Because we don’t have the actual data, since Craigslist.com's transactions take place offline, we have no way to know if the average prices are above or below what you would find on eBay. Our educated guess is that they are below, which presents a challenge for resale, if you are planning to resell items directly on Craigslist.

The reason we think the average prices are lower than eBay is because in the auction model, there is competitive bidding, which is in most cases known to all the bidders, so the competition drives the price. While it’s true that a Craigslist.com classified can get many responses, the prospective buyer has no way to know that. Plus, people tend to low ball, in other words offer a very low price just to see if they can steal something.

On the other hand, you don’t have the fees associated with an eBay listing, so you don’t have much to lose by trying a free Craigslist.com classified to sell your item. Who knows, maybe with patience, you can get a good price for it.

We mentioned before that you need to know market pricing for items and we are saying it again because it is key to finding bargains. To learn what the market value for an item is, you need to do comparison shopping, online and offline. Consult with price guides, like Kelly Blue Book for cars, when applicable. Use sites like Amazon.com, froogle.com, and ebay.com to research market prices. The more informed you are about pricing, the more knowledge you will put behind your buying strategies, which will lead you to better profits and protect you from being over-zealous at auction and bidding too much.