Hey guys, I need help with a craigslist ad. I've never made one before, and I wanted to know if this looks good to you. And for any mods out there, this is NOT me advertising on d2jsp. I'm simply looking for advice on making a good ad on craigslist. I have pictures of the kit but I thought it would be pointless to post them here. Here's what I wrote:

Up for sale is a 6-piece Pearl Export series shell pack. The kit comes with the following drum sizes(diameter/depth in inches):

12x9 rack tom
13x11 rack tom
14x12 rack tom
16x16 floor tom
22x18 kick drum
14x5 snare drum
14x5 Ludwig Rocker snare (see description)

History:

The Pearl Export series drums are the most popular discontinued drum set of the world. More than one million of these kits were made, which seriously says something about their quality and reputation. These drums have lasted me about 6 years(since late 04) and I expect them to last many more if cared for. During construction, these shells are heat compressed to ensure perfect roundness and strength. These shells are made of poplar.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearl_Drums#Discontinued

Description:

These drums sport a red wine sparkle/black hardware setup. The finish is called a "finishply", which simply put is a wrapping of plastic that covers and protects the wooden shell underneath.
The Pearl snare drum's throw off is broken, but it can be replaced. Also to make up for that, I'm also throwing in a Ludwig Rocker snare drum, with a brand new Evans G1 coated batter snare head. It's a metal 14x5 snare drum and comes with a hardshell plastic carrying case! (a new one costs 140ish WITHOUT the case!) These drums have seen some use, but function well. (except for the broken throw off) No tension rods are missing, the Pearl ISS(Isolated Suspension System) tom mounts are all present and functional. Two of the floor tom legs are missing their rubber feet, but the drum will stand none the less. The heads clearly show usage. This is a very reasonable price; 7 drums at less than 45$ each.

Please note: this does NOT come with hardware. The only hardware included are the three (3) Pearl ISS tom mounts, and 3 Pearl style tom holders, and the 3 floor tom legs.

Additional notes:
-Don't hesitate to email me with any questions you may have about this ad!
-Pickup only, unless you live nearby I'll drive it to you if you give me some gas money, depending how far(no more than 40 miles)

Lot's of pictures


Include EVERY detail/flaw...people will not want to drive out and find something they dislike

Pictures of obvious flaws

Don't offer to drive. People are shady as fuck. Make them come to your place or make them meet you in a public place and bring friends.

Include a very thorough history....when/where you bought it, any changes made to the set (heads, etc)


be very thorough with price, but also throw in that you might be willing to negotiate, and list any trades if you would like any

find similar kits on craigs/eeebay and if you do beat their price vs quality then make sure to let people know its a good deal.



that should be a good checklist

This post was edited by Eep on Oct 6 2010 06:04pm

Thanks, I'll be sure to make those changes

If you ask me, you put way too much information. People do not want to sit and read through a long ad like that (in my opinion) - at least I wouldn't want to.
No need to put the history part, make sure you are clear about any flaws in the drums, but you really don't need to go all out like that. Definitely a picture of the whole set for good measure.

From a seller's point of view, you are making your posting confusing to your target buyer. Basically, there are a lot of non-musicians who randomly one day decide "I want to play drums it will be easy I am teh pwnzor I going 2 craiglist naow!" so they go look on craigslist and type in drumset. If they see all of that specific information about the drums, it will turn them off. They want a posting that just says "Drumset at an amazing price" without doing any research on drums at all o.O That's not to say that the ONLY people who buy instruments from craigslist are n00bs, but I would say a large number of the people who buy instruments are not serious musicians. Now you want to put just enough information to keep the real musicians interested, but if they really need more information, they will email you and ask for specifics. You can even say at the bottom if you have any questions just email. (As I can see you already had at the bottom). Good luck selling.

-Craigslist Pro

This post was edited by PSPZorZ on Oct 6 2010 11:20pm

You're right, I never considered that many non-musicians just randomly decide to pick up an instrument. I guess I'll have to "dumb it down" some. Thanks!

I've gotten a reply from someone but I suspect it's a scam from some douche. The broken English, the need for him to do this transaction quickly, overall sketchiness, etc. What do you guys think? Here's our emails as of so far. I'll bold what he says and italicize what I say:

Hello,
I am interested in purchasing your item for the church, but before i go further i`ll like to know if i am dealing directly with the owner, and what is the asking price ?Hope to read back from you soon.



God bless you
Rev Dir. Joe William.
The Youth Pastor

Hello, thanks for e-mailing. Yes, I am the owner of these drums (the first and only owner actually). I am asking 300 for all 7 drums, the accompanying hard-wear and the snare case.

Thanks for the prompt i appreciate it, i`m satisfied that you are the owner, we are actually in need of this particular .. moreso, do you have the certificate of ownership with you? if yes i will like us to discuss about the payment and the pick up now. We are paying you with a check and for the pick up, are you going to make available a mover to bring it down to our church or we should make arrangement with a picker to come for the pick up.
OK, if that is the case we would quickly make arrangement with a reliable picker to come for the pick up , but that would be done after the clearance of the check we are sending to you.Kindly let us know what full name and address to whom the check would be remitted to,also send along a direct contact tel number we can reach you to, for further informations.
Thanks for your understanding and hope to have a successful transaction with you.

Hi, thanks for your interest in my drums. Though it is possible I have the receipt somewhere, I doubt I will be able to find it. I understand your wanting to know how old the drumset is, and it is possible to get the approximate age of it by searching what models of the Pearl Export series came in red finishply and black hardware, should I not be able to find the receipt.

I would greatly prefer cash, though a check would be all right should you agree to the transfer of the drums after the check clears. Where is your church anyway? If it's not too far I could deliver it myself. If you'd give me the name and phone number of the church I'll contact you myself and we can make arrangements from there.

Hello ,
Thanks for your reply and that okay by me.I will wait until the check clears ,'ll instruct my secretary to issue out the payment alongside with other payments because I got several items am buying so my secretary will be issuing out various payments out i will get back to you immediately yours is sent out. ,i want you to remove off the add from www.craigslist.com so email your full name, home address, city,State and phone #.
Deposit the check ,the funds will be available within 24-48hrs so you can withdraw your money because i urgently need the item so i want you to get it ready and available immediately after you cashed the payment for my mover to come for pick up.I will notify you the payment tracking # so please kindly get back to me immediately after you received the payment.


Church Address
Crossings Community Church
514 Walden View Dr
Sanford,
FL 32771

Sincerely Regards
GOD BLESS YOU

Actually, I'm sorry. I've reconsidered. I will stick by my decision to only accept cash. A check will be unacceptable.

This post was edited by Ghost_Smoke on Oct 8 2010 06:32pm

tl;dr

that is absolutely a scam, I deal on craigslist a lot

yeah just try to deal in cash. out of all my deals, no one ever suggested anything but cash