A Hustler's Guide To Buying And Selling Anything (Part 1)

[mtjr825]

bot proof?

 

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[mtjr825]

i price them above my lowest price because I anticipate low balling and negotiation. i could price at my lowest price but I don't want to get low balled from there. is that a good strategy? or is it best to post firm price and keep that

 

[oddball]

What I do, is price it a bit more than what I ideally want and just stay semi firm with negotiation. You may scare people off from even offering if its too high.

 

[mtjr825]

ok great point. thanks a lot for the assistance. i'll let you know how it works out

 

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[Excalibur]

I second what oddball says. I price stuff a bit higher, just knowing that people will lowball/haggle over price. I come down, they feel they got a deal/I made a profit and we're both happy.

Last flip was a '99 Dodge Caravan. Bought it for $350, put $250 into it. Listed it for $2,995. Had offer of $2,000. I countered at $2,500 and got it.

 

[oddball]

Thats a good flip right there. I just got an Apple TV today for $80 shipped/pp'd. Came with an HDMI cable too which is nice, priced it at $225 on ebay. Figured I'd start it a little high, originally I was going to put it up for 199. Last week I bought 2 BB Curve 9360's for $150 total, one was never used so put that up for $199 and the other for $175. Sold at $199 in about 30 minutes and I walked away with $181 for 1 phone. I bumped the price of the other to $199 because my prices were on the low side.

 

[mtjr825]

seems like ebay is better to flip? that was my 1st thought but the fees and paypal hold discouraged me. a lot of things to learn but i'm committed.

 

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[G-man422]

Excalibur,

How many miles were on it? I just picked up a '99 caravan for $700 and listed it for $3,000. Mine has 101,000 miles.

 

[oddball]

seems like ebay is better to flip? that was my 1st thought but the fees and paypal hold discouraged me. a lot of things to learn but i'm committed.

Exposure. eBay gets the item out in front of A LOT more people then CL. Yes, the fees suck, but if I can flip an item in an hour or a couple days, I'm happy. Plus, it can be easier than going to meet someone and then they just waste your time and don't buy.

 

[Excalibur]

Excalibur,

How many miles were on it? I just picked up a '99 caravan for $700 and listed it for $3,000. Mine has 101,000 miles.

It had about 148,500 or so.

 

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[Excalibur]

For anyone wondering...


When I bought the van I wasn't sure I could do much more with it than scrapping/pulling a few parts for resale. I based this off things the seller was telling me, like "transmission is about to go out. Compressor is shot so it doesn't blow cold", and several other things.

Since I had no desire to extensively look it over in his driveway, I bought it for scrap price. He originally asked $400.

Trailered it home and looked through it, fixed what was wrong with it - trans was low on fluid. Topped it off and tested it. Showed no signs of slipping. Serpentine was nearly shredded and falling off. Replaced that and tensioner. Needed new belt on AC pump and she was blowing cold. All in all I'd say about 5 hours work (includes picking up, fixing & meeting with buyer) netted me $1,900.

If you're mechanical or have a buddy who's willing to work with you there is a decent chunk of change to be made on CL from people that just do not maintain their vehicles (or vehicles that break down and owner opts not to repair, and instead sell for cheap). This guy even admitted he knew nothing about cars and by the looks under the hood it showed. Body was immaculate though with the exception of a dent in tailgate/door.

 

[G-man422]

Sweet find, Excal. Thanks for the additional information. Like you say, the key is finding a motivated seller who thinks they have junk (or poorly maintained car). Then we turn around, spiff it up and sell for a profit

 

[Amail]

bot proof?

Sorry, didn't notice this until now.

Put your phone number as 2zero5-3sixtwo-04seven5. Or whatever it is. Helps keep scammers at bay (or so I've heard).

 

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[Icy]

Sorry, didn't notice this until now.

Put your phone number as 2zero5-3sixtwo-04seven5. Or whatever it is. Helps keep scammers at bay (or so I've heard).

