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Don't be a liar! I hate it when people: list a price (or worse, say "free") in the ad title and then ask for a ludicrous amount of $$$ for the item in the ad body; offer free delivery or delivery for gas costs and then tell you that there is no delivery available at all; or say things like "Eames lounge chair and ottoman" and try to sell some nasty 1960's (non-eames) lounger or claim they bought it at a high end furniture store and try to sell you some Ikea item for what they bought it for.

Buyers:

Don't be a tire-kicker, and this applies to everything, not just cars. Only call or e-mail if you're reasonably serious about wanting to at least take a look at it. Which means, don't e-mail or call just to pepper the seller with a TON of detailed questions that A) were already answered in the ad you didn't read carefully enough or B) could be answered by coming and taking a look at it.

Sellers:

If you sold it and it's gone PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE remove your CL posting as soon as possible. OR get back to interested parties to ACTUALLY SAY it's gone. How hard is it to be courteous?

Ugh. I won't sell on CL again. Too many miserable experiences trying to arrange people to come pick the stuff up then either having them not show up or show up and only want to pay half of what we agreed on over the phone. Waste of time for me. I have, though, had pretty good experiences buying on CL.

When I've sold on craigslist, I've made sure that my replies to prospective buyers are dictated by their order in contacting me. It doesn't seem fair to call the fifth respondent for whatever reason without giving the earlier birds a chance.

And whenever someone has bought a piece from me, I've sent an e-mail message to them as they drive home, wishing them well with the object.

I hate it when people don't show! When my wife moved in with me a few years ago, we got a storage locker and had a bunch of stuff to sell in there. So it wasn't even jsut waiting around at home -- it was driving over and waiting in a self storage facility. I had 2 or 3 no shows and one who called 3 minutes before our meeting time, just as I was pulling into the parking lot.

My other pet peeve as a seller are the ridiculous low-ballers... those who offer $20 for a 3 year old TV we were asking $200 for. $150 and we'll talk, but $20?!? I even had a couple people offer me like $200 for the original iPhone, still in the original packaging, 2 weeks after it debuted and the stores were all sold out and they were going for upwards of $1k on ebay.

As a buyer, my big pet peeves are those who don't include basic info about something they're selling, or take the extra few seconds to give more detailed descriptions. Tell me what a car's interior/exterior colors. List the model # and brand of a product you're selling. Show a photo of the kitchen/bathrooms in a real estate listing. If you're truly trying to move something, give as much detailed info about it as possible.

this summer we had a guy offer to sell my roommate and i his two air conditioners for $50/each. We were driving from several towns over to get them and he told us he'd hold them for us since it would take us 30 minutes to get there.

We left right away and made it in just under that time. When we got there he said his roommate, who was using the AC wasn't home, and his door was locked, so he crawled onto the balcony via a window and removed the AC backwards. Sketchy.

We paid for it and stood there waiting for the second. He was suddenly like "Oh, I have that second one two, but that I'm selling for $100 dudes."

Well, *dude,* your ad said $100 for the PAIR...

He decided it was worth more since we were eager for an AC and came over so quickly. Seriously. We left angry for the 30 minute ride home.

Don't email with nothing but "Is it still available?" It's perfectly fine to ask, but if you are truly interested, also ask when you will be able to see/buy the item and ask when (s)he can meet with you. This saves both buyer and seller from a rounds of email tag.

I can't list the amount of times I've looked at ads over and over for several days, or even weeks, and when I finally decide I want it, I'll email them a serious inquiry about the item and get "oh, it was sold a long time ago, I should take down the ad." Yeah, no kidding.

After several times of e-mailing sellers about my interest in buying their things and being told even the day they posted an ad (for the second or third time) that it's already gone. I finally gave up ettiquette and just started emailing them straight forward "is this still available? If so, I'm interested." Shortly after I overhear my BF upset another person asked if his item was still available... "of course it's available, or the ad wouldn't be up."

I've had my share of flakes, but I've also had some really nice buyers. One couple took their shoes off before entering our house. Another lady came and looked at the furniture and said she would be back with a uhaul and some help taking it away, and did. I specifically list in all my ads e-mail only, firm price, we have two miata's and we won't be able to help lifting. You learn after people expect me, a 100 lb girl, to move a dresser, or someone agrees on a price that was LOWERED, and shows up saying they want to now pay even less.

