Ebay or Craigslist?? Which Do You Prefer?

I have sold on craigslist and bought on ebay.

I think ebay is overpriced. I thnk people make a lot of moeny selling things on ebay..

So if you want to make money I would sell on ebay.

Craigslist is easy to use.. freee but people dont seem to want to pay much for things on craigslsit..

Electronics do sell quite well on craigslist.

I would try Craigslist first as it is local and is free. It is free to list things on Craigslist and you don't have to take bids on it. The only down side is some people will say that they want the item and set up a time to pick it up and never show. Good luck

I would go with Craigslist to get a quicker sale but you have to be careful with your wording on there at times. There are people that seem to have nothing better to do with their time than to go through the ads and flag the ones they deem inappropriate or phrased incorrectly. Make sure that you don't use all caps in the title line. Don't put "eye catching" symbols (ex.: @#!!!) in the title line. Also, make sure you don't put "o.b.o.) in the title line, they will flag you because they deem that "eBay" wording, your item is being sold as if it were on auction. I sold 2 vehicles this past year on Criagslist and one of them was flagged for inclucing "o.b.o.". I wish you the best of luck and a very happy holiday season!

P.S. You may want to try "Hoobly.com" as well. They are kind of like Craigslist and it's free to list your items. It might make it easier for you to sell if you post on both sites, more will see your ads. Unlike Craigslist, you won't have to specify a certain location prior to posting.

Hi M. M.
Personally I prefer Craigslist simply because it's local.
ebay has become so large, however, if it's something that you can't find on Craigslist, then I'd definitely check Ebay as a 2nd choice. As long as pictures are included, I'd go with Craigslist first.

Good Luck,
Karen A.

Hi M.,

I have sold (and purchased) items on both sites. Overall I will recommend craigslist. Craigslist is better for larger items-like wyour w/d- where shipping costs will deter many buyers, since you are selling locally. Craigslist is also very easy to use and free. If you start there and don't get any responses, go to eBay. I think ebay is best for selling items that have appeal to a smaller group of people (like collectibles) or selling items with a huge demand that you want to get people bidding up against each other.
On either site I believe a few things are very important. 1)post a picture of your item-a picture is worth a thousand words, right? 2)give as much detail as you can think of to help the potential buyer make their decision 3)be truthful in your description - if an item is damaged, say so 4)watch your spelling in your title and description, as many people will search for an item and your spelling needs to match - also in your description you can add similiar words that people might use in their search (example - if I search for "dresser" I will get a different list than I would if I entered "dressers")
Also, I wouldn't be afraid to give contact information. This will speed up the sale. Good luck!

Hi M.,

I am a buyer and a seller on eBay and have also sold through Craigslist. I have never bought anything through Craigslist though, not that I haven't tried, but by the time I email or call it's already gone. And one time I went to purchase something got there and it was JUNK!!! But that can happen on eBay also. There are pro's and con's to both. Someone said that you make a lot of money on eBay??? You make what people bid your item up to, pretty fair to me. On Craigslist you have to figure out what you want for it and hope someone wants to pay that much for it. I can go on and on. On eBay if you ship priority mail you can get all of you supplies through www.usps.com and have them shipped FREE right to your front door and the supplies are free also. Then when someone wins your auction, you can print your postage right on your computer and set up a free carrier pick-up, so you never have to go to the post office, which is huge for me with two kids.
Lot's or rules on eBay have changed. Some I like some I don't, but I'm adjusting. I'm no power-seller by no means, more of a power buyer :) lol.
In the end, big items for pick-up only, Craig's list.
Name brand clothing like gymboree, tommy, etc... eBay for sure, you'll get a lot of money for the clothes!! Gap to.
In regards to the things you listed above:
Everything except for the washer and dryer on eBay. Washer and dryer on Craig's List, it will go fast! I sold mine in less than an hour that way. And yes the gift certificate for Home Good's can be listed on eBay no problem.

Email privately if you'd like and I can answer more questions in depth if you have them :)
J. in Macomb

I have done both. I like craigslist better. If you set the items at a reasonable price they will sell fast. With ebay you not only have to pay for the item but the shipping too. I think craigslist is better.

We prefer Craigslist. Ebay charges you a fee to sell things. My husband put his XBox up for sale on craigslist about a month or so ago, he sold it within 3 hours!! Good luck!!

