Your Craigslist Classifieds Authority Site

3. Price the Item Correctly

This is crucial! I always recommend putting a price in the postings. I often skim through Craigslist classifieds and when I am looking for something in particular, I often base my decision to click on a post on the price. How should you price your item? Should you put a high price or low price? I say:

Price your item low!

Why? Because people are looking for deals. And most people don't really want to haggle to get a price down. And remember, you want people to click on your posting! So be reasonable when you price your item. I see so many instances of overpriced items that it makes me sick. I feel sick because so many viewers are skipping over their postings because anyone asking so much for some thing that is not worth it is clearly crazy.

You may be thinking, “Why not list a high price, and then you have some room to negotiate when the buyer counters your offer?” The reason I don't like to do this is because the price you choose is displayed right alongside your title, so if it is too high a person may skip over your post. And remember the objective of your title is:

To get people to click on your posting and read your description!

I like to price my items low. Very low. Obviously not lower than the price I paid, but low enough to catch someone's interest and still make a good profit on the sale. I often will do this and then include in my description, towards the end, that the price is non-negotiable. In doing this, the person:

1. reads my title and clicks on my post,

2. reads my description and gets enlightened on the item I was selling, and finally

3. is told the price and that it is non-negotiable, but at this point already wants the item so will be willing to pay the requested price.

Using this technique with my postings. I often get people emailing me and telling me they are interested and will buy the item that day, at the price I post. This being said, I ALWAYS get the people emailing me trying to get the price down. No matter what price you put, someone will always email you and try to get a lower price. You can put an item for one cent and someone will try to get you to sell it for half a penny. But in setting a low price I often get enough people who read the description and know the price is firm, and are STILL interested.

Don't get greedy

Don't be greedy or you won't sell anything. People want things at a discount, so give it to them. You will sell more, and make more money in quantity. Also, people sense greed, and it is a turnoff. Think about a time you went to a car dealership and ended up trying to negotiate with a greedy salesman. Not fun right?

4. Write an Enticing Description

Like we mentioned earlier, your description will sell your item. You'll probably read about a hundred different ways the “experts” tell you to write your description, and they may be successful as well, but I'm going to tell you what works for me.

Because of the simple nature of posting on Craigslist classifieds, The only thing we have going for us on Craigslist is what we tell people. So I like to keep my descriptions real. I want the reader to almost feel like they know me by the time they are done reading the post. I've personally bought many things off of people who make me feel a connection between them while reading their description. I'll show you how to achieve this.

I also like to describe the item exactly. I try to tell the reader everything I can think of about the item's condition. By being truthful and even listing flaws, it builds your credibility and lets readers know you probably won't rip them off.

If you are an advanced user and know web design or HTML code, you can jazz up your listings with HTML tags and formatting to make your posts more professional looking. But for the most part, using the default Craigslist settings for a post will do fine. It is what you say that is more important than how it looks. And if you look too professional, a person may think a high price tag goes along with it. Kind of like walking into a high-end shop and being afraid to touch anything.

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