Monday, January 9, 2012

Craigslist Sellers

Rule #1 of Craigslist selling: Don't set prices using Ebay listings.


This seller has a dining and bedroom set and has listed each piece individually, with the combined totals coming in at $3985 and $3275, respectively.

I love Brasilia.  I really, really do, and this guy's ads are otherwise OK (multiple clear pictures are a big plus) but those prices are shocking.  Perhaps he's just an eternal optimist, but I have a feeling that he saw the tag on the pieces, Googled the name, saw the crazy figures on Ebay, and set his prices accordingly.

The problem with Ebay is twofold:

*You are viewing the items that HAVEN'T sold.  There is likely a reason for this.  Namely, the price is too high.

*Buyers in the big coastal cities bid up prices on MCM items.  If you don't live in one of those cities, you can forget about getting anywhere near that type of money for your dining room cabinet.  Conversely, you can also get this stuff much cheaper if you are so inclined.

If you're planning to sell, I suggest visiting one of the many MCM shops in the St. Louis area, such as The Future Antiques.  This will give you a baseline for what you can expect, but remember, Craigslist buyers won't be looking to pay retail.

So good luck, Mr. Optimist.  Perhaps somewhere out there there's a buyer desperately searching for a house full of Brasilia and we certainly can't fault you for trying.


6 comments:

  1. Amen...and amen! Another no-no: Using 1stdibs to set price. We have people contact us all the time wanting us to buy furniture from them, and they mention what it's going for on 1stdibs. That gets filed under "Things That Make You Go 'Duh!'"

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  2. hahaha..i was just thinking about this recently...i see so many atlanta sellers asking 2200 for a pair of arm chairs...:)..not sure what the seller had in mind

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  3. That's the entire set that Illuminate and I passed on a few months ago at "the big broyhill estate sale". I had the tag for the bedroom set in my hand for about ten minutes before I decided against it. Also, except for a few choice pieces, this is Brasilia II (2) and not the original Brasilia line.

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  4. Wow. I'd completely forgotten about that Mr. Mod. And we thought that they were overpriced at the sale...

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  5. Still for sale and at the same price, by the way.

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  6. Daily. DAILY I want to send an email that says, "How's that 1st Dibs price working out for you?" I don't know what's worse; when a Craigslist seller does this, or when a thrift store, which is selling things tax-exempt that were dropped off at their doorstep 100% free with a 1ST Dibs ad taped onto it to justify the price.

    I partially blame cable picker shows for this...everyone wants to believe they're sitting on a goldmine ;)

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