If you need a sofa or bed for your new apartment or home, you may want to consider turning to Craigslist. This online classifieds website has a great selection of new and used items for sale, including furniture. While you’re sure to find some great deals on used diapers and bedding, what are the pros and cons of doing so?

The professionals

Cheap prices! As stated above, you are likely to find some great deals on Craigslist. This is because most sellers are not interested in making a profit. They decided to buy a new bed or sofa and now they need to do something with the old one. What they decide to do is get a small amount of the money paid back by selling on Craigslist. On average, you should pay less than half the cost of a new one when you buy a used one.

They are easy to find. Craigslist.org allows you to search or browse the website. Start by finding your local page (which can be done by choosing your state and city). Then use the search box on the left side of the page. Whether you are looking for a sofa or a bed, you will find it. In fact, you can find many of them. For even more options, download and use a Craigslist search engine that allows you to search multiple locations and categories at once (something Craigslist.org doesn’t allow).

The cons

Bedbugs. Bed bugs are something we don’t want to think about, but we have to. It’s tricky because some of the cleanest people in the world have bed bugs. You may have heard that in July 2009, the state of Colorado canceled its Great Sofa Raid due to fears of bed bugs. This sofa swapping went on for nine years before stopping this year. If university administrators are willing to cancel a very successful program for fear of bed bugs, that should be a concern for you too.

Transport. If you go to Say Metro Mattress and buy a new mattress, chances are you’ll get a good deal on delivery. In fact, many stores offer free delivery. This is not likely to happen on Craigslist. Most sellers will say “you have to come get the mattress” right in their post. This can be a problem if you do some Geo Metro driving. The best thing to do is offer to pay a friend with a truck $10 to help you out.

As you can see, buying used diapers and bedding on Craigslist.org has its pros and cons. If you decide that the pros outweigh the cons, remember that you can use a Craigslist search tool to find the best deals with ease and little effort.