The art of a Craigslist find
A lot of people tend to dismiss Craigslist, but I praise it for allowing me to be frugal, picky and persistent all at once. Everyday when I come home from work I have two choices: sitting at my desk, or on my bed. This either-or decision gets very old very quickly, but time is an indeterminable factor when dealing with Craigslist and my quest for a table on the site is no exception to this. But, after a couple of months of searching, I now have the perfect kitchen table set. By now, I consider myself somewhat of a knowledgeable user, and as such, I have several points for all your future Craigslist endeavors:
1)Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Like searching for a job, the contacts and emails you send out, the higher the likelihood that you’ll find something, or at the very least, get some responses. Maybe my email just didn’t read the right way to them? Maybe I was too inquisitive about the condition of the furniture in question? Or too forward in asking the pick-up location that I seem like the scammer?
2) Many of the people you contact on Craigslist will prove themselves to be shady. For example, I found the perfect Ikea swivel chair for $10. The ad claimed it was in perfect condition but was being sold in favor of a different model- this sounded promising. After several emails back and forth, I learned that the seller lived in Mid-town. Particularly eager to rid his apartment of the chair, he even offered to carry the chair closer to me. Ok, I thought, maybe this is a little too generous of him, but perhaps he really does just want the chair out of his sight. I agreed, and after many texts later, and excuses for why he was running late, I never heard from the Ikea chair man again. But- no harm, no foul. Just a few lost minutes (or hours…).
3) Location, location, location. Really. While you might think you’ve chanced upon a great deal, you have to consider the logistics. For me, this means finding furniture that can be carried by 1-3 people max, within a couple of blocks of my apartment, and preferably apartments with elevators.
4) Don’t be ashamed to pick up your goods. My friend and I went to go claim the perfect stool and table set, though had to carry the items in shifts. We walked about seven blocks with a dining table on a busy street mid-afternoon. We got lots of stares and questioning looks. As if we were the weirdest thing happening at 2pm in NYC- pshh. Though we would have preferred our bystanders to lend their helping hands, all we got were awkward stares. I guess they didn’t want to abet any crime we appeared to have been committing…