I would just post them on both listes. Just make sure you up the price on Ebay and account for shipping. I personally prefer craigs list because I've had great sucess both buying and selling on there. I just make it a point not to give out my address, but to meet people in public places. I also don't tell there where I am located, I just say Downtown GR or NW side. Good luck!

Hi M.,
Honestly i have used both ebay and craigslist. With craigslist i would be careful. If you sell something on craigslist meet them in public just to be safe. Ebay is great too. Although, they do charge fees where as craigslist doesnt. ok i hope this helps!

I've actually used both. The bad thing about Craigslist is that the people actually have to come to your home to pick things up. That kind of scares me. But.....it's free!!

Ebay is a pain because you do have to ship everything but it's much safer that way. It can also be costly, so be careful how you list. Good luck!! :)

Ebay- Not free to post your stuff, but bidding does go up til it is over!
Craigslist- Free to post, there is no bidding, so what you ask for is what you get!

Personally, I like craigslist. It is very addictive! I get on there everyday just to browse different things!

A.

Hi M. ~
I sell quite a bit on ebay. Things that can be packaged and shipped out can be easier there since people don't have to come to your house. And sometimes the price goes higher than what you think you might have gotten. You can get free shipping supplies through usps.com (I ship priority mail and get all my supplies through the post office at that website). You get charged about $1.00 or maybe a little more per listing, depending on how many pictures you use, if you do "buy it now" and other options. Also they charge 2 or 3% of the final price, and so does paypal. If you allow people to send you money orders or checks, make sure the check clears at your bank before you ship out.
I would say that craigslist would be easiest to use for the washer & dryer, because then it's only local people looking and you can't really ship them.
good luck!
D.

Well M.,
I have to tell you that I am really ticked with Ebay as of lately. I've had an account with them for several years and it's like every time I've posted items to sell, there's always some stupid glitch at their end that messes things up. NOW the latest is that you CAN'T sell on eBay unless you use PayPal or ProPay. NICE. I don't feel comfortable with either of those. Post office money orders or personal checks worked just fine with me. Now it's a minor form of discrimination. And as hubby has a Paypal account, I can't, since our credit card numbers are the same.
So it was suggested to me to go with Craig's list. It doesn't have the same restrictions. I haven't set things up yet, but I have too much to want to sell that I will eventually have to. But I think it stinks what Ebay's done.

I perfer ebay because you can get alot more than what you think. I have tried to sell a few things on craigslist but not alot of luck. Also, if you join ebay you can look into the advanced search and see what similar items have sold for in the past 30ish days, it shows how much it sold for and you can see the listing. There is a website you can go to where you can put up listings to ebay, but they have backgrounds for free (it costs at ebay), also you could add up to (I believe) 12 pictures where ebay you have to pay for it. You can go onto ebay and see their fees. If you go with ebay you should get a paypal account. It will allow you to accept credit cards and check without the hassle of bounced checks. Hope this info helps. Happy Holidays!!!!

We have always used Craigslist to sell our things, sometimes people do not show up to buy them but more times than not we have always had luck. There is no shipping costs involved and the family is local so you feel good about giving them a great deal on something you no longer have a use for. We sold our daughters old toys that she no longer plays with this year and paid for half of Christmas with the money earned. Plus there is no fee with craigslist like there is with ebay.

we use both. Craigslist people usually come to look and aren't committed to buying until they see the item. They also come to your house, so you have to be comfortable with strangers coming to your home. You don't need to package the item at all, though. eBay costs some money up front, but it's a good deal, it's our business... You have to have boxes to package your item and sometimes it's tricky figuring out the postage. You also have to pay eBay and Paypal (if you accept paypal) fees on the backside after the sale. If you want more information, I'd be happy to talk privately by phone or email.
P.

Hi M.. My boys do a lot of looking. If you sell on ebay, you are charged a sellers fee I believe. Criag's list I believe is free. Also, my youngest son (17 years old) just bought a game cube from a friend not too long ago. He is looking for games, controllers, etc. Would possibly be interested in finding out what you all have and price. Thanks :)

You might want to look into whether or not Waterford has a "Cheapcycle" Yahoo group. We've got them in the Lake Orion/Oxford area. You post what you want to sell and what you are asking for them and if anyone who is on the list wants said items they email you back and you arrange for a pick up time. Nice thing about Cheapcycle is it's all people living in your area. I know there's a Waterford Freecycle group for giving things away for free but I'm not sure about a Cheapcycle group. You'll have to look.