I know this has been out there before, but...bedbugs in NYC and Craigslist? I used to love searching and finding amazing pieces on CL, but now I am very wary. How to get over the fear?

I've just scored six Louis 14'style chairs (fair quality from the 1930's) for a mere 200 euros. Usually, such chairs are sold for over 120 euros apiece, but the seller listed her dining room and made no mention of the chairs in the listing's title. I happened to open it, since I like Louis 14's style, and BAM ! Chairs of my dreams, just waiting for a coat of fresh paint and some upholstering.

I'd add: "be ready to do some DIY or to invest some money to make your findings perfect".

Personally I'd be incredibly offended if I made a deal with someone to sell a piece and they tried to bargain with me once they were actually standing in my house.

I'm willing to bet it's a tactic that works, because Americans aren't very good at bargaining and don't know how to say no, but they're probably also watching you haul the chair out the door and thinking "What a jerk."

As someone who sells on CL occasionally, I absolutely disagree with saving the bargaining for when you see the piece. There is nothing more frustrating than sitting around waiting for someone to show up, only to have them want the piece for less than the price listed.

If a seller is ignoring your initial email asking for a price reduction, it is probably because they are unwilling to lower the price. A much better approach is to email with the price you'd like to pay and to let them know you'd understand if they want to wait a few days before accepting your offer to see if they can sell it for more. If you simply cannot wait the extra time to allow them to try to sell for a higher price or you just have to have this particular piece, then pay what they're asking.

I have to agree with the first poster:

BEDBUGS = NO CRAIGSLIST for SOFT FURNISHINGS.

I sell occasionlly, too... and don't mind someone bargaining with me. Whether they do it first or after they come see it, I figure that's how yard sales work. This is basically just someone selling yard sale items online rather than in their yard. Bargaining is no biggie. I always price things about 20% higher than what I expect to actually get, because then I have some wiggle room.

Mary

I disagree with #6. Nothing pisses off sellers in my area more than bargaining after calling or bringing less cash on purpose. There are even occasionally news articles where violence broke out due to just that. You never know what kind of crazies you are dealing with. People who will ignore your email when you offer a lower price upfront will only be soured by someone who comes in person to offer less. It sort of crosses the line from "bargaining" to "manipulation".

I sold a few pieces through Craigslist and only one person tried to bargain in person. We agreed on the new price but most of the time, people just take stuff for prices listed.

I think bargaining is absolutely acceptable with CL finds. Just because a potential buyer comes to look at a piece does not mean they are making an offer, it simply means they are looking. Buyers have every right to offer a lower price than the listing and sellers have every right to decline.

Re. #9 - I've never known anyone on Craigslist accept anything other than cash...

I generally price something about 10% higher than I'm hoping to get for it, and I plan on someone offering less. That being said, if someone doesn't show until two hours later than the scheduled time, is rude, etc. I'm more likely to stick with my original price. If someone communicates well beforehand, shows up promptly, and is reasonable and polite, I'm glad to knock a few bucks off.

I generally only make an offer I am willing to pay: so if it's a good deal i will offer to pay full price and 90% of the time I do actually pay full price. I think "bargaining" where people don't bring enough cash or something is rude. When I sell stuff I generally tell them I'm sorry that wasn't the deal.

I will only talk something down when it's not in the condition I expected to find it in, and usually I start with apologizing and explaining why I am unwilling to pay the price they asked for. I've had people do this to me and in those instances I didn't mind agreeing to the new price because really they had a point. (For me, it's because I didn't really know much about what I was selling.) For those other folks if you just wanted a better deal well, unless you have a great story about why I should knock something off a price you already agreed to pay - then sorry but no.

Sorry but you cannot tell the condition of an item from the poor photos put up on craigslist, if they put any up at all. If an item has issues you should expect some negotiations on price. If you don't want to deal with bargaining then you should say so in your posting.

How about live somewhere where the only postings aren't overstuffed sofas and crappy 80s laminate covered "entertainment centers." Man, how the people in my small city have bad taste.

I've bought and sold on craigslist many times, and I'm comfortable bargaining in both cases. you can't be squeamish about talking money in the great online swap meet that is craigslist.

