apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I live about an hour away from the nearest metropolitan area, so I'd be hard-pressed to find a good Craigslist item anywhere closer. But since a trip to the city is a big deal, I'd make a day/afternoon out of it: maybe swing by IKEA, too, and stop at a tasty Indian restaurant, since I can't get much international food in these parts, either.

I live in Boston, but sometimes when I spy something you post from NYC I think about driving to get it. Haven't actually done so yet though. With the price of gas (wa wa wa) the way it is the item would have to be quite a bargain. Anyone know someone selling an eames chair for a dollar?

I drove an hour to Valhalla from Brooklyn to pick up a table that is currently stashed at my in-law's. Waiting for a quiet and dry day to drive it back down from Westchester on the roof of our Camry. Because of its location it was dirt cheap, and since I only need the item for a short amount of time, bringing it to a more active market (NYC) where people don't usually have cars to pick up craigslist items will increase my resale value.

i patiently trolled craigslist for a month for a mid-century dining table that would seat at least 10 and when i found one on line that included 6 chairs, within an hour i had rented a van and driven from brooklyn to new jersey to pick it up. and only paid $600... well worth it

I suffer the same blues as mally313 - I sit here in Boston drooling over your NYC finds! Still haven't hopped in the car for any though.

Up here... I drove an hour and a half round trip for a brand new AC being sold for $50(!!!!) last weekend, and this week I'm (hopefully!) picking up the credenza from my "Good Questions" post, which is about the same distance.

Okay, I know this is ridiculous but Mike and I drove from Toronto to Montreal (338 miles) to pick up a chrome dresser that I was mad about. The price was right and we decided to call it a "weekend getaway" but the truth is, we went for that dresser! The really good part is that the Montreal seller agreed to hold the piece for us . . . imagine if we went all that way only to discover that it had been sold minutes earlier to someone swifter (as happens all the time in Toronto)? D'oh!

you mean if I owned a dinosaur burner? Can't say.

You could always rent or borrow a dinosaur burner - you don't have to own one...

I drive all over the place for craigslist deals, but how far depends on price. The distance I'll drive is directly proportional to the amount of money I'm saving by buying CL over new.

Less than what I would have a year ago. The cost of the trip really has to be considered in light of the overall value of what I'm getting.

i get a zipcar to get mine and my friends' CL finds all the time. usually we stay well within an hour's drive from downtown toronto.

Well I am that crazy Bostonian that will drive to NYC to get a Craigs List Find. We were obsessed with getting 6 white Panton chairs for our new dining table, but I couldn't stomach paying retail. Low and behold, within a month I found 6 on CL NY for 1/3 the price of retail and in perfect condition, and he was willing to hold them for me for over a week. We drove down on Sunday, loaded our car with the chairs, stopped by the outsider art fair, and then drove home.

But gas was less than 3 dollars then... today, I may not have been as adventurous!

A couple years back I did a major purchase of CL-listed pieces from an older lady in the East Bay who was downsizing, but I never left San Francisco: We communicated via e-mail and phone, I purchased them sight-unseen and paid a delivery man $250 to pick them up and bring them to my place. Best purchase I ever made.

Boston-NYC seems to be popular. We made the trip for a Ligne Roset Togo 3-seater ottoman, with a borrowed van. Now we'll see when a matching 2-seater will show up in red alcantara...

I was actually researching ways to get to from Boston to Denver and pick up an Up 5 chair ( ottoman), but it sold before I could do something stupid.

What a timely article - My husband just drove this morning from Concord to Manteca (over an hour drive) for a vintage Schwinn bicycle he found on Craigslist. They are very hard to come by for a reasonable price in the SF Bay Area. We have considered driving to LA for a few things but we've never actually done it.

We drove from SF to Fresno once for a vintage pickup truck. I think that was from Craigslist too. That was many years ago - I think we'd seriously rethink a drive like that these days with the cost of gas as it is. It would have to be a really good deal.

I've actually purchased chairs from NY Craigslist when I lived in Detroit. But rather than drive to NYC and back I found someone on Craigslist already making the drive and offered them money to bring my chairs with them. The total for the danish armchairs with my craiglist driver were far less than similar chairs I had found elsewhere.

