd seen the same one on there and couldn't bid because it was in CA and they didn't want to deal with arranging shipping. I ended up finding this one on Cl ... Three blocks from me and for a better price. (Although I did completely smash my leg trying to help carry it up my walk-up

I'm torn between ebay and CL for that reason ... I like knowing your status and stuff one something you want on eBay, but with CL it's so much more accessible and sometimes you can bargain with the seller.

Anyone with AT classified remorse? I have never yet been able to get something from there ... It's always gone by the time I get to the listing.

Naima ... Thanks! That's the same way I feel about all of the House Tours on here!

Sara, what's it look like? I'm actually looking for a steelcase desk chair!

buyers remorse? um, the washer dryer combo i bought that has now ceased to work after 3 months. probably b/c i bought from a strange witch-lady who I'm fairly certain used it to launder her fortune-telling costumes.

that said, my advice for buying/selling on CL is try to exchange a few emails and even a phone call with someone to feel them out a little and make sure they're normal-ish.

oh, and try to type your ad with proper punctuation and spelling (they're not "draws" people, they're "drawers") and not in all caps in one sentence... good luck!

Last year, somebody was selling a Big Sur Table and bench. I didn't act fast enough and somebody else bought it. I still think about it because I still don't have a dining table!

Ridge, It is a drafting type chair that swivels 360 degrees and can be raised and lowered... bright orange. It has a few cuts on the vinyl and some rust on the base. Nothing terrible but there just the same. Someone was throwing it out in college and I have had it ever since though still don't have desk to use it at.
I have a picture of it that I have been using for CL but have no idea how to link it to this post. I can send you a shot if you are interested.

Some more advice here, if y'all are up for it: I need to unload my whole apartment quickly, since I'm moving overseas.

Is it better to post individual ads for each item or one big "moving sale" ad with a list?

Squiggle and Sara ... Room & Board has a very similar chair called the Grace that is higher end, but almost the same shape ... I had actually picked that one out first, since I was ordering my sofa from there, but at the last second, I saw the UO one marked down at such an incredible price that I got it instead. (I think it sold out later that day ... talk about how badly I would've had remorse if I'd hesitated!)

And Sara ... are you in New York? I'd totally love to see that chair. I need one for my drafting table. email me a pic at ridge_van_winkle-at-yahoo

thanks!

p.s. My friend and I were talking on the way home from work about this subject ... we both realized we have really bad Target remorse ... too often pass something up that we want, only to return on the next trip and it's gone.

My latest buyers remorse is when I missed out on a Chinese medicine chest by 30 minutes. I was sitting by my phone waiting for directions and had my cash ready when the seller called and told me someone else had purchased it. Dohh!!!

Ridge, I thought your chair was the Grace chair from R & B but wasn't sure, lucky you finding such a great deal! I have been looking at the Grace chair for awhile but haven't had the cash to spend on another chair. I am in North Carolina, but will send the picture anyway.

annaholl, i think posting as a big list is ok as long as you can add pictures. telling people you are moving and have a deadline may also be helpful though the biggest draw would probably be bargain prices.

as to remorse, nothing on CL but i had my eye on a oval coffee table at ebay that was going swell, less then 100.00 with about an hour to go when out of nowhere the price got jacked up to 450.00 and it quickly went out of my price range.

Does Craigslist Remorse include crap you bought in the personals section?

Argh--I *have* that rug! And I want to sell it! But I'm located in SF... :(

The only thing I regret is all the lost time spent running home to meet someone who was coming to purchase something...only to have them flake out and not show up. I could have made other plans. Grrrr.

A warning from a craigslist user: Do not use NYC Van service run by William Rodriguez. I bought an armoire off of craigslist and emailed William at NYC Van NYCvan@verizon.net to set up a pick up time six days in advance. On the day of the move, William did not show up nor return my six phone calls, so I'd like to warn other New Yorkers who depend on services like these.