How do I sell this nice desk, Craigslist or eBay (or other)

If your item was expensive when you bought it, then I’d try and sell for half price. Most of the time, I’m looking for cheap when I’m shopping online. I turn to Ebay if other online stores are too expensive. I’ve never used Craigslist to buy things, I’ve only advertised.

Be careful in posting your stuff for sale online. Always be wary of people who insist on paying by cashier’s check or money order. Or even cash. Usually these are scams. They’ll send you a bad check, it’ll bounce, then you’ll be responsible to the merchant for paying that money.

Do not ever give out your personal information more than what’s necessary. Don’t fall for people sending you forms to fill out. It may be a phishing attempt.

Whichever site you choose to sell your item, you need to read their section on how to get started. With Craigslist, it’s relatively easy. You have to create an account. But be careful here. Once you post your personal information, like email address or phone number, expect to get a good amount of spam in your inbox. I’d use a throw away email and sign up for Google Voice so you don’t need to give out your real number. .

On Ebay, scroll to the bottom and click on “start selling now.” Of course, you’ll have to create an account for this. The most accepted form of payment is Paypal so you’ll need to create a Paypal account as well. You’ll need to go to their site to do so. You need a valid credit card and a bank account.

Good luck.

If it were me, I would use Ebay past listings to get an idea of what an item has sold for in the past 30–90 days. That gives you a pretty good idea of what most people would find reasonable to pay.

But I wouldn’t sell it on Ebay until I’ve tried my local Craigslist first. The two main reasons would be that on CL I can specify that the buyer brings cash.

Secondly, for an item that large, the hassle of shipping it and people reluctant to pay high shipping charges added would make it much less convenient than CL where local buyers can worry about getting it back to their place.

If it didn’t sell on CL after about a month or so, then I’d consider Ebay.

Before you put it for sale, do some research for price. Google your desk brand new then Google it “for sale” to see what others are selling for. Google for sold items to see what people actually paid.

After that, try Craigslist first because it’s free. Also on Craigslist, you can list in several/all cities of your state and give people the option to drive as far as they want to pick it up. You can also list the item in neigboring state’s Craigslists. Ebay will charge you a merchant fee to open a selller account and then charge you near 15% of your sale price if/when the item sells.

I’d go for C’sList.

If you’re wanting top dollar you might not get it, but, if you price the desk reasonably you will most likely sell it quickly.

Why pay the Ebay fees, and, if the respondents aren’t local are you really going to try and ship a desk? lol

I have great luck with Craigslist and have had no bad experiences, ever.

I’ve sold furniture best via Craigslist and rummages (I find rummages go best when listed on CL)

So far, we’ve been lucky finding homes for large ticket items on CL. Most of the time, we’ve had cash in pocket in a week or less ;)

I have an eBay store…Unless you live in a large Metropolitan area, you will not get enough traffic for your desk on eBay.

Thank you all for your great advice. Let me digest this information, do a little looking, then I’ll try to get back to you individually. Thanks, again!

Are there alternatives to Craigslist and eBay?

http://www.ebayclassifieds.com/

Ebay has a classifieds section where you can sell things.

Have you tried social networking? You can post as your status you have something for sell. You might be surprised at the responses you get.

Ebid.com

Are there alternatives to Craigslist and eBay?

@2davidc8 A rummage or estate sale is the only other way you’ll get your top dollar. There are not enough viewers/readers/traffic of other sites to get the buyer’s attention.

If money isn’t important, Freecycle or put it out to the curb for free.

You didn’t list a photo of your desk. I saw a photo on ebay of one. We had one like it…we put it out for free at the curb.

We have sold a few other desks in the past. Generally this is a great time of year to put one out at a rummage (or make a flyer for your grocery store/Starbucks bulletin board). Parents are looking to buy them for their kids before school starts.

@AshlynM Thanks for your advice about using a throwaway email address, Google Voice and social networking.
@Buttonstc I would like to avoid shipping the desk. It is extremely heavy. I would probably specify that the buyer needs to come pick it up.
@Neizvestnaya and @Coloma Thank you for your responses.
@SpatzieLover How do you sell at rummages? Do you mean like a garage sale?

@2davidc8 Where I live, rummages & garage sales are synonymous. You don’t even have to organize a full garage sale to sell your desk (unless you have other stuff you want to get rid of and have a few hours one weekend day)

What you could do is take a nice photo of your desk and hang flyers at your local grocery & coffee stores. I am serious about this time of year being prime rummage times. Moms & dads head out mid-July through August looking for desks, bookshelves, chairs, beds-etc to set their kids up at college or to change rooms for older kids heading to high school.

PM me if you need any more tips. I’ll be glad to assist. :)