How to Stage a Real-Life Craigslist Roundup

Twice a week here I showcase the fantastic bargains you can find via virtual classifieds. Rarely do I myself purchase them. However last week Jem moved back to Milwaukee to complete his Masters and found himself — and his roommate — with no furniture.

Train your eye to look past the fuzziness, the awful color,
to the real bones of the furniture in Craigslist ads.

Among other things, they need:

• 2 dressers
• a couch
• dining chairs (to match the steel desk I got last week for $14 — currently being used as dining table)
• sitting chairs

While this type of dilemma usually drives people to, say, The Room Place, I took a different approach. Something I’ve never done before, but totally pulled off, and am now going to show you how to do, in 10 easy steps.

The Real-Life Craigslist Roundup

How to furnish an entire apartment on Craigslist…. in one day.

1. Identify Your Needs. Make a list of the major furnishings you need: couches, tables, beds, dressers, desks. You can see our list above.

2. Scour Craigslist. Vigilantly check Craigslist in your area to jump on the best deals. You can use these tips to set up an RSS feed if you like. I just started obsessing, searching “mid-century” every 45 minutes on the Milwaukee Craigslist.

Learn to filter your searches. Try a search for “vintage”
with a max price of $50. Try again with “dresser” and a max price of $100.
You’ll start to see different ads pop out at you. This is how you
find the gems.

3. Pick Your Day. You’re doing this all on one day, remember. So pick a day where you have at least 8 hours to devote to schlepping.

4. Arrange for Transportation. If you don’t have a van or truck, ask a friend who does. Make sure that friend is aware of the massive amount of driving and lifting that will be involved in this ordeal. Once our friend realized what we were planning, we decided to rent a truck.

I bet if someone keeps it in their garage, you can bargain on it.

5. Identify Ads of Interest and Inquire. Email the owners. Pick a big window of time to ask if they’re available. A good first email goes something like, “Hi — I saw your ad on Craigslist and am interested in your dresser if it is still available. We have a van available on Saturday and would love to pick it up sometime between 11am and 4pm. Would that work for you?” Short, informative, polite, big time window.

6. Wait For Responses, Confirm or Reject. As responses filter in, confirm the ones that fit your schedule and weed out the ones that don’t (too far, wrong time). Of course, be polite to anyone you turn down or can’t connect with — thank them for their time.

7. Map & Schedule. Take the confirmations/appointments you’ve made, get the addresses (and cell phone numbers!) from the owners, map them out, then re-email the owners with more specific times based on the map. Once they confirm, print out map directions from one house to the other. On the map of each destination, write the name of the Craigslist listing, the price, the name of the person and their phone number.

Watch out for pictures turned sideways — people tend
to skip over them, but often, they’re fine pieces of furniture.

8. Go to the Bank. You’ll need exact change for each transaction. You may want to separate your cash for each exchange into a different labeled envelope to avoid confusion.

9. Call Your Appointment in the Morning. Let everyone know you’ll be calling them to confirm in the morning. Then, do so. Confirm the time, address and price when you call. Believe me, you’ll be happy you did.

10. Be Safe, and Have Fun! Uh, yeah — that’s pretty much it!

Stay tuned for pictures from our OWN Craigslist Roundup!