Idk what type of scamming goes on, on Craigslist, but I can't imagine that being an effective prevention against bots. I mean that only doubles what needs to be parsed. If you're writing a bot it's simple to just to a replace of text values of numbers, and then scan for a number. But frankly if you've found it works for you, what do I know?

 

[Amail]

Like I say, I've only heard. I don't have any conclusive proof. Other than "This shirt is a fantastic elephant repellant. See any elephants around? There's your proof" evidence.

 

[mtjr825]

It may work for the text messages but the email scammers still lurk.

Thanks for the advice earlier. I sold one of my devices today and my inquiries picked up tremendously today.

 

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[oddball]

I've still got text scammers doing that. But you can only spot them. The text will be out of area and a 1/3 text and their script is the same all the time. Sometimes if I am bored I F*ck with them, get a little amusement out of them. Usually I tell them to email me and put NOT SPAM in the title, had the best luck doing that.

 

[TK1]

Absolut classic thread, so much to learn from in this.

Like Jack said in this thread: https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/yo...multiply-100-buying-reselling-craigslist.html

Good Luck..I think this is a great way to make money.

If I had craigslist when I was 20.. Easy money..

This is so true. My former boss (now millionaire) was a waiter for over 10 years saving all his money with the dream to own one of the biggest restaurants in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. He told me his complete story and it was just crazy how long he had to work his a$$ off and now has succeeded. He was poor and I can guarantee you most of his success is due to pure hustlers ambition. SO proud of this great guy I got to know in my life.

I hope some new-day hustlers over here are aware of this great possibility, especially because flipping cars or iphones can make you much more and faster capital than being a waiter or working at Burger King.

It may not be fastlane, but it sure seems to me like you are learning to hustle..

You will find that will be invaluable as time goes on.

He's also learning to make money.
He's also learning to negotiate.
He's also learning how to communicate.
He's also learning how to skew/modify the value equation in his favor -- he's buying low and adding value (better pictures? better marketing copy? cleaning the product up?) and repositioning the product in a better sales medium.

These are all Fastlane take-aways that will serve him years to come.

This thread is golden.

100% true words from guys who already made it.

Let's take action and good luck to all!

For all action takers here's a list of some good books that may serve you well:

Barcode Booty by Steve Weber

Sell on Amazon: A Guide to Amazon's Marketplace, Seller Central, and Fulfillment by Amazon Programs by Steve Weber

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Making Money with Craigslist

craigslist 4 Everyone by Jenna Lloyd

Selling Online 2.0: Migrating from eBay to Amazon, craigslist, and Your Own E-Commerce Website

Pimping Craigslist For Fun and Profit: A down and dirty overview on how to make money on craigslist, by buying and selling pre-owned items

The Craigslist Hustle by LaJuan Stoxstill-Diggs

How to Advertise on Craigslist by Savvy Publications

How To Sell On Craigslist by Ryan Hightower

Sell Your Car Online Using Craigslist by Lara J Fabans

How to make $5,000 a month on Ebay and Craigslist! by Kevin Thomson

Also: Try searching "craigslist", "ebay", "amazon" etc. on Amazon, too (for new books)

 

[Omer]

For all action takers here's a list of some good books that may serve you well:

[/B]Barcode Booty by Steve Weber

Sell on Amazon: A Guide to Amazon's Marketplace, Seller Central, and Fulfillment by Amazon Programs by Steve Weber

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Making Money with Craigslist

craigslist 4 Everyone by Jenna Lloyd

Selling Online 2.0: Migrating from eBay to Amazon, craigslist, and Your Own E-Commerce Website

Pimping Craigslist For Fun and Profit: A down and dirty overview on how to make money on craigslist, by buying and selling pre-owned items

The Craigslist Hustle by LaJuan Stoxstill-Diggs

How to Advertise on Craigslist by Savvy Publications

How To Sell On Craigslist by Ryan Hightower

Sell Your Car Online Using Craigslist by Lara J Fabans

How to make $5,000 a month on Ebay and Craigslist! by Kevin Thomson

Also: Try searching "craigslist", "ebay", "amazon" etc. on Amazon, too (for new books)

Thanks for all the book names, gona start one by one and get through all of them!

