HomeFinance7 Safer Alternatives For Buying And Selling Online

7 Safer Alternatives For Buying And Selling Online

Should you’re beneath 30 and recognize the worth of a greenback, chances are high that you just’ve used Craigslist. Began by a lonely San Franciscan in 1995 as a option to join folks, Craigslist has since grow to be the net’s #1 vacation spot for categorized advertisements. The location welcomes a staggering 50 million distinctive guests per 30 days, connecting school youngsters to smelly couches in 70 nations.  

I’ve been utilizing Craigslist since 2005 after I started shopping for and promoting used airsoft tools for gasoline cash in highschool. And whereas I like Craigslist for supplying me with telephones and furnishings all through school, as an grownup, I’ve damaged up with Craigslist (and you must, too).

For head-scratching causes I’ll clarify later, Craigslist solely employs 50 folks to handle 50 million distinctive month-to-month guests. In contrast, Zillow and eBay make use of 5,250 and 13,300 folks, respectively.

50 folks simply isn’t sufficient, as evidenced by Craigslist’s persistent charges of scams, pretend listings, and crime. 

For the sake of your personal time, cash, and security, it’s time to maneuver onto a competitor. 

5 causes to cease utilizing Craigslist

Craigslist founder, Craig Newmark is a pleasant man, however he’s not a lot of a pacesetter (his phrases, not mine). 

For instance, he’s a powerful believer in Dunbar’s Quantity, a philosophy which states that people can solely keep significant social relationships with a restricted variety of folks. So to make sure staff cohesion, he capped Craigslist at simply 50 staff. 

So whereas Craiglist maintains a beneficiant Glassdoor rating, its customers endure enormously from the dearth of innovation, curation, security, purchaser safety, and help that its rivals supply. 

Listed here are simply 5 causes to cease utilizing Craigslist: 

1. It’s probably harmful

Every time a string of robberies (or worse) is linked again to Craigslist, the corporate is fast to defend themselves. Statistically, they are saying, for each Craigslist Killer, there are tens of millions of regular transactions. 

True, however Northeastern College criminologist Jack Levin factors out that Craigslist remains to be a super searching floor for 2 causes:

  1. Customers can function in full anonymity, by no means revealing their title, cellphone quantity, or any traceable data.
  2. Craigslist provides a super platform for premeditated crimes. There are instances the place a “vendor” will record a $1,000 cellphone for $800, and easily rob customers of their money upon arrival. 

Whereas the chance of you getting robbed throughout a Craigslist deal could also be “vanishingly low” (once more, their phrases, not mine), it’s nonetheless greater than it could be on a competing website with primary purchaser safety.

2. It’s rife with scams, fraud, and phishing

You’re way more prone to be scammed than robbed off of Craigslist. Craigslist scams are so frequent that there are .gov pages rating them.

The commonest scams are pretend housing leases, the place customers usually tend to make a digital down fee and share crucial private data with a “realtor.” In 2016, these researchers shared their findings with Craigslist alongside suggestions for making the location safer, however little has modified. 

3. It’s choked with small enterprise advertisements

Craigslist needs to be a spot the place you may go surfing and buy a gently-used cellphone or sofa from a neighbor. As an alternative, it’s grow to be bloated with advertisements for pawn outlets, used automotive sellers, and extra. 

Forget Craigslist: 7 Safer, Superior Alternatives For Buying And Selling Online - Small business ads

As evidenced by the screenshot, there’s nothing stopping these companies from posting a number of occasions in a row, neither is there any safeguard vetting their legitimacy. 

Positive you may simply ignore them, however rivals deal with sketchy solicitors a lot better. Each eBay and Fb Market have built-in filters for C2C listings versus B2C listings, making a a lot cleaner looking expertise. 

Talking of looking expertise… 

4. Its UI is older than Submit Malone

50 staff means you could’t actually sustain with the Joneses within the interface division. Craigslist appears like an HTML-based web page from the 90s as a result of it’s; the location hasn’t skilled an overhaul since Sophie Turner was born. 

You possibly can say that Craigslist exemplifies the “if it ain’t broke” philosophy, and that’s truthful. The location features at a primary stage simply high quality. 

Nonetheless, if you develop accustomed to options like Fb Market’s transparency and prompt messaging, and eBay’s purchaser safety and vendor critiques, Craigslist begins to really feel much less quaint and easily outdated. 

5. There are a lot better options

Craigslist jogs my memory of the Coolest: a Kickstarter that grew so well-liked that it failed. 

Craigslist hasn’t failed within the conventional sense, but it surely’s fallen behind rivals in usability, curation, and most critically, security. 

7 superior, safer options to Craigslist

Forget Craigslist: 7 Safer, Superior Alternatives For Buying And Selling Online - Seven superior, safer alternatives to Craigslist

Should you haven’t acquired the gist of what I’ve been saying, I’ll display why there are a number of superior marketplaces you may store via, fairly than waste your time (and hard-earned cash) on Craigslist.

