My new $40 bike from Craigslist

I’m sure you’ve heard the old adage about Craigslist:

Sometimes you can find really good stuff for cheaps. And sometimes you get murdered by a hooker.

Well, readers, my luck has been the former these last few weeks. I managed to score both a replacement for my recently-stolen bicycle and an apartment to sublease in D.C. this fall.

Craigslist requires some curious strategizing. To get the best deals, you really can’t take your time and make the wise comparisons that usually go into smart buying. Rather, it’s sort of like playing Hungry Hungry Hippos. You’ve just got to clamp down wildly and try to grab the marble before the next person gets there with their pickup truck or deposit.

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Plus, buying on Craigslist involves a delicate courtship dance of buyer and seller convincing each other that neither is a creep or scammer and that both sincerely intend to go forward with the transaction.

Since you can’t really hem and haw on the back end of the deal, do some searching up front. Read product reviews online and see if there is a certain brand that would meet your needs in particular. Check the page frequently for new ads and set up a concrete time to look at the item so you’ve got first refusal. This way, you can be ready to hand over the cash and take the item off the sellers hands right away, after a good once-over.

If you like the item you’ve gone to see, negotiate. I got the seller last week to knock $10 off the list price off my bike just by asking if he’d take less. It might not seem like much, but the money I saved covered the new rear brake installation the bike needed. This is especially true if the item has been listed a few days or is not in high demand. Lots of sellers are almost as interested in not having to store their old junk than they are in turning a huge profit.

And of course, just be smart. If you go to the meeting and something seems off, don’t feel pressured into taking the item. If you’ve scrutinized the posting and photos before you make a visit, you should have a pretty good idea of what to expect. Ask the seller why he’s getting rid of the item and take as long as you need to check it over. And of course, it never hurts to type the seller’s name into Google. You can bet they’re probably googling you too!