Oh, Craigslist. I have such a love hate relationship with the classifieds giant. On one hand, it helps me save hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars on things like insulation. On the other hand, stranger danger. After reading about Cait’s harrowing experience with an online buyer, I have approached Craigslist with caution.
Since our success with the insulation, we’ve purchased a bike rack for our brand new bikes on Craigslist, which saved us around $50, and since that was a success as well, we are looking at buying some of our wedding decor on Craigslist to hopefully save some cash.
Sounds fairly straight forward, but you would be surprised. Beware the following things:
Things Labelled “Shabby Chic” That are Just Shabby, Not Chic
Listen. That chalk board you are listing with the paint peeling off the frame isn’t shabby chic, it’s just shabby.
I don’t generally buy into the ridiculous “shabby chic” trend anyway, but I’m getting married at a summer camp, so anything plain chic would not fit in with the landscape. I figure I could save a couple of bucks by buying used decor that may be a little rough around the edges.
It’s unfortunate that shabby chic is so darn trendy right now, and that everyone is having “vintage” weddings (ugh), because all of the crazy Craigslist sellers are coming out of the woodwork and listing crappy items at a huge profit.
Things That Are More Expensive Than Buying New
Again with the vintage inspired weddings. How can you justify selling your used mason jars on Craigslist for $3 each, when you can buy new canning jars at Target for far less than that?
Just because you say they are vintage inspired doesn’t mean they are worth more than you bought them for. Especially since they’ve had your guests’s saliva all over the rims.
Thanks but no thanks.
Also, don’t try to sell your wedding dress for even 50% of the price you bought it for. If I’m going to buy a used wedding dress, it better be less than 20% of the cost. It’s been altered for YOUR body, and you’ve been sweating in it for an entire day.
Original Photos of Used Items
I don’t know what makes Craigslist sellers compelled to list items that they have used with the photo of the item that they’ve taken off of the store they got it from.
If you are trying to sell a veil, don’t list a photo of the veil on the designer’s website! List a photo of the veil in the condition it is in after you’ve worn it!
Listing a photo of a brand new beverage dispenser, and then explaining the scratches that are all over it away as “shabby chic” is not a thing. So don’t do it.
Sellers of EVERYTHING in a Lot
There’s this seller on Craigslist who is trying to sell her entire wedding in one big lot.
I’m talking centrepieces, table numbers, decorations (tacky ones, too), dress, shoes, bridesmaids dresses, everything! Even the alter.
Here’s the thing: nobody wants to re-live another person’s wedding.
Sure, sell the wine glasses and drink glasses in a lot. Go as far to sell colour coordinating decorations together. Offer priority to people who want to buy more than one item. Just don’t insist on hanging on to every last thing until the off chance that you find a buyer that wants to re-live your wedding.
Have you ever tried to buy wedding decor on Craigslist to save money? What was your experience?
Original photos of used stuff are a pet peeve of mine as well! I always assume the worst when I see that — like they’re trying to cover up major damage. In reality, they’re probably just too lazy to take a picture.
That “lot” thing is odd. But I can kind of understand it, from a seller’s perspective. Waiting for a single buyer is much, much simpler than listing everything separately and dealing with the logistics of multiple buyers. It might not pan out, but on the off chance it does, it will end up saving the seller a lot of time/effort.
We didn’t buy wedding decor items off Craigslist, but we did get both of my rings there. In terms of finances, it was a great decision. Two really nice pieces of jewelry, each for a relatively low price. But wearing previously owned engagement/wedding rings can also be…weird. I mean, I’m basically just wearing the remnants of two failed relationships. Not a particularly fun thing to think about. (So I try not to.)
I’ve bought and sold on Craigslist, but you do have to be savvy about it. The thing that irks me the most in my city (maybe everywhere) is that people seem to not know the meaning of the word “vintage”. It doesn’t mean a few years old and beat up, and it’s not a euphemism for “falling apart”. I am still looking for a vintage dresser or buffet to use for my television and I learned the hard way not to search on that particular word. 🙂
The best (and only) thing I’ve done through Craigslist for my wedding was finding my photographer. Otherwise, I looked at some lots of milkglass, but ever since milkglass became trendy those lots were going for a couple hundred dollars (at least in my areas I was looking).