My pet peeves are two-fold:

1 - Folks will take pictures of their items that are not clear, or will post a photo of cluttered room (where is it?), or will show a piece of furniture with their china/books/clothing/crap still in it.

Hint: I don't wanna see your messy house, I don't wanna see your crap and I don't wanna see your cat - I want to see the piece that you have for sale and the condition it's in. If I can't see your piece clearly, I'm not interested.

And while we're on the subject of pictures: You can post up to four pictures on your Craigslist ad. So take four pictures at different angles and post 'em.

2 - Folks will post an item with the bare minimum of information - My favorite was one actually posted here on Scavenger that said "Loveseat. Call XXX-XXX-XXXX"

Hint: Without some basic information like dimensions, condition, type of fabric/finish, color, etc. - I'm not going to waste my time.

Oh yeah - and to the folks who try to pass of IKEA or other cheap particleboard KD crap as "Eames" or "Danish Modern"? There's a special place for you - and it's not in my heart.

My experiences with Craigslist have been problematic. However I keep trawling the site because I've managed to buy some fantastic things. As I have never sold anything on Craigslist, my advice is to the sellers:

1. Please provide basic dimensions of the furniture or appliance item you wish to sell.

2. Please provide a picture of the item. Statements such as: "I can't get the pictures to download" recently noted in a NYC listing, only make me suspicious of your credibility.

3. Please photograph the item so that it is not under or over-exposed. Pictures of a silouette or sunspot are completely useless and inexcusable given today's camera technology.

4. As noted earlier, please remove your sale listing immediately after the item is sold.

5. If you're not serious about selling your stuff, don't bother listing it. Nobody's interested in buying your whole house of furniture or office suite because you're too lazy to price the individual items. This is a mutual transaction, in which the buyer pays the seller money in exchange for their item(s). Don't act like you're doing me some sort of enormous favor by selling me your stuff, I can ignore your ad or go elsewhere.

Overly aggressive buyers make me suspicious. Recently, I was trying to sell a chair for $80, and set up a time for the first responder, who was willing to pay full price in cash and pick it up, to come over and look at it. Someone emailed me and asked if I would sell it for $50. I declined, and said that I had someone coming buy later that evening who wanted to pay full price. Five minutes later, they offer me $100 for the chair and that they can be there in an hour. I wasn't about to abandon all seller etiquette for that twit, who probably wouldn't even have shown up!

Overly aggressive buyers are suspicious, but as discussed the all-time worst is no-shows.

I also agree that once you've gotten rid of the item, remove the listing, and take the 15 seconds to people that respond in the meantime to say, "Sorry, it has been sold"

I think there's a special place in hell for no-shows. That's the lowest of the low for me.

I generally sell to whoever e-mails me first, but I have one slightly childish policy: If I'm selling something and the potential buyer strikes me as rude in type, I can assume that they're going to be the same way in person, so I'll skip over to the next person. Granted, I'm from the south, but how hard is it to type "hello", "please", or "thanks"?

I recently had a terribly disappointing experience with a new-to-Craigslist (I assume) seller.

He was selling a gorgeous vintage apothecary cabinet (40 drawers, oak, 54" tall) for $80. I was first respondent, offering $100. We went back and forth via email and on the phone -- he realized it might be worth more than he was asking, and wanted to double check with his wife after work. He said to call him at 5:00, but he was pretty sure it was mine, and I would need assistance picking it up. I arranged rides/help, etc. Called him at 5:00 and he said he'd sold it to someone else for $120 and they were on their way to get it.

So. So. So. Disappointed. If he hadn't sold it, or if he'd offered it to me at $120, or if he'd sold it for $500, I'd've understood. Or at least called/emailed to tell me and apologize? Or apologized? Regardless of his newbie status, I think he was lacking in basic etiquette. And missing out on it still smarts.

