Dealers Cluttering Up Craigslist?

Dealers Cluttering Up Craigslist?

August 10, 2009
Industry News & Alerts

Are furniture dealers muddling up Craigs List making it harder for shoppers to find good deals, cheap prices, or even free stuff? Sure I too don’t like it when resale shops swoop in and buy up deals and free stuff and turn around and sell the item for a profit. However this is America and the savvy consumer can beat these hawks at their own game with a little practice. Besides that resale shops are not the only dealers on CL. To ban dealers would cost consumers more than they might realize.

Many believe that social media should be free and that it gives the little guy a way to fight back against the rising costs of goods and allow them to avoid the big conglomerates. We too have also heard the arguments concerning dealers on Craig’s List. However Craig’s List is even more relevant today than ever because a little guy furniture store can fight back against the big conglomerates like Ashley Furniture, Mattress Giant, and Macy’s. I know for a fact that a small mom pop, 2-man company like STL Beds meets the very criteria that so many believe Craig’s List was designed for. With that said I think CL is much more than that and I think its developer would never have envisioned it to be stagnating, non-progressive, and user-unfriendly.

Craig’s List saw the evolution, the progress, and took the necessary steps forward, by making CL easier to use. For example they asked posters to identify whether or not the item is being sold… “Furniture By Owner” or “Furniture By Dealer”.

You do not have to sort through postings by dealers that get lumped together into one category such as the heading “Furniture”. That single heading collects both dealers and individuals in one category. Then the shopper can simply type the item they are looking for like “Dresser” in the “Search For” box and then click on the drop down arrow and select the “Furniture- By Owner” option. It’s that easy.

People need to know that dealers like STL Beds gives Craig’s List shoppers great deals that can only be received by mentioning Craig’s List or printing out the ad or coupon. It is true not everyone wants to purchase yard sale or garage sale items and many folks are apprehensive about buying someone else’s problems or junk. Some on today’s savvy shoppers who like to buy new unused items for the cheapest price know CL is the answer. By shopping on CL buyers lower the overhead at stores like STLBeds, which is the cost of doing business. It does this by virtually eliminating the stores advertising costs always get passed on to the customer. Stores like STLBeds have virtually no expensive advertising expenses, therefore the consumer has no added cost to the items they want to buy. Here in the USA we call it Social Media and we do not want it to become “socialized”. I am a huge fan of Social Media and don’t want it to start being regulated by people who fear progressive change.