Your Craigslist Classifieds Authority Site

What To Say In Your Response

If the prospective buyer includes his phone number in his response, call him immediately.

If no answer: If you get no answer or an answering machine, leave a message and then immediately send him an email. Let him know in your voice message first who you are and that you are contacting him about the Craigslist item. Tell him you would like to talk to him and for him to please call you back. Then leave your number. Also tell him that you are sending him an email as well.

In your email, let him know you tried calling him and that you will try again later. Then put your phone number in the email and tell him to call you, and give him the best time to call. (anytime would be best) Then wait for him to contact you either through phone or with another email. If he calls you back go to the next section and read how to handle the transaction.

If he/she answers: First and foremost, be courteous and friendly. Tell him you are calling him about the item on Craigslist. Then tell him he can pick it up, and give him the times when you will be available. Try to be as available as possible. Again, we are following the theme that we want to make it as easy as possible for the buyer to buy from you. If you don't mind them coming to your house to get the item, tell them where you live. If you do mind, set-up an intermediate location to meet. If you really want to accommodate him, you can meet him at his house or at a location near him. But as far as I'm concerned, it is proper etiquette for the buyer to travel to pick up the item from the seller, so don't worry too much about the inconvenience of having him pick it up from you. Your time is precious too, and it is time consuming to drive all over creation delivering items to customers.

On the phone, he also may try to negotiate the price. If you can't budge, tell him you can't and you have other buyers interested that are willing to pay full price, but you are contacting him because he contacted you first. If that is true, tell him you will get back to him if your other deals fall through. If you have no other prospective buyers, need to sell your item right now, and can afford to slide a little on the price, counter his offer with another price and see if you and him can make a deal.

When you make a deal, be sure to honor the conditions of the arrangement and deliver the item to him appropriately and collect the money. DO NOT accept personal checks. It is too risky. I don't even like to accept money orders, they are too easy to counterfeit or scam. If you have a Paypal account and can accept credit cards, you can do that too. (see section later in this chapter to learn how to set this up) But the easiest and best method for you is cash. Try and accept cash as much as possible.

Accept the money, and be sure to thank the person after the sale. And if you have a business card give it to him, or simply ask him if he wants you to contact him if you have similar deals.

Another great thing to do is ask the person what he is interested in in case you come across that item in the future. A person is MUCH MORE likely to buy off someone they have already dealt with in the past successfully. So by having a smooth, fair, courteous transaction with a customer, you are securing future prospects for future sales. I've had tons of customers who tell me to let them know if I get any more of the item I'm selling them or similar items. Get enough of these contacts and customers and life becomes easy. You won't even have to post items anymore, just call these customers for the sale.