Having just recently sold a couch on Craig's List, the biggest issue is finding out when the fellow would come get it and that meant me calling him. He's to come tonight around 7pm to get it. Yes, I had a picture of the couch listed w/ the ad as well and it's in very nice shape for a sectional that's 20 years old. :-)

They came over on a Saturday a week ago and immediately took it as it was exactly what they were looking for and gave me $50 cash, of which I did count right there in front of them so I had the money and my intent if they didn't get the couch in a reasonable amount of time was to put it back on CL if need be. The biggest issue was they had a house, but it was not ready for them yet and they thought it would be sometime next week, or at the very most, Sept 1-2 but doubt it would be that long and they are picking up.

Another gal was interested but was too slow to respond to her emails and lost out. My experience is that once an item goes up on CL, it's gone usually within 24 Hours. Stuff moves very fast on that site, at least here in Seattle anyway so if you are interested, gotta move fast.

about 2 and a half years ago, I sold my 88 Honda Accord on CL for $900 and was honest enough w/ the description and it too sold within 24 Hrs.


I have an add in the wanted section for a red leather Klippan sofa, so far there has been non listed. :-(

Excellent CL etiquette: showing up on time, confirming the meeting, bringing exact change, being friendly, and bringing others to help you move the item.

Good CL etiquette: giving ACCURATE directions to the point of pick-up. it is inconsiderate to have people driving around in bumf*ck egypt looking for your home.

Bad CL etiquette: using the word "vintage" as a selling point in the posting title, only to find that the item shown is an old scruffy sofa from 1989.

Worse CL etiquette: asking higher than what you paid for items in the store originally, when all the potential buyer has to do is go onto ikea.com and they will see that $40 is NOT a reasonable price for a small LACK shelf.

i hate hate hate when people email and simply say "is it available?" five seconds after you post the ad. i hate it so much that in every ad i say "please do not email me to ask if it is available. if you see this listing, it is available. when i sell it i will remove the listing." and i still get 50,000 emails asking "is it still available?"

Pet peeve: people who list, relist, and then relist (ad nauseum) the same item with different wording/different headers, every day or so. They don't seem to understand that most people use search terms, and items don't need to be posted so often.

In a similar vein: people here need to USE CL! The Ventura and Santa Barbara (southern CA) craigslists have been so inactive lately, that I fear everyone that's left will leave. I'm sad that the more-profitable lure of eBay or consignment may be drawing people away from CL, which (when it works) is an often-affordable option -- and a community, to boot.

a few things-

as perviously stated, things sell pretty quickly- and i do ask often if an item is still available, though i do add a few more questions into the email so its worthy of a response.

also, if you have more than one item you are selling, mention it to me. when i lived in NYC i got all my furniture from Craigslist and when i went to pick up a loveseat, the girl was also selling this awesome couch that she had been debating about selling to me, then when i got there saw another group picking up the couch for less than i would have paid had she offered! what's that about???

BEWARE- i had a buyer back and forth with me that asked for a lot of my personal information upfront. (number, where to pick up). then wouldnt give me any of his information- seemed really sketchy too, pretended to be a Priest- can you imagine!! then said he was sending me a money order that i needed to take to a check cashing place, and offered more money than i'd asked for. needless to say this was a huge scam- BEWARE!!

Kpaige13, couldn't agree more about the accurate directions. I live in a very hard to find area, and if I take the time to write out very specific and detailed instructions, I expect buyers to show up. I already had one no-show, and I basically gave a stranger everything but the front door key.

tauremini, I totally agree with you about the email etiquette. In the few times that I've agreed to sell to someone who was not polite over email, they ended up either never responding or flaking out at the very last minute, like 5 minutes before we were scheduled to meet. So, while I usually try to sell to whoever emails me first, I've learned to avoid anyone who apparently can't be bothered to write hello or thank you. I don't want a novel; I just want people to practic some basic etiquette!

Buyers: please please please measure your space before seeing the item, to make sure the dimensions align. I thought I had found a buyer for my kitchen table set, but when she showed up she realized it was too big for her kitchen, even though I provided dimensions on my posting. I was no longer living in this apartment and had to make a special trip out to sell it to her, so I was pretty PO'd when she didn't take it.

Yeah, the "vintage" thing is very annoying. Or "mid-century" or "teak" - I think there should be basic lessons on the definition of each of these terms.

Add also "funky", "cool", and "amazing".