 

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[Hlaz]

Yea NEVER meet people at your house or let them know where you live there are crazy people out there especially on craigslist. If it is in a bad part of town I meet people at currency exchange where there are cameras.


BTW Iphone 4 only now profits around 40-75$ which almost is not worth the aggravation of driving to buy/gas than having all the scammers send those bogus annoying emails, etc. Buy for 200ish sell for 275ish made some OK money but I got sick of that.

What are some other popular items that can be bought off craigslist and flipped for a higher profit. Building assets is key to doing larger businesses and flipping even though it is not something I plan to do forever it does help get that job done quickly.

My short list.....

Cars
macbooks - A little sketch for me not knowing computers
generators?
Air compressors - quick sell
Dre headphones - Kinda too small for me also
Gas mopeds/scooters? Ninja 250r. etc. ?

Looking for big ticket items where the profits are high.

Lets brainstorm......

 

[psaco131]

Yea NEVER meet people at your house or let them know where you live there are crazy people out there especially on craigslist. If it is in a bad part of town I meet people at currency exchange where there are cameras.


BTW Iphone 4 only now profits around 40-75$ which almost is not worth the aggravation of driving to buy/gas than having all the scammers send those bogus annoying emails, etc. Buy for 200ish sell for 275ish made some OK money but I got sick of that.

What are some other popular items that can be bought off craigslist and flipped for a higher profit. Building assets is key to doing larger businesses and flipping even though it is not something I plan to do forever it does help get that job done quickly.

My short list.....

Cars
macbooks - A little sketch for me not knowing computers
generators?
Air compressors - quick sell
Dre headphones - Kinda too small for me also
Gas mopeds/scooters? Ninja 250r. etc. ?

Looking for big ticket items where the profits are high.

Lets brainstorm......

The key is to buy in quantity.

Ex: Buy 10 iPhones a week and you make 450-750 minus eBay fees/shipping

The bigger the ticket the longer it takes to flip.

 

[Hlaz]

That is good advice psaco. True 10 of them would equal that.

I got almost screwed on verizon/sprint 2 that were under contract. I even called the phone company before I bought them and gave them the numbers and they said that they were "clean" I guess "clean" doesn't mean they can be activated till the prior owner cancels. So now I just do AT&T ones which I can only find one here or there.

I am thinking once the new iphone comes out the price will be very high on ebay because that is what tends to happen when new electronics get released. So buying them on craigslist to resell will be lucrative again.

 

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[oddball]

That is good advice psaco. True 10 of them would equal that.

I got almost screwed on verizon/sprint 2 that were under contract. I even called the phone company before I bought them and gave them the numbers and they said that they were "clean" I guess "clean" doesn't mean they can be activated till the prior owner cancels. So now I just do AT&T ones which I can only find one here or there.

I am thinking once the new iphone comes out the price will be very high on ebay because that is what tends to happen when new electronics get released. So buying them on craigslist to resell will be lucrative again.

Yea, just because it is a clean ESN doesn't mean it doesn't still have a contract attached. I learned that the hard way too, ended up getting the guy to take care of it. He stopped answering me so I decided what better way to annoy him then to send him literally hundreds of texts at random hours of the day/night. lol

 

[JaySoriano]

I know a guy and all he did was flip those expensive Aeron chairs on CL. Anyone know other good items to flip? Could be good for bootstrapping...

 

[oddball]

I know a guy and all he did was flip those expensive Aeron chairs on CL. Anyone know other good items to flip? Could be good for bootstrapping...

Read through the thread. Lots of examples of good and bad stuff to buy.

 

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[mrsilva]

I've been selling and buying stuff on Craigslist for a while. On eBay I like to buy only so I don't have to deal with shipping.

I did profit in many cars, car parts, electronics, furniture...

Recently I sold a TV Stand for $250. I bought at Craigslist for $140 a year ago.

