Your Craigslist Classifieds Authority Site

2. Communicating With The Seller

OK, say you found an item you are interested in. What is the best way to go about getting it?

Don't Waste Time

When you find an item you want, time is not on your side, because, unlike Ebay, the item is not safe until the end of the auction. No, on Craigslist, it is entirely up to the seller to determine the fate of the item. That is why you need to use some strategy in making sure he chooses you and the item ends up in your hands.

When I find an item I am interested in, my first priority is to contact the seller as fast as possible. I want to be the first response he sees, and I want him to know I am for real, and ready to buy.

So If there is a phone number in the post I call it. If I get a message, I leave one. then I immediately email him.

If you reach him on the phone:

If I reach him on the phone my goal is to convince him to realize that his search is over and that the item is SOLD, to me. If you are happy with the price he listed in his posting then continue on. If you want to get him to lower the price, get your haggling out of the way first. because the rest of what I'm about to tell you is useless unless you have a deal.

When I reach him on the phone and am satisfied with the price, I tell him I'd like to buy it and if we could do it that day. I am courteous and friendly with him. I want him to feel comfortable doing a deal with me. If he can't do the sale immediately, try to get him to do it as soon as possible. Remember he will be getting other offers and responses to his post and you don't want him to have second thoughts. Time is not on your side.

If he agrees to do a deal, great! I try to set a time with him that is as soon as possible to get the transaction done. If he tries to get you to wait, do what you can to let him know you are interested in doing the deal soon. The more time you wait the more things can go worng.

I then let him determine the location arrangements for the transaction because he is the seller. You want to accommodate him and make him feel in control and comfortable doing the transaction with you – even if you are the one in control. If you are accomodating enough, he may turn down better offers than yours even though he may make more money with another buyer because he is comfortable with you.

I don't reach him on the phone / He doesn't leave a phone number:

If I call him and there is no answer I leave a message. I say my name and that I am interested in the item he has listed on Craigslist (don't be specific about the item – if he has posted several items a little mystery might coax him to call you back faster). I tell him I am very interested and can pay cash, and can do the deal as soon as he can. I'll leave my phone number for him to call me back and then hang up. The whole time, I'm conscious to speak clearly and courteously.

Then, immediately after the phone call I leave him an email message as well in case he checks his email before checking his messages on his phone. In the email I tell him that I left him a message on his phone and go on to leave the other information that I left on his voicemail: My name, phone number, that I can pay cash, and can do the transaction immediately.

I know I told you before not to leave your phone number but this is different. Before we were talking about the description of your posting, now we are talking about a private email you are sending to the seller. Your number will not get posted on the Internet from a private email. Unless your seller is actually a scammer/spammer (see chapter on Scams). In fact, I actually wholeheartedly RECOMMEND leaving your phone number because you want to make it as easy as possible for the seller to contact you as quickly as possible. Remember, time is not on your side as a buyer.

If there is no phone number left in the sellers post (and usually there is not), then just write the email as I described above.

Now just wait for the seller to contact you.

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