Power Sellers Unite

joker · Joined: 23 Jun 2008 Posts: 26

After ebay, cl has the largest user base probably. Their stubborn rediculous insistence on items being bought and paid for locally only is.. illogical.

Is ebay's 25% ownership the only thing preventing this? I mean, obviously, if they allowed shippable items (and I read through the cl FAQ which explicitly states something to the effect of 'if you're not selling locally you don't belong on cl') that the site would explode with eager buyers and sellers because its laissez faire, with an ethical person in charge, and free, and doesn't ban users gestapo style.

As it currently is I wouldn't want to sell there due to hassle of arranging and waiting for pickups and also due to a having a generally introverted character.

There is a fraud problem but cl already has fraud. Again, using a credit card is the only fraud protection necessary for buyers because of the chargeback protection. Insurance and signature confirmation is the only fraud protection necessary for sellers. Any other middlemen are useless (except for something that anonymizes and accepts your credit card like paypal/google checkout).

So in summary
craigslist + shippable items + google checkout + convenient mass search (not city by city) + their already huge user base
would = awesome and an overnight domination of marketshare

elgato · Joined: 24 Feb 2005 Posts: 17231 Location: Texas

I've posted my items at Cl for months now with no sales and offer shipping all across the U.S. It's not just based on local sales.

Good luck and please don't rely on one alternative online selling venue.

RideUpGrades · Joined: 10 Oct 2008 Posts: 14 Location: Milpitas, CA

I think people see CL as a local only venue, personally I would never send money to any one on CL due to the infinite number of scammers on there already.

purple_reading_giraffe · Joined: 04 Feb 2008 Posts: 5485 Location: Indiana, USA

I'd say the basic answer to your question - Why doesn't Craigslist expand into shippable items is... Because they don't want to.

Web sales is not their niche. Local classifieds is their niche. That is how they managed to grow so large, by concentrating on their niche and not eBay's.

cheddarmoon · Joined: 30 Dec 2006 Posts: 31

I love CL just the way it is. No need to go mucking it up by trying to be what they're not.

campu2 · Joined: 17 May 2006 Posts: 334

I would leave the CL local listings just as they are, and ADD a
national section for mail order sales.

Mail order sales on Craigs may not do as well as many people think,
due to a lack of a feedback system. I believe a feedback system
would have to be included for mail order sales to take off.

Its easy to get frustrated with Craigslist, but it produces the most
profitable sales for me.

I've hit some dead times on CL where I can't seem to move
anything at any price. Then it picks up again and I make more money
in days than I could make on eBay in a month.

The listing fees, PayPal fees, and shipping costs take too big a
bite out of my profits.

Also, there is an advantage with CL, selling to buyers who want
it NOW. I've discovered that lowering prices on CL doesn't produce
more sells. Just less profit.

diesel_parts · Joined: 23 Jul 2006 Posts: 723

I made a sale on craigs today. Cash and buyer picks item up. I have sold many things on craigs and it has worked fine for me.

Craigs has a good market with a simple website. It is all run by computer. Craig has 25 employees I think. He said he had all the money that he needed anyway. LOL.

ebay has a 25 % interest but no say so as to how craigs is run. Meg wanted to buy it and muck it up like ebay but hit a blank wall at 25%.

I like craigs just like it is.

campu2 · Joined: 17 May 2006 Posts: 334

As it currently is I wouldn't want to sell there due to hassle of arranging and waiting for pickups and also due to a having a generally introverted character.

The longer I list on CL, the less flexible I've become with buyers.

Too many people who will waste your time, ask endless questions,
and then not show up at the arranged time.

I receive emails from people wanting to reserve items, stating that
they will pick up in a few days or on payday, etc.

From my experience on Craigs, the vast majority of these people
never show up.

All of my ads state " Please reserve items only if you can pick up immediately ". It eliminates 90% of the BS.

joker · Joined: 23 Jun 2008 Posts: 26

another obvious problem with local sales is people within 25ish miles are a very tiny subset of the entire nation. Would I rather sell to to a few thousand that just happen to live close by, or 300 million?

And I don't see why they couldn't build the shippable functionality on top of what they already have. Like, every time you list something maybe there's a box to check:

[ ] Offer to ship nationally/worldwide?
[ ] Offer local pickups?

