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Count one for the good guys.
I recently sold my Toyota Solara Convertible (going for a sweet, rockin’ minivan) and posted both on Craigslist and Autotrader.
I’m sure it doesn’t surprise you that Craigslist kicked Autotrader’s butt in generating legitimately interested leads, at least here in the uber-connected Bay Area.
The tale of the tape (Craigslist vs. Autotrader):
- Cost: Free (duh) vs. $69
- Online pictures: 4 vs. 18
- Magazine ads: 0 vs. 1 (I assume, I never saw it)
- Times I had to post: 4 vs. 1 (CL expires after 7 days, AT doesn’t expire)
- Actual interested leads: 9 vs. 1
- “Spam”: 0 vs. 4 (I got 4 calls from businesses who want to help me sell my car)
Even though the ads on Craigslist are free (and therefore, unqualified), the search functionality minimal, and the ads poorly formatted, CL was far and away better than AT.
But you knew that already. Count a victory for the power of a trusted, “social” classifieds system over the old school advertising system.
Ramblings of a Short Man 
I hear this more often! CL is performing better than AT
I would use autotrader personally. Craigslist is full of freaks! Plus, the people in craigslist are looking for the CHEAPEST things possible. Were the leads from Craigslist actually BETTER than AT? Be interested in that one…
The leads from Craigslist were MUCH better than the ones from AT. The one real (I think) lead from AT did not bother to come out to see the car. I had 4 of the Craigslist users come out to see the car (and of course, sold it to someone from Craigslist). After I had promised the car to the eventual buyer, another Craigslist user offered to drive down from Sacramento to buy it if the deal fell through. The comparison is not even close.