Having trouble selling items

Im having a lot of trouble selling on CL. My pops keeps telling me to be patient and in due time tjings will sell in a month or so. I just keep telling him if I dont sell the items fast I cant get another locker and all im doing is losing money. What should I do to get items moving faster. I just lowered,the price on most everything by about 40%-50%. Anything else I can do. I already made my money back on the unit also? Should I lower it more and lose more profit just so I can get money to buy another lkr or what should I do. Any help would be great thanks.

How are the pictures that you are using?  I take advantage of using the 4 images craigslist allows me to use per ad.  I really figured out how to use my camera a few months ago.  I never could zoom in on lets say a coin without it being blurry.  Tried all kinds of different tricks with the camera and finally can zoom in really good on small items to get real good pictures.

Second I like to stage my "items" as scammers like to call them.  A nice antique table I shine up really good with furniture polish, throw it in the corner of my living room and set an older looking lamp on it.  I try to make them visualize how it would look in that corner of there house where they are needing a table and lamp.

Third is LIE!!!  haha.  I sometimes tell them I just purchased the item such as a foosball table for $100 at a rummage sale last weekend but it doesn't fit down my basement where I wanted it.  First $75 takes it.

If all else fails try barter.  I sell things on ebay and know little electronics like ipods and whatnot sell for a decent price.  Trade that $75 foosball table for an easy $60 ipod and sell it on ebay where I know it will sell.  Throw on your craigslist ad will trade for the following: ipod, ps3 game(s),  nice watch, etc.

And if none of that works or if you do all that and it still doesn't sell you just might not be doing anything wrong and the economy in your area is just plain crap and noone is buying unless it's tax time from Uncle Sam where they have an extra $1000 to spend.   ~BURP~

Oh I am adding that the weekend is where I get alot of emails on my "items" when people are off of work and able to surf the world wide web.  Be sure to repost your items so they are on the top of the lists for Friday night.

Economy is bad everywhere, some areas more so than others. And I second that part on the liening. I usually lie all the time, saying that I just cant use it no more, or it belong to such and such in the family that just passed away or is hospitilized. It is very rare that I will admit that I bought them in an auction.

I usually use as many of the pic postings I can on CL. I do live in michigan where people dont have much money. Mostly what im trying to sell is tools some electronics like a fluke meter and credit card machine. I cant even get a bite on those not even spam lol. The road cones and the holloween items are sold though they were dirt cheap.
  I can lie but I dont like to I just dont say anything unless they ask and so far no ones asked.

I repost every couple days in 3-4 different areas. Tomorrow when I go to use the free wifi at mcdonalds I will post in the barter and also try to sell it as a lot also. And maybe also ebay.

I know it pays to be patient buying lockers... But does it pay to be patient selling items or should I just keep trying to sell it everywhere or just master one thing before I move to another area for selling?

I am also having a problem moving stuff on Craigslist. Starting in about April, the responses to myads have dropped to almost nothing. I was wondering if it might have something to do with the new easier way they allow you to relist the items since that is about when they started it. I was thinking since it is so easy to relist now, maybe my items were getting pushed down in the listings faster than they used to be.
I just don't have an explanation. I am selling the same type of items (furniture mostly) and I have them priced 40% lower than I did before and I don't get any responses from the ads.
I was selling two or three items a week before April. Now I am not selling more than 1 a month.
Has anyone else seen a turndown n responses on CL since the new format was put n for relisting?

I know where im from when I repost items they dont get pushed down as not many people post things till I get to the really big cities then they get pushed down two or three pages a day.

@westgabargains,

Summertime is always the slow season for selling furniture, and this year has been worse because of the economy. Consumer sentiment was way down in June & July. Things should start to turn around after labor day weekend and into the fall when the weather starts to change.

@terrowbow,

Keep moving forward and go to the auctions, you will continue to learn through other buyers, personal research, inspiration, how to sell those rare items that seem difficult to move. My advice is if it is taking up a lot of space and you have made your money back, then just give it away or junk it. I like giving things away that are hard to sell because I can get little nuggets of information from the people who pick up the item as to "what exactly do I have", "what do people do with it", & "what other places I should be advertising this item for sale other then Craigslist or Ebay".

