Selling items online is one of the best ways to earn extra cash quickly with Craigslist. There are probably millions of people selling things on Craigslist, but the key is to target a local area, take great photos, and be descriptive if you wish to be successful. Focus on selling physical products (old or new) on Craigslist in the ‘For Sale' section as opposed to trying to sell services and courses (I'll discuss selling your services soon). That way, if a buyer is interested, they can simply meet with you in person to receive the item and pay you most likely in cash.
Craigslist doesn't have an online payment system like Amazon or Ebay and that's because they highly recommend face-to-face simplified cash transactions between local buyers and sellers. Craigslist breaks down several major cities and neighborhoods to make it easy to specify your location. For added security, they protect your personal email address from being shown so people who are interested in the item(s) you are selling can email you safely without gaining any of your personal information.
Tips for Meeting Up with a Buyer
When meeting up with a buyer, I'd recommend meeting in a public place with lots of people around if you can. Some Craigslist sellers I know even have public warehouses or will meet buyers at an office to avoid having the transaction take place at their home.
However, it's not uncommon for a lot of sales to take place at someone's home. I sold my Xbox 360 about two years ago to a guy who offered to come to my apartment to purchase it. In this case, he had to try out the Xbox on a television to make it worked properly. When he saw that it did, he happily paid me in cash and went on his way. In the past, I've purchased two laptops from Craigslist sellers. The first time, I went to someone's house to test out the laptop and the seller was very friendly and professional. The second time, I met with a seller at a nearby McDonalds and that was even better.
Luckily, I've never felt unsafe or uneasy when meeting up with sellers or buyers but if you want to take extra caution, I'd highly recommend meeting up in a public place and allowing Craigslist to block out your personal email address when you create a listing.
