WildTips.com-HTML Codes, Auction Templates, eBook Tutorials, & eBay Tips Cool HTML Codes, Auction templates, eBay Tips, Ebooks, & Tutorials

Craigslist.org is a site that has been around for a few years now. I first heard about it around 2-3 years ago, however, I didn’t get around to using it until this past summer. For those of you who may not be familiar, it is an online classifieds site.

My experience has been quite frustrating, both as a buyer and a seller. In this article, I want to vent a little, and also discuss why craigslist.org isn’t as great as people make it out to be.

Using Craigslist.org to Buy Used Stuff

Craigslist.org can be a place to find reasonably priced merchandise for sure (sometimes even great deals), but you better plan on becoming a licensed private detective! 80% of the items listed are pure JUNK that are way OVERPRICED! You can find deals, but expect to put so much time and research into it, that you would be better off walking in a store, buying it new, and then using the time you saved for researching this site to work and earn more money at your job.

Craigslist.org Has Too Many Overpriced Items: Don’t Overcharge You Idiot Sellers!

It absolutely shocks me that people expect to sell their used items for only slightly below retail price for a BRAND NEW one. Example: fitness equipment that is used is priced at or only about $10-20 below store price. I would pay $20 more just to not have to clean your sweat residue, call you, and meet you! In fact, I would probably pay $50 more.

Old furniture with scratches, scrapes, and wear are listed for more than what you can buy it brand new (or barely below), and so forth. Okay, I get it that people want the top dollar that they can get (who doesn’t), but seriously, get real.

Anytime you buy anything (except for a house), the value immediately drops. Buy a brand new car, and the second you drive it off the lot you have lost probably $1,000 or more.

If I bought a brand new item at Walmart today, I couldn’t list it for the same price with the tag on it and expect to sell it. I would probably have to knock off at least 10-15%, and this is brand new and never used! So why do people think they can get away with this over pricing their items? They need to price at least 50% of CURRENT market value at a minimal for most things. Even less for other items.

And they also seem to forget that just because they originally paid a lot for an item, it doesn’t mean it is still worth that today. Did you pay $2,500 for that computer back in 1995? Guess what, you can buy a brand spanking new one anywhere for less than $700.  So sorry that you wasted your money, but you can’t expect to get back what you paid, especially when technology has improved and your item is obsolete. The same goes for any items (furniture, clothes, tools, etc.).

I wish people would get a realistic grasp on the invisible hand of the market. Perhaps someone should offer a free economics class to the craigslist sellers. Don’t price your stuff too high, or you can expect to look at it in your house for the next 100 years (or perhaps a bit sooner if you can find a complete idiot to buy it).

And guess what, most buyers DO NOT want to haggle the price. The newer generations are not hagglers. The older generations are the hagglers. Sellers would do well to simply list it for the price they expect to get, not $20 or $30 over to leave haggle room. You will attract buyers that way, get what you expected to get anyway, and sell it much faster. So list cheap but firm, not over priced but willing to lower a bit.

Sellers Can’t Describe Their Item Either: Hint: Use Words and a Picture!

The second thing that annoys me with Craigslist.org is that most sellers can’t figure out how to actually “sell” an item. They just post 1 measly sentence that tells you nothing, no pictures, no dimensions, no details. I don’t even look at an ad if it doesn’t contain a picture anymore.

They will list something like:

New desk, good condition, must sell, $45. Phone: XXX-XXX-XXXX

Gee thanks seller, that really helps! Like I want to call some random person who may be crazy and talk on the phone and do research as to what this item may be like. I think I’ll pass.

The way they SHOULD list the item is this:

• Take a picture or 2 at least (they are worth about 1,000 words), and isn’t this the technological age? Get with the times.
• Dimensions, sizes, and so forth work miracles to let potential buyers know whether or not they want it, without going through the hassle of contacting you.
• How about disclosing any flaws, telling the year it was made (if applicable), the condition, colors, etc. The more details the better. You can’t be too detailed on craigslist.
• Give an idea of the times you will be available, or may be able to meet so people can have that in mind before they even contact you.
• Why not go ahead and remove the listing after someone buys it? That will save you and the buyer time since you no longer have it for sale!