1. Fb Market

Forget Craigslist: 7 Safer, Superior Alternatives For Buying And Selling Online - Face

Fb Market is my #1 total Craigslist substitute. You’ll discover listings for electronics, furnishings, temp gigs, dwelling leases, and extra. Consumers and sellers can talk and pay immediately via Fb Messenger and are required to make use of their actual profiles. Because of this, Fb Market has considerably fewer scammers and sketchy listings. 

Plus, to encourage capitalism, Fb will sometimes supply to ship your bought objects without cost. 

I purchased my Kindle, bought my Xbox, and have accomplished dozens of extra gross sales via Fb Market and have solely had optimistic experiences. Total, it feels safer, kinder, and higher than Craigslist. 

2. eBay

Forget Craigslist: 7 Safer, Superior Alternatives For Buying And Selling Online - eBayTesla in all probability wouldn’t exist with out eBay, who purchased Musk-led PayPal in 2002 for $1.5 billion. 

Enjoyable information apart, eBay set an instance for on-line classifieds that I want Craigslist had adopted. The traditional public sale website has gracefully advanced right into a veritable international bazaar the place you should buy just about something from anybody in any nation. 

3D printed automotive elements from China? Carpets from Turkey? Uncommon collectibles from Iowa? They’re all on eBay, shortly accessible via a slick interface with deep search features. Plus, vendor fame is every little thing on eBay, so most will work with you to make issues proper. 

3. Realtor.com

Forget Craigslist: 7 Safer, Superior Alternatives For Buying And Selling Online - RealtorRealtor and Craigslist will share quite a lot of the identical listings for housing and leases, however I favor looking on Realtor as a result of it has a greater UI and is just about void of sketchy listings. Plus, listings themselves are extra thorough, with images, ground plans, and visiting hours. 

Realtor additionally permits you to join with actual property brokers and consumers and sellers in a neater, safer means. So, whether or not you’re in search of an house rental otherwise you’re full-on shopping for your first dwelling, stick to respected marketplaces like Realtor.

4. Upwork

Forget Craigslist: 7 Safer, Superior Alternatives For Buying And Selling Online - Upwork

Should you’re seeking to rent or promote your companies for gig work, particularly for distant alternatives given the pandemic, Upwork is your pal.

It’s #1 benefit over Craigslist is that it retains funds in an escrow so that you’re much less possible as both the customer or vendor to get ripped off. Plus, their UI is much less clunky and simply feels higher. 

5. Nextdoor

Forget Craigslist: 7 Safer, Superior Alternatives For Buying And Selling Online - NextdoorNextdoor is a neighborhood-specific market and message board. You may filter to incorporate households inside roughly one, three, and 5 miles, and though that may nonetheless be hundreds of strangers, Nextdoor nonetheless feels extra collaborative than Craigslist and even Fb Market. 

Nextdoor’s For Sale & Free part displays this pleasant vibe. People continuously record objects without cost or almost free, merely seeking to give them away to somebody of their space. It’s an amazing place to search out high quality furnishings, train tools, devices, and extra and buy them with out having to journey anyplace unsafe or unfamiliar. 

6. Goodwill 

Forget Craigslist: 7 Safer, Superior Alternatives For Buying And Selling Online - GoodwillGood ol’ Goodwill. I actually lately found that Goodwill sells its most high-ticket objects, principally jewellery, via shopgoodwill.com. I believed that was attention-grabbing, but it surely’s not why I introduced them up. 

Quite, I carry up Goodwill in order that I can point out my #1 thrift store tip: store for garments at Goodwills in rich neighborhoods. You’re more likely to search out actual designer garments there for beneath 10% of their unique sticker value. Should you store for designer items on Craigslist, you’re more likely to get scammed or swindled. 

7. Habitat ReStore

Forget Craigslist: 7 Safer, Superior Alternatives For Buying And Selling Online - HabitatLastly, should you’re purchasing for home equipment, furnishings, or dwelling enchancment provides, take a peek in your native Habitat ReStore earlier than heading to Lowe’s or Craigslist. A hybrid of Goodwill and House Depot, the ReStore sells surplus provides and donations from Habitat for Humanity for a tiny fraction of retail. Better of all, the proceeds help future Habitat homes!

For brand new owners particularly, the Habitat ReStore is a must-visit. Even should you depart with only a window and a sink, you’ve already saved lots of and supported a 501(c)(3) within the course of. 

Abstract

Craigslist began with a noble function however has merely gotten too massive for its britches. Its skeleton crew of fifty staff merely couldn’t present much-needed updates to usability, curation, and most notably, security for its 50 million customers. 

Fortunately, should you’re seeking to purchase and promote on-line, superior options exist.

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