Kaete -- As to "Americans not being good bargainers and can't say no" -- that's quite a generalization. perhaps you don't realize that many Americans come from cultures where bargaining is a well-crafted skill. and if you were the kind of person who is expert enough to size up bargaining skills, you'd probably be more comfy with it yourself.

I agree with pixiewithsticks. I just sold my fridge on CL the other day for a very good price. The buyer waited till they got to my house, and without looking at it, asked for a discount. uh, sorry, no. Inspect it and point something out to me, then yeah, we can start bargaining. Needless to say they left with the fridge for my asking price...and still without looking inside! crazy people. They were lucky it worked and I cleaned it.

Bargaining in person has been the norm for me lately... both for my purchases AND items sold. Maybe it's a regional thing??

Also, I think whether or not you have good luck on CL somewhat has to do with where you live. Before we moved, I almost never found anything furniture-wise that I'd want... now, in our much 'older' city?? Wow! Goldmine!! I've had so much fun over the last couple of weeks outfitting our soon-to-be first home.

Disagree with #6.

I've actually told people that I'm walking away during this type of thing. Negotiate upfront or not at all.

Yeah... it depends. On #6. Bargaining's a cheap tactic used by many buyers on CL -- they'll email you, ask for condition and details, seeming agree on a price, then come and offer you an insulting sum for your piece, or even try to bully you into taking the lesser money because 'you can't sell it for any more'. That doesn't work on me, but i can see how it can intimidate others. #2 is just as important for sellers as well as buyers -- like selling/buying a car, knowing how much it generally goes for in the condition it's in, will net you the best, most reasonable price and cushion you from opportunistic cheats.

As someone usually on the buying end, I expect that, unless the listing states "or best offer" accepted, the seller will generally not be pleased to have bargaining sprung on them out of nowhere. If I am hoping for a better bargain, I will ask for one in email beforehand. If they don't want to sell it at a price comfortable for me, then I won't waste both our time actually going to meet them. CL sellers do not have all the time in the world to wait around for potential buyers to show up, after all. :|

On the occasions where I am the seller, I generally try to nip that sort of thing in the bud by making a final email along the lines of "ok, so we'll meet at X time, and it will be $N cash, right?" Unless you are a genuine asshole rather than an oblivious one (j/k!) I don't think most ppl would lie and say "yeah, that's right" and then show up and still try to bargain. If they respond at that point "actually, do you think you could go a bit lower?" that's a different thing, and I'm not saying I'd never accept a lower offer in that situation.

9: In my experience, ppl only accept cash, unless they are actually dealers. I suppose if you are buying something really expensive, multiple hundreds or thousands, expectations could be different....

4 and 7 are my thing, usually. Especially 4 (which facilitates 1 and 3), because, frankly, sometimes ppl don't spel gud, or seem to not have the foggiest idea that their text should be descriptive and facilitate ppl finding the things they are looking for (alternatively, you may come up with lots of false positives when ppl tag their listings with whatever they might think of and I would prefer to skim past those once rather than have to avoid them in multiple searches), or maybe they just forgot the name of their ikea item. I can haz bankesta?

CL is much better now that it has it's own preview function! I never got in the habit of using the intermediaries, but do others still find a reason to?

I agree with bargaining - after you've seen the condition of the piece. I went to look at a credenza/buffet once and when I got there the top was in a less-than-great shape, at which point I asked if the seller would take less.

Also, "10. Practice common courtesy: Show up when you say you will and don't waste a seller's time looking at items unless you're serious about buying them." YES. I've dealt with enough inconsiderate people not showing up, that I've been put off selling on CL.

But courtesy works both ways - I put a deposit down on the aforementioned buffet because I was unable to take it at that time (so heavy!), but wanted to show that I was serious. The seller agreed to this...but then went and sold it to someone else anyway.

Bargaining is part of the game. But the way you ask does matter. If you email me and ask if the price is firm, then I’ll respond accordingly. If you email me and offer $50 for some item that I’m selling for $150, I won’t even respond.

And if you’re a software game developer driving up to my humble abode in your Range Rover, and you offer me $75 for a chair that I’m selling for $85 (that is worth $200)… and you’re buying it for your second home… you’re an $#%hole. (Yes, this happened recently. You DO need to understand how you are perceived by the seller. $10 is nothing in the grand scheme of things, but it was a bit insulting.)

