Red~your post couldn't have been more timely. We are venturing into the unknown, putting my daughter's car on CL. Good advice about the phone number, I hadn't really thought of that.

I totally agree about the photos, I wouldn't even consider making a trip without them. And without a named starting point, one is just inviting low ball offers.

You've covered most of it Red!
I've found that even with listing every possible feature I will still get some strange emails! Love the ones that say "what are the measurements" when they're clearly listed!
I don't list my phone # simply because of the strange emails I get. I often find it difficult to even answer some of the odd responses, so the last thing I want to do is talk to them!
Once the potential buyer is actually interested in looking at the item, only then do I give out my address and contact phone #.

If I'm firm on a dollar amount, I say so in the ad, otherwise, I'm open to offers. Before a buyer shows up, I decide on the lowest amount I'm willing to sell the item for and then stick to it. But.........if there are several people interested in the item, I usually don't negotiate at all.

Just as you do, I place my pics in photobucket but I still use the CL site so buyers get a quick peek.
I've had no problems using the edit feature and end up using it alot! :)
Also, a tip to others: when you post a pic on CL, initially all you'll see is the red circle change to green. Took me awhile to figure that one out! You'll see your CL pics once you get to the preview page.

Great thread Red. A few points I might add:

Include pics! But if you take pics, be sure to clean it and clear up the clutter. I am surprised how many people sell furniture and there is junk on it or it's in the garage. I often clean my furniture and take pics in the house, then move to the garage as I prefer to show it there than invite strangers into my home. You can even download pics from the internet if you need to.

Try to search for the item you are selling before listing your ad. This will give you some idea of the going rate as well as how they are described. I've even lifted descriptions from other ads and included in mine.

Try to get as much info as you can about what you are selling--use the internet or call the manufacturer. For instance, I've sold a trailer hitch and spider spikes (snow tires) that we used on our Dodge Caravan. With a little research, I found these could be used on other types of cars, models, years so included that increased my potential pool of buyers.

Be as descriptive as you can in your ad as many people do searches. You may find that your ad quickly becomes on page 4-5 for whatever category you select so having it come up in searches can be key to selling your item. "Georgeous dining set" is not descriptive whereas "Early American Oak dining set with 6 chairs" is.

At the end of the end you can include a list of keywords to aid in searches.

Lastly, there is a materials category. Like us, I imagine many here have or are in the process of remodeling. You can check this category to/buy and sell surplus materials. I'm planning to sell of some extra tile we have, plus some cabinet doors and lumber. We'll see how sucessful I am, but I always try here before donating.

If you just want to get rid of something right away, put it on your curb and list it under free--it'll be gone before you know it. I once got rid of a broken (to me) sofa bed that way. Instead of it going to the junk yard, I imagine a handy person picked it up and fixed it.

And end each ad with ... if you're going to be a flake and not show up, tell me now!

I can't believe how many people tell you they are going to buy your item and then don't show up while other people you've turned away go off and find someone else to buy from. Been there, had that done to me.

if you're going to be a flake and not show up, tell me now!

I'm not sure I'd add that one in -- you'll have idle and mischievous people toying with you, calling simply to make an appt and not show.

Make sure to mention scrathes or broken parts and show pics of them. That way everybody knows what's for sale. We've sold/purchased a lot with CL. We always put the item outside before they arrive. Nobody comes in my home and hub is always present.

Good info here!
Did you mention location? Don't just put the name of the city as so many do. I live in a large city. Are you on the East side? West side? Some will list "Mayberry" in location but will also include in the ad something like: "near the sheriff's office, or across from the barber shop, or near the corner of Main and 2nd St."
Pictures are very important. I rarely open an ad if there are no pictures.

Personally, I rather e-mail than phone someone, if I have a question. It's more timely for me.

My experience has taught me that it would be "first come, first sold." That way if anyone is serious about buying, they'll show up as they promised. I've held things way too many times only to have the people never call or show up.

When I use to do animal adoptions, I can't tell you the number of people who took up 1/2 hour of my time chatting it up on the phone and then never showing up to see the animal. That's why I hate talking ot people on the phone. They think nothing of wasting your time and never showing up. If they show up then we'll talk all they want.

I can't get over how lazy people are when they're posting photos...ONE far away shot and that's all you get? That tells me they're hiding something.
Take close-ups, let the camera be their eyes. Show them the condition of the table top and how few scratches there are, or how clean the fabric cushion is. The more photos the better.

