1

Craigslist Cash ............................................................................................................. 2

Section 1 – Craigslist Quick Start ............................................................................... 3

Avoiding Ghosting........................................................................................................ 3

Rule #1 ....................................................................................................................... 3

Rule #2 ....................................................................................................................... 3

Craigslist Scams .......................................................................................................... 4

Things to Avoid When Buying or Selling on Craigslist .............................................. 5

Create Your Account ................................................................................................... 6

Section 2 – Selling on Craigslist ................................................................................. 7

Prepare Your Item for Sale .......................................................................................... 7

Research Similar Postings .......................................................................................... 8

Price Your Items .......................................................................................................... 8

Take Good Photos ....................................................................................................... 8

Provide Detailed Information ...................................................................................... 9

Publish the Listing ....................................................................................................... 9

Handling the Sale ......................................................................................................... 9

What If You Don’t want to Use Email? ..................................................................... 10

Handling the Transaction .......................................................................................... 10

Section 3 – Craigslist Advanced Topics ................................................................... 11

Google and Craigslist Tools and Widgets ................................................................ 11

Craigslist Widgets ...................................................................................................... 11

Craigslist.org Reader ................................................................................................. 11

Misspellr ..................................................................................................................... 12

CScrape ...................................................................................................................... 12

Last Resort ................................................................................................................. 12

2

Craigslist Cash

Craigslist is a great way to make some extra money. You can quickly sell items that

are lying around your house or you can sell your own products or services. You can

even buy items at garage sales or flea markets and turn around and sell them on

Craigslist for a profit. As you can see, the possibilities really are endless. First,

though, you need to familiarize yourself with Craigslist.

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Section 1 – Craigslist Quick Start

With 50,000,000 daily queries and 40 million new ads each month, Craigslist is a

very popular website. Because of that, Craigslist is a great way to reach mass

amounts of people.

However, in order for you to be successful, you have to avoid ghosting.

Avoiding Ghosting

Ghosting occurs when Craigslist doesn’t post all of a person’s ads because he

violated the site’s terms and conditions. I’m going to show you how to fly under the

radar so this won’t happen to you.

There are two rules that you need to know in order to avoid ghosting.

Rule #1

You should create a lot of different Craigslist ads so you can make a lot of money.

Rule #2

You should use lots of different Craigslist accounts when posting so you don’t get

ghosted.

On the surface, that sounds really simple. Just create some new email addresses

and make a new post for each address. However, you need to make sure that each

account has a fresh IP address, email address and phone number so Craigslist won’t

be able to trace all of your accounts back to one place. On top of that, the VPN/IP

needs to be set up for the city you’re running the ad in. Just go to Google and search

for how to get multiple IP addresses. Then, follow the steps.

Then, you’ll set up ads in multiple cities. This is simple to do. Just take an existing

ad and spin it to make it your own. Just make sure you take out personal

information and replace it with your own.

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You can outsource this at or Elance.com, or you can do it yourself.

Once you start posting your ads, wait 48 hours between posts for each account. Also,

don’t just repost the same ads on different accounts at the same time. Let three

days pass before you use the same ad, even if it’s for a different account.

You’ll need to log in remotely to each account and each VPN will need to be set up

in the city you’re posting for. Again, you can just Google how to do it and then you

can get it set up.

If you follow these tips, you shouldn’t be ghosted.

Craigslist Scams

Now, let’s look at some Craigslist scams so you’ll know how to avoid them.

You can find the latest Craigslist scams at

http://www.scambusters.org/craigslistscam.html.

Craigslist also has a link for current scams. It’s at

http://www.craigslist.org/about/scams.

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It’s a good idea to check both links out so you can avoid falling victim to a scam or

creating ads that appear to be scams.

After you familiarize yourself with common scams, you’ll be ready to learn about the

things you need to avoid when buying or selling on Craigslist.

Things to Avoid When Buying or Selling on Craigslist

First, you should avoid money transfers, wiring money or money that’s given to you

upfront. Scammers use these kinds of tactics.

Next, you need to avoid links that say “Click Here.” Sometimes, you’ll be redirected

to a legitimate site, but other times, you won’t be, so it’s just best to avoid these

links.

Also, if you’re looking for a job, watch out for companies that don’t ask for a resume

or any proof of eligibly. On top of that, avoid companies that offer excessive pay. If

there is a job that promises to pay you a lot of money, ask yourself if the job is really

worth that much. If it’s not, it’s probably a scam.

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Finally, you need to watch out for repetition. If the same ad is posted in countless

cities, it will look suspicious.

Now that you know what to avoid, you’re ready to create your account.

Create Your Account

Go to Craigslist.org. If you’ve used Craigslist before, the page probably pulls up

your default region. If you haven’t used the site before, pick the nearest city. Then,

click “My Account.” You’ll be redirected to a new page, where you’ll need to select

“Sign up for an account.”

Go through the steps to create your account. Then, go to your email account and

activate your account.

Once you create your account, you’ll be ready to move onto the next section.

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Section 2 – Selling on Craigslist

Now, you’re ready to learn how to sell on Craigslist. When you sell on Craigslist,

you need to:

Let’s look at each of these in greater detail.

