How to deal on Craigslist

That pic? (Get the feeling it's gonna be the best thing about this article - Chimples)  I sold that very couch through craigslist to that very woman this week.
   She seems to be some sort of model who moved here from Vancouver and needed a couch. The photo is a collage I made after clicking the model links on her email. She seems to like it.
   I have bought and sold tons of furniture from craigslist, the free listings site that killed the newspaper industry.
   -Some rules: Haggle. Always, always always always bargain for a better price. The seller will take a lower price. But don't offend them by saying the product is bad. Just say it's not exactly what you were looking for. In fact, praise the item. If the item is an absolute steal, then and only then can you pay full price. I once bought a modern flat-top range for $80 from a guy in the West Island. He thought his girlfriend was crazy for listing it so cheap, so I gave him full price.
  Sellers are often so anxious to get rid of their junk that they've visualized its absence so thoroughly that they'll usually practically pay you to take it away if you show up to haul it out. Take off 10 to 15 percent of the asking price, they'll accept.
   Study the comparables, when I was buying futons, they were about $80 for the cheap ones and $150 for the nice wood ones approximately. You can inform the vendor of these, but they'll often get their backs up and tell you their thing is special.
   Some advocate an elaborate ruse where you write a bunch of emails from different addresses denouncing them for overpricing but it's really not worth wasting your time.
   Look for little brown spots on anything with fabric. That's an indication of bedbugs. If an item has been in storage for over 60 days it's not likely to have bedbugs, as they require blood to feed on and there's probably not enough animals in the garage to keep them going.
   You can fully assume that the vendor will help you carry an item to your van. That's the standard protocol, unless they are somehow handicapped or if the thing weighs 400 pounds. So you don't need to bring someone to help carry it, you and the vendor will get 'er done. But ask in advance anyway because if they come up with some crap story about having a bad back, don't bother going.
  You might have it so deeply fixed in your mind that you're walking away with an item that you overlook a major flaw. I once bought a damaged futon because I noticed the flaw only after hauling it to my van and I was tired, it was late and I underestimated the damage because I was a little charmed by the couple selling it (the woman had a nice pair of shoes) so even experienced craiglisters can make a mistake if they're distracted.
  Always buy an item from the person's place of residence and make sure the person's email address is not some kinda fake nickname.  If there's some sorta meet at a cafe or some other place, make sure you're pretty sure of the person's identity, because if you buy an iphone or something at the Tim Horton's (which I've done and did not get ripped off on) you might regret it. You really want to be able to track them down and scream at them outside their window in case the thing you bought was a flop.
   If you're selling, it's barely worth listing if there's no pic. And offer a good price because you'll be happy to rid yourself of the piece of junk quickly and the social interaction is almost always pleasant.
  Most people will not rip you off blatantly, there's a strong social component involved in buying and selling these items and people are always pleasant about it.