You might have heard that when a car leaves the lot it will lose almost 20% of its value immediately. Well, luckily that applies to almost everything. Buying used items can be a great way to save money.
Other websites like Ebay can have great deals and thousands of results, but there’s not too much quality control and you never get to see the product in person, so you could get scammed.
Websites like Craigslist have all kinds of things like discussion forums, jobs, housing ads, and even dating (which is probably a bad idea).
However, the “for sale” category is probably what made Craigslist so popular.
This section is broken down into multiple categories which can help you narrow down your results.
The reason most people normally steer clear of this site is because of the creepy connotation.
“It’s too creepy,” said Mr. Cassidy when I asked him if he used Craigslist.
I’ve heard stories told like folklore about people getting followed home after buying a phone on there or about someone trying to buy a car and end up getting killed. I’ve seen an article on CBS about a Craigslist nanny getting killed, so there have been some mishaps with the site. This can discourage the use of a website like that. Craigslist is open to anybody, so yeah there could be a murderer posting an ad to trick someone to coming to his/her house or something, in theory.
The odds are slim but, in hindsight, is going be 20/20 if you end up meeting a creep. When using Craigslist, avoid the really good deals. Avoiding ones that are just too good to be true can help save you from getting scammed or worse.
I once saw an Xbox One in the free section, which is clearly a red flag. I probably don’t have to say that you’re not going to get an Xbox One for free. A theory about getting scammed is the more niche of a category you go into, the more likely you are to find authentic ads.
Think about it: if you were a murderer or just trying to make easy money, you’d want to appeal to a larger audience and get as many takers as you can. If you see good deals for things like cars or something that either has a stock photo as the image or no image at all, be careful.
When looking at something like “collectibles” or “musical instruments” don’t worry as much because those are both markets that you likely won’t get scammed on.
“I got my piano on Craigslist actually,” said junior Abby Finan.
The Apex Police have a group of parking lots outside their departments that can be used for internet exchange, where everything is safe according to WRAL. It’s video monitored 24/7.
“I bought a go kart on there one time,” sophomore Sam Wiedmer said.
Aside from the dangers of meeting complete strangers, there’s also some lingo when it comes to this stuff that is good to know. People use abbreviations for terms that could seem confusing at first. Maybe the most common is “OBO.” This means “or best offer” meaning they’re flexible with the price.
Other times you might see “TLC” as in “this thing needs a little TLC.” That stands for “tender loving care” which is a nice way of saying it’s not in very good condition and needs some work.
“Curb Alert” which is often found in the free section, means “act fast, it’s on the side of the road.”
Another one is “MIJ” which means “made in Japan.” This comes up a lot in certain areas and normally does not make an item any more valuable.
When you’re really on a budget, you can put your price maximums and minimums. This is really helpful when you don’t want to have to scroll by your dream items for way more than you have or sift through subpar items that are way too cheap.
Some people will put their item up for one dollar. This item is likely to be more than one dollar. It’s either just negotiable or it’s a bundle of items at different prices. This really annoys me especially when they say in the description to just make them an offer, because then you don’t even really know what they want for it and you might way over or under shoot it, because that way they hold all the leverage.
Most importantly, don’t get too trigger happy when you just start looking, especially when you’re looking at something costly.
You need to sit back, check almost everyday, see what the prices look like. and then when a real steal comes along, you email the seller.
“I found my truck on Craigslist.” sophomore Wills Womack said.
You must be on top of things to find those steals. Also, if you’re selling something. don’t forget to take the ad down as soon as you sell it because you don’t want to get other people’s hopes up.
Never be afraid to make an offer. It can’t hurt and these people are probably just looking to get rid of junk, so they will often take a reasonable one.
These are just a few tips that might help and convince you to use Craigslist.