Many of you already know what Craigslist is. Craigslist is a free online classified site, where people can exchange ideas, sell products, look for jobs, date weirdos, etc. How craigslist blew up and got popular, who knows? There are many people making money using Craigslist and a few other things. I am one of those people.
Here are some of the ways I made money, and continue to make money on Craigslist.
Craigslist is such a powerful tool because it is free. You have tons and tons of traffic coming from targeted areas in your city. Just like Ebay, people go on Craigslist to shop and search for things they need. That’s where you come in. Products are being sold constantly, people are getting networked constantly, so it’s only a matter of time you can find a product that will sell well on Craigslist. Sometimes you don’t even have to find one product to sell. Just like real estate, you can flip an item quickly. People selling items on Craigslist, for the most part, you can haggle with them to lower the price and then flip it a day later. Why? People need cash and are desperate.
Here are some tips to get you to start making $500 a week solely using Craigslist only.
Arbitrage Hustle
Arbitrage is one of the oldest methods of making money. You find something cheap, and you just sell it for much higher. Some of my friends find a lot of deals on Technics 1200 Turntables or DJ Equipment in Craiglist. Usually these schmucks selling the turntables thought they would be cool and become a superstart DJ, but only to find out it was a fad to them. They usually want to jump on the next big thing so you can offer them $100 lower than what they are asking on their Craigslist listing. Last week I just made a deal on a Sprint Treo 700wx cell phone and flipped it the next day.
Internet Buyers Do Their ResearchWhatever you are passionate about, whatever you like buying, then research it on Craigslist. If you like cellphones (I just flipped a Spring Treao 700wx. Asking Price: $150. I offered: $110. Then flipped it for $200. Profit = $90. Some sellers on Craigslist post just to get rid of their item and they want cold hard cash. What you have to do and realize is that a lot of people on the internet who purchase things do research on what the market value is on an item. They usually go on Ebay to check what the market value is for an item is. So even if you list your item on Craigslist as the same as Ebay, you can tell the Buyer that they will save on shipping and time of arrival. That’s the beauty of Craigslist, your buyers are in your city.
There are times where I went to drive to pick up some turntables I purchased for dirt cheap. On my way back, I texted my entire contact list and found a buyer 10 minutes later. I drove to the guys house and sold him the turntables 20 minutes after I picked them up. I made $300. $300 in 30 minutes. Not bad.
5 Basic Steps on How to Make a Low Ball OfferWhat you have to do is make sure you make it easy to do business with them. If you come off like a cheapskate, or someone that’s trying to flip their product to make more money, or someone that won’t pick it up, or someone who isn’t passionate about the product, then the seller will go to the other person.
1) Sound passionate, offer to pick it up tonight. This usually will make them know you are a serious buyer. Sellers hate when they are about to sell something and a buyer never shows up.
2) Tell them you have cash. Cash is king. You need to know that. If you don’t, you’re not a hustler.
3) Sound friendly and tell them you have been looking for this product everywhere and will do anything to get it. They usually will relate, and will put you higher on their potential buyers list.
4) Tell them, you have been saving up for quite awhile just to have the product, and then tell them all you have is (subtract $50 or $100 from the price they are asking). Usually they will renegotiate or they will give it to you because you sound so passionate.
5) Make sure to respond via email fast, or if they leave phone number, call ASAP. If you’re afraid of calling people - you’re wack.
How to Beat out Other People doing the Same Thing
I have come across at least 3 people that have been dabbing into my niche, purchasing items I usually purchase and flipping them. I found a tool that helped me win most of my market back. There are thousands of products being listed daily, and sometimes you don’t feel like going on Craigslist everytime and doing the same search over and over.
What we want to do is scrape products based on what we want to see, what categories, and what niche, and just focus on those listings. I use this: http://cscrape.sourceforge.net/ . It’s a Craigslist Monitor that will only pop up the latest items in real time - products you choose, keywords you choose. So for instance you wanted to focus on the Turntable market. You just tell the Monitor to look up Turntables and it will keep pulling up the latest Turntable listings every single minute.
This will save time and will definitely help you have the upper hand on your competition.
Master Your Niche and then Master Another One
Sure you can make $500 a week selling DJ Equipment. Soon you will have a feeling of what is a good deal, and what questions to ask to determine what buying price you will offer to the seller. Once you get a feel of it and you pretty much own the market, why not try a new one. Why not study a new one. All it takes is learning how to research and finding a fair market value price on Ebay and just use the same descriptions and ask all the same questions other buyers would ask. I recently got into the cell phone market and flipped my first Sprint Treo 700wx for $90. $90 for 30 minutes of work, not bad if you ask me.
Start off small. You can start with selling things around your house on Craigslist, just to see what questions people ask, how to interact with people, how to answer emails effectively, how to post effective listings, and how to take enticing pictures. Pictures can be the selling point of your product. People want to engage and feel like they own it - so learn how to take good pictures.
Good Luck! You can easily make $500 - $1000 a week just on Craigslist. It will take some time and some gas money, but once you get the swing of it, there are treasures to be flipped on Craigslist. So what are you what are you waiting for? Get out there and start making some money! Be sure to check back often as I will always post creative ways to make money in this
tough economy! Until then, be successfull, and stay blessed!!!