Thanks for the advice. Hopefully, I will see it pick up after labor day as I really can't afford to drop the prices any more than I already have unless I just take the loss and move on. A year ago, I would have done that but buying replacement units has gotten so expensive I just can't see making up the loss with the next unit.

some items i am selling for as cheap as possible like the ac unit miter saw and other items but others like the electronics i am just now as i write this posting them on ebay to see what happens and since it is free listings i can post as many as i can. but then other items like the toolbox and other tools i am trying to sell them for what a little under what there worth but still with no luck.

and you know its kind of hard to go to auctions with no money and specially since my vehicle is on empty i cant get to the auctions even to just look. but hopefully i will make the money back here in a few days.

One of the tricks I use on CL is inflating my price sometimes when I know I have a strong chance on getting talked down(just sold some rims and tires and got talked down $50 on a quick sale),and I also bundle items.  Say I have an old NES, Old Sega, and a boat anchor computer, I will bundle items to garner more interest.

Also, use the Keyword BS everyone uses.  Learning alot from people who do good sales on Cl and they do the best when you keyword your post.  Like if your selling a used laptop try keyword like DVD player, Itunes, Microsoft, Vista, and so on and so forth.  This way you you have expanded your search area from just plain jane computer to like 30 or 40 different words that will be seen in a search.

One of the tricks I use on CL is inflating my price sometimes when I know I have a strong chance on getting talked down(just sold some rims and tires and got talked down $50 on a quick sale),and I also bundle items.  Say I have an old NES, Old Sega, and a boat anchor computer, I will bundle items to garner more interest.

Also, use the Keyword BS everyone uses.  Learning alot from people who do good sales on Cl and they do the best when you keyword your post.  Like if your selling a used laptop try keyword like DVD player, Itunes, Microsoft, Vista, and so on and so forth.  This way you you have expanded your search area from just plain jane computer to like 30 or 40 different words that will be seen in a search.

mmm, maybe I should try the keywords out. Great tip.

Well today this guy came and looked at the craftsman tool box with tools galore. He offered me 100 less than I wanted cause the box has some rough spots on it. Forget that its only listed at 250. He said that hes buying it for some lady that is a hobbiest and she is putting it in her front room so it has to look really good. So I figured I would completely restore the box by sandblasting the whole thing use my body repair kit and get rid of all the dents paint it all black with my air painter clean all the tools making them shiny and.putting new padding in the drawers then raising the price to 400... Should I or should I just leave it as I got it and hope for the best? It would only take time and a few dollars as I only need paint and padding. Any input from anyone would be great as ive already lowered prices for the weekend and flea market is on monday morning where I hope to be selling all my things.

 Good idea acman with the keywords I will try adding more and see if that works.

Well today this guy came and looked at the craftsman tool box with tools galore. He offered me 100 less than I wanted cause the box has some rough spots on it. Forget that its only listed at 250. He said that hes buying it for some lady that is a hobbiest and she is putting it in her front room so it has to look really good. So I figured I would completely restore the box by sandblasting the whole thing use my body repair kit and get rid of all the dents paint it all black with my air painter clean all the tools making them shiny and.putting new padding in the drawers then raising the price to 400... Should I or should I just leave it as I got it and hope for the best? It would only take time and a few dollars as I only need paint and padding. Any input from anyone would be great as ive already lowered prices for the weekend and flea market is on monday morning where I hope to be selling all my things.

 Good idea acman with the keywords I will try adding more and see if that works.

This really depends on the kind of tool box, the condition it is in now, and the amount of tools, brand and quality of tools that are in the box. You will always find people that will come and then offer you quite a bit less. And its not always worth trying to restore something. So first do the research and see what the value is for the box irtself brand new, cut the price in half. Add up the value of the tools. If power tools cut it in half, hand tools take two thirds of the price off, and air tools take only one third off. Add all this up. then add to it, for wiggle room when people want to haggle the price.

Keep in mind, alot of professionals are not really buying tools like they use to.

Craftsman toolbox mostly craftsman tools impact gun with impact sockets some specialty tools. I figured it new to be between 700-900 dollars and only asking 250 now completely cleaned up lookin like new box could easily go for 150 itself. Tools easily get another 100 just for craftsman and another 150 for the rest in a perfevt world hehe. But will put a few hours into it and see how it goes.

Craftsman toolbox mostly craftsman tools impact gun with impact sockets some specialty tools. I figured it new to be between 700-900 dollars and only asking 250 now completely cleaned up lookin like new box could easily go for 150 itself. Tools easily get another 100 just for craftsman and another 150 for the rest in a perfevt world hehe. But will put a few hours into it and see how it goes.

Well given that, they are already getting the tools at a steal. Keep listing them as they are, or better yet, list them for $300, that way they can feel good about themselves when they haggle you donw $50 on already a great steal.