I love getting new things, but more so I love getting new things that don’t cost me very much. Recently I found a great site where the sky is the limit on what you can find. The prices are amazing and it’s all local!!!!

The site is http://www.kijiji.ca for Canadians and http://www.kijiji.com for the USA. I recommend this site 100%. I recently furnished my whole livingroom and kitchen for $150.00. About a week ago I was sitting on my old couch and thought about how nice it would be to get a new couch that was comfy and looked better than the beat up red/brown couch I was sitting on.
I decided one day at work (during my lunch break), to browse through this site for a couch. After a few days of browsing and thinking about which couch I would like, as there were so many I found, I decided upon a nice young guy who was moving and was selling his furniture. As soon as I looked at it I thought “No way, he can’t be selling that beautiful furniture for that cheap.” I contacted him through the site and he had listed his double bed, pull out couch for $75 dollars, his coffee table and two end tables for $40, and his kitchen table and four chairs for $75. I offered him $150 for everything and he agreed. Because I didn’t have my boyfriend in town and I lived alone he agreed to deliver the furniture for me. Usually the listers require you to pick up the furniture, but there are really nice people out there I’m learning.
It is the most beautiful furniture, all rod-iron and glass! The couch is even a pull out, which is wonderful when friends and family come to stay! I since then have made Kijiji my home site and if there is anything I need, I look there first. You can get everything and I mean everything from furniture to cars, a house, pets (it’s where I found my cat), jobs and much, much more! You can even post an ad for free if you have things you want to get rid of or if you are in the market for something.
Below are tips for shopping on the site, so as to get the best price and most memorable experience from it.
Tip#1 : Know what you want and understand the market price.
It’s important you know what you want (especiallly if it’s bigger, like a couch or fridge) and know the market value. $75 dollars for a used couch is reasonable, $1,000 is not. Make sure you take the time to search and not take the first thing that pops up. I searched for a few days before I made my choice. Take your time and know what you want.
Tip#2: Contact all those you are interested in: If there are 5 different couches go ahead and contact them all, and see which get back to you.
Tip#3: Bargain! Remember this is basically an online garage sale. If you think the sewing machine listed at $100.00 is a nice one try and bargain down to $75 or $50. There are many, many listings and more added by the hour sometimes, so you really don’t want to pay $100.00, if you don’t have to.
Tip#4: Make sure to contact those who contact you: If you get 10 responses and you decide on one, be courteous and contact the rest with a simple “thank you, but I have already decided on another one.” It’s rude to just leave someone hanging. Also, if you are posting an item for sale remember to contact those who contact you, even if the item is sold, and just let them know with a simple “item is already sold”.
Tip#5: Keep the site clean and current: If you are posting an ad either for something you want or something you have, make sure you delete the ad when it’s no longer current. This keeps the site fresh and keeps people from contacting you weeks later.
Tip#6: Don’t be afraid to contact ads that are older: If you are searching for something and often there are many pages with the older ads being further down, go ahead and contact older ads. Sometimes you’ll be lucky and they still have the item and by now want to get rid of it so much, they might accept a much lower offer than listed.
Tip#7: Have fun and be careful: Have fun browsing and buying, but remember to be careful when contacting those over the Internet and also be careful not to get caught browsing the site too much at work!
How to post an ad:
First go to register, this way you can delete ads when they are no longer current and watch ads that you may be interested in, as you get your own little space when you register. Although, you don’t need to register to post ads, registering is very quick and easy.
After you have registered click post ad and follow the directions. You can add a price right there or a best offer or even a please contact. You can post if you are selling or post if there is something you want. You can even give things away for free and the best thing is people will come and pick them up rather than you having to physically take them to the dump or second hand stores.
This is truly a giant garage sale online!
Article written by Stefanie Leale, butyoudontlooksick.com, 2008