@britinchitown: I sometimes encounter buyers who want to use PayPal. Depending on the source of the funds, PayPal may charge a fee for the transfer. So unless you’re okay absorbing that cost, you should make sure the buyer is covering the fee.

I have bought and sold a TON of stuff on Craigslist and I think bargaining in person is a jerk move. Often I have many people emailing me about an item and I try to adhere to a first-come-first serve basis. If there are other people interested, don't waste my time!

The ONLY exception to this is if you are clear up front that you are coming for a viewing, not to definitely pick up.

I bargain before and after seeing the item. As a seller and frequent Craigslist buyer ut makes no difference whether its is done before as most sellers expect to sell for less than the asking price.

USE AN APP. I have lost many good items because another buyer contacted the seller before I did. Apps can give you notificatiins within minutes of a posting that matches your search criteria.

I have purchased 2 upholstered sofas (one yesterday) and bed bugs were not an issue.

Bargaining:
I think the proper thing to do would be for the buyer to ask - before the appointment is made - "Is the price negotiable?" It's a very simple question and one easily answered.

Paying cash:
Since I've posted and sold pieces that are relatively expensive, I make sure to put in my ads that I'm willing to take PayPal - That opens the doors to buyers who may not have ready cash and want to use a credit card, or simply don't want to carry hundreds of dollars in cash around for security...
...however, If I'm willing to take PayPal for your purchase, I'm not likely to be willing to negotiate the price as I'm the one paying the fee to take the cash out of Paypal.

My peeve are the folks who reply to the ad: "Is it still available?" - and never reply back. I'm to the point that if your reply isn't more than a one-liner, you're not for real and I'm not going to bother to reply because I don't want dozens of spam e-mails and messages from your wackadoo overseas porn or work-at-home scams.

@callalo -- any apps you'd recommend? Right now I'm just using an RSS feed for my searches, but I'm always looking for something betterfastersmarter.

Spinning off @bepsf's comment, my biggest peeve is sellers who don't take down their item (or label it "sold") after it's gone. People ask about availability because, a good 50 percent of the time (in my experience), an item is long gone but the ad rolls on and on. Why? Why? Why?

In sum: Bad CL etiquette swings both ways.

I bargain before if I think the item is radically overpriced, e.g. the buyer is asking for a price that is 3x what I think is reasonable. I bargain in person otherwise. I never see the price as "set" unless I specifically agree to pay that price. When I say, "I'm very interested. Could I come see it today?" I mean that I'm very interested and may or may not make an offer, depending on the condition.

Craigslist is a swap meet, not Macy's. People who act rudely (buyers OR sellers) can expect to have a tougher time doing business. I've even RAISED the price on people who were rude in the past (and they still bought it).

Lessons of craigslist:
-Be polite, realize you're not in a showroom but rather in someone else's house
-If you don't want the item, don't waste my time. Say thanks and leave
-If you're interested in the item, make a reasonable offer, have exact cash, and we'll make a deal!

@rosenatti I use Craigslist Notification (droid). It is basic but free and accurate and allows you to customize your search (price, image, etc).

I set up an RSS feed for various search terms on CL. It's a lot easier than going to the website everyday and looking up stuff.

Also, I'm on the hunt for mid-century modern goodies. Unfortunately, where I live (Atlanta, GA) most sellers of mid-century stuff know what they have and want a lot of money for it, even if the item is in crappy condition. So I also look for stuff in my hometown of South Bend, IN, ~700 miles away, where my parents still live. It's a less metropolitan area, but when mid-century stuff goes on CL it's much cheaper and I have my parents pick it up for me. Now shipping large pieces is a whole other ordeal. But worth it.

