ebay versus craigslist

I've rarely sold on either. My big experience was selling the Stalker which craigslist goose-egged while ebay worked out quite nicely. Now I've got a 2000 Miata with a blown motor which may be too nice to salvage, but..... What say folks about doing a partial part-out on ebay? The attraction of ebay is that presumably one doesn't have as many flakes to contend with. I find it entirely unappealing to deal with the massive number of yahoos that typify that venue. OTOH shipping a bunch of stuff is no picnic either.

Feedback?

IME you'll get slightly fewer flakes on ebay and the market for used parts tends to be bigger unless you're in a big metro area with a Miata problem.

You do get flaky buyers on either and you'll occasionally run into the ebay flake that will try to use the threat of bad feedback to try and extort something from you.

$2015 classifieds FTW

I generally don't have a problem with craigslist. I've never felt comfortable with ebay; don't know why.

Go to ebay if your item needs national attention in order to attract a buyer (unique item or limited market.)
Go to CL if less national attention is needed.

Your profile says Oakland, CA so you are in a major market. For a Miata, I would try the free CL first.

It really comes down to audience too. If I'm selling a pretty common item that has a big market locally, Craigslist all the way. If it's something more specialized that I feel I need the national/global reach to move then I'll take the his on Ebay.

I'd do both. Craigslist is free, you've already taken the photos, put up ads on both. If craigslist gets too annoying, take the ad back down.

I stick to CL for cookie-cutter, vanilla stuff. I go to ebay if I'm selling something that someone might really be looking for. CL has a lot of pretty accurately priced stuff for its market. There are always the idiots who think they have a gold mine but you just ignore them.

For instance, I sold these on CL:
03 Dodge Dakota
95 Caprice Wagon
97 E350 van

But I sold these on Ebay:
99 Mercedes E300 (last year of the good turbo diesel)
03 GMC Sonoma (low mileage and had the desirable ZQ8 package)
73 Impala Station wagon (super low mileage, 454, AC)

All of the Ebay cars were things that people would possibly be willing to travel larger distances to snag, and it paid off. I had a guy fly in to Austin from Phoenix to get the Merc, and the guy who bought the 73 Impala paid to have it shipped from L.A. to upstate NY.

Having been burned by paypal, more than once, I rarely do the ebay thing. Cash on the barrel head is the way I generally roll, and craigslist and that type work better for this.

I've had lots of time wasted by ebay flakes, especially when they eliminated the ability of sellers to give negative feedback or knock out troll bidders. Every bit as bad as the no-shows from craigslist.

I'm pretty clear and adamant to any and all potential buyers. Until the cash hits my hand, the item is for sale. I don't care how much you swear you'll be here by next week. Cash talks, hot air walks.

I've used both, but generally prefer Ebay. I've had too many flaky craigslisters who show up an hour later, low ball you, and walk away. Ebay is clean and smooth and I've never had a problem (ok, I did once, but that was my own ineptitude and not the fault of the service). That being said, I prefer buying on craigslist. I like to meet the dude before I buy something, especially big ticket items.

Aside from my own biases, I'll echo what others have said: unique/rare things or unique/rare things relative to the market should go to Ebay. Common every day items do well on c-list.

Haven't really sold anything on ebay but I find CL to be a royal pain in the ass usually. Too many flakes and lowballers. I've had some of these idiots email me an insulting offer multiple times sometimes days or hours apart. I finally got fed up enough once when I was selling some wheels to tell the guy that I would drive TO HIM the next day 1.5 hrs away for an extra $40 just to insure that the damn deal got done and it didn't allow him the chance to flake and not follow through a week or two later.

IMO if you have an item like a used car, wheels, or tires that have a broad appeal then it's an easier sale on CL. But if you have something super specific like suspensions parts for an NA miata, then your audience narrows quite a bit and ebay makes more sense.