[hcayce]

>A big problem with casual selling on ebay is you don't know what you don't know until you've already been screwed.

Most of the big online sites (Paypal is the worst offender, but the others aren't much better) favor buyers over sellers. Amazon certainly works that way, and, as a result, I'm mostly use Craigslist to sell computers and cameras/lenses. I don't sell all that much stuff, though I do it for family members, but I'm familiar enough to have an opinion.

Craigslist has its own dangers, but those can be mitigated through meeting in public or in police station lobbies.

[fafner]

> or in police station lobbies

I've never used Craigslist. But is it really common or advised to meat with the buyer/seller in a police station lobby?

[vl]

Common thing for a large transaction is to meet in a bank.

[acedanger]

I've bought, and sold, many things via Craigslist. I funded a cross-country move by selling the things I couldn't fit into my truck and u-haul trailer using Craigslist.

Having said that, I dislike the meeting-up aspect of Craigslist. For all of the money I've "made" by selling my stuff through them, there have been countless times where the person on the other end of the phone never shows up and leaves me there waiting.

Overall, it's been a positive experience. I'll continue using them for the foreseeable future.

[jlgreco]

I think the standard method is coffee shops in the good part of town.

[toddn]

It wasn't the lobby, but I sold a motorcycle for cash in a police station parking lot.

[bduerst]

Man, how eBay has fought Craigslist tooth and nail over the years.

[micro-ram]

eBay now owns a stake in Craigslist

http://www.craigslist.org/about/press/ebay.stake

[tptacek]

It's a hostile stake, isn't it? They bought it from a former principle, and Craigslist has been trying to dilute the stake away.

[bduerst]

That's part of the drama - eBay opened Kijiji and craigslist fought to make eBay a non-controlling share.