Arguments (some I have already mentioned) for not using any filters at all and just skimming all listings daily (... maybe within a given category, though there are miscategorizations and you can miss out on some cool antique/second-hand dealers if you stick to "furniture by owner" (worth it to avoid all the mattress listings, IMO)):

1) Misspellings (false negatives)
2) Tag bombs (false positives)
3) Price: sometimes sellers will list the price for two items in order, like if they want $40 for A and $100 for B they might just put $40100 in the price field—THIS IS SUPER ANNOYING, but it happens, and you don't want to miss out on a cool item just because the seller is an idiot; alternatively, sometimes you might want to put a bottom on your price range to maybe get an assurance for quality? I dunno, but they might not have put anything in the price field. Or they might have put something in the price field, but they are taking offers.
4) has image: sometimes they don't upload the images the CL-supported way but still have a picture, or they have a link to their photobucket, or they have a link to a product page—basically, you can miss out if you insist on there being a picture, and not for any good reason
5) title only (vs. whole listing if you use a query after all): ... again, lots of sellers have no idea that their listings should in some way be designed to help the prospective buyer know what they are selling, and may have something as useless as LOOK for the title—granted, generally I'll automatically skip these unless there is an intriguing picture—confluence of incompetence and... competence, I guess.... Alternatively, sometimes they'll have a lot of things to move and just have something like "furniture" in the title.

If part of your criteria for purchases is to buy stuff from ppl who seem to understand the basics of how to describe things, then feel free to discard this advice. ;p

I have a question: I've never sold anything on Craigslist before, and I have a one-year-old chocolate brown Remo Sofa Bed (queen sized) that I purchased from Macy's which is currently sitting in storage.
I paid $1100 for it (stupid stupid, I know) and am looking to get rid of it...what is a fair price, considering it's in nearly perfect condition (no wear, no stains or rips, etc).
I was thinking $4-500 obo??

I love the droid app for searching craigslist, it's how my husband was able to find an Addams Family pinball machine well under market price for my birthday. I'm still on the hunt for the elusive card catalog, they get snapped up immediately. I will have a bunch of different searches going, with different wording for the same items (couch vs. sofa, dining table, kitchen table, etc.) so that I can try and catch everything. The only downside is that then you have to go through a LOT of crap to find the good stuff.

I also generally bargain beforehand, unless the item is really in not great condition.

@jenawithonen
I think that could very well be a fair price, but sometimes it has nothing to do with a "fair" price, and just whether anyone is interested enough in your sofa bed vs. another, possibly less generic-looking (... ok, rare with sofa beds if it's not a Bludot) or cheaper offering. I would advise that you do leave the price field blank (a valid move since you are accepting offers). Putting up the "baseline" price that high might put off those who are interested in paying much less, but presumably you don't want to sell for much less if you can get away with it... since it doesn't seem to be urgent, just be patient. Delete and repost so new viewers will get to see it more easily, but don't abuse the function. If a month goes by with no offers (or maybe just a couple of weeks), then drop it by $100, and see if ppl are more likely to make offers then.

The other thing is, you should look and see how much other ppl in your area are listing similar offerings (both for macy's sofa beds and for sofa beds in general) to get an idea of what ppl imagine they can get ppl to pay for these items. Bookmark listings, especially more recent ones, especially those close to the price you want, then check back on them to see if they've been deleted without being reposted, which could be a sign that the piece sold. Of course, sometimes things sell and sellers don't take their listings down, but it will still give you an idea....

I can't imagine not bargaining in person for an item on craigslist. I'm always shocked at the people who don't ask for at least a little less in person when they come to see an item I'm selling. I also don't expect the person who comes to look at an item to automatically buy it just because they are in my driveway. Pictures don't show everything.

In my area, bargaining when you meet to sell something is very bad form indeed. The only ways I could see it being acceptable are if:
1) the ad states 'or best offer' or 'price negotiable'
2) the item is not as described or pictured
3) the buyer made it clear they were only coming to look at the item, not to buy it at the advertised price

I've bought and sold many things on CL (love it!) and only ever haggled over email.

Chiming back in. While I do think it's rude to negotiate a different price in person after agreeing on a price while talking or emailing the seller, I of course would make an exception if the seller was not upfront and/or clueless about the condition of their item. However, trying to negotiate lower price in person just to get a better deal strikes me as a bullying tactic.

Wow. Can't believe no one has mentioned notifinder, which sends you emails listing CL stuff that matches your criteria. Love it!

http://www.notifinder.com/

Check out this seller, lots of cool vintage pieces for amazing prices!
www.vintagefurnituresale.com