How I Sold My Bed on Craigslist

I had to get rid of some of my bedroom furniture to make way for the new furniture.  The bed, the nightstand and the mirror had to go.  It was a pretty nice cherry sleigh bed with walnut veneers.  Instead of having wood slats on the bed it had a metal frame with adjustable risers.  I paid good money for that bed but it was too high with my pillow top mattress so it over-powered the room, I couldn’t get the mirror on the dresser because the ceiling was too low and my new bed is so wide my nightstand no longer fits without me rearranging the room, which ain’t happening captain.  I had to sell these pieces but I am keeping the rest of the set.

Anytime you sell something you love you inherently want to make sure you get a good price for it.  You get on Craigslist to see what everyone else is selling and nothing is as good as your furniture and whatever is equivalent is priced so high it validates what you really want from your furniture but if you are like me you believe in the 20% rule.  I don’t pay more than 20% of retail nor will I sell it for anything more than that.

People are cheap though.  They want something for nothing. If you want to get so frustrated that you feel like taking your crap to Goodwill and throw it through the window then try to sell your stuff on Craigslist for a g0od price in a timely manner.

I placed a perfectly good ad using all the adjectives most people in love with their stuff use: gorgeous, beautiful, well-made etc.  I polished it to perfection and placed some photos on it and then I sat back and waited.  It took all of 15 minutes for my first response.  Oh Good!  They asked would I be willing to sell the bed by itself. NO.    Next message, do you think the veneer part is wood enough that it could be painted???  WHAT???  Paint my beautiful bed?  Are they kidding me?? I composed myself and replied stating that the bed was undamaged and beautiful as it was.  She replied back stating that she wanted a black bed but all she could find was a sleigh beds and so she thought she would paint my bed black.  WHAT??  I responded that the bed is a sleigh bed and again it is beautiful and does not need to be painted.  She responded back by saying Yeah but not a true sleigh :-). Will let you know for sure tomorrow. Showed to my son and he liked…you are in the top 2!  I deleted and blocked that $%^&* LOL.  How dare she?  I went to bed fuming  and I wasn’t all hot and bothered because of what was waiting in bed (nothing) LOL

The next day a guy and I corresponded several times.  He asked me to call him with the address.  I call a couple of minutes after reading the email and a woman answers the phone.  I asked to speak with him and you could hear the change in her voice when she asked me why I was calling her husband.  I explained and she said she would take a message.  I gave her the address.  He emailed me back and said his wife said I lived too far so they won’t be needing the bed.   LOL that was funny…some men are such whipped puppy dogs by jealous psychos.

I got several messages but either they asked for more info then never responded after I gave it to them or  they tell me to call but never answer the phone or call back.  This went on for three weeks.  Tomorrow my living room set is being delivered and I need this bed out of the way TONIGHT.  I was only asking for $300 for the set but all I really wanted was $250, which is slightly less than 20%.  I changed the ad this afternoon to include that I need to sell the bed tonight because I am having furniture being delivered tomorrow and need to have it moved out of the house; I continued saying that I slashed the price to $300 cash but if I have to put the bed back in the house the price goes back up tomorrow to $400.  Mind you, it was always $300 and never $400…I just said that.  Yeah I lied….God forgive me.

Bottom line is that I sold the bed for $250 this evening.  LOL I told you people always want something for nothing.  Now they think they got the bed for $150 less than I wanted for it when in all actuality I sold it for exactly what I wanted. Before he left I noticed him eyeing my table saw that I want to sell.  I told him it is for sale.  He asked how much I said $75 and I can’t take anything less and I added “since you got over on me on the bed”.  He laughed…so proud of himself for wheeling and dealing me out of that bed.   Lesson learned?  Use psychology and make people think they are getting a deal.  It’s a gift to them and in principle it keeps Craigslist alive.