Make Money on Craigslist Using Innovative Craigslist Investments

Before we start let me explain the details of this experiment. I am planning on showing you how a college student, who takes 15 hours in college, will optimistically make over $1,000 in 7 days. This plan will depend on innovative techniques used exclusively on craigslist.org. The experiment will start with a single $100 bill to invest in different profitable opportunities that I describe in more depth later in this article. Throughout my experiment I will keep a detailed log of my progress that will keep readers up to date. The purpose of this article is to help others, with the same entrepreneurial spirit I have, learn several aspects of what it takes to make it in the world of business.

August 1, 2007

The first day is the most important day throughout this entire process. Making my first investment will set the pace for the entire month, because of this I will be very careful and pick the perfect opportunity. I usually start the days I am going Craigslist hunting around 8 or 9 AM. Timing is crucial on Craigslist and if you're going to find the best deals you need to be one of the first people to see them. So don't be lazy you'll have plenty of time to sleep next month when your partying and spending your $1,000. Waking up at 8 AM my first day seemed reasonable so I was on Craigslist about 8:30. It doesn't take long until I spot my first lead and it will come easier to you with practice. I want to make sure I am the first person to contact the seller so I don't e-mail him I go straight to the cell phone number he left as his contact info. This is one technique an avid Craigslister will learn to use to his/her advantage very quickly. After talking to the guy on the phone I managed to get a great deal on my first item and I think I'll be able to make a substantial profit in the very near future. The item was listed for $300 and after applying some of the strategies I have learned with my experience on Craigslist I was able to get the item for $100.

Once I have implemented some of the techniques I will discus later, I am able to turn this investment around for an incredible 400% ROI (return on investment). Remember this item was listed at $300 but the deal I was able to get turned this good opportunity into a great investment. It's no coincidence every great investment starts with great negotiating. This is a great start to my month and on day two I will be able to do some real work and hopefully make some big money.

August 2-3, 2007

This first few days I am focusing on one of many techniques I will use this week to make what I like to call Craigslist Capital, a.k.a. cash, money, cream,
ECT… It's the new craze sweeping America know as "flipping" or in other words buying, fixing, then selling for a profit. Later I will go into more detail about the specific techniques I use too turn buying things on Craigslist into a quick profit. Some of the methods I use involve very little work, but the systems I generally use to make the big cash take either hard work or the knowledge you will gain from this website.

Day two I wake up with the $400 I made yesterday burning in my pocket. This money is dying to double or even triple in the next couple days. There is a certain sensation that comes over someone when they have the perfect combination of confidence and ambition in a business environment. Having an optimistic attitude, in not only business but life as a whole, will greatly increase your chances of success. This month a plan on being as confident and ambitious as possible so I don't let anyone down including myself.

Like most mornings this month the first thing I do is hop on Craigslist and start mining my next deals. After a few weeks of searching Craigslist classifieds you will be able to pick out potential leads much quicker and be able to dodge the time wasting garbage more accurately. Efficiency plays a big role in any business and this months experiment will be no exception. Cutting down on the time a spend searching for bargains will leave me more time to monetize each investment.

With two hours down I have made significant head way. While looking for investment opportunities I came across fifteen potential deals. Quickly I called all of the sellers that left contact numbers and e-mailed the rest. I plan on using the second and third day to build a small inventory I plan on selling in the next few days for a large profit. I focus on buying things in sets. I find it much more profitable to buy in sets and sell individually, which I explain much deeper in Mining Craigslist for Hidden Wealth.

Once days two and three had come to an end ten out of the fifteen deals, previously inquired about, were mine. Some items were in sets and some were bought individually. Below are some pictures of one of the best deals I made. I spent all $400 and paid only $75 for the three pieces pictured below. I stand to make a huge profit these next few days and I will be a lot closer to my $1,000 goal very soon!

