Selling Your Stuff on Craigslist

What I wanted to know was how people talked about the items they were selling. If products and advertising create us and radically inform our lifestyle choices it seems that the items we sell (and how we talk about them) reveal a great deal about us. In order to understand just what they reveal I started emailing people and asking them these three questions:

(1) How would you describe the item you're selling?
(2) How did you come into possession of this item?
(3) Why are you selling this item?

I emailed 55 individuals (from Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, and San Francisco) and received responses from 23, a 41.8% response rate.

I investigated two texts in order to better understand the selling habits of individuals: first, the original descriptions people posted about their products on Craigslist; and second, their emailed responses to my questions.

Craigslist Descriptions

In general, people list their items on the site using a mixture of shorthand and advertising's bravado. One example of a person's posting was the one for the Star Wars Laserdisc Definitive Collection, which the person described lengthily as including "the hardcover book 'George Lucas: The Creative Impulse' by Charles Champlin with a Forward by Steven Spielberg. This book was only available with this laserdisc issue." (Remember laserdiscs?)

The level of detail in the sales pitch borders on obsessive. He writes that the "films are each recorded on three discs in the CAV format, (also referred to as the Full-Feature format), which allows for freeze-frame, slow motion, random access, & multiple times speed and scan." The seller then goes on to note that the "seven seconds of Princess Leia welding on the Millennium Falcon is included at the beginning of side 3 of The Empire Strikes Back." But by far the best part of this advertising post is the assertion that this "collection has been well cared for & kept in a NON-SMOKING home." As if not smoking around a laserdisc would make someone want to purchase it more.

Even as many of the vendors left longwinded ad-copy, some posted the most laconic messages imaginable. These include the single line advertisements: "Collection of Disneyland 45's from the 1960's," "IKEA Futon -with royal blue cover," "Blue wooden coffee table for $20.00," and "Stella Forest Barney's New York red leather skirt." These were the pragmatic introductions, designed to sell the goods at hand but not to market them in any serious way. These ads were not attempting to convince anyone to buy the product they were hawking; just stating the facts. If you liked what they had to offer, the thought was, you would purchase it; if not, you wouldn't buy it no matter how much flowery language flooded the ad-copy. These people obviously did not care about the tenets of marketing. In addition, these simple ads, without knowing it, displayed a deep distrust of advertising and of marketing in general. Perhaps some of the purveyors thought that it was wrong (even morally wrong) to try to convince somebody to buy something they didn't need; perhaps they just didn't think it would work.

Subsequent Emails

Of course, just because a person was either verbose or laconic in their advertising post on Craigslist does not determine how she felt about the objects they were selling. To determine this I had to ask sellers (via email) how they personally felt about the items they were selling.

One of the more interesting things about the responses is that even though I said I was writing an article about selling products on Craigslist many respondents nevertheless attempted to sell me the product as if I was interested in the product as opposed to the selling of the product. For example, Willow Waddell from Los Angeles wrote, "The sofa and love seat are in good condition need a change. If you want to look at them I am willing to consider any offers." And Utah resident Brooke Benton almost sounded desperate for me to buy her merchandise, "I still have all the stuff -- the Lincoln poster, the mirror, the desk and the table and chairs. All items are being sold because we are moving. Please call me if you're still interested in any or all of the items. I'm out of town till next weekend, but you're welcome to stop by after that. we live in sugarhouse and I'm home all the time with my kids, so our schedule's very flexible." Some of these people must not have understood that I was a serious researcher trying to come up with some serious policy-relevant answers.

Another type of strange response came from Jill Dupont. She wrote that "The item(s) is a darkroom equipment set, including both color and black and white process and development equipment. I inherited this darkroom from a family friend, and am not able to set this up at my location. I hope this is helpful." Was she unsure if the darkroom set constituted an item or items? Was she unclear how to individuate items? This might indicate some deep metaphysical skepticism on her part.

In general, however, people's responses fell into two categories: (1) short and direct and (2) long and indirect. I will begin by describing the short answers that people sent. One woman whose answer was concise, but who also obviously cared a lot about the objects she was selling (and knew how to individuate them), identified herself only as LAGreatSunnyDays. I wrote to ask her about her "hot red shoes." She responded that she bought the shoes because they were "sexy," that they came into her possession because she "bought the pair somewhere," and that she was getting rid of them because she "never felt right in them." This short sweet answer tells anyone what they need to know both about the item for sale and about the seller. No other sentences could have added to her portrait.

