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I moved cross country recently and have been selling a variety of household items on CL. Some of them are very large and heavy.
In my ad, I explicitly indicate if I can deliver the item and what the fee would be. Most ads say "no delivery" so I figured this would help sell my stuff. I can only deliver in a limited area and I can only deliver certain items due to the size of my car and my work schedule.
I have had a number of people who want me to deliver large items (indicated in the ad as no delivery) to points 15-30 miles from where I live so that they can "take a look" and see if they want them. I have politely said that I cannot accommodate, but if they want to check out what I am selling, they are more than welcome to make an appointment to see the item at my place. Several of the potential customers have been downright huffy that I wouldn't cart a big item to their location so that they can play looky loo.
In my past experience, its been pretty easy to sell on CL. I put up an ad with lots of pics, someone says they want the item, they pick it up and give me cash. There is none of this "let me examine it and see if I want to give you $60." They just come and get it. And I have never gotten such entitled requests for delivery.
I wouldn't say that the rules have changed; it's just that some people want, and want, and want....and they'll keep pestering until you hopefully give in.
I moved cross country recently and have been selling a variety of household items on CL. Some of them are very large and heavy.
In my ad, I explicitly indicate if I can deliver the item and what the fee would be. Most ads say "no delivery" so I figured this would help sell my stuff. I can only deliver in a limited area and I can only deliver certain items due to the size of my car and my work schedule.
I have had a number of people who want me to deliver large items (indicated in the ad as no delivery) to points 15-30 miles from where I live so that they can "take a look" and see if they want them. I have politely said that I cannot accommodate, but if they want to check out what I am selling, they are more than welcome to make an appointment to see the item at my place. Several of the potential customers have been downright huffy that I wouldn't cart a big item to their location so that they can play looky loo.
In my past experience, its been pretty easy to sell on CL. I put up an ad with lots of pics, someone says they want the item, they pick it up and give me cash. There is none of this "let me examine it and see if I want to give you $60." They just come and get it. And I have never gotten such entitled requests for delivery.
Am I missing something? Have the rules changed?
Change your ad. No delivery....here are pictures of the stuff. If they want to look, they can make an appointment, come and look.
No delivery. You are setting them up to a sense of entitlement by offering it. Ignore those that make weird and/or outrageous requests. I list for sale, a price and if they want to come look they are free.
Don't lower your prices but do change the ad to no delivery and after they purchase the item if they ask about delivery, decide then if the area falls within you accepted delivery area. Personally I would not charge for delivery, put it into the cost of the item.
And yes, some people are just wanting the attention. I've been trying to sell a large piece and I had one lady call me 4 times in one day asking questions about it - a 15 minute conversation each time.
She was clearly old and lonely. She didn't buy the piece. She never even came to see it.
Take good pictures of the item and don't mention delivery in your ad. Offering to deliver sounds like you have a lot of free time and that's why people want you to bring the items so they can look at them.
I usually only communicate with Craigslist buyers by text message. I have unlimited texts and it's better than getting stuck on the phone for 10 to 20 minutes.
My ads are not linked. Not all of them say I will deliver.
Kitchen chairs? Sure. A huge oriental rug? No way. The ad states "I cannot deliver this item." Yet, the last person I talked to about the rug wanted me to truck it on over to Jersey and meet her in a parking lot so that I could unroll it for her scrutiny before she decided whether to purchase. And many of you may know that the East Coast weather has recently been less than balmy.
It still boggles my mind. Like I say, I have only once had an experience where someone came to purchase an item and decided they didn't want it. In every other case, I have just had the buyer show with the cash, no additional questions asked.
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