Allow me to introduce you to my best buddy, Craig. He and I go a long way back. Well, at least all the way back to when our little family moved into our new, empty house 3 years ago.
But Mr. Craig and I are tight because the hubby and I would probably still be very furniture-less without him.
So it only seems right for me to pass on the GREATEST knowledge to beautifying your home on the cheap- 18 Craigslist shopping tips that will completely rock your world…
(Every single photo of our home in this post is of the furniture we’ve purchased from Craigslist, but I’ll give you the full tally of our scores at the end.)
1. Search Often
When we first moved into our house and had only 3 pieces of furniture, I made it my job to search on Craigslist every evening.
It sometimes takes weeks or even months for that perfect piece to come along, but by searching every day, you can be the first to snatch it up and snag an awesome deal. It took me 6 months to find the perfect coffee table but it was worth it. And it was only $50!
2. Sign up for alerts.
If you’re looking for a very specific item, you can save your search as an alert and be notified when it is added to the classifieds to get first dibs. The best deals are usually gone within minutes!

4. Use Gallery View and Select Image Only.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t bother with listings that don’t have a photo of the item. Setting my search to gallery view makes it so much easier to see what I’m looking for.


9. Win the seller’s favor.
Initially, send an e-mail to the seller asking if the item is available along with a tone indicating that you are eager to buy it.
I learned this trick by selling my own items on Craigslist. Sifting through a ton of e-mails is a hassle when you just want the hunk-a-junk item you have no use for out of your house. If someone has a million questions or wants to haggle with me on that initial e-mail, it’s an immediate turn-off. I’ll pick the buyer out of the pack that’s easiest to work with every time.




If you’re going to be a few minutes late, let them know. I’m a firm believer in what goes around, comes around. I’ll do my part to make someone’s day a little better by being proactive.


Antique Fireplace Mantel $100
Coffee Table $50
Dining Room Chairs $20 each
Living Room Bookcase $140
Entryway Bench $35
Pottery Barn Office Desk $180
Foyer Table $50
Mirror and Dresser $150
Dining Room Chandelier $20