Those things alone would work wonders to not only help a seller sell an item, but it would cut out a lot of pain for the buyers who are searching.

So in a nutshell, if you are going to buy, try to find sellers who seem like they have a brain. You know, the ones who take the time to actually list pictures, write coherent sentences (and I mean more than 1), and give information a buyer would want to have.

It is worth buying on craigslist for certain items, and IF they items are a good deal, but it is really difficult to find those deals, find listing that are even worth looking at, etc.

So good luck buying, because I don’t even use it much anymore for this. If I need something, I either buy it new, or look at craigslist for 2 minutes. If I don’t see a deal, I go and buy it new. Period.

You can save time using the “buy it now” on eBay or Amazon online. Or, just walk into a retail store and buy the thing new (as it is probably over priced and nearly the new price anyway on craigslist).

Using Craigslist.org to Sell Your Stuff

Craigslist.org is also a potential place to sell stuff, but this too can be an enormous hassle. In fact, it is the motivation for me writing this very post. First, let me backup and say what I think is best to sell on craigslist.org:

The only items I sell on Craigslist:

• Furniture or very large items that would be a pain to ship
• Items that I prefer to take cash for
• Only if I cannot or do not want to have a yard sale

If it doesn’t fit that bill, I would rather list it on Amazon or eBay, or yard sale it. You can get way more for your electronics and things like that on eBay or Amazon.com, and you won’t have the annoyances of craigslist.org. So I would only use craigslist anyway to sell items that were bulky or not selling for a lot online.

What is annoying about selling on Craigslist.org? Glad you asked!

Buyers Back Out of Buying Stuff, and Never Reply/Respond Back

By far this is the most annoying thing about selling an item on craigslist. In fact this happened to me yet again TODAY. So this is really the motivation for me to write this article.

First, you go to all of the trouble to make a great listing and price your items at a low price. Then, you will get a bunch of emails that say things like:

• Hey, do you still have this available? I am interested.
• Can I get this item tomorrow, I really want this
• I saw your craigslist ad, and I would like this item, can I buy it?

So you see those replies, and you get excited thinking, “Yes, finally I have sold this item and can move on.” So you eagerly reply to the email, give details and your phone number, and ask when they want to meet. Now here comes the exciting part….what happens next. This: chirp chrip…cricket in the background…you may even hear a pin drop….

Why do I say that? Because they never reply.  They want it so badly, that they won’t even bother to ever email back or call to arrange a time. It is so annoying!

Occasionally you may get a person who at least has the decency to email you back and say they have decided to wait, but even that is a pain in the butt. If you wanted it so badly, why did you email me in the first place? It is like they email you before they even read it or think about it. How ridiculous. 

Why not make a decision to buy before emailing me? That is so annoying. They email you like they are so ready to buy. You reply within a few hours, then they never respond, or back out of it? Buyers are so flaky and wishy-washy on craigslist.

I finally sold a glass vanity I listed, but I had to go through about 5 “I want it” emails before I got a real buyer. I have had other items that never sold because I got so annoyed in people standing me up that I deleted the listing and saved it for a yard sale or kept it.

This by far will be your biggest frustration selling on Craigslist: People wanting to back out of the sale, or emailing you and they are “so interested,” only to never reply again. Again, some items were steal deals I listed too. I am the type of person who would rather list it cheap right up front for my bottom dollar (firm), and just get rid of the thing quick.