And don't forget measurements! Photographs can be deceiving when it comes to actual size.

Don't tell me it's "beautiful", let the buyer be the judge of that. If you do talk it up, it better live up to higher expectations.

At the end of every add I put CASH ONLY. If you don't they'll try to write you a check. You'd think by now it would be a given no one is going to take your check but they always try it if you don't make it clear.

I have found the edit feature to be very useful, as hard as I try to proof-read seems like I always find a goof when I read my ad after it's posted.

There used to be a guy who would post HOW-TO messages every so often, I guess he got so upset reading ads he couldn't take it any longer. Most of what he said I agreed with but there was bullet point I did not. He hated it when people got too wordy, telling him why they're selling the item, etc. I disagree, I want to know why they're selling it, how much it originally cost them, anything about the history is of interest to me. Hopefully they're not making it all up but I'm curious about these things.

As a buyer read between the lines, it's what they don't say that should concern you. If any of these three are missing....child-free, pet-free, smoke-free home....then you know that IS the case with this particular household. When I place my ads I always write, "child-free, smoke-free home". Guess what that means, I've got pets! :)

We recently purchased a new Larsen storm door from CL. Before my DH and I left to go look at it, I told him that we needed to stop by an ATM to get cash. My DH told me that the seller could just take a check. I informed my DH that CL sellers demand cash only--it's the rule. My DH said, "there's no rules." Thanks red. Next time my DH argues, I'm sending him to you, so you can set him straight. ; ) Excellent post!

It's been fun reading the experiences of sellers. I've never listed but look often and buy now and then, and I'd strongly suggest carefully including various search terms that'll greatly increase the chances of an ad being pulled up when people're doing a search. The Craig's Lists have become very long and luscious and actually would require a significant investment of time each day to scour carefully for a specific item, time most people just won't/can't take.

For location, a towns string, like, "In the Bellvue-Glendale-Sassanaw-Howardville-North Karaway area" will not only bring your ad up but let people know it's not too far to drive to check out that little end table. In metro areas, it'll also help keep them from browsing hurriedly on by because they can't remember where in it Howardville actually is.

I've found people call furniture items really different things, making the items looked for far too easy to miss. So when selling, say, a sideboard, including a string such as "sideboard-hutch-china-cabinet-buffet-server-commode" (perhaps at the bottom after it's already been properly identified and described) should pull it up on a lot more searches. Maybe mine even. :)

jodi said "I can't believe how many people tell you they are going to buy your item and then don't show up while other people you've turned away go off and find someone else to buy from."

That reminded me of something else I do. If several people want to see an item, I give first choice to the first person that first contacted me, and tell the others I'll let them know ASAP if it sold or not.

I never say something is sold until it's left the house.

Last night, late, when I was typing this up, I just knew I was way too wordy, included too much blah blah blah, and left nothing for anyone else to add. Reading this today told me how very wrong I was! (Well, I may still have been wordy and blahed out everybody but at least there were a bunch of things still to be covered.)

I'm going to disagree with the comment about 'flakes'. Any kind of commentary in an ad that attributes bad motives, bad attitude, or total lack of trust in one's fellow man, no matter how well-deserved, turns me off. I like dealing with nice people and until I prove not to be so nice myself, I have to hope that others will think the best of me.

Some people do very well with email addresses only. And if you are one of them, then, so be it. You can certainly put a deal together via email, we do it on Ebay all the time. Even arrangements to meet can be done that way, although speaking on the phone once you are at that stage, can help to alleviate stress and work out the kinks. I do hate all the phone calls attached to people who don't show up. But its kind of a necessary part of doing things this way.

Here's how I handle it when there are multiple persons interested in same item.

