Craigslist 101

I'm having a bit of a "no brain day!"  Just can't think of anything to post.  I was emailed last night about Craigslist.  I do love Craigslist, and since the Mr. forbids me to have garage sales at the house, I have used this as my source to make some extra cash with our junk (hopefully, someone else's treasure).

Here is the email I got last night:
"OK, I've never bought off of Craigslist, but have looked and contacted people - I guess things just didn't work out or I was too late. Now I need to sell something, possibly a few things. What do I need to know? It's free isn't it? Or do they get a percentage like ebay? I know you said to meet in a neutral place - and I'll accept cash only. Anything else that you can think of? "

Answers and steps to Craigslist 101:
-It is free to post (no commission is paid as with eBay)

-Price item a little higher than you want to get...people tend to barter

-If item doesn't sell, consider saying "negotiable price or OBO" when stating the price

-State cash only on your post (*you are selling to strangers, you want "cash money" only!!)

-Pictures are a must on your listing (allows 4 pictures). People are more likely to have interest and contact you if they can see everything. You can also take tons of pictures and put the in a Picasa (picture program through google and gmail) slide show then put the picture link to the album on the post.

-Reposted every week to refresh posting and have it appear at the top of the listing category.

-Craiglist only allows you to post an item once. When you repost it, you'll delete the post that is "old/currently up." Once deleted, you can repost your item. It will appear at the top of the list.

-State on the post where you can meet (ie mall, Lowe's, etc).  I would strongly encourage you not to have people come to your home unless it is a huge item.  You never know who it will be.  If you do have them come to your home, contact me.  There are ways of researching people to know if they are sketchy or not.

-If posting multiple items, say that on all post. Think of a unique code to put on each of your post and state "search '5586' to see all my current listings. Willing to negotiate with multiple purchases."

-Once you post things to Craigslist, put a link on your facebook page or Twitter accont. Someone you know might purchase from you, and you don't have to deal with meeting people you don't know.
 
-One last thing, you will get spam mail from the post. If they are saying "weird" things or only refer to the item as "the item," then beware. Not to scare you from using it, but you can tell. I have replied to a few of these, but nothing ever happened. If it is a weird name or email, then it is likely a spam message.