A New Year selling old stuff
January 3, 2012 2:50 PM   Subscribe

I have a bunch of cool stuff I want to sell. Clothing, furniture, original art work, books, vintage items, etc. But I can't stand eBay.

Etsy won't let me set up a shop because some of the stuff isn't older than 20 years, etc. Unbelievably draconian guidelines there. Yikes. And Craigslist is out because I live on an island.

Are there any good sites that would let someone set up a cool page and display their wares, etc. for a fee?
posted by zenpop to Shopping (10 answers total) 17 users marked this as a favorite
 
Big Cartel, Shopify, ArtFire.
posted by iconomy at 2:53 PM on January 3, 2012 [1 favorite]


I disagree about the guidelines at Etsy being Draconian. It's just that some of the things you want to sell fall outside of what is permissible there.

EtsyBitch has a list of what they refer to as Etsy Alternatives. There are 13 of them. I don't know which of these are still in operation but you may want to check some out.
posted by iconomy at 3:00 PM on January 3, 2012 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: This post was worth the effort just to have discovered EtsyBitch! Thanks iconomy.
posted by zenpop at 3:10 PM on January 3, 2012


There are selling communities on LiveJournal... at least for women's clothes, makeup and accessories. I've had very good luck selling there.
posted by kimdog at 3:15 PM on January 3, 2012


You can sell the books through amazon, but expect to give up about 25% of your profits once they take their cut and pay for shipping, especially if your books are heavy or you offer expedited shipping.
posted by crunchland at 3:25 PM on January 3, 2012


If you want your own "store," Storenvy is free. I've been loving it so far.
posted by sawdustbear at 3:53 PM on January 3, 2012


Bonanza? You can setup a booth and leave things til they sell. Doesn't get as much traffic as ebay though.
posted by oneear at 4:19 PM on January 3, 2012


Response by poster: Can you tell me where your store is on Storenvy sawdustbear?
posted by zenpop at 8:34 PM on January 3, 2012


The Etsy guidelines are there as, for vintage buyers, it is irritating to find that there is a lot of people selling 'vintage' that was produced last week. It's to stop people selling copies of vintage items, or charity shop tat. Some of the Etsy alternatives might have a similar rule.

Do you know of any fora for these items? Collectible toys normally have fora where collectors trade items, similar to the Livejournal selling communities.
posted by mippy at 9:08 AM on January 4, 2012


I for one do sell on Etsy, and am glad they have vintage guidelines, but just as you I have some things that don't quite make the cut. Now I want to add here I am an artist so a lot of things that you may want to get rid of like books , paper products, broken jewelry, newer fabrics, broken china pieces for sculpture, etc....anything that could be repurposed , could be considered art supplies for some mixed media artists. Now of course we know SUPPLIES are tolerated on Etsy, and can be newer or commercial. The key here is of course if they are not 20 years old you can't list them as vintage, only as supplies.

If your items do't' fit there and Craigslist doesn't work for you, try a new site called UPillar, I haven't sold anything yet but listings are free (up to so many) and you can have them call or email to them / inquire about shipping. Also you can see if there's a FreeCycle in your area and try to trade and barter the items wherein you offer the items free, but then you are allowed to ask for free items you need.
posted by IraMency at 2:43 PM on January 7, 2012


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