Prepare Your Item for Sale

Regardless of what you’re selling, you’ll likely have to get the item ready before you

put it up for sale. For instance, if you’re selling an old cell phone, you’ll need to get

rid of your contacts and personal information. You can do this by doing a software

restore.

If you’re selling a couch, you’ll need to clean it really well before you sell it.

If you’re selling your own product, you’ll need to put the finishing touches on it and

make sure it’s ready to sell.

Once your item is prepared, you’ll be ready to research similar postings.

Prepare your item for sale Research similar postings Price your item Take some photos Provide a detailed listing Publish the listing

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Research Similar Postings

Before you post your item, take a moment to research similar postings. For

instance, if you’re selling an iPhone 4, look for postings for the iPhone 4 on

Craigslist. This will give you a good idea of how much the item is selling for and

what you need to include in your posting. After you look on Craigslist, head over to

eBay and look as well. That will help you get additional information.

Price Your Items

In most cases, you’ll use Craigslist to get rid of items that are taking up space in

your home. If that’s the case, you might want to get rid of them quickly. Thus, I’d

recommend pricing them at 20% below comparable listings.

That being said, if you have some time, you can price your item more competitively.

It might take longer to sell your item, but you can make more money in the long

run.

Take Good Photos

Next, you’ll need to take some good photos of the product. Most people won’t buy

something unless they see a photo, so you want to be sure you include a picture in

your posting. Be sure to make use of natural light so you’ll get a crisp photo. Also,

consider using stock photos if they’re available.

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Provide Detailed Information

You’ll also want to provide detailed information with your listing. While you don’t

have to put together a complete product listing, it’s a good idea to provide some of

the most important details. For instance, if you’re selling a cell phone, let people

know the features and highlights. They’ll want to know how many megapixels the

camera has, and how much space the phone has. They’ll want to know the carrier

and other information as well. You can write down some basic features, and then

you can link to the company’s product page so people can do some further research.

Also, make sure you are honest in your listing. You don’t want to get a reputation as

a scammer. Thus, if you’re selling a couch that has a rip in it, disclose that in the

listing. It will get you a lot further in the long run.

Publish the Listing

Once your pictures and description are ready, you can publish the listing. Be sure to

put it in the appropriate sale category. Then, Craigslist will send you a confirmation

link. Follow the link and click the “Publish” button.

Now, let’s look at handling the sale.

Handling the Sale

Once you list your product, people will start contacting you. In most cases, they’ll

contact you via email. When you post an item on Craigslist, you have to provide an

email address. You can use an anonymous Craigslist email address in your listing.

If you do that, Craigslist will forward your emails to your email address, but

potential buyers won’t get to see your address.

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Depending on the item you post, you an easily end up with a lot of emails quickly.

With that in mind, you need to set up a filter in your inbox for handling these

emails.

Keep in mind that all of the emails will be going to your Craigslist account first.

Thus, you can filter emails by with the “To” field of the email. For instance, if you

use Gmail, just filter out emails that are sent to Craigslist.org and tag them with a

label.

Because you’ll be handling a lot of emails, you might want to set up some text

replacement macros for answering email. You can use an application like Texter for

Windows or TextExpander for Mac.

What If You Don’t want to Use Email?

While I really prefer email, some people prefer using the phone. If you fall into that

category, don’t publish your own phone number in the ads. Instead, use a service

like Numbr, which creates a temporary disposable number. You can post that

number safely on Craigslist.

Handling the Transaction

After you look through your emails and find a buyer, you’ll be ready to handle the

transaction. Only take cash.

Now, it’s time to move on to advanced topics.

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Section 3 – Craigslist Advanced Topics

These advanced topics will make it easier for you to buy and sell on Craigslist. Be

sure to use these techniques so you can save time and make money.

First, let’s look at Google and Craigslist widgets.

Google and Craigslist Tools and Widgets

There are tools and widgets that will allow you to use Google and Craigslist

together. First, you can share listings with Google Notebook. Just use the

collaboration feature and share the listing with the person or people you want.

You can also install the Gmail This bookmark to your browser. Just Google “Gmail

This” to get installation instructions.

Now let’s look at some Craigslist widgets.

Craigslist Widgets

There are three widgets that I like to use with Craigslist.

Craigslist.org Reader

This reader will allow you to view information from any category around the world.

It’s a really helpful tool, especially when you’re getting started with Craigslist.

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Misspellr

You can use this widget to find misspellings that are often used in listings. By

including the misspellings, you’ll be able to get even more traffic.

CScrape

This will help you keep track of the latest “for sale” items via RSS.

Now, let’s look at the final tip.

Last Resort

If you’ve tried selling an item for a couple of weeks and you haven’t had any luck, it

may be time to give the product away for free. Craigslist has an active Free Stuff

section that you can use.

If you itemize your taxes, you might want to give it away at Goodwill so you can get

a receipt instead of just giving it to someone on Craigslist.

If you don’t want to give the item away for free, consider posting it for Barter. That

way, you can get something in exchange for the item.

Now you’re ready to start buying and selling on Craigslist! Keep these tips and

strategies in mind as you move forward with Craigslist.

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Copyright © 2012, IncomeEdu

www.IncomeEdu.com

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