- Include a picture in the form of a link to an external picture hosting site. This is much better quality than the little 1 by 1 you get by default. CL even tells you how to do it:http://www.craigslist.org/about/help/faq#pictures .
- Size does matter. PLEASE put the bike size in the post. If its a kids bike, then put in the wheel size (12,16, 20,24). If its an adult size then post the size that is listed on the bike or take a quick measurement from the center of the crank (where the pedals meet the frame) to the top of the seat tube. If its a mountain bike or hybrid use inches if its a road bike use centimeters. It takes 30 seconds and saves you from a lot of questions.
- Post the year or age of the bike if you know it. This doesn't matter as much for some bikes but for the higher end bikes the components can change a lot from one year to the next so it's important.
- Include a link to the actual bike from the manufacturer if its available, or check BikePedia. I can't tell you how much time I wasted looking up bikes to get the specs when I was searching for my road bike. Its especially difficult if the year is not included in the post. (Try finding that one year that Trek made the Blue and silver Madone :) ).
- Provide your contact information. If you do steps 1 to 4 you won't get as many calls because buyers will self-select themselves out of something that is not the right bike to begin with. You also increase the good calls because those buyers are truly interested, not just calling to get more details.
- Per a suggestion from a reader, remove the listing once the bike is sold. It saves everyone time and the buyer some potential heartache when they thought they found that perfect bike.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
How to post a bike for sale on Craig's List
Just thought I'd save everyone a lot of time and hassle. If you are posting a bike for sale please include some key information. It will save you time and likely sell your bike a lot faster.
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I just bought a bike off cragslist and I feel your pain. I think you need to add a number 6 to your list: When the bike has sold, REMOVE the LISTING! I can't tell you how many people I contacted who had already sold the bike, but couldn't bother to take the listing down.
ReplyDeleteI also had a lot of people who were clueless in terms of bike size - despite the fact that I was shopping for high-priced bikes in the world of craiglist. "It's a women's frame." "I'm 5'7"" and "It says 1.2 on the frame" were some of my favorite responses.
Good luck shopping!