Craigslist differs from EBay in one important way. Most of Ebay payments are not done in person (face to face).
Craigslist has all these local listings for a reason. Take advantage of it. Ignore out of area requests. Period.
And, one other caution. Unless it’s too big to carry, do the transaction in a public place like coffee shop, etc.
You don’t need strangers casing your premises. Yes, the majority of people are honest and well intentioned. But it only takes one crooked person to really ruin your day.
There is no way to tell them apart from the other 99% of honest folks beforehand so better safe than sorry.
Never using CL out of fear is throwing the baby out with the bath water. I’ve only had good experiences with CL so far and met some really nice folks but I just act cautiously.
Only do local deals and don’t let strangers into your home unless it can’t be avoided.
I was selling a Queen sized Futon mattress. Obviously too heavy to carry. But I was planning to be out of that place in a week or so anyhow, so no worries. For everything else, it’s been Starbucks.