Heh. I recently started a blog about Craigslist pet peeves. It's at http://yousuckatcraigslist.com.

please, dear sellers, KEEP buying DWR warehouse sale items and then advertising them 24 hours later for five times what you paid for them and claiming we are getting a great deal because it's 10% off whatever the price is online. oh, and then you always claim the items just "don't work in the space." well, it probably doesn't work because you bought half the warehouse sale items and are trying to cram them into your crackhead studio apartment in the Tenderloin.

keep doing that, because it cracks me up each time.

dr_mk, yours is my new favorite blog! I laughed out loud at every post.

My worst craigslist experience was when I drove 40 minutes to a lady's house to pick up a desk...and she wasn't home. We agreed on the time, and she wasn't there, and I even waited 15 minutes, knocking at her door, calling her phone with no answer. I even had my sister check my email over the phone to make sure I had the right house. Finally I gave up and left and after being on the road for 15 minutes (half an hour after the agreed time) she called my cell to say "Oh I got held up, where are you?" She had the nerve to be mad at ME for not willing to turn back around and pick up her crappy desk. no thank you!

love it dr_mk! thanks for making me laugh 'til I cried!

I like craigslist for finding rentals and roommates and furniture, but I don't think I'll ever sell on it again. I sold my car on CL, and I received calls at all hours... literally, at 3am even! One guy called at midnight and wanted to see the car that night and he was an hour away! Like a single female is going to meet a strange man buying her car in the middle of the night. Long after I took the post down, I was still receiving calls because people were finding it through the Google cache.

Also, I've (apparently) inappropriately done the "Is it still available?" thing - because i've tried to purchase too many things that were already sold and the posters didn't take the listing down. It never occurred to me that it may be poor etiquette. Whoops!

I've had two very positive selling experiences on Craigslist, but awful (and suspicious) attempts to buy. Also bad experiences with trying to give away cardboard boxes that held my bf's home dialysis supplies -- every weirdo in a two-state area came out of the woodwork, and the less bizarre never showed up to collect. The boxes are still in our spare room.

The showing up point is HUGE. When I was moving a couple of months ago I dealt with constant no-shows for the apartment that I was renting, for stuff I was selling and for stuff that I was giving away FOR FREE. How much effort does it take to send an email or make a phone call to say "I'm not coming." Why waste my time?

I'm still pissed about the person who flaked on picking up my moving boxes a few days ago. She even emailed me to say she was on her way and then never showed. no phone call. no email even after I contacted her to ask if she was still coming. nothing.

I do the "is it still available?" line because 9 out of 10 times, it's not. But I always follow up with my interest, any pertinent questions, and times that I am available to pick up/requests for when they are available to show.

And when I sell, I ask for the same info in an email response. No way am I taking calls on first contacts.

But what totally mystifies me (apart from the no-shows and other points above) is the apparent high resale value of Ikea items. I've seen 3-year old futons--beds, for crying out loud--for sale at only $20 under their new price. Other (new) items for sale over the new price because it's assembled. Generally, in these parts, people post used Ikea items at around 80% of the new price. That's insane, no? It's Ikea!

But yeah, no-shows. We had our couch up for sale and it got to the point that I was actually calling no-shows back and chewing them out for not bothering to cancel. It only takes 30 seconds to say "I changed my mind." Damn.

I just relocated to a new city and didn't have much time to find a rental. After my first trip I left town discouraged after not finding anything. Shortly after that a house popped up on Craigslist that looked perfect! I immediately emailed a list of questions and said that I was very interested. The most important item on the list was would they welcome my two cats. The listing didn't have the pet box checked either way. The woman emailed back and was interested in showing me the place. She didn't answer the cat question. I emailed her back and laid out my situation, that I was moving for work and would be starting right away so I really needed a place and wouldn't be back in town again before my move. I offered to take the place sight unseen and overnight a deposit. I probably gave her too much information including the type of job I was moving for in an attempt to sound credible. She responded that she was very interested and could definitely accommodate the tight turn around...but now she was worried about the cats. The price suddenly went up. Not only did the deposit jump up by $1,000, but she also asked for "pet rent" of $100 per month per cat. Maybe she just really dislikes cats, but it seemed more like she was trying to take advantage of my desperate situation. I passed.

