Using Craigslist to Upgrade your Electronics

I would like to share that you can also use Craigslist to upgrade your electronics. My plan was to get rid of my first gen iPad (it's super bulky) and buy an used iPad using the money I got from the first gen iPad. The idea is simple, sell the old electronic for as much as possible and buy the newer electronic for as low as possible, and hoping the two prices overlap at some point.

Back story: So I traded an iPhone 4 for a first gen iPad base model a few years ago. I bought the iPhone 4 for $200 and the first gen iPad going price was around $250+. I decided to keep the iPad for personal use.

Recently, I brought my iPad over to a friend's house and compared it to his iPad mini. I fell in love with the Mini because it was so much more portable. So I decided to see if I could sell the first gen iPad and use that money to buy an iPad Mini. I scoured Craigslist for weeks looking for the cheapest price and at the same time listed my iPad for the most expensive price I think I could sell it for ($250). $250 was not very realistic since almost all websites were selling it for much less. The lowest price I saw the Mini go for was $250 and I was too late to catch the deal.

I had to settle with the next best deal I could find; I bought an used iPad mini base model for $260 (it was in almost-new condition minus the finger prints). About a week later, I was able to sell my first gen iPad for $220 on Craigslist. So, I upgraded my first gen iPad to a iPad mini for $40. It was not my intentions to pay anything for the upgrade but I'm happy. (Oh, and I know a new iPad mini is coming out)


I know the same method can easily be done to upgrade cellphones too. Let's say you have an iPhone 4, you can easily sell that for $200 and find an iPhone 4S for that price. (Sorry for all the Apple examples; it's just that they sell like hot cakes)

This was the pristine condition iPad 1 with an otterbox case

Sold Nike Run Roshe

So a couple months ago I bought two pairs of Nike Run Roshe's. I thought I was going to sell them for a lot faster and a lot more than I did, but I finally sold one of them. I sold it through a sneaker forum for $95 via PayPal. I bought them for $40 each. So let's break down the profits.



$95 Amount Received
-3.06 PayPal fee
-7.60 Shipping
-40.00 Cost
= $44.34 Profit

SOLD! iPhone 4

I bought this phone a long with two other phones for $220 total. I will just put that I got this phone for $120, and the other two phones for $50 each. It really doesn't matter, but for calculation purposes it looks better.

Bought Black Verizon iPhone 4 16GB for $120.
Sold for $200. Sold through Craigslist.
$80 Profit.

SOLD! iPhone 4S

Bought Black Verizon iPhone 4S 16GB with box and charger for $225.
Sold for $320. Sold through Craigslist.

Profit: $95

Catching Up!

So I had a big haul from Craigslist today. I need to start catching up for the inactive last month. So today, I landed a pretty great deal. I saw an ad for a fully functional cracked screen iPhone 4S for $150. The ad included their phone number so I sent him a text and offered $110. He declines and offers me a regular iPhone 4 for $120. Seeing that he had two phones for sale, I made an offer of $240 for both phones. He then sends me a picture of the cracked screen on the iPhone 4S and it looked worst than I imagined. I lowered the offer to 220 and he still accepted. I knew this was a great deal; seeing as an iPhone 4S with a cracked screen goes for around $200 or more on eBay and how I sold my previous iPhone 4 for $200.

I asked him if it comes with the box and headphones. This is when he says no but says he will throw in a broken iPhone 4 that I could use to replaced the screen on the iPhone 4S! I was a bit skeptical as this deal seemed a little too good. In the end, everything worked out. I got 3 phones for $220. The broken iPhone 4 seems to be stuck on recovery mode, but if I can fix that I would be able to sell it for $200, and if not I can probably sell it for $100.

So now I have 4 iPhones that I am selling and once they're all sold I will have made up for last month.

Summary: Paid $220 for: 16GB iPhone 4S with cracked screen, 16GB iPhone 4, and an iPhone 4 that's stuck on recovery mode.

Bought iPhone 4s

Sorry for not posting in a while. I've been busy with work and I've also been getting into stocks. Getting into stocks was a natural transition because it's pretty much flipping. With both stocks and flipping on craigslist, it takes careful research and practice. I've been getting into day trading.


Anyways, I've finally made another purchase on Craigslist today. I bought an Black 16gb Verizon iPhone 4s with the charger and box for $225. I couldn't haggle him anymore; I brought it down from $250. But I'm happy. The phone is a great shape. I verified the ESN number through Verizon's website. I'm going to putting it up on Craigslist for $350 and drop it down to $325 as the days go by. I'll update you guys when it's sold.



Summary:
Bought Black Verizon iPhone 4S 16GB with box and charger for $225.

Buyers Beware

This was posted on Craigslist and I thought it would be good to share.

"Beware Craiglist Users..
Some scammers on CL are selling lost or stolen iPhones and it had happened with me 2 times.
How they do it...either phone is already blacklisted or sometimes they sell you phone and later report it lost or stolen to claim insurance, they get double money for the same phone plus new phone but buyer end up with an iPhone which can only b used as a iPod.
So to prevent this scam always ask seller to meet at service provider's store like AT&T, Verizon or sprint which one applicable to your phone service.
Reason to share this experience Is to alarm others before they get scammed like me.. Good luck"