craig's list

My experience with Craig's List has been nonexistent until this past month. My oldest son made me aware of  of Craig's List as it was crucial in finding his apartment in San Francisco. I had also heard from friends about the great deals that could be found on used furniture so I thought I would give it a try.
One of my big ticket items for the beach house is a large farmhouse style table and chairs. The "and chairs" part of the last sentence is crucial because the chairs are often more expensive than the table!
I searched Craig's List on-line for "Pottery Barn dining tables" in the Los Angeles area and came across some options that looked somewhat promising. Once I did some research I found may of the tables were too small (I needed one about 90" long). But fortunately I found the table pictured above with two leaves and six chairs.  Retail for the set at Pottery Barn is about $2000. I got the table and six chairs for about $500.00. 
I also found cruiser bikes for $100 and the seller was from Pasadena. So these four bikes were delivered to my house this weekend. Don't you love the colors? (I will take off the plastic once they arrive in Ventura.

You do need to be careful with your transactions found on Craig's List. Since you don't know anything about the seller I would encourage you to bring a friend, son or husband to accompany you when you visit the seller's house. (I doubt you need to worry about anything but why not be cautious?) You also need to pay cash for most transactions. 
I am still looking for four more dining room chairs and a few other things but I am really glad to have learned that Craig's List is a great resource!