Another Selling Annoyance: Email Spam

Craigslist is notorious for being littered with internet spam. You can also expect (on top of the back-out buyer emails), to get loads of spam. They will email things like:

• I see you listed a lot of items and need money, I may be able to help you…
• Make $100,000 a day from your pajamas (I guess by spamming craigslist apparently)
• Find that perfect soul-mate (I’m happily married…sorry)

So be prepared to get annoying spam, even if you anonymize or hide your email address (which I always do that). PS, never reply to the spam, and NEVER reply to anyone offering you a way to make money. Unless you love to lose money and get scammed that is…

People Will Haggle With You If You Let Them

People will put on a big front or act like they can’t afford it, or that they can only pay XX amount, or “will you take XX less?” This too gets annoying for me, because I list at a very cheap price (I am usually the cheapest one on there by far in my city), and I stress in my listings FIRM price.

I hate haggling and dealing with people in person, so I would rather list the thing for a cheap (AND FIRM) price, and let you take it. So if I say firm, don’t try to haggle me lower, or you just come off as annoying and cheap. I have already priced it at a very low and reasonable price far below current retail (and probably far below all other items on craigslist), so give me a break.

Selling Conclusion: Craigslist is Okay, Not Awesome

Craigslist is good to sell because it is quick and free to make a listing. However, it is far from perfect. You will get a lot of buyers backing out, spam, and other annoyances. You can buy too, but it is equally as annoying and hard to find a real deal.

I have sold a few items successfully, and probably will in the future. But I will ONLY sell an item if I have no other convenient alternative (such as eBay or Amazon or yard sale). Things like fitness equipment, furniture, etc. are good for Craigslist. Electronics, small items, clothes, etc. are better for eBay.

A Yard sell is actually even preferred over craigslist for the bulky stuff, but some people may not have enough items for a yard sale, or may not be able to have one where they live. In that case, use craigslist.

But if you can use eBay, Amazon, or a yard sale, go with that! It will save you some grief, money, and time.

Sponsored Links

Posted under Making Money

The last few months I have been experimenting with Adsense and other ad programs (such as Chitika and Kontera) to see if they will help my sites generate a higher overall income.

For one experiment, I tried reducing the number of Adsense ads that displayed on the page. Unfortunately, this actually decreased my revenue, so I then changed it back, and my revenue bounced back.

I then made a decision to branch out and try using other revenue sources that were compatible with Google Adsense. So I decided to try a combination of Chitika, Adsense, and Kontera. So did I make more money? What were my results?

My Results of Using Kontera, Chitika, and Adsense on the Same Page

My results were that while all of the programs are great, it actually again reduced my overall income by using all 3 (or even 2), as opposed to Adsense alone. This was disappointing, because I assumed that by adding other advertising streams along with Google Adsense, it would result in a higher overall income.

In reality, it seems that some clicks were diverted to other lower paying programs, thus reducing overall income since Adsense pays higher revenues.  In fact, there were actually some other big negatives about doing this:

1. It made bookkeeping more frustrating. Rather than dealing with only 1 income source, I had to now manage 3. Nothing too hard, but nonetheless it was a little more frustrating having to reconcile the payment dates.
2. My site loaded slower with the extra Javascript that had to load in order to serve the ads.
3. My revenue decreased
4. It made my site appear as if it were getting to that point where it had “too much” advertising on it. This could have turned off some readers/visitors.

So considering all of this, I decided to default back to using Google Adsense only on all of my sites. Don’t get me wrong, I still like the other programs (such as Chitika and Kontera), it just didn’t increase my income as I had hoped, and actually decreased it a bit.

I want to “flesh out” this experience in a little more detail below, simply because I do notice a lot of webmasters out there who use all 3 programs (or at least a combination of 2). So here was my overall experience and “review” of each program.

The Full Experience of Adding Chitika Premium and Kontera to Adsense Pages

I had only Adsense on my pages before, and my revenue was slowly increasing each month. However, I hoped to make a larger increase in my website revenue, to see how high I could get it.

Therefore, I made the decision to try more ad programs along with Adsense. I had read several forums and posts that by adding more ad programs, it can increase your overall revenue. So I gave it a shot.