August 4, 2007

Alright it's the fourth day now and I'm going to give you an update on my race to $1,000. As you know on the second and third days I spent my entire $400 on Craigslist investments. Although Craigslist is loaded with great deals, you cannot let your guard down and become vulnerable to dishonest sellers. Make sure you are buying what is pictured in the online ad and that you are at least a little skeptical going into any deal. I bought a total of ten items, three in the picture above and luckily there were no problems. The pictures above show three pieces of furniture I managed to bargain my way into owning for only $75. Like anything else experience will make bargaining easier and after a while you'll be able to do it without even thinking about it. In addition to the three pieces pictured above, I also bought a couch, dresser, coffee table and 4 items under the electronics section. The only way I'm going to make it to $1,000 is if I find the absolute best deals on Craigslist. Then I will need to implement additional techniques for the second part of the investment, explained later in my experiment.

The fourth day I spent preparing my investments for the market place. There are hundreds of places to resell your items for profit and you'll have to be a little creative to get your best possible deal. Craigslist is a great place to sell your items, but you might not be able to find the best possible buyer for your investment. Although Craigslist might not fetch you the perfect sale price, it is free so it should be the first place you list your products. I put four of the ten items I've purchased up for sale on multiple market places and will try to get the rest of the items ready for the market by tomorrow.

August 5, 2007

Day five starts and four of the ten items have been on sale over night. I have received significant offers on three of the items and I plan on accepting. These three sales net me $375 and there are still seven more items left to sell. Over the years I have uncovered several techniques for getting my full asking price and offering delivery is just one of the many ideas I will be using this month. After doing just a little hard work, I put four more items up for sale by this afternoon including the three pieces of furniture I bought in the set.

With three items sold and five on the market I'm ready to focus on my bigger investments. In the next few hours I plan on implementing some huge investment tactics on the couch and dresser I bought earlier, the only two items left to prepare for selling. Couches and other upholstered items have huge potential on Craigslist. Sellers assume nobody will want a torn couch so they sell them at ridiculously low prices, and sometimes just give them away. Always check the free section for the lowest risk investments, no risk! The couch and dresser will take me a couple of days to finish, but in the end you will see why it's worth it. The other five items on sale should be sold in the next few days and if I see any great deals in between now and then I can use the $475 from previous investments.

August 6, 2007

Now on only the sixth day I'm ready to break into the $1000 profit zone. After a day of hard work the couch and dresser are finally ready to make me some big bucks. The entire process only took twelve hours and I plan on making a few hundred dollars off of each item. Four of the five items I had on the market have sold and been picked up. The last item may or may not sell but I'm not too worried. If your item doesn't sell in the first couple days there is no reason to panic. Your safety net will always be Craigslist, where you can keep your products on sale for as long as it takes. I spent $200 on these five items and ended up grossing $745, and I still have that one stubborn item on the market. These 5 days have brought my bank account up to $1220 with three items, two very profitable, still on the market. I end day five with these three items still up for sale and hope to wake up to three very enjoyable e-mails.

August 7, 2007

Two out of three isn't to bad is it? This morning I opened my mailbox and saw to very pleasant e-mails. The dresser and couch have both sold for my asking price! On Craigslist or any other site you sell on remember to price your products competitively. Make sure you check out the competition and combine their price with a price you think a member of your target market would pay. Over pricing is one of the most common mistakes when selling goods. Your buyer will be automatically turned off when he/she sees an outrageous price.

With all but one of my items sold I am going to take a much needed break. I'm going to admit this stuff is not easy. I've been working my ass off this past week, but the money I can make in one hard working week is well worth it. The first thousand is always the hardest part. This is the stage where you're building your bankroll to invest in even more lucrative opportunities. Once you get rolling you'll never want to stop and soon there will be more money in your bank account then you know what to do with. Below is a graph of all the things I sold this week and exactly how my money grew.

Item	Bought For	Repairs	Sold For	Profit
Couch	$65	$35	$350	$250
Dresser	$60	$20	$200	$120