Then craigslist could have a SITE WIDE main search box at the top of the page (not excluded to an individual city). If you check the first box your item appears in the site-wide search.

When you browse cars they have really large warnings: 'WARNING: offers to ship cars are 100% fraudulent!'
Well they could have similar warnings for site wide shipped items: 'WARNING: only pay for items with credit cards so you have chargeback protection' (that is displayed to browsing buyers).
As for sellers when you list something it might say 'WARNING: always include insurance and delivery confirmation to protect yourself from fraudulent chargebacks'.
Now, really you don't even need feedback. If you pay for an item and a seller doesn't ship, just file a chargeback. (ok, they could still mail you a brick or empty box and get delivery confirmation/tracking on it)... but still in that case, they would likely start building up a negative track record and be watched more closely by the credit card company or whoever.

Or say someone buys from you, you honestly ship the item with insurance and tracking, and the buyer claims to have never received it (or claims they received nothing/a brick). Well if/when they file the fraudulent chargeback, you can now dispute the chargeback with your evidence (their signature of receiving it).

How could adding this functionality be anything but positive for craigslist, buyers and sellers?

campu2 · Joined: 17 May 2006 Posts: 334

another obvious problem with local sales is people within 25ish miles are a very tiny subset of the entire nation.

Which also can work to your advantage as a seller.

When I'm listing on Craigslist, I'm not competing with hundreds
of sellers listing items at give away prices (ebay).

I'm looking to sell to buyers who want it NOW. And I'm basically
competing with local retailers (walmart) selling new items.

Easier to compete with Walmart selling DVDs at $7.50 to $15
than hundreds of sellers listing items at 99 cents.

greensourcevintage · Joined: 28 Dec 2008 Posts: 12

I've used Craigslist several times for larger items, furniture, things I didn't want to ship. Also for smaller inexpensive items that I could not afford to sell on eBay since the fees often add up to almost 25% of the sale price there. Those of use that have used it as an alternative do now have another option, Bonanzle is up and coming in this area and looks like it could be the ticket for this sort of venue. I believe the market place is ready for a well organized, well run site such as Bonanzle. Super simple to list, FREE and very user friendly. Their rapid growth rate is indicative of a site that can be a viable option for both buyers and sellers!

dlrane · Joined: 03 Jul 2008 Posts: 2406

Mainly, they would have to add so much staff and functionality to the site to handle shippable mdse. As it is, they have a good niche and are reaping the rewards of low overhead and local functionality. Their Business Plan and Model was for Local People to be able to interact and purchase from one another and it has worked like a charm. As the old saying goes, "Don't fix it if it ain't broken".

I do wish they would add some more of the medium size cities to their list. Many have requested that they do this for areas with 100,000 to 200,000 residents, but they seem to be slow on improving their coverage area. :D

slythorne · Joined: 31 Dec 2008 Posts: 220

I agree with dlrane. Craigslist has their own niche... they don't WANT to become the next eBay. I don't see what is wrong with that! If they DID, then where would we sell all the stuff that we don't want to deal with shipping? I do think they need to expand their city selections since they have gotten pretty large, and I think they need to build in some sort of automated authorization system for phone numbers, so people don't get their phone number used for harassment by other parties. I can't see it being that hard or expensive to team up with Vonage and intergrate such a program.

suburbantreasure · Joined: 04 Feb 2008 Posts: 250

I've listed several things on CL and posted a link to my store for that item if the buyer would like to use checkout and have it shipped. I've sold several items this way, including some large playmobil sets and tons of video game stuff....and some American Girl doll stuff. CL can work beautifully for shippable items if you can show customers that you have an online store and are safe to buy from.

About a year ago, I got a steal from CL - bought a doll that the buyer was asking $300 and sold it for $1200 once it arrived, with one email. I was very nervous about sending the cashier's check, which she insisted on. I thought this was akin to putting $300 into a slot machine at Atlantic City - I fully expected to possibly lose it. But the seller made good , and I did very well with the purchase.

We used to ALL do it years ago with Collector's United and Master Collector (two classifieds newspapers that were nationwide) and personally I never got scammed once, which is pretty amazing. Mail order was a safer venue though, 20 years ago.

SneekerIsOnline · Joined: 01 May 2008 Posts: 263 Location: Blackpool

i like craigslist