Adding Chitika Premium Ads

I first added Chitika Premium to the Adsense pages. I have the pros and cons of Chitika below, but overall it was an okay program. The biggest frustration was that the clicks were quite a bit lower than Adsense clicks on several sites. I also didn’t like how it took a whole day for your earnings to update, and I also didn’t like how they audited your earnings later.

After about 2 weeks, I could notice a drop in total income, and this got me a bit worried. I didn’t want to have my income dropping, I wanted it to go up! But I gave it a little more time, and then added Kontera “in text” ads.

My Experience with Kontera In Text Ads

Kontera was also easy to setup and install on the site. I was eager to slap on Kontera to see if it would increase my earnings too. Unfortunately, it didn’t. While it is a great program and certainly has its place in online advertising, it just didn’t seem to fit with my own individual business plan.

It had very very low clicks (approximately $0.01-0.03). While some people argue that Kontera doesn’t reduce your Adsense earnings, I couldn’t help feel that it was doing exactly that.

Again, Kontera definitely has its place on the web, and perhaps some people will find that it works perfectly with their revenue mix. However, it just didn’t earn enough to justify keeping it on my sites for now.

The End Result of My Ad Revenue Experiment:

So after about 1 month of adding Chitika and then Kontera to my site in addition to Adsense, I decided to scrap both Chitika and Kontera. The month before I added them, I had set a record in my individual Adsense earnings. After adding them back, they decreased my monthly earnings by about $30.

So I removed both of them, and only placed Adsense on my pages. Not only did my revenue go right back up, but I set another record the next full month. And my pages loaded faster with less ads, the bookkeeping was easier (only 1 revenue source), and I had real-time stats!

So I feel very comfortable using Adsense only at this point. It has proved to earn more money than by using other programs. I felt like all of the clicks that went to Chitika or Kontera could have earned much more if they were diverted to Adsense instead.

So the moral of the story is that I am glad I gave them a shot, but Adsense makes more “SENSE” right now.

With that being said, here is some more detailed information on my online revenue journey thus far with different ad companies:

My Review of Google Adsense Program Thus Far

I have now used the Google Adsense program for the past 3 years, and by far it is the most superior program I have used. I say this because of the following:

• They have excellent customer support if you ever need to ask a question
• Adsense tends to earn higher revenues than other programs
• Adsense attracts more advertisers through the Adwords program. It also helps that Google has the best search engine online as well.
• They have real-time stats you can check to monitor your progress (which I tend to do 100 times per day)
• They have on-time and regular payments (as long as your earnings are past their required threshold)
• Newer ways to customize ad settings (colors, text, etc.)
• Direct deposit, and more

As far as the “cons” to Adsense, I really can’t name too many. Sometimes the ads will not match well with the content, but that is just the way contextual advertising works.

Sometimes a public service ad may show instead of a paying ad as well. They also have a payment threshold of $100, but that doesn’t really hasn’t affected me in the past couple of years.  But that is really the only downside I have experienced thus far, and I am very happy with Adsense and it is my favorite program in every way thus far.

My Review of Chitika Premium Ads Thus Far:

As I mentioned above, Adsense was my first and only ad program I used on my sites to generate revenue. I eventually wanted to experiment and add new programs. Chitika premium was the next program I tried.

I used Chitika right along with Adsense on the same pages (but always make sure it is allowed in their TOS before you try this). The things I liked about Chitika was:

• They payed via Paypal
• They had a lower payment threshold (about $10 which I liked a lot).
• It was easy to register and my site(s) were approved immediately.
• It was easy to setup and implement the ads.

What I didn’t like so much about Chitika Premium was:

• It seemed to pay much less than Adsense (especially on certain sites)
• The ads only displayed when search engine referral happened (they aren’t visible to type in traffic)
• Their stats are not “real-time” like Adsense. It can take a day or more for them to update.
• They even “audit” their earnings which mean a month later they may take some of your revenue away from your account if they decide that it was an invalid click or something. I think they took out a couple of dollars which isn’t a big deal, but it just seems unprofessional and somewhat behind the times of technology.