I just bought a Lane 1960's round coffee table off craigslist tonight for $40. It was a STEAL for me and I think the seller was glad to have it off his hands (moving). After several phone call exchanges failed plans to meet I finally got it. Yeah, there was nothing easy about finally getting it in my posession but I think that's the price you pay for a free advertising/selling site. We all are in agreement though that good communication with the sellers is key. If you get a weird vibe from the person just back off. I *love* my Craigslist.

Communication on the part of the seller and buyer is important. Half of the pet peeves people have expressed would be avoided if sellers spelled out everything relevant about what they're selling (photos, asking price, dimensions, condition, availability to show, etc.) and buyers make clear their level of interest (offer price, availability to pick up, contact information). The other half of the problem would be solved if people just showed up when they're supposed to or called to cancel.

I've gotten great stuff cheap on Craigslist and tried to do the same for others if there are things I no longer need or want. Just don't do any of the things that annoy you and most of the time you won't have any problems. If you do have a problem, just ask yourself how much this "great deal" is worth to you in time or effort. Sometimes that means giving it up, but the great thing about Craigslist is that something else equally (or more) appealing will pop up.

This isn't really etiquette, it's more of a tip: as a seller, I will usually say something like, "this chair will fit into an average size car, but if you're using public transit and you live in the city, I will load this into my car and drive you home after you pay for it, for $5-$10, depending on location".

I'm not saying you should necessarily do this, but I do, and it has worked for me. Many buyers who live downtown and don't own cars really appreciate it, and I've been told many times that it has made the sale.

After reading all of these comments I agree with most of the do's and don'ts and appreciate the situations both good and bad all of us have gone through in some ways- together. That said, my only real peeve is one no one else seems to have mentioned--- sellers who tell you that the piece is yours via email and then within moments or hours, revoke their offer and say "sorry, someone has already come to pick up the piece." While I would like to think that I am an understanding person, despite the circumstances of moving or space, or whatever-- be up front about this information and note somewhere in your listing or to interested buyers that you're offering the piece on a first come first serve basis, and be specific as to whether or not this means the first person who contacts you or the first person who can arrange to pick up the piece! Please.

for the most part, i've had average experiences buying and selling on craigslist. lately i've been doing a lot more selling than buying, and i have the same pet peeves and follow the same etiquette as the commenters above. but my all-out *worst* CL selling experience was a real doozy...

once, i listed an item in the late afternoon, while still at work. the item in question - a clear plexi, half-spherical fishbowl/vase designed to hang flat against a wall and bubble out from it - had been sitting, unused, in a corner of my apartment. it was in decent shape, clean, but with a couple light scuffs to the plexi. i think i had paid $35 or so for it new, a few years earlier, so i listed it for $25, expecting someone to offer $20. (i always add $5 or $10, as long as it's still a fair price, because i expect people to bargain.)

one woman starts emailing me immediately. asks if it's still available, i say yes. can she come get it that evening? great, i say. how's 7 pm? where do i live? i send her the cross streets and explain that i usually get home from work around 7pm or a little before, so between 7:15 pm and 7:30 pm is ideal, but i'm happy to call her once i'm close to home. can you give me the address? i send it, but without my apartment number, and explain - as i do with *anyone* who's coming to my house for any reason - that my buzzer doesn't work, and she'll need to call my cell phone when she arrives at the building. she says 7:15 pm is fine, and gives me her home phone number, asking that i not call it because she wants to surprise her kid or she doesn't want her husband to know or maybe both. yikes.

for some reason (unknown to me hindsight), i press on. this fishbowl thing isn't exactly a high-demand item and if i can sell it rather than dropping it off at goodwill, i might as well, right?

i get home around 7 pm, but don't call because she asked me not to. it's a nice night and i don't want to miss this lady - i must have had a suspicious feeling or something - so at around 7:10 pm i go outside with a magazine and the fishbowl (it's only 12" or so in diameter) to sit on my front stoop. i figure i'll just hang out outside for half an hour or so. as i'm walking down the stairs, i stop to say hello to a neighbor and we hear the front doors to the building jiggle a little.

