I am looking for an avenue for my mother to sell some of her crochet afghans. She considers it her therapy. She does large "wedding" afghans as well as baby blankets and other colorful throws. Much of the time she is busy with word-of-mouth orders, but as always said she wished she could find a way to put some out for sell and take orders for specific colors. There is one blanket she does in whatever 3 college colors you want that is really cool. So my question....how many people really search and buy afghans off etsy? Is it worth setting up an account etc or I am better off listing them on something like Craigslist for her?

They're both very different. No comparison really. On Etsy, she'll have customers that are looking for handmade items, and are more likely to spend more. On Craigslist (or Ebay), she'll have customers looking for a deal. That's not to say she won't have success on Craigslist though. Maybe she could try both for a while?