In this laconic category fit several items people were getting rid of for more practical reasons. For instance, Pamella Notaro wrote that she was getting rid of her brand new futon ("purchased at IKEA") because she was "moving into a smaller place and it doesn't fit (unfortunately)." Anyone who has ever had a piece of furniture knows how this feels. Somebody probably sweat while moving that futon and now must move and sell the futon. This is the way postmodern life treats us and our furniture. The only way to deal with this condition is to visit Craigslist and to have a good attitude about the exigencies of transient life. We are all nomads who must sell our most (and least) precious items. We have no one to give them to and we cannot afford to throw them away.

However, some people really liked to talk (or write) about the items they were selling. This is the category of longer responses. One example of someone who wanted to talk a great deal about his merchandise was an American, Andrew Bailey, who was selling a "book of photographs having to do with the rock band Phish. It is about 40 pages long and includes various candid photos of the band playing, interacting backstage, with friends, family, guests etc. It is also autographed by all four band members. It's also a limited edition printing." In response to the question of how he came upon the photo album Bailey wrote, "The band played their final show in August in Vermont. It was a festival camping format and 70,000 were expected to attend. Unfortunately torrential downpours forced the band to turn away almost half of the people waiting in traffic, some waiting for up to 36 hours by the way. The band decided to offer a refund, free download of the shows and the Photo Book to each fan who was turned away. Unfortunately, I was one of the many turned away so that is how I came about my book." So, as a result of not being about to see the show he got a book; "all I got was this lousy book" comes to mind. The reason Bailey was selling the album was the simplest: "I need some extra cash. I'm not big on collecting memorabilia and I have enough memories stored in my brain to last me a life time. I'm a hardcore fan of the band but the book isn't that important to me. Like I said, I've made enough friends and memories along the way to more than compensate for the book." It's unclear what Phish fan would really want a book of photographs of the band as opposed to cash, friends, or more bootlegs so it seems logical that there would be many of these albums for sale across the country. But I have not investigated that possibility yet.

Businesses' Luscious Language

The other question I wanted to answer when I started this project was: how different is it for a person to sell something than it is for a single person to sell something? To answer this question I had to email a number of retailers. Unfortunately, only a few answered. Two chains that I emailed had policies against answering questions ("Banana Republic and the Gap), but then I realized that they were actually owned by the same people and thus, one chain.

However, two other stores were very responsive to my inquiries: Ann Taylor and Allen-Edmonds Shoe Corporation. Rachel Colby in the Client Services department at Ann Taylor wrote that "Ann Taylor aspires to provide you with an authentic, classic and modern look to meet all of your wardrobing needs. Ann Taylor typically offers a wide range of products in different stores based on local Client demand. The Ann Taylor Online Store includes a specially edited selection of our total apparel and accessories collection." I am not a woman, but even I wanted to rush to an Ann Taylor Loft (which appear to be taking over New York) and try on a fine suit.

Jen Piggins, who is the director of Public Relations at Allen-Edmonds Shoe Corporation wrote, "You asked how we would describe our product. Well, for more than 80 years, Allen-Edmonds has handcrafted the ultimate footwear for men in the United States using a unique technique called 360-degree welt construction. By stitching all around the circumference of the shoe, we bind the upper, insole and outsole to the welt. This method makes it possible to remove the uncomfortable metal shank found in most other shoes. As a result, Allen-Edmonds shoes are supremely durable, flexible and comfortable and, therefore move naturally with the foot. Allen-Edmonds shoes need no breaking in and a special cork-lining conforms specifically to the wearer's foot to create a custom fit, thereby providing great comfort from the very first time they are worn." That response made me want to go to the mall right now to try on some shoes.

The lesson from the responses from businesses was that businesses are better at selling things than individual people are. Businesses only have one final reason for selling their items: making money. This, of course, is not to say that businesses don't often have numerous intermediate reasons for selling stuff. But individuals often have multifarious final reasons for selling their stuff. For this reason individuals are more eccentric and idiosyncratic than their business counterparts. It's funnier talking to people about what they're selling, but you are probably more likely to get what you want from a business. The lesson from this entire project followed similar lines.

Individuals sell their stuff for a multitude of reasons that range from needing money for rent to not liking what they have to getting divorced to getting poor. The best way I can think of to end this project is with my favorite response, which came from Kris Fehlberg. She was selling her leather jacket that her "very first boyfriend bought it for me to keep me warm." The reason she was selling it was that it is a piece of nostalgia that she "no longer has room for." And this is perhaps the main reason that people sell their stuff: people change and as your stuff is a barometer of your personality it goes up and down with your resources, your desires, your needs, and your preferences. All of these variables are implicated in the formation of the pile of our stuff and the feedback loop just returns to your stuff.

— Francis Raven (francisraven@gmail.com)