As I noted above, not as much of a problem here in LA, but I totally believe you that it's true elsewhere. And honestly, I'm probably missing some great stuff not perusing FB and OfferUp.
But there's one simple, guiding principle that I'm always following. And that's refusing to reactivate my FB account.
Much like 25 years ago when I said to myself, "there's nothing on the internet that I need to see so badly that I'll install RealNetworks", I'll put stuff on the curb with a "free" sign before I'll reactivate my long-deactivated FB account (or buy new, depending on the direction of the transaction).
Honestly, especially for bulky stuff, I’ve had great luck leaving things at the end of my driveway with a free sign. I wouldn’t get much money for them and they’re out of my house with almost zero effort.
I was right there too but all the rental apartments are via FB marketplace now to the point I literally could not find a place without getting back on it (DC). Absolutely pain, I miss craigslist
Same here in the Roaring Fork Valley. Two months of Craigslist, apartments.com, bulletin boards, etc. Finally I posted a "Place Wanted" on some local Facebook groups and I got something pretty quick. Tons of scammers on Craigslist here.
Probably but I can't say I love more intermediaries in transactions. I went direct to many apartment complexes but if you want to find a furnished place that's not outrageous you have to go to people leaving and looking for someone to take over a lease and apartment complexes don't seem to care to facilitate that.
I've found it pretty rare to _not_ find something I'm looking for on Boston Craigslist. As something of an "out there" example, I found ten old tube TVs for my Halloween decorations just a few weeks ago. Also: I got an absolutely great deal on a car through Craigslist about five years ago.
That said, I've definitely had less success on the sales side than I did in years prior, but I can't tell if that's what I'm selling being worth less used these days (desktop computers?), or if Facebook Marketplace is the de-facto place to check.
Functional - I'm leaning into the "analog horror" genre with some fake newsreels of things like the COVID-23 pandemic, $6 per gallon gasoline, and (of course - I live in Boston) the Red Sox losing the World Series to the Yankees.
Boston CL is indeed very stale, FB is way more active. Young people (< 35) seem to have mostly forgotten about CL or don't care about it.
Boston has a lot of good stuff in some areas. Need random leftover shelves? A pile of screened loam? Secondhand office furniture? An unused China set from the 1960s? No problem. But good luck trying to buy and sell normal home goods with any efficiency there; it will clear much much faster on FB marketplace. Maybe even for a better price.
