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How to Make It on Craigslist

blog.priceonomics.com

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Re: How to Make It on Craigslist

#21

Post by jfruh »

adamc wrote: post #4
midas wrote: post #2

It makes sense intuitively that heavy appliances would be the most profitable. People don't say, "sure you can have my iPod for $20" but I could see them being willing to part with a washing machine for that price if someone would carry it out of their third story apartment.

Yes. They will take a lesser fraction of the value in cash when there is a positive value in getting rid of it. Small items are easy to get rid of anyway (you could just throw it in the trash), and if they have value they may be willing to store them and wait. My overall reaction to the article, though, was that he's doing a fair amount of work for a pretty so-so return, and it looks hard to scale it upwards. (That $…

Median income in the West in 2010 was $53K, according to the Census Bureau (via Wikipedia), and since "the West" includes California I'm betting it's lower in Portland. Considering he says he's only working 25 hours a week, 1,000 a week is pretty darn good, even if he does have to pay for health insurance.

Re: How to Make It on Craigslist

#22

Post by DustinCalim »

This is a cool article; it will be interesting to see how it scales up going forward.

I also spend a lot of time on craigslist, and this extension has saved me hours and made browsing much more efficient:

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/aikbdokcmcbbeaadpd...

Chrome only though :(

Re: How to Make It on Craigslist

#23

Post by mistermann »

mahannay wrote: post #17

It's very impressive that he's able to earn so much money and support his family via Craigslist, but I can't help but think about how useful (or not useful, really) his job is for the overall economy. Basically, he's another middleman - buying goods for a low price and selling them higher. Without him in the picture, buyers could have purchased their items for less and saved money. I just don't see how this job adds…

Not to mention, when i give something away on cl, I'd like it to go to someone that needs it, not a wheeler dealer parasite living off the goodwill of others. Imho

Re: How to Make It on Craigslist

#24

Post by lurker17 »

mahannay wrote: post #17

It's very impressive that he's able to earn so much money and support his family via Craigslist, but I can't help but think about how useful (or not useful, really) his job is for the overall economy. Basically, he's another middleman - buying goods for a low price and selling them higher. Without him in the picture, buyers could have purchased their items for less and saved money. I just don't see how this job adds…

It's low-end Goldman Sachs market-making. Tinman Sachs, maybe. Not extremenly different from panhandling. It's definitely abusive of the Craigslist community.

Blah blah "price discovery is a service in a free market blah blah" does not apply to Craigslist.

There are a few ways a job like this could be ethical and productive, respecting the hippie community culture of Craigslist but improving efficiency in exchange for a share of the profit, instead of merely siphoning gains out of the system:

* Buy items that fail to sell (perhaps because they are geographically remote), and resell them from a more accessible location. http://craigstruck.com is a variation on this model.

* Buy junk, fix it up, resell it. ("Upcycle"/ "speculative repair work"

* Take good stuff that doesn't sell, and re-market it better.

[0] "spec" is a funny auto-antonym: "Speculative" or "to specifictaion"

Re: How to Make It on Craigslist

#25

Post by rkudeshi »

thinkdevcode wrote: post #14

> I started the year with almost nothing and ended with a used van, a new utility trailer, less debt, fully paid bills and money left to take the family to Hawaii. > less debt > family to hawaii Something does not compute here.

Instead of paying off the debt in full, he used some of the earnings on a vacation.

But he says he sold some stuff in Hawaii, so it's very possible the trip didn't cost him much or anything at all.

Re: How to Make It on Craigslist

#26

Post by pavel_lishin »

mahannay wrote: post #17

It's very impressive that he's able to earn so much money and support his family via Craigslist, but I can't help but think about how useful (or not useful, really) his job is for the overall economy. Basically, he's another middleman - buying goods for a low price and selling them higher. Without him in the picture, buyers could have purchased their items for less and saved money. I just don't see how this job adds…

> Without him in the picture, buyers could have purchased their items for less and saved money.

And yet, they didn't. The items he's selling are still cheaper than they would have been brand new, and he's in effect connecting people with items they want, for cheaper enough for them to afford them, for a relatively small fee.

You ought to rally against real estate agents, brokers, etc. harder than against this guy.

Re: How to Make It on Craigslist

#27

Post by pavel_lishin »

lurker17 wrote: post #24
mahannay wrote: post #17

It's very impressive that he's able to earn so much money and support his family via Craigslist, but I can't help but think about how useful (or not useful, really) his job is for the overall economy. Basically, he's another middleman - buying goods for a low price and selling them higher. Without him in the picture, buyers could have purchased their items for less and saved money. I just don't see how this job adds…

It's low-end Goldman Sachs market-making. Tinman Sachs, maybe. Not extremenly different from panhandling. It's definitely abusive of the Craigslist community. Blah blah "price discovery is a service in a free market blah blah" does not apply to Craigslist. There are a few ways a job like this could be ethical and productive, respecting the hippie community culture of Craigslist but improving efficiency in exchange fo…

> Not extremenly different from panhandling.

I want to say you're wrong, but I'm not even sure how you reached this conclusion.

> It's definitely abusive of the Craigslist community.

How so?

Re: How to Make It on Craigslist

#28

Post by kin »

People also used to do this with eBay. I also sometimes sell on Craigslist but I work full time so it has to be larger scale. Sometimes I buy event tickets and sell them on Craigslist for a profit if I know there will be high demand. The profit margin is typically at least 50%. And I make at least $100/ticket for simply printing a piece of paper and meeting someone at Starbucks.

Re: How to Make It on Craigslist

#29

Post by [deleted] »

adamc wrote: post #4
midas wrote: post #2

It makes sense intuitively that heavy appliances would be the most profitable. People don't say, "sure you can have my iPod for $20" but I could see them being willing to part with a washing machine for that price if someone would carry it out of their third story apartment.

Yes. They will take a lesser fraction of the value in cash when there is a positive value in getting rid of it. Small items are easy to get rid of anyway (you could just throw it in the trash), and if they have value they may be willing to store them and wait. My overall reaction to the article, though, was that he's doing a fair amount of work for a pretty so-so return, and it looks hard to scale it upwards. (That $…

[deleted]
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