Selling your used stuff online is never easy. There are thousands of sites I believe where you can list your items and hope that someone will buy them. However the two sites which stand out when it comes to selling anything that has been used are eBay and Craiglist. If you had to pick one of the two which of them would you choose? p.s I've heard it said that it's a lot easier to sell your used stuff on Craiglist. Is that true?
I think it depends. On heavier stuff, I think that craigslist is pretty good, because you can bypass shipping costs. Sometimes high shipping costs will turn a potential customer away from a product. However, EBAY has buyer & seller protection, uses paypal, and is a lot more descriptive and responsive. I think I'll go with Ebay.
Craigslist. Only because you can sell it right away. With e-bay I think you have to wait for the auction to be over. The only downside to Craigslist is the risk of the person picking up the item turning out to be a psychotic killer. I have only heard this happen once, but it's still scary. Also, people can take what they bought from you and re-sell it on Craigslist for a lot more. I've seen it happen. There aren't too many regulations on Craigslist except if you know if an ad is a scam. It just leaves the door wide open for shady people to take advantage of you.
I prefer to deal with craigslist because it is easier to sell to people locally. I use ebay every so often though. Ebay is better for high ticket items like laptops or electronics. Craigslist is good for furniture or smaller items. People love to haggle with you through craigslist and you can bypass that on Ebay.
I would say that Craigslist is ideal if you want the best price for your item. You can go to ebay if you want more security and ease of payment. There have been a string of Craigslist robberies over the past few years. This causes most to just sell online through mediums such as eBay. Why risk meeting someone in person when you can just send it through the mail.
I've heard too many bad stories about Craigslist. While I'm sure some of this is exaggerated, it's enough to give me pause. Personally, I would probably stick to E-bay or some other source. I just don't like the idea of meeting up with some stranger. For large or heavy items that you don't want to have to ship, you might try something other than going online to sell it. Maybe a consignment shop would be a better choice.
I have bought on Ebay before but never sold. Usually you have to pay for the 'spot' online. But my friend said they have deals to encourage new sellers. I have several friends who have their own Ebay store so it must be worth it if you are planning to sell lots of things for a long period of time. However, I have used Craigslist before, and found that not only is it free of charge but it is also hassle free. You do risk having weird people come to your home though. This might be another reason why people would prefer to use Ebay; you mail the items to your customers instead of them coming to pick them up.
I haven't bought an item in Craigslist yet, and it's not popular over here at all, so I would just stick with Ebay right now. I haven't encountered any delinquent sellers in Ebay yet, but some Chinese sellers just can't understand simple instructions, and it's annoying.
When it comes to protection and security on both sides of the buyer and the seller, I would go with Ebay. I have seen some people get scammed in Craigslist and it's sad that craigslist can't do anything about it. They got their money but they won't help the people that got scammed in their website. That's why I don't prefer them. Just a disclaimer, this is my personal opinion. If you're a Craigslist fan, don't hate on me, okay?
Ebay keeps getting more greedy every time I turn around. When they began taking a percentage of the shipping cost (which has absolutely nothing to do with them) I swore I was done with them. I haven't completely quit them, but I definitely do more business through them as a buyer now. I never used Craigslist a whole lot, but I like the idea that it is more local. Unfortunately they don't do "rooms" smaller than cities of about 50,000. For me and my business partner it means someone is driving.
Probably e-bay is better when it comes about selling things to people all over the world, whenever I need to sell a thing in my country I use a site which is pretty popular here, called okazii where everyone sells locally their used stuff. It's not much of a debate for me, whenever I need to buy I look on e-bay after that I look on okazii, but when I'm trying to sell I look first on okazii and after that on e-bay.
Depends what it is you're looking to sell, honestly. Collectibles, like comic books or video games, you'll get a lot of "low ball" offers from people who buy and sell those things for a living. If something's that's going to be harder to ship, Craigslist works a lot better. You'll probably get more money on eBay, but after fees, you won't see much of a difference.
It depends on the item. If you are selling furniture or large items, Craigslist is better because you don't have to ship anything. If you are selling collectible items like Legos or action figures, then eBay is the best choice because collectors will bid competitively for desirable items and drive the price up.
I prefer craiglist, as it's much easier and more secure to sell my stuff locally. Sure, they may haggle the price down, but the convenience of being able to have the transaction done in 1 minute with no shipping makes up for it. I guess I'm biased, however, as I've only used craigslist to sell textbooks. For collectible, rare items, it's definitely better and worth your time to use eBay.
I prefer ebay a bit more just because they make the transaction a bit more official so it's much easier to keep track of. Not to mention there is a feedback system so most of the time you'd know exactly what type of person you are dealing with. I like it more both as a seller and as a buyer but I have to admit that Craigslist has its own perks such as simpler transactions.
Both ebay and Craigslist have their benefits and their drawbacks. I use them each for different things. If it is something that you don't want to have to ship, and it will sell locally, then I advertise it on Craigslist. And the same thing with buying something. Suppose i want somthing that is easy to come by, say, a different coffeepot. I will look on Craigslist, so I can buy it and take it home. If it is something unique, or you don't mind if it takes a while to sell, and is not a problem to ship; then you probably get a better price on ebay. And when you are looking for something you want to buy, you have a lot beigger selection and price range on ebay. It is hard to pick a choice since they both do different things as far as selling or buying an item.
Ebay! I like ebay if only because it is safer than meeting with people. You have to be careful these days when it comes to meeting with people. You have to think about where to meet with them and who if anyone, should be with you. You definitely don't want anyone coming to your house.
I'm biased, maybe... as I'm an eBay seller. However, I think it depends on what you're trying to sell. I've used Craigslist with lots of success in the past. But in my current region, for some reason, nothing ever sells on Craigslist, no matter how reasonable the price. I've sold more things on eBay to people all over the country than I've ever sold on Craigslist in the past. So for me, it's eBay all the way. But Craigslist has its advantages too, as many people above mentioned. One has to weigh the pros and cons of a particular sale, pending product type, condition, market saturation, and demand. I say, list it on both sites. What's to lose? I do it all the time. I still sell on eBay better than CL though.
For the people who prefer to only sell on eBay, how do you sell oversized items like furniture? I usually do Craigslist for furniture because the cost of shipping big items is prohibitive and it's easier to just have the person pick up large items in person.
