A few months ago my son and his family relocated to CA on short notice, going from a home to an apartment. So he left a bunch of things with me and asked me to sell or dispose of them. Much of it was just too good to just get rid of, so I decided to sell the items. Not wishing the hassle of having an all day or all weekend "yard sale", nor wanting to spend money to sell things, I advertised on three separate websites and with sensible pricing, sold almost everything in a two week period. I used the app Letgo, Craigslist, and Facebook Marketplace, all free, and all very easy to use. In all the cases I said "Pickup only, cash only". Yes, it was a bit of a nuisance to respond to all the texts and emails, and arrange times to be home to actually sell the item, but over all it is a really easy and productive way to sell things you own that you no longer want. What I sold included a lawnmower, expandable ladder, dining room chairs, a high chair and some other stuff for about $1,000 so far that I sent to my son. And for me, the bonus is that my garage no longer is jammed pack with his stuff. My wife gets nervous about having folks come to the house, but I only have them come to my garage, never in the house itself, and I always am armed, just in case. So far not a problem and plenty of nice cash. Just thought I would share this with others here who may be wanting to get rid of stuff and not want the hassle of a yard sale.
Good luck lately at selling items
- Thread starter vito
- Start date
Tom W
Blackhawk
From what I've heard lately, Craigslist attracts dubious folk now days. When My late wife passed, I did use it to sell a piano....but that was a while ago....
Bob Wright
Hawkeye
vito said:
During WW II a man saw a soldier with his wife and little boy, sitting in a train station among a pile of luggage. the little boy looked very sad.
"What's the matter son, don't you have a home?" asked the man.
The little boy looked up and replied, "Oh, yes sir. We just don't have a house to put it in."
Bob Wright
During WW II a man saw a soldier with his wife and little boy, sitting in a train station among a pile of luggage. the little boy looked very sad.
"What's the matter son, don't you have a home?" asked the man.
The little boy looked up and replied, "Oh, yes sir. We just don't have a house to put it in."
Bob Wright
I might try the “Letgo” app you mentioned, but I’m done with Craigslist. I tried to sell a very nice mountain bike. I was wanting around $350, which was very fair. I got phone calls and emails offering me $50 and $75. It just wasn’t worth it.
Later on I found a good organization to donate it to, Spokes for Folks. I found out later they gave it to a military vet.
I suppose in a way, if you have a good accountant, donating your stuff can be just as lucrative as selling it, with less hassle.
Later on I found a good organization to donate it to, Spokes for Folks. I found out later they gave it to a military vet.
I suppose in a way, if you have a good accountant, donating your stuff can be just as lucrative as selling it, with less hassle.
Daveboone
Single-Sixer
The most aggravating part of selling on Craigslist is all the folks who call wanting to give a stupid lowball price without even looking at the product. When I list, I price to sell, but expect a bit of dickering, but not if they don't even want show up.
blackhawknj
Buckeye
- Joined
- Apr 22, 2010
- Messages
- 1,945
I have done very well with Craigslist, only bad experience, I saw an item I wanted, my phone call and text message were not returned.
Kevin said:
Kevin, my experience is that many of the buyers aren't looking for something for themselves they are looking for things to make money on. I'm not talking about sofas and such but smaller items they can take to marketplaces, and gunshows and things like that. One of the first things I look at when I am looking at sales items is how long it's been on the Market. I don't buy to mess around with so much any more but I have a pretty good feel for those that contact me and why. I'd rather donate a lot of stuff than mess with it. Especially if I can get Goodwill, or Salvation Army or folks like that, that will come and pick it up. It's amazing what people throw away because nothing has value to them anymore. I'm amazed at what people put out on the curb with a sign "FREE" on them.
I like Craigslist for getting rid of items I no longer want or need. When moving I posted many items of no value to me in the FREE category, including used bricks, a dishwasher and a water heater I replaced. A scrapper picked up the water heater and dishwasher and I didn't have to haul it away. I had a lot of other things that were of little value and everything was picked up in two days. I have sold a few items of value and never had any problems.
OP
I don't have much trouble with people low balling me on items for sale because I usually show the price as "firm". Part of why I prefer Facebook Marketplace and Letgo to Craigslist is that the buyers contact you via Messenger (for Marketplace) or via the app itself for Letgo rather than phone calls, so if someone "lowballs" me a response I can just ignore it and not even bother replying. And maybe because Marketplace and Letgo are relatively new venues, I have found that items that I listed on Craigslist that I never had a reply to at all are generating a good amount of interest and inquiries on those applications. It has been so easy and successful selling a number of items recently that I found myself walking through my garage and the house itself looking at things that I might want to sell. Personally, I won't go through the effort of even trying to sell something if I do not expect to get at least $40 or $50 for the item.
