How to start making money on craigslist?

How can you make money selling on Craigslist?

Make money selling on Craigslist by sourcing items online, at yard sales, thrift shops and reselling them online. Fix up items, take good staging images, and create a detailed product description. Sell items like furniture and appliances to see quick profits.

Imagine, having a side-hustle where you flip items for profit. You find a couch at a yardsale for $10 and sell it for $150 online. All you had to do was grab coffee and go yard saling!

Making money on Craigslist is fun and easy to do.

Luckily for you, I’ll show you if selling on Craigslist is worth it. I’ll show you how people make money from the free section and how to start a Craigslist business. You’ll be well on your way to making more money this month.

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Is it worth selling on Craigslist?

Craigslist is one of the biggest local marketplaces for you to list your items for sale for free. You can make a lot of money finding products to sell on Craigslist. However, selling on Craigslist can be time consuming, requires gas for commuting, and you may need money for supplies.

Craigslist is one of the biggest marketplaces for selling items locally. Facebook marketplace is one of Craigslist’s biggest competitors, but both are good places to sell items. You can cross list your items on both marketplaces to expand your reach.

Finding someone to buy your product is easy. Simply take a picture, upload to Craigslist with a description, and you could have someone contacting you the same day.

Personally, I’ve advertised yard sales only on Craigslist and had plenty of people stop by. Craigslist has a large reach, so people will find your product.

Earning money on Craigslist does have its downsides. For example, you will spend a lot of time driving, fixing up items to flip, and dealing with people who don’t show up or respect your time. Your profit margins may be reduced with the more you drive and the more supplies you need.

How do people make money from Craigslist for free stuff?

People make money from Craigslist free stuff by getting items for free and flipping it for a profit. You can get items off of Craigslist or Facebook for free, restore it if necessary, and relist it for sale. The only cost was your time, gas, and the supplies needed to restore the item.

For example, you might look on Craigslist and find someone giving away a desk for free. The desk is in relatively good condition, so you decide to pick it up. You might re-stain the desk and then list the desk on Facebook marketplace for $50.

Someone purchases the desk for $40, but the stainer costs you $5. Overall, the project took you one hour to complete. Therefore, you made $35 for one hours worth of work.

Free stuff is one of the best ways to make money on Craigslist or Facebook marketplace. There are plenty of ‘buy nothing’ groups on Facebook. You can easily get free items that other people are willing to spend money on.

How do I start a Craigslist business?

The hardest part about starting a Craigslist business is learning what items sell and what doesn’t. You need an initial investment to source items from Craigslist, Facebook marketplace, and yard sales. You can then fix up these items, take good photos, and list them for sale.

The first step is to source the items you are going to sell. Some people look at Craigslist or Facebook free sections, thrift shops, yard sales, and other locations to buy low. Ideally, these items will take very little work to restore to a good and sellable condition.

Spend some time trying to restore the items. Your goal as a Craigslist seller is to show the item in the best quality you can. The better the item looks, the easier it’s going to sell.

Once you’ve restored the item, stage it and take the best product images you can. Images are going to make or break your listing, so spend time getting good images.

Your description of the item is also important. Explain the item, how to contact you, and I recommend asking for a deposit to reserve the item. 

Asking for a deposit to reserve items will separate interested people from people who will waste your time. Craigslist has a history of attracting no-shows or people who can’t make it on time. You can give your PayPal or Venmo out to interested parties for the deposit. 

What sells fast on Craigslist?

Furniture and appliances are always popular items to sell on Craigslist. There are plenty of interested shoppers in vintage or unique items you can’t find anywhere else. Not only do furniture and appliances sell fast, but they also have higher profit margins.

Summary: How to start making money on Craigslist

As you can see, it is possible to start making money on Craigslist. Craigslist has thousands of people in your town looking for something to buy. Cross post items between Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace and your chances of selling items significantly increases.

The main downsides to selling on Craigslist are flaky people, traveling, and fixing up items. You can spend a lot of time or money on people who don’t show up, gas, and supplies to restore items.

People take advantage of the Craigslist free section and Facebook ‘buy nothing’ groups. You can get items for free which can easily be resold for profit. All you have to do is spend time and money getting and selling the item.

The most important part about listing your item for sale is the product images. You should get good at staging your items to make pictures look appealing to buyers. 

To make sure nobody wastes your time, consider asking for a deposit to reserve items in the product listing. Asking for a deposit is a good way to separate the interested from time wasters.