How to Set Up Alerts for Used Tools on Craigslist and eBay

Used tools are one of the fastest-moving categories on Craigslist. A Milwaukee M18 kit priced $100 under market, a Snap-on socket set listed by someone who doesn't know what it's worth, a table saw from a contractor downsizing - these listings don't sit around waiting. The buyers who consistently score are the ones who see new listings within minutes, not the ones who check the app twice a day. This guide covers how to set up alerts for used tools on Craigslist and eBay so you stop missing the good stuff. ## Why Craigslist Doesn't Have Alerts (and What to Do About It) Craigslist has no built-in notification system. Never has. If you want to know when a new tool listing appears, your options are: refresh the search page manually and hope you catch it in time, or use a third-party alert tool. [LurkMor](https://lurkmor.com) fills that gap. Set up a search for the tool or brand you're looking for, enter your email or phone number, and you'll get an alert the moment a new matching listing appears. No more refreshing. No more checking. Just a notification when something worth looking at goes live. Here's how to set one up: 1. Go to [LurkMor.com](https://lurkmor.com) 2. Enter your search term - something like "Milwaukee M18," "Snap-on ratchet," or just "tool lot" 3. Set your location and radius (most tool deals need to be local pickup anyway) 4. Add your email address 5. Save the alert You can run multiple searches at once. If you're hunting several categories - hand tools, power tools, woodworking equipment - set up a separate alert for each. ## What Search Terms to Use The right search terms depend on what you're after. A few approaches that work well: **Brand-specific searches** catch sellers who know what they have: - "Milwaukee M18" or "Milwaukee drill" - "DeWalt" or "DeWalt 20V" - "Snap-on" or "Snap-on toolbox" - "Makita" or "Makita 18V" - "Festool" (these almost never get priced correctly by casual sellers) **Category searches** catch sellers who don't know the brand: - "tool lot" - "tool box" or "toolbox" - "garage cleanout" - "hand tools" - "socket set" - "air compressor" - "table saw" or "band saw" Broad category searches are often more valuable than you'd expect. A listing titled "garage stuff, tools included, $40" from someone cleaning out a deceased parent's workshop might contain $300 worth of Snap-on and Craftsman tools. Sellers who don't know what they have don't search-optimize their titles. **Woodworking gear** has its own vocabulary: - "hand planes" or "Stanley plane" - "router table" - "bandsaw" or "band saw" - "jointer" or "planer" - "Lie-Nielsen" or "Veritas" (very high value, almost always underpriced by casual sellers) ## Setting Up eBay Alerts for Tools eBay has a built-in saved search feature. Search for your item, click "Save this search," and eBay will email you when new listings appear. The issue: eBay typically batches those emails into daily digests rather than instant alerts, so by the time you hear about a good listing it may already have bids or be sold. For eBay, the saved search feature is still worth setting up - it adds coverage. But for time-sensitive finds, layer in LurkMor for both Craigslist and eBay monitoring with faster notifications. On eBay, a few tips for better alerts: - Filter to your price range before saving the search - eBay will respect those filters in notifications - Check "sold listings" periodically to calibrate what things actually sell for (asking price on active listings means nothing) - For heavy tools that can't ship practically, add a location filter to avoid notifications for items 1,000 miles away ## Why Speed Matters So Much With Tools A Milwaukee M18 fuel drill kit at $100 below market will have five texts on it within two hours of posting. The first person to respond and confirm they'll pay asking price usually gets it. Second and third callers get "sorry, already sold." The gap between "listing goes live" and "deal is gone" is measured in hours for popular brands, sometimes less. That's why manual checking doesn't work well for this category. You'd have to be refreshing Craigslist every 15 minutes to compete. An alert fires the moment the listing appears. You see it before the person who checked manually an hour later. That's the advantage. ## Brands That Move Fast (Know These) If you set up alerts for these brand names, you'll catch the high-value listings: - **Snap-on, Mac Tools, Matco** - Professional hand tools with very high resale value. Sellers often don't realize what they're worth. - **Milwaukee, DeWalt, Makita, Festool** - Cordless power tools, especially battery kits. M18 and FLEXVOLT tools command strong used prices. - **Vintage Craftsman (USA-made)** - Pre-1980s Craftsman hand tools still have a following. Look for the "Made in USA" or "Sears" markings. - **Lie-Nielsen, Veritas** - Woodworking hand tools that retail for $100-500+ each. When one surfaces on Craigslist, it goes fast. For any of these brands, set up a dedicated alert rather than relying on a generic "tool" search. You'll get fewer notifications but they'll be more relevant. ## A Practical Alert Setup If you're actively hunting tools, here's a setup that covers most of the bases: - Alert 1: "Milwaukee" with your local area (catches all Milwaukee brand listings) - Alert 2: "tool lot" or "tool box" with your area (catches estate cleanouts and bulk listings) - Alert 3: "Snap-on" with a wider radius (worth driving for) - Alert 4: Whatever specific tool you're hunting - router table, table saw, drill press LurkMor lets you run all of these simultaneously. When something fires, you'll know what search matched and can decide immediately whether it's worth acting on. ## The Only Way to Actually Win Most people browse Craigslist manually once or twice a day and wonder why they keep missing the good deals. The deals were there - just listed and sold before the next manual check. Setting up alerts is the fix. Go to [LurkMor.com](https://lurkmor.com), enter the brands and categories you're after, drop in your email, and you're live. The next time someone lists a tool at the wrong price, you'll hear about it before everyone else does.