Overall, Chitika seems like a good company, and I would certainly consider using them in the future. However, I did make the decision to take their ads off my sites for the time being, as it made my overall revenue higher.

Adsense is of course the number 1 earner, but Chitika was second. Also, Chitika does have other programs besides their premium ads, and I did NOT try those (since they weren’t compatible with Adsense). So I cannot comment on those ads.

Overall, I would absolutely use them again, but at this point it just wasn’t profitable enough to continue to use them.

My Review of Kontera In Text Underlined Ads

Kontera is also a great company, but once again I did see a couple of small problems, and overall didn’t enjoy the experience. First, here are the things I liked about Kontera:

• They had a professional site, and they seemed really friendly and professional when customer support was required.
• It was really quick to get my first site approved for the Kontera program
• They are compatible with most other advertising programs (such as Adsense), which is good.
• They too pay via Paypal (if I recall correctly)

What I didn’t like about Kontera:

• The ads seem “annoying” on the page. A lot of bloggers don’t like them because some readers get fussy about in-text ads. I have to admit that I think they do distract from the overall site in many cases.
• It took a while for the ads to load many times. I tested a few pages, and sometimes would take as long as 10-15 seconds or more just to underline the words. Adsense is usually instant in comparison.
• They have a very high payout, and very low pay per click. Like Adsense, they too require $100 before they pay you. The only difference is that Adsense pays a whole lot more per click on average, so it isn’t that hard to make $100 per month. Kontera is a different story, even for sites that get reasonable traffic.
• You can only allow 1 site at a time to use Kontera’s code. This was quite frustrating. You can only insert the Kontera code in one site after you register. You can add other sites, but you have to manually email the URL of each individual site you want to add to their support team. This is a MAJOR frustration for people with multiple sites. I dare say that anyone even seeking to put ads on a site probably has more than 1, so I have no idea why Kontera requires this, when almost no other ad company does. I hope they fix that soon. I did email them to add other sites, and it took about 1 week (even though they say it takes about 1 day). Unfortunately, adding the extra sites didn’t help the income much.
• The cost per click was very low. It almost always averages $0.03 or less. Out of all 3 ad types, this was the lowest. I hoped that by applying Kontera to all of my sites it would boost earnings, however, I still averaged less than $1 per day on all of my sites with Kontera (which all receive decent traffic).
• I had trouble inserting Kontera code into my forum. I have a forum on one site that is SMF (Simple Machines Forum), and I could not get this code to work, despite inserting it into an ad plugin, into the actual footer, into the actual page, and more. I am sure there is a hack, but you need to be good with programming to do it/create it. I can use Adsense and Chitika with no problems, but no so with Kontera on the forum.

Again, I don’t want to seem as if there is no use for Kontera. It is a great program for some people, and it may even work for you without decreasing your Adsense earnings. They seem like a nice company, with nice workers too. But in my own experiment, it just wasn’t profitable enough to justify placing it on my sites.

I would definitely consider using them again, but I just don’t have anything that seems to fit with it at the moment. I have heard it can be good on forums, but again, it just wouldn’t work with SMF without being a programmer.

Conclusion: Adsense Alone, or Use Kontera and Chitika?

I always strongly recommend that each website/blog owner experiment with their own ad revenue programs to find the perfect combination. In my own experiment, I actually earned more just by using Adsense alone.

While it seemed logical that by using additional advertising programs I might increase revenue, the opposite was actually true. Maximizing Adsense alone seems to be more profitable than adding additional ad pay-per-click programs.

Therefore my current strategy is simple: Do my best to create great content, and work on building traffic and regular visitors. I think this is the best thing anyone online can do if they want their site to be successful.

Do you go and pay money for mediocre food? What about a mediocre movie? You probably don’t. So if you want people to visit your site, write great and unique content, or do something to provide some value. That is my new philosophy…try and make great content with each article that provides either a solution to a problem, entertainment, or some other useful benefit.

Sponsored Links

Posted under Adsense, Making Money