Do you remember these chairs? I bought them on Craigslist for $30 over two years ago, so my twins could sit at the end of the table once they were out of their highchairs. Now that they’re in kindergarten, they’ve been upgraded to real dining room chairs, so I decided to sell them. My husband didn’t think it was worth taking the time to recover the seats (I was grossed out by the stained blue fabric). It took me 15 minutes to do one evening, and they looked as good as new. I ended up selling them for $50 on Craigslist, making $20 more than I paid for them two years ago!
Have you sold furniture, baby gear or other items on Craigslist? I do it occasionally to clear out clutter and to bring in extra income. Here’s my process:
- Look for similar items on Craigslist to get a sense of how to price them. I found that others were selling barstools/chairs for $25-75, so I went with $50. I also considered what I’d paid. I would have been fine with someone bargaining down. If you don’t like to bargain, type “Price is firm.” in your listing.
- Thoroughly clean your items before you take photos and list them. You can price your items higher and earn more money when things look great!
- Give details when you post your Craigslist ad. Remember to include the measurements and answer any questions you anticipate; this helps you avoid lots of back-and-forth email questions. As for location, I give a landmark near my house so people have an idea where they’d be driving.
- Post your ad and be ready to respond to emails within the next day or two. When I get responses, I look for attentive buyers who offer a pickup time. I only send my address once we’ve responded back and forth successfully.
Here’s what my ad looked like:
I was pleased to have four responses right away. No one bargained down, so that told me that I’d priced them right. I ended up selling them the very same day for the full $50.