In December I put a set of drapes on CL with several pictures and my price. I got multiple emails and responded to each one with verification that I still had the drapes and included my phone number and told them to call if they wanted to view. Then, the calls started. People wanted them. One lady wanted to do a Paypal payment right then, so she would be sure of getting them. Now, Paypal would work for me. I use it for Ebay all the time and it means you got paid. But for someone local, I still don't really like the idea of someone paying before they see the item in person. Anyway, I arranged with her for her husband to come the next morning, but told her he needed to call first in case they were sold. I had Lady #2 call and tell me she absolutely wanted them, was 45 minutes away, and would I hold them for her? If she had said she was on her way, I would have done it. Once someone has arranged to come right away, I will at least give them the benefit of the doubt. But she wanted to come the next night. Again, I said, that's fine, but before you come you need to call to make sure they aren't sold. Then, Lady #3 called me 4 times in 15 minutes to arrange to drive the 7 or 8 minutes it would take for her to get to my house. Her children were yelling in the background and she had to keep hanging up to deal with it. She finally called back a little bit later and said it was just too hard and she might come the next day. So, now I have 3 definites, but no one is actually en route. I get more emails and I reply that drapes are still available, answer the questions, and tell them to call if they want to come. Next morning, I get one phone call from the lady who wanted to Paypal. Her husband is on his way down the hill and will be at my house in 30 minutes if they are still there. I tell her I will wait for him. He comes, he sees, he pays, we're good.
Lady #3 never calls back. Lady #2 who begged me to save them, never calls back. I put Sold in the ad. I continue getting phone calls for 2 days and emails for about 2 weeks.

I could have probably sold this set of drapes 3 times over. And I don't know why. I think it was timing. I had Craigslisted them 6 weeks earlier and got absolutely no interest. And so many people were very disappointed to have missed them. But again, unless someone tells me they are leaving right away to head for my house, I am not promising to save them for anyone.

Red

Red, you're absolutely right about not counting proverbial chickens before they hatch. We have sold (and bought) plenty on CL and I don't say "sold" until they are literally gone. But at that point, I remove the posting completely so no one will contact me about it again. I have found many people just either miss or ignore the big "SOLD" on the posting and e-mail me anyway. So now, DELETE is what I do.

Before I blather on too long about the other points I want to make, let me please beseech people to spell things correctly. For instance:

It's DRAWERS, not DRAWS
It's DINING room table, not DINNING room table

There are countless other examples.

Do try to find the right way to describe your piece. For instance, twice I saw antique desks completely miscategorized. One person called it a bureau, one person called it a writing table. And if you don't truly know what style something is (oh, so many people call things "Art Deco-ish" and they're just really not at all Art Deco), try to look around for similarly styled pieces to find out how to describe Grandma's old buffet.

I do try hard to (a) post the most flattering photos I can take -- good light, nice angle(s) -- and write a descriptive but flattering description. Kinda like selling a house. I let people decide for themselves if something is too ugly to buy. I don't need to point it out to them. Now then, if I were selling a nice antique, I would disclose obvious flaws because I don't believe in wasting anyone's time. I've had MINE wasted and I wasn't too thrilled about it.

As for what the piece is worth, yes yes yes, do your research. I was going to sell 2 old hi-fi speakers for $10 each as end tables, but then I thought, heck, maybe they're worth something. I surfed around and discovered that these are somewhat sought after. I listed them for $75 and had 2 buyers almost immediately. This was a different sale -- you have to let someone listen to speakers you're trying to sell, so we had to not only have him into the house, we had to play music for him, too! DH was here to assist with the sale, and I have to say, it was a great experience. We got $75 for those speakers, and I'm half kicking myself because I'll bet I could have gotten the guy at twice that amount. He was thrilled to have them.

Alice, those are great points about the spelling and knowing what you have. I liked your story about the speakers too! You did good.

Red

We successfully sold most of our old furniture on CL after our renovation. Everything the original poster said is excellent advice. The more detail you can put in the ad, the better. I put height/width/length measurements of every piece, even chairs. I even documented any rips, tears, or scratchs, and was very honest about the general condition of the furniture. This saves everyone a lot of time and hassle...I don't want to be waiting around for you to come see my stuff then have you take one look and decide it's not clean/perfect enough.

Another thing that really helped us was staging. Before we got our new furniture in the living room, we took all the old stuff that was stored in the garage and put it back in the newly renovated house. We staged it to look really great, took a lot of pictures in good light, then moved everything back into the garage. We then put things in the garage in an orderly manner, so it looked like an antique store and people could see the furniture from all sides.

Everytime someone would come to take a look, all we had to do was to open up the garage and turn on the lights, and it was like a furniture store in there, LOL. Easy/quick/clean for us and the buyer, and if they like the sofa, it was easy for them to just take it out of the garage with no steps to maneuver.

I also would repost every week if something didn't sell. I would lower the price by $25 each time until I found a buyer. Because I wasn't in a hurry, I eventually got everything sold.