I help a lot of friends to sell their stuff as well. My friend couldn't take his brand new samsung smart TV to Brazil because of the size, so He left at my house. After 6 months He decided to sell. He paid around $1500 and wants $1000. I will place an ad on CL and eBay for $1300. Same TV is sold at BestBuy for $1799 right now.

So much you can do!

 

[mrsilva]

I just finished reading the whole thread, 24 pages.

I'm moving in 2 days so I decided to go through all my boxes and luggage. Man I found so much stuff I don't use anymore so I will start a little hustle. I have a goal to achieve $5.000 by December, 09 on my 25th birthday and give myself a nice gift (no I will no spend the whole amount).

Nice find, but next time DO NOT USE EBAY. The name of the game is quickness. When you purchase something off Craigslist, IMMEDIATELY relist it on Craigslist. Even if your market is smaller than eBay (obviously) and you only got $500 for each iPad, it would have been quick cash flow, you would have avoided eBay, PayPal, and possible shipping fees.

Each time I make arbitrage deals on Craigslist, I am willing to take a few less dollars profit for an immediate cash sale. Again, the name of the game is quickness.

Nice deal, now get out there and get some more.

Just like a I said on the post before I'm using eBay and it all depends of the product you are selling. Something more high-end like this TV, jewelry, watches I prefer to use eBay.

I post the 55" Smart TV on CL for $1,200 and got 2 offers in 3 days. $700 and $800.

Is on eBay for $960 already on the bid system and another 5 days to go. There is a option to buy now at $1299. I have a reserve that will make sure I make some money and cover the shipping cost.

 

[EN_VY]

Awesome thread!
OK, I'm helping out a family member who runs a resale shop. They have a lot of things, but I have only posted laptops.. sold 3 out of 4 laptops in a week on Craigslist!
Okay, would you list yourself as a dealer or as an owner? So far I've done owner, as I believe buyers will feel they're getting a better deal? Btw, the item description. I post ANY flaw I find. People love honesty and I've yet someone to offer me a lower price then what I've asked for.

My deals have been seamless. They ask me if I have the item, and where we can meet. We meet, show them the item, and done.

This has opened a new door for me, as I can repair computers and electronics in general. Ill look for non working devices for dirt cheap, fix them and boom, profit. Good side cash.
Thanks OP for this thread.
Sent from my iOS powered Android.

 

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[mrsilva]

Finally got some time to post all the stuff I'm not using anymore. Total of $425 in stock. Besides my friends TV which I will make a commission (around $100) and the 2 cars. I'm not counting them on the hustle because they are part of my other business.

Full list:

6 DRAWER DRESSER MALM IKEA - $30
HP PHOTOSMART C4680 ALL IN ONE COLOR INK-JET PRINTER - $30
HONDA CIVIC TAIL LIGHTS SMOKED CLEAR EURO STYLE NEW! - $50
HONDA REMOTE CONTROL FOB ALARM KEYLESS - $30
HONDA S2000 CENTER WHEEL CAP COVER - OEM - FULL SET - $40
HONDA S2000 OWNERS BOOK - $20
BMW 320i 325i 325xi 330i 330xi OWNERS MANUAL BOOK - COMPLETE SET - $40
MOTOROLA i425 BOOST MOBILE PHONE - GOOD CONDITION - $20
HTC GOOGLE G2 - GOOD CONDITION - $50
2 (two) BLACKBERRY 8350 NEXTEL - $40
Honda Accord Halo LED Projecto Headlights BRAND NEW 1998-2002 - $60
FORD MUSTANG CLEAR CORNER LIGHTS 94-98 - $15
SAMSUNG SMART TV 55" LED 3D SUPER SLIM - BRAND NEW - $1200
2007 HONDA S2000 - SUPERCHARGER, BRIDE, TEIN, APR, OZ... CLEAN! - $24950
2000 Ferrari 360 Modena - $58900

I'm pretty sure some of the stuff I can get more money through eBay but let's give it a week.

 

[robotunicr0n]

What are your guys thoughts on obtaining items to resell from websites like ubid.com and that sort of thing?