as i exit the front doors, a woman is making her way down the front steps. she of course is the woman who supposedly wants to buy this fishbowl thing, and now she is a wee bit irked that i didn't open the common front door to my building when she showed up early and then didn't call my cell phone like i explained she would need to do.

whatever, on with the sale. i show her the fishbowl thing, she asks if i'll take $15 for it on account of the minor scuffs. sure, i'm happy to get rid of it at this point.

then she opens her wallet. oops, she's only got $13 in cash! will i let it go for $13? please? 'cause that's all she's got and she driven all the way from south san francisco (i live in the mission). please?

i should have told her that if she didn't want to leave empty handed, i'd be happy to wait while she stopped by the ATM at the bodega on the corner. but, already angered and ready to slap this lady, i let her have her manipulative way, took my $13, and went back inside. then i fumed for a bit, vented about the experience to my boyfriend when he got home, and vowed to take the bad-buyer warning signs more seriously next time. at least it i got rid of the gd thing.

plus, it's not like i'm still bitter or anything...

My Craigslist pet peeve is that around Boston, at least, all professional apartment places list their prices at $100-200 less than the final monthly price, without fail.

See an ad for an apartment at $1430? You're going to be paying $1630, without fail. When questioned, they all answer with "Prices change according to date" answers, which makes you want to bite off "Ah, so it changed $200 since you posted the CL add yesterday?"

It really does seem like the only honest prices are from actual owners renting part of their duplex.

My biggest pet peeve is folks not taking down the ads after things have sold, which has been mentioned.

I expect a little bargaining, although I rarely bargain myself. It's not rude to bargain unless the ad says "firm".

I made a rookie mistake on CL a few years ago when I paid for a piece of furniture and then left it with the seller. He insisted that I come over RIGHT NOW and pay because he had dozens of other interested parties. I told him I was at work, not ready to be moving furniture, etc. He said it was no problem - I could come pay him now, he would give me a receipt and I could come back later with a truck and a friend. I foolishly thought, "Well, isn't he a nice man!" About once a week thereafter we would set up a time for me to pick up the furniture and then he'd either not be home or he wouldn't come to the door. The next day he would send me an angry email asking when I was coming to get the furniture. The whole thing would start again. This went on for five months.

I've had many positive buying experiences, but once when I was selling a nice feather down sofa and bed frame with headboard/footboard I decided I would never sell on Craigslist again. After several "no shows" an entire family came to our home complete with overly dominant husband, obedient wife and two out of control children whom promptly tore into my kids' toys while my children stood by shock. I was asking for a very low price to begin with, but after several minutes of haggling, the man wanted everything PLUS our old mattress that wasn't included in the sale. He wanted me to clean the mattress and have my husband deliver everything as well. At this point we just wanted the items and the family out of our home so we agreed, (however, I refused to clean the mattress and told them if they wanted the old thing it was up to him to clean it). The next day I double checked to make sure all the hardware was included with the bed set before my husband delivered everything. When my husband returned from the delivery, he stated that the man had neglected to tell us he lived on a top floor of an apartment building and assumed my husband was going to carry everything up by himself. At that point, my husband dropped everything out of his truck on the bottom floor. Hours later the man kept calling and harassing my husband saying that we didn't included all of the hardware for the bed. This went on for two days even though he told him we were positive all the hardware was there. Finally, I got so pissed I snatched the phone away from my husband the last time the man called and cussed him out and told him if he ever contacted us again I'd call the police. I guess we wasn't used to a woman telling him off before because he seemed in shock and never called back again.

Craigslist is what it is, but I've had only positive experiences with it. I don't set out to screw people over. If I sell a dishwasher, I throw in some detergent so they can use it as soon as they get home.

Sellers: describe the piece accurately, post a photo, give dimensions, tell why you like it or what its flaws are. I even look online and post a link to the owner's manual or to reviews on epinion or something ... that helps answer a LOT of questions people might have. Don't put your phone number directly in the ad! I communicate on email and only give a phone number when they say they want to come by and purchase. If you want it to sell, check to see what others are selling theirs for and under-cut a bit.

This is my own personal etiquette, but if I bought it for $50 on craigslist, I will not sell it for more than that (unless I enhanced it somehow).