How To Successfully Make Money Selling Furniture On Craigslist.

Today I am talking about Selling your furniture online, via Craigslist, or other Facebook pages you have access to. My husband and I have been selling furniture on Craigslist for quite some time, and we have been really successful with it so today I would like to share some tips so you can be selling your goods online like a pro before you know it.

   1. The Golden Rule Of Business:

Each item that you sell is is a money transaction so it’s good idea to take it fairly serious.  Do answer all possible clients email inquiries within an appropriate time frame and conduct emails and texts in such a way as your own client. Treat the person on the other end of the email how you would want to be treated if you were in their position.

   2. Take Really Good Photos:  (With a iPhone, or smart phone)

This is the most important of all, and I cannot stress this enough! With photos you need to take intentionality, angles, light, and styling all into consideration. If you are selling for example a chair in your living room, it really needs to be very clear in the photo what you are selling and the “client” can see the chair very clearly in the photo.  Use your photo apps to bring up the clarity in the photo, exposure, and colour.

a. Shoot the photo as you would see a Chair in a design magazine. Interior photographers rarely take a shot of a chair from an upright position. Instead they are positioning the lens so they are directly in front of it at a much lower angle.  See photos below for reference. If you are still not sure, take a look at a design magazine of a chair and just copy what they’ve done.

b. Take the photo with the natural light behind you so that you are not trying to shoot into the light. If you shoot into the light it will make it difficult for the camera lens to add the details of the chair. While we are on the topic of light please, please, please never take photos at night and only try to use natural light coming in from the windows.  Avoid turning on lights unless you really have to.  In most cases you might have to move the “Object” that you are selling to a particular place in your home that shows the chair the best.

    3. Styling sells:

We are in a world that people rely on people like you to show them what they cannot see themselves. If you are selling a chair, start by placing it in a nice corner, perhaps add an end table next to it, plus a lamp to pull the look together.  Remember you might need to find items within your house to style the shot up.  I cannot honestly say that I have never taken a picture of a craigslist item in the actual place it normally sits. When I sell an item, it is like staging a house for sale…. I am selling a look.

For this photo, I styled the book case that I was selling, because I felt like a Mom would purchase it and this gave the illusion of how it could look styled up for their reference.

Here you cannot fully see the whole chair, but the photo sells the chair because the look is complete. There’s a side table, plant, and coffee. What more would anyone want? In this case I would not have this photo to be your only photo that you show in the ad, but this extra one shows the styling aspect.

    4. Research your Price:  Know your pricing and do your research. Take the time to do research on Craigslist for an item similar to the one your are selling. Perhaps there are many like your item on there, or none at all? Both have to be taken into consideration. If your item is in high demand, or very unique you will likely get more money for your item in some cases.  When you come to a price, you can start from there and can always lower if if you need to. Craigslist is one big Mexican bargaining shopping centre.  Expect people to ask for a lower price, but be firm in the post depending if you have a FIRM price.  This will avoid unnecessary emails back and forth.

    5. Detailed Postings:  It’s very important to add as much detail that you know about the product.  Cleary state the colour, dimensions as such height, width, depth, and length.  Manufacturer or brand is also important.  Where is it made? Most people like to see that items are made in Canada, so it the product can clearly prove that, then mention that in your post. Be honest. If you don’t know where its from, them just say so. If you have a detailed post, there is likely less emails that will go back and forth that saves you time and theirs as well. Use key words in your post, such as modern, vintage, mid-century modern, depending on the category you find your piece to fit under.

   6. Stay Safe: You can generally tell a lot about a person with how they write in a email, or converse with you on the phone.  Make sure another person is there to sell the item to the client with you, or sell it from your garage. If you are really concerned, then you can always meet the client at a near by coffee shop or place of retail.  I personally like to sell from our house, and haven’t had any huge problems. If I’m home alone, I usually sell from my garage. All and all I have met some amazing people on craigslist, so always lead with the fact that people are good unless they show you other wise. Do lean on using your head, not the $$ signs that come from the interaction.

I hope that helps, please comment and share this post with whomever you feel it could help. Got any other tips to share?

Take care,

Jodi