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Helpful Tips To Get You Started
Open a Craigslist Account An account is not required to post items on Craigslist but, it can be beneficial to you if you have one. For example, if you have a Craigslist account and want to post an item, once you have gone through the "posting" steps, you will receive an email stating that your item will post "within xx minutes". If however you do not have a Craigslist account, you will receive an email which states that you must "confirm" that you want to "submit" a posting before your post will ever be "in line" to be posted for the general public to view. In other words, having a Craigslist account gets your post online sooner!A Craigslist account also allows you to view, edit, and track any listing you have posted for a maximum range of 180 days. If you intend to post regularly to Craigslist, tracking your ads can save you a great deal of time especially if you wish to "repost" any ad that has expired. Post a Picture of the Item If you expect someone to buy your item, then you need to post a picture of it for the "prospective" buyer to see. Would you buy something "unseen"? Then why do you expect to sell something "unseen"? Also, posting a picture can drastically cut down on the number of people asking you to "email" them a picture. Imagine the amount of YOUR time that you can save by simply posting a few pictures with your ad versus emailing pictures to every Tom, Dick, and Harry that ask you for them. Granted even though you post pictures with your ad, you will still receive requests from people for additional pictures but, these will be the people that are truely interested in your item.Adding pictures to your post is easy to do. When creating your listing, just below the Posting Description box is an "Add/Edit Images" button. Just click this button to add your images to your post. The images you want to add to your post can either be located on your computer or your digital camera. When you click the Add/Edit Images button, it "exposes" four places for you to add images by "Browsing" to where you have them located and selecting the ones you want to post. When you "Add" the images to your post, they are Uploaded to Craigslists server and will be held on their server while the posting remains active. Post Dimensions/Size of the Item I don't know how many times I've seen posts (especially in the furniture and bikes sections) that don't include the dimensions/size of what is being sold. When you are interested in buying furniture, don't you want to know the dimensions of it first to know whether it will "fit" where you want to put it in your house? Why would you not include this IMPORTANT information in your post?As for selling bikes, would you buy a bike that is the "incorrect" size for you? Most likely not. How is a prospective buyer going to know if your bike is the correct size for them if you don't post size information? If you don't know what size your bike is, then look on the seat tube for a sticker that tells you what size it is (found on most "newer" bikes i.e. not "vintage/classic" bikes). If the sticker is just a letter S, M, L, or XL then do a little internet research and find out what "actual size" the letter equates to. If your bike doesn't have a "size sticker" on it, then measure your bike to determine it's size. If you don't know how/where to measure, then watch this video that shows you: How To Measure a Bike Frame. Once you've determined what size your bike is, then post the size in the Correct "Unit". By this I mean that Road Bikes are measured in "centimeters" and Mountain Bikes and Hybrid Bikes are measured in "inches". Thus, if the bike you are posting is a Road Bike then the size should be in centimeters (i.e. 54cm) and if it is a Mountain Bike then the size should be in inches (i.e. 17"). When selling bikes, you should also include other important information like tire/rim size (i.e. 26", 700c, 27", etc.), what material is is made of, etc. The more detailed information, the better. You would be suprised on how much including the dimensions of your item in your post will cut down on the number of emails you have to respond to of people asking you for this very information. Also, the more details you can include in your description, the better chance you have of actually selling your item. Look at other Craigslist Postings If you look on the left hand side of Craigslist homepage, you will see a "best-of-craigslist" link in the menu below the Event Calendar. These postings are ones that have been nominated by Craigslist "users" as being interesting, amusing, weird, or just down-right crazy. Please note that none of these postings are endorsed by Craigslist staff and some may be offensive.However, looking at these "best-of" postings may provide you with ideas on how to be more creative in advertising your service or product. This little added creativity may be all thats needed to set your ad above the rest and help you to earn additional profit. Keeping these tips in mind when posting your ad to Craigslist should help you advertise your service or product(s) much more effectively! |
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