Two years ago i fuld a pair of amazing Thayer Coggin 70's arm chairs on eBay for 30's each. i couldnt resist so that day i rented a U-Haul (first mistake) and drove to Roselle Il from Chicago. it should have taken like 60 miles round trip but because i have no internal sence of direction the trip ended up being around 130 miles..... dont laugh i know! so that $60 bucks i spent on my AMAZING chairs turned into almost $300 an account of rental fees, milage fees and gas!!

the funniest part wanted to rent a pick up truck, when i got to uhaul they said all they had left was the 25 footer.

gosh what a mess that day was!

I drove SEA to PDX for my 1967 Vespa. Worth it.

3.5 hour drive from Boston to NY for a wedding dress from CL. I was the most beautiful bride in a 50 dollar designer dress (orig price 5,000) and it didn't have a single spec on in...until my husband of 15 minutes dumbed a glass of red wine all over me. Since it was 50 dollars i was able to blow it off and we have a wine pouring showdown. It was the best cl purchase out of tons of great ones.

Insider info...I am a size 4 and the dress was a bit small in the ribcage/breast area...my mom told me to see an old movie and quickly get over it .

Copy the link to see a pic.

PS just yesterday we drove 1 hour for a free bike.

http://public.fotki.com/Stregoica/3_photography-_weddings/andrey--lenas-wedding/part-i/dcs5403.html

I drove 2 hours for credenza, I borrowed by mom's truck and I stayed overnight with friends.

I am in Minneapolis and just recently drove almost an hour each way to pick up a PERFECT mid-century modern occasional chair for $20! A steal!

Wow some really hardcore CLers on here. I havent gone more than an hour.

But if it was something I was lusting after and could easily and cheaply get there I might go up to 3 hours. But there would have to be really good pictures before I would make the trip.

I'm always worried that the seller will give it to someone else before I arrive. Unless I'm absolutely certain and feel comfortable with the person then I prefer to not take chances. I'd say about an hour or two is about right for me.

Yelena - the dress looks fantastic! Great picture.

I've driven 2 1/2 hours to Chicago, but I made it a more worth while trip by visiting family. I don't think I'd travel farther than a 3 hour trip because I just don't have the time.

I haven't driven too far for any Craigslist purchase, but I have found a few sellers (one I have purchased chairs at separate times!) drive it over to me. Sometimes you find good people who are nice enough to bring it to you.

I am very lucky indeed!

Yelena.... GREAT BUY and you & the dress (groom too) look GREAT. Glad you made such a sweet purchase!

I drove from Lincoln Nebraska to Indianapolis Indiana (686 miles, 10 hours). Ok it sounds stupid, but I was going to Indy anyway.

When in San Francisco, I would do most of my "dealings" within a 2 mile radius.

Now that I'm in North Carolina, I only look for transactions within a reasonable distance - 45 miles for a sofa and 20 miles for a range/dishwasher during my lunch break!

yelena! AMAZING FIND! that dress and you are stunning, after the all out wine pouring contest,i hope the wedding didnt take a CARRIE ish turn? heheh

I live in Waco, Texas, where the local Craigslist is a joke. Fortunately for me, Waco is between the Dallas/Ft Worth area and Austin (about 90 miles one-way). I've made some great purchases and it has been worth every mile to pick them up.

My hubby and I also use the trip as an excuse to catch a decent movie. Waco is pretty much Bubbaville and when all the great films are playing in the big cities, we get movies like, "Ernest Needs A Kidney".

It depends, the shortest was about 30 miles to sell my ps2 w/games... then the LONGEST was almost 2 hours, about 15-20 minutes from the Tijuana border, but it was well worth it since I picked up my baby bird:) One of THE best finds.

I drove 3 hours each way to Portland Oregon to buy an entertainment armoire (holds the tv) .. It was beautiful oak, with carved doors that slid back into the unit, scrolled top. It also had glass doors below and a side compartment for dvds. I got it for $300 and figured it was worth at least 600 if not 800. Now we have a big screen and the armoire holds more of my clothes in the bedroom. Still love it.

I saw a few things on the boston craigslist I'd love to have.. anyone driving out to oregon from there?

I know a person who went half-way across the nation to pick up a large, obscure medical item (one of those things an old person can use to sit on and go down steps) for pennies on the dollar. It could only be relocated by attaching to a large truck/van. Since she had relatives who lived near the CL pickup location, she stayed with them for free. She bought cheap one-way tickets, found a van listed on ebay for cheap, (when the person found out what she was using it for he gave it to her), picked up the stair thing and drove it back home. About an hour away from home, the van died, but she was able to drive another vehicle to get the stair thing, and found a way to dispose of the van. She probably saved herself a thousand dollars rather than buying new.