By Cheryl Maguire
When Mary Potter Kenyon, 58 at the time, was offered a job an hour away from her home in Manchester, Iowa, she knew it was time to downsize. The position was as a program coordinator at the Shalom Spirituality Center in Dubuque, Iowa in April 2018. Her husband had passed away, only one of her eight kids lived with her and she didn’t relish the idea of commuting two hours a day, so it was time to move. She found a two bed-room house near her new job and listed her four bed-room home for sale. Then she began the process of decluttering.
For the next two months, Potter Kenyon sold her furniture and other items on Facebook Marketplace, held two tag sales, and sold items through consignment shops. By the time she was done not only did she have significantly fewer items to move to her new home, but she also earned over two thousand dollars. After this experience, Potter Kenyon was inspired to write the book, “Called to Be Creative,” since getting rid of her clutter helped her to feel more creative.
So how can you earn money and create room for creativity instead of your clutter? Experts share their tips for selling used items on Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist.
“The fun thing about reselling online is that you never know what people will be interested in. I once sold a mop,” says Alex Davis, co-creator of the lifestyle blog, “Ryan and Alex Duo Life.”
Should you use Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace?
Craigslist gained popularity in 2012 when there were over 700 cities listed. Facebook Market place is a newer site that launched in 2016. The pros and cons of each site depending on your personal preferences. On both platforms, it is free to list your items for sale.
Craigslist is anonymous which some people prefer since you don’t have a profile or any identifying information. Whereas Facebook Marketplace is linked to your Facebook profile so you can see the buyer’s profile and friend list. The buyer can also see your profile which might make them feel “safer” buying from you if they have shared friends or other common interests.
Facebook Market place also offers a rating system so the buyer can see if you are highly rated and might be more likely to trust you whereas Craigslist doesn’t offer this option. You receive messages in Facebook Marketplace from buyers through Facebook messenger. In Craigslist, the messages are sent through an encrypted email or text message so the buyer will not have your real information.
“A big pro with Craigslist is that you can pick your favorite communication method. Craigslist can connect you to potential buyers by text, email, or telephone through their server, keeping your numbers and information anonymous,” says Davis.
The anonymity may be appealing to the seller since the buyer will have less information about them, but scammers can also take advantage of this anonymity by not revealing their identity.
“When you use Marketplace instead of Craigslist you have some visibility into the buyer to make sure the person is not a scammer. When someone reaches out to buy an item on Marketplace, you’ll be able to see their Facebook profile,” says Davis.
Pictures Matter
The saying goes, “never judge a book by its cover” but the saying is there because people do judge a book by its cover. Well, the same idea can be applied to the picture you use to sell your item. If it is blurry, has lots of clutter in the background, or is not a good angle then people are going to scroll right past your item and move on to the next one. So taking a good picture is really important since it’s the buyer’s first impression of the item.
Write a Detailed Honest Description
A lot of the selling process relies on trust so it’s important, to be honest in the description about any known defects or issues with the item you are selling. This will also save your time and the buyer’s time in relation to whether they want to buy the item or not.
The details are also important in the sense that the buyer will know if they like that brand name or how used the item has been. So list everything you can about the item such as the brand, year purchased and size or dimensions. You can look up the item on a store website like Amazon or Target and see what the store lists in the description and then use some of those same descriptors. Keywords are important when the person searches for the item so use words that will show up in a search.
Price it Right
“It all comes down to pricing your items well. Look at what other sellers with similar items and what their list price is or sold for to help you get an idea about how to price it,” says Andrea Woroch, a nationally-recognized family finance expert.
The price of the item is important. If you price it too high then the buyer will move on to the next item and not consider buying. But if you price it too low you might miss out on money you could earn. So how do you find the right price? You can search the site you are going to sell on and see what other similar items are priced. Another good rule of thumb is to price the item for half of what you paid for it when it was new.
Be Willing to Negotiate
Most people that buy used items are looking for a deal. One way they will feel like they got a deal is if they can pay less than the price that is listed. With that in mind, you may want to list your price a little bit higher than what you want to actually sell it for. If you don’t want to negotiate you can list the item as a firm price.
“Explain in the description if you are firm on price or open to negotiations so you don’t waste your or your buyer’s time,” says Woroch.
Items that Sell Well
Items that sell well can vary in locations but in general smaller furniture in good condition like a bureau or end table sell well. Popular electronics and video games can also sell well along with homeowner tools that everyone needs like a hammer or a wrench.
“Things that may be sold out in stores sell well. During the pandemic, you couldn’t get your hands on any bike or camping stuff. That would’ve been a great time to sell those items since everyone was looking to buy it and would pay more,” says Woroch.
Items that are Hard to Sell
Clothing can be tough to sell since the size can vary and often people like to try on clothes before buying.
“Selling clothes often works best in a garage sale. Or, if you want to sell the items online, make it a ‘grab bag’ where someone can pick up a whole bag of size medium clothes or size 6 shoes. They have to take the whole bag but get a big discount,” says Davis.
Safety Concerns
In general, most people that buy used items are honest and just want to buy the item. But there are some people that can cause problems, are dishonest or are criminals. You can meet the person in a populated place with video cameras such as a store parking lot to avoid having strangers come to your home. If you do have a negative experience, you can report it to the site you sold your item on. And if you experience a criminal interaction then report it to your local police department.
No shows and Other Frustrations
Selling your used items is a great way to earn money and get rid of unwanted items at the same time. But there are frustrations that come along with the process. Sometimes people will not show up for their scheduled time to buy the item. Other people will ask lots of questions, request additional pictures, and then not buy the item. If someone asks you to hold the item you should only do so if they are willing to pay for the item upfront. One way that they can do this is through PayPal or Venmo. You can also offer this as an option and then leave the item in an agreed upon place so that you don’t have to be home or interact with the person to make the sale.
“If you can, arrange for contact-less pick up of items. If you have a front porch or backyard, use it and ask for the buyers to put the money under the doormat. Over the years, my husband and I have sold hundreds of items this way. It keeps it simple and we have never had anyone not pay us,” says Davis.
Donate Your Items
So what do you do with items that don’t sell? You could try listing it for “free” on sites like Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist. You would be surprised at what people are willing to take if it is free—everything from a broken grill to a wood pallet. The good thing about giving it away is that the item won’t end up in a landfill and hopefully someone else can use it—as the saying goes, “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”
You can also list your items for free on these sites:
Freecycle.org: Freecycle is a nonprofit movement of people. You do not pay a fee to list your items. When you sign up you select your town or one close to you and request to join the group. Town groups are run by volunteer moderators in the hopes of reducing the burden on landfills.
Nextdoor: Nextdoor is a privately-held company that is an app created to connect you with your community—neighbors and businesses. It is free to join and post information. You are allowed to offer free items in the Neighbor Services category.
OfferUp: OfferUp is a privately-held company that is an app created to help users buy and sell items. It is free to use and only charges a fee if you want to promote your items. You can list items for free.
BuyNothing: BuyNothing is a worldwide social movement with groups in 44 nations. People join the groups so that they can offer their items for free to other people in the group.
About the Author:
Cheryl Maguire holds a Master of Counseling Psychology degree. Her writing has been published in The New York Times, National Geographic, Washington Post, Parents Magazine, AARP, Healthline, Good Life Family, Your Teen Magazine, and many other publications.