Testing the CraigsList waters

[WalkinTarget]

First off, I will say that business is booming on my 'second job' involving cleaning off spyware infested home computers, but most of these people do not know that I sell PCs as well, so I've been thinking of ways to sell some rigs lately. I've managed to piece together some nice semi-gamer builds that are sitting on the shelf, and they really do need to get sold off.

This is the first time I have built what is basically a 'speculative sale' build, in that there was no buyer for each one, so I've invested money on the front end, but until I SELL one, I haven't done anything but SPEND money !

So here's the deal. Ebay isn't going to happen, since I don't want to ship them, so I've been eyeing up CraigsList lately. I'm even on my way to pick up a PC case from a CL posting in 30 minutes (at the same Rutters, Trooper !!) so what can I expect from CL PC sales ??

I live in a small town, and reading the CL postings, everything, and I mean almost everything, is high around here. I was thinking $300 for the following build parts:

AMD 3800+ AM2 X2 CPU
ECS KA3-MVP AM2 Crossfire
ATI XT1800 256 PCIe vid card
320gb WD hard drive
2gb DDR2-800 RAM
Cooler Master Elite 335 case
Ultra 500w PSU
Win XP Pro SP2

While hardly Ghost_Rain worthy , its a nice build for moderate gaming. I've been selling a similar build for $250 as well. Thoughts or suggestions ?

[Duke{CLR}]

Good luck in your business it sounds good to me and you should have no problem selling rigs like that. The guy who comes by to fix my Dell laptop has a business doing this kind of thing in addition to networking stuff he was telling me how he sells a boatload of P4 systems for $100. He is a retired IBMer and he doesn't look over 45 so he is doing well.

[Trooper110]

As long as you're getting a value for the rig that you think is fair, heck, go for it. Not sure what kind of buying response you get off CraigsList as I don't go near the place, but there's usually a decent market for PC stuff. Only thing is, I guess, what kind of service will they expect afterwords? I'm assuming you're selling as is, but sometimes people get it in their head that since you built/sold it to them that you're going to be taking care of it for them. And I could see where that could get problematic if you're dealing on more a "retail/reseller" level there, as opposed to friends/aquaintance.

And come on WT....York isn't small....it's miniscule Rutters ftw! lol

[juneau]

As long as you're getting a value for the rig that you think is fair, heck, go for it. Not sure what kind of buying response you get off CraigsList as I don't go near the place, but there's usually a decent market for PC stuff. Only thing is, I guess, what kind of service will they expect afterwords? I'm assuming you're selling as is, but sometimes people get it in their head that since you built/sold it to them that you're going to be taking care of it for them. And I could see where that could get problematic if you're dealing on more a "retail/reseller" level there, as opposed to friends/aquaintance.

And come on WT....York isn't small....it's miniscule Rutters ftw! lol

+1. Make sure you add 'I Do not supply aftersales care' in the advert. Oh, and make sure you take 2-3 photo's of each piece of hardware before letting it go. Not sure what craiglist is like but ebayers have a habbit of buying hardware, damaging it/swapping for their current but damaged part, then asking for a refund.

[BigTwinky]

I've used Craigslist (and Kijiji, not sure if that one is down in the US) a few times to both buy and sell. I've sold furniture, collectible GI Joes and camera equipment and I've bought camera equipment and a few other things from there.

Generally, people are looking at getting smoething cheap. So even if you say its a firm price, expect to have people try and negociate, even up to the time they are going to give you money.

I sold a 3 week old bed and mattress set that I bought for $400 and sold it for $275. The guy printed off something similar that was priced for $150 and demanded that he pay $150. But what he printed wasn't the same as what I was selling...people try anything.

Definatly make sure you put "no after care included". Make sure you are able to show them that the thing works properly upon delivery.

[WalkinTarget]

So you guys would recommend that I not offer any warranty after sale ? Its sort of an unwritten policy of mine to offer a 6 month warranty on hardware, simply because I am honest about my gear.

I haven't read a single CL post regarding an after sale warranty, so that does lead me to believe that it is the standard for a reason, as Juneau already stated, so I will keep that in mind.

Troop, I was scanning the parking lot looking for you, but no luck

I have a few pics of the hardware already posted in another thread here, so I will take care to document and grab some more pics. My concern is mostly someone with identical hardware swapping out their damaged parts for my working parts and returning it.

[BigTwinky]

I think it would be ok to offer up the post sale warranty. 6 months may be too long.

But just make sure you are prepared for the types that usually buy from Craigslist in that some will try and screw you over, as mentionned by putting in a defective part and trying to return it.

I think a warranty might be good, but offering "after care service" would not. Do you want someone calling you saying that they can't install their game on the machine? Many think that the problems they have are due to the hardware, when its more the user that is the issue.

[Duke{CLR}]

I think the problem offering a warranty would be that if you end up selling so many rigs that you end getting overloaded with service calls.

[Trooper110]

If you're offering a warranty, spell it out in very careful terms and have something that you both sign. A shake and verbal agreement is great until they decide they just HAVE to have a brand new video card, buy a PCI-E card, jam it in a AGP slot, damage the motherboard so bad you'd need to have an engineering degree and 2 months to fix it, then expect you to cover it under their "warranty".

Honestly, unless you want to help out friends, family, friends of friends, etc, I don't think I'd be offering a warranty on a computer that I was selling over the internet. I do work on friends and families computers because I enjoy it, usually get dinner or a case of beer or something outta it, heh.

[juneau]

So you guys would recommend that I not offer any warranty after sale ? Its sort of an unwritten policy of mine to offer a 6 month warranty on hardware, simply because I am honest about my gear.

I haven't read a single CL post regarding an after sale warranty, so that does lead me to believe that it is the standard for a reason, as Juneau already stated, so I will keep that in mind.

Troop, I was scanning the parking lot looking for you, but no luck

I have a few pics of the hardware already posted in another thread here, so I will take care to document and grab some more pics. My concern is mostly someone with identical hardware swapping out their damaged parts for my working parts and returning it.

Take photos of the serial numbers.

[WalkinTarget]

Take photos of the serial numbers.

My initials in purple marker at a random location on the hardware works for me.

[{CLR}geneSW]

Yes, but serial numbers don't generally change, and permanent marker can be removed.