This how to will take you through the process of posting a compelling ad for selling your computer on Craigslist. Craigslist is an extremely popular venue for both buyers and sellers due to the high traffic the site gets, and the fact that for sale ads on Craigslist are free. Craigslist has separate sites covering over 700 regions and cities in over 70 countries, so you’re very likely to find one where you can post your computer for sale ad.http://www.craigslist.org/about/factsheet

With more traffic than all but six English language sites in the world, Craigslist typically serves over 20 billion page views each month, and publishes tens of millions of new ads per month.http://www.craigslist.org/about/factsheet A community-moderated bulletin-board, Craigslist hosts mostly free, local classified ads, as well as over 100 topical forums with more than 120 million postings.http://www.craigslist.org/about/factsheet

Craigslist ads include used car ads, new car ads, jobs ads, housing for rent ads, housing for sale ads, textbooks for sale, etc. You can even find free stuff on Craigslist. Craigslist is also a good place to make some money, by selling items you no longer use or need, or by buying items and reselling them at a profit.

Craigslist disclaims liability for the content of ads posted by users, or for the behavior of users in their interactions.http://www.craigslist.org/about/terms.of.use Craigslist does, however, provide advice on how to avoid Craigslist scams.http://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Whether from the paperwork that came with your computer, or using the machine’s own information under the appropriate control panel, locate the specs of your machine and type them up into a document. Using an image of the screen to show these specs in the ad (see Step 4 below) is a good idea, but should not substitute including the text in your ad body. Don’t forget that the image is not searchable, whereas the ad body is.

Craigslist has over 700 regional sites covering cities and regions around the world. When you go to Craigslist.com, your browser should take you automatically to your regional site. See which site you ended up on, and if it is not the closest to where you’re planning to sell the computer, go to the specific Craigslist regional site that serves that area.

Using the Craigslist search tool, look for other people’s ads offering the same, or similar computers. Start out with the brand and model number. If there are none such, use just the brand name and find models that are similar to yours. Use e.g. pricegrabber.com to search for the prices of your machine, and any similar machine you’ve found on Craigslist and see how the two compare. If in new condition your machine sells for 10% more than the other, you can set your asking price a bit above the one set in the other ad. Alternatively, you can post it at a slightly lower price to be more competitive.

On your regional Craigslist page, click “Post” at the top right corner of the page. Note the cautions posted for sellers suggesting you avoid cashiers checks, money orders, or wiring money using e.g. MoneyGram or Western Union.https://post.craigslist.org/wdc/S If this is your first time posting items for sale on Craigslist, read the Craigslist scam advice page.http://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Next, scroll down the list of categories and click on “computers and tech” which will take you to the relevant next page.https://post.craigslist.org/wdc/S/sys/ If there are several sub-regions, you will be prompted to click on one of those, and informed that your posting will also appear automatically on your main region searches. You are also cautioned not to cross-post on other sub-regions as that may lead to Craigslist removing your ad altogether.https://post.craigslist.org/wdc/S/sys/

At this stage, you will arrive at a form page where you will need to enter your information. This starts out with posting title, price, and specific location. Make sure your ad title has as many relevant keywords as possible. These should include at least the words “computer for sale”, "laptop" or "desktop", the brand, the model number, the condition of the machine (if appropriate, this might be “like new” or “mint condition”), and one or two special differentiators. For this last, if the monitor is especially large, you could specify it (e.g. “21 inch LCD monitor”), if you’re including an external hard drive, mention that (e.g. “1TB eSATA drive included”). The price should be competitive relative to other, similar machines being offered by others (see Step 3).

Fill in your email address (twice) and make sure the “anonymize” button is clicked. If you prefer not to receive any emails, and plan to include an alternate means to contact you such as a cell phone number, click “hide” instead.

Now is the time to type in the body of the ad. Keep in mind that unless the machine is older than 2 or 3 years (in which case people would expect the price to be very low) your potential buyer will be asking him or herself why you’re selling a perfectly good machine. Your ad must address this skepticism first. Have you recently lost your job and need money? Are you being supplied a better machine by your new employer? Whatever the reason, if it does not convince your potential buyer, s/he will simply click on to the next ad.

Next, your ad body text should specify of how well maintained the machine is. For example, if your house has no pets and no smokers, those are points in your favor and should be mentioned. If it’s a laptop, but has been used only at home, mention it has been used as a desktop. If you’ve never downloaded any software to the machine, say so. People may be concerned about potential computer viruses and spyware, so mention how you’ve protected it from those (e.g. “protected with Norton 360 consistently”).

Your ad body should include your price again, and whether that’s the asking price, or if it is firm (i.e. non-negotiable). If the price is significantly below the price of the same machine new, that’s in your favor - mention it. If you’re willing to answer questions, specify that as well (though when you email answers, your address will be visible to the person you’re replying to, so make sure you’re ok with that). If you only plan to accept cash in person, specify the words “cash and carry customers only.”

Finally, include all the specifications of the computer you’re offering for sale, plus any hardware that’s included (e.g. external hard drive, monitor, cables, etc.). Include the operating system version information too. Adding a link to an online review from PC Magazine, CNet, etc. that shows your computer model is highly rated is a good selling point.

Once the ad text is all done, take several good digital images of all sides of the computer and upload them to the ad. This is where a potential buyer gets to see if the machine really looks like new, or in mint condition, so do not use those terms unless they’re true. Your images should show all sides of the computer, as well as the screen showing the computer’s operating system information, and the hardware information.

Once you’re done, hit “continue” at the bottom of the page. Craigslist does not proof-read ads, so when the next screen shows you your ad, reread it and make sure it is exactly as you want. If not, click “edit” and correct as needed. If it is ok, click “continue” again.

The posting will expire after seven days automatically. If you have not received any serious queries in that time, your price point was most likely too high. Repost the ad with a lower price.