We don’t have Craigslist here in England but do have Gumtree, Freecycle& of course EBay. Thanks for the tips my daughter & son in law are moving into their first house soon & hope to buy pre loved furniture & paint it. You have certainly bought some lovely items & given them a new lease of life. They look like they were meant to be in your home. I did laugh at you waving that knife around! Sort of thing I’d do!
Haha! I’ll never live that one down. I’m sure some of these tips could still apply to other directory sites. Hope it helps your daughter and son-in-law!
Lauren, girl you crack me up! I’m an original, born and raised Charlottean, living in Michigan. In some of your blogs you mention places I know well, and miss. I’m a momma, and you’re about my daughters age, so on some level I’m feeling proud of your hard work, beautiful ideas and your gracious and humble take on things. I always look forward to your emails.
Aw thank you so much, Tanya! That means so much to me!
Great tips! Thank you for sharing this helpful information! 🙂
Glad to share it! 🙂
How very generous to share your tips. Thank you.
Glad to!
Thank you so much for all the great tips! I might actually find something on Craigslist now.
Yay! I hope you do! Craigslist seems to pick up speed around this time of year with yard sales and spring cleaning happening.
Wonderful tips! Thank you so much for sharing. I LOVE your blog!
Thank you, Susan!
I love your blog. The information that you share seems to be right up my alley. I am unable to DIY many projects but love what you are doing to recycle and repurpose old furniture. We don’t live far apart but I am obviously not shopping where you are! You have a beautiful home.
Thank you, Nancy! The best stuff seems to be in the wealthier neighborhoods. 😉 It’s worth the drive for those big yard sales in the Myers Park / Ballantyne areas of Charlotte.
I also enjoyed your blog about Craigslist but it is scary…BUGS!!!! Of course I have heard about bedbugs but bedpost beatles!
It’s so creepy! Ahhhh! They’re not hard to spot though. You just have to look for those little clustered holes in the wood. You can Google to see it, but it’s pretty grody stuff.
Our city just announced the local police department parking lot can and should be used as a place for online exchanges like craigslist purchases, it’s under surveillance 24/7…I think all cities should do this!
That is a GREAT idea! I’ve heard of that before! I totally agree. That should happen in every city.
Hey Lauren:
Great Craig-list tips, especially about wiring money.
Our town uses the Walmart parking lot, but I like the police department parking lot concept better…I will definitely suggest it.
If you still have #10 – can it be saved with wood from a pallet? My hubby made the seat in ours from pallet wood….formatted just like your bench seat. Turned out great.
Some towns have started putting two designated parking spaces in the police department parking lot, and I think that is a GREAT idea! We just use the Walmart lot too. Sadly, our bench was too far gone for anything to save it. Maybe a professional woodworker could have worked some magic but it wasn’t going to be worth the cost. Our Plan B turned out to be even better though. 🙂
I love Craigslist and I’ve nabbed some wonderful treasures. But I do have one pet peeve. Only about one-third of sellers provide measurements! It just seems like common sense that buyers would need to know the dimensions of a piece of furniture, and it is a hassle to ask for this information only to find that a piece is not the right size. Extra work for the buyer and extra work for the seller. I’m sure many sellers lose out too when potential buyers misjudge the size as not right for them or just don’t want the hassle of sending an email. Okay, have always wanted to whine about that to someone who would understand. LOL Feel much better now. Thanks
Yes! That drives me crazy too. I wish sellers provided the dimensions more often. Unless I REALLY love the piece, I don’t even bother asking. Totally understand. 🙂
Hahaha! I’m still laughing at you waving the knife in the air like you just didn’t care. 🙂
Thank you for these tips! You inspired me to paint my kitchen table and chairs and I re-covered the seat cushions. I’m pretty proud of the end result and am looking forward to finding things I can bring back to life. 😀
Haha! I still can’t believe I did that. Poor guy. So glad your table and chairs worked out! I’d love to see a pic sometime!
Thanks for putting this together. I’ve always been a little nervous about searching on Craig’s list, but these tips are great for finding what you want. I guess safety is my biggest concern about buying stuff on CL. I will have to start searching and give it a try. The deals seem awesome.
Hope it helps, Christene! Definitely definitely go with a buddy… and by buddy, I mean a big strapping guy who can hold his ground. Haha! Really though, the safety thing is a big concern of mine too. The deals really are hard to beat.
Oh my, the whole waving the knife story made me laugh out loud. My husband and I found a tool chest in the local online classifieds. We went to pick it up and the house was in a nice part of town, but the vibe in the house was creepy. My husband was inspecting the tool chest and I look behind me and see the shadow of someone lurking in the next room. They just stood there. The house as under renovation, down to the studs kind of thing with a bare bulb betraying their presence. I was so spooked. It’s funny now.
Oh my gosh! That’s so creepy! I’m sure there are some weeeeeeeird/funny Craigslist stories out there.
Thanks for all the tips, you did a great job refinishing the pieces.
Thanks for all the tips, you did a great job refinishing all those pieces.
Thank you, Pamela! It’s been fun. 🙂
Awesome article!! I love Craigslist and learned so much from this post! Thanks!
Yay! Glad it helped, Melony!
One thing that has happened to me a couple times is I’ve said I want a piece and we have a day set up and the seller gives the piece to someone else! From now on I’m going to try to pick items up ASAP, or at least request they hold it for me.
That’s awful! I’ve never had that happen but I know others who experienced the same thing. That makes no sense at all to me. If a seller says they’ll hold it, they should hold it. So sorry you had to go through that. 🙁
One more tip. Beware of sellers who only post a “catalogue” picture. If a seller really owns the item, they should be able to photograph it in their home, garage or storage unit.
Yes! Totally agree. If they do only post a catalog picture, I usually ask for a picture of the real life item in an email.
Love this article!!! It can be intimidating trying to find great stuff on Craigslist! This was a very helpful post!
Yay! I loved everything about this post!! So helpful! Can you come with me next time, lol! I’m such a chick, since I have my daughter with me all the time, I am too scared to go somewhere in a home with her. Thanks so much for all the great info. And the bugs…ew. I’m itchy now 😉
Ugh! I know. Ew ew ew! I always take my husband with me. There are way too many Craigslist horror stories out there for me to ever go pick up anything without him.
I am still looking for a coffee table like yours, or similar. I need storage space like that.
I know Craig very well. I’m on there every morning. And many times during the day. I haven’t been to a seedy neighborhood (Lol) but one was close. It was one where everybody had broken cars in the driveways and on the grass and lots of junk in the yard. The houses were very small prefab trailer-looking and very close. The street was half as wide as a regular street. A few big dogs were running lose. Barking. Good thing I am a pup lover extraordinaire. I was not there in the dark but was like YIKES! Hahaha
I usually go during the day. I won’t go to Camden, NJ at all. (One of the worst cities in the USA) I am familiar with it but it is really bad there. Some areas there are so much worse and I don’t know where is worse these days. It’s one thing to go to a store there. But to somebody’s HOUSE, no way.
I tend to go for FREE things these days. I also tell the seller I can come ASAP. And I let them know if I live close (if they post the town). That can make a difference. Sometimes I am looking for things for people I know , like baby stuff. If u appeal to their heart they may pick u even tho someone else emailed for that item.
Remember. If u get free stuff and donate it u can write off the donation on ur taxes. I don’t work so I like to do that to help out if I see something in good shape. Baby stuff is always something my thrift stores take. And of course clothes and household stuff. I have donated bikes and scooters from CL at Christmas time. Now if I had the truck available during the day I would be picking up furniture and donating that to a local Habitat store. But hubby is now driving the truck to work so scratch that. For now. Lol
I got a free quincinerra dress from CL. Why not? It was free and close by. I am now giving it to a teen I know for her military ball. My friend and I will alter it. That is, if she likes it. If not it’s going to the high school drama teacher. It would be a great Beauty and the Beast dress! The thing was hand sewn and must have cost hundreds!
These are fantastic tips and I’m definitely going to try them out! I have been shopping the online garage sales on Facebook in my area a lot lately and recently scored a large mirror – 6′ x 3′ for $50! Most mirrors that were half this size were much more expensive so I was over the moon when I found this one! I’m putting it up in my living room. It has gorgeous detailing and just needs a fresh coat of paint. I was so excited over this find it’s got me eager to find more great finds that I need/want for my house. Thanks for sharing your tips!!
I have been shopping and selling on Craig’s list for years and I have met some of the nicest people and found some beautiful things. I never realized you could set an alert for items. Thank you for the tip.
I always end the post with SERIOUS inquiries only. Please leave a call back number so I know you are not a scammer.