What are the Want Ads of 2023?
September 29, 2023 2:26 PM Subscribe
Where do people sell things locally? Craigslist seems to be dead, Facebook Marketplace is nothing but scammers. How do I get rid of stuff that I don't want but that is too valuable to give away?
I have some things. A couple power tools, some musical instruments, some other stuff. I'd like to get rid of these things and maybe make a little bit of money in the process.
If this were 2010 I'd put it on Craigslist and it'd be gone in a week. Some guy would show up at my house, hand me $80.00, and take my thing away. I tried putting a few things on Craiglist recently and I got one non-scammy hit and he turned out to be not interested.
I tried selling a few things on Facebook marketplace and I got approximately 47,000 messages asking me if it was still available and when I went to their profiles they were clearly scammers, or at the very least not local. Similar results with my town's Yard Sale group.
Where do I sell stuff in 2023?
For various reasons, I can't do a yard sale or attend a flea market. I want to post it somewhere on-line and have someone come to my house, pay me money, and take the thing away.
These things are too large and heavy to sell on eBay. Yes, I know I can literally ship anything but I don't really want to pack up an entire drum kit or drill press.
Assume I know how to take decent photos, write a proper description, and I put a fruit bowl in every shot. This is not a case of my listing not being good enough, it's just that the places I'm trying to sell stuff don't seem to be valid places to sell stuff anymore.
In case there are location-specific options, I live in the western suburbs of Boston.
I have some things. A couple power tools, some musical instruments, some other stuff. I'd like to get rid of these things and maybe make a little bit of money in the process.
If this were 2010 I'd put it on Craigslist and it'd be gone in a week. Some guy would show up at my house, hand me $80.00, and take my thing away. I tried putting a few things on Craiglist recently and I got one non-scammy hit and he turned out to be not interested.
I tried selling a few things on Facebook marketplace and I got approximately 47,000 messages asking me if it was still available and when I went to their profiles they were clearly scammers, or at the very least not local. Similar results with my town's Yard Sale group.
Where do I sell stuff in 2023?
For various reasons, I can't do a yard sale or attend a flea market. I want to post it somewhere on-line and have someone come to my house, pay me money, and take the thing away.
These things are too large and heavy to sell on eBay. Yes, I know I can literally ship anything but I don't really want to pack up an entire drum kit or drill press.
Assume I know how to take decent photos, write a proper description, and I put a fruit bowl in every shot. This is not a case of my listing not being good enough, it's just that the places I'm trying to sell stuff don't seem to be valid places to sell stuff anymore.
In case there are location-specific options, I live in the western suburbs of Boston.
Local Facebook sale groups are big here, although Marketplace works too. I ignore anyone who uses the “is this available” button.
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 2:48 PM on September 29, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 2:48 PM on September 29, 2023 [3 favorites]
There are a lot of spammers on FBM, but in my experience they are pretty easy to weed out, and real people do still use it.
posted by Charity Garfein at 2:49 PM on September 29, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by Charity Garfein at 2:49 PM on September 29, 2023 [5 favorites]
The Craigslist in my area (North Bay, CA) is very active. I buy and sell large, tool-ish stuff on it all the time.
posted by Dr. Wu at 3:15 PM on September 29, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by Dr. Wu at 3:15 PM on September 29, 2023 [3 favorites]
I buy stuff from Craigslist pretty regularly, and from Facebook Marketplace occasionally. I hear that the item I want has already been picked up often enough that I can't be the only one.
The "is this available" messages on Facebook are due to poor design in my opinion. It's really easy to hit the send button by mistake, especially on a phone, and that's the default message. Ignoring them is the smart move, if they were really interested they'd follow up.
Specialist sites for specific categories of item will get you a higher ratio of quality responses, but may or may not result in a quicker sale. For musical instruments it would be Reverb, I've purchased a few things there this year and have been happy with the process.
posted by Jawn at 3:15 PM on September 29, 2023
The "is this available" messages on Facebook are due to poor design in my opinion. It's really easy to hit the send button by mistake, especially on a phone, and that's the default message. Ignoring them is the smart move, if they were really interested they'd follow up.
Specialist sites for specific categories of item will get you a higher ratio of quality responses, but may or may not result in a quicker sale. For musical instruments it would be Reverb, I've purchased a few things there this year and have been happy with the process.
posted by Jawn at 3:15 PM on September 29, 2023
Around here it's Facebook neighborhood groups. And garage sales at the weekend.
posted by cooker girl at 3:28 PM on September 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by cooker girl at 3:28 PM on September 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
Some areas have a subreddit that allows for sale postings.
posted by wenestvedt at 3:36 PM on September 29, 2023
posted by wenestvedt at 3:36 PM on September 29, 2023
I've sold bicycles and a trampoline on Craigslist in the last year (Portland, OR). Just had to make sure to delete the messages from the four or so robot scammers that reply as soon as the ad is posted.
posted by polecat at 3:38 PM on September 29, 2023
posted by polecat at 3:38 PM on September 29, 2023
OfferUp, Mercari, NextDoor, Decluttr.
You can sell things on eBay for local pickup only.
posted by snuffleupagus at 3:59 PM on September 29, 2023 [2 favorites]
You can sell things on eBay for local pickup only.
posted by snuffleupagus at 3:59 PM on September 29, 2023 [2 favorites]
Do you have kijiji down there, or is that just a Canadian thing?
posted by eviemath at 4:01 PM on September 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by eviemath at 4:01 PM on September 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
I recently tried to sell some stuff in the SF Bay Area on Craigslist and Facebook. Craigslist appears to be a ghost town, and I got no replies, so I shared the biggest thing on FB Marketplace to test the waters over there. I got a lot of "is this available" botspam and one person who really wanted to use Zelle (no thanks) but after about a week I connected with an apparently real human who apparently wanted to buy the my stuff. I expect he'll pick it up tomorrow, but I'll update if this somehow goes horridly wrong.
posted by Alterscape at 4:01 PM on September 29, 2023
posted by Alterscape at 4:01 PM on September 29, 2023
I've sold a bunch of stuff on Facebook Marketplace recently, and it's been pretty good for me. You just have to be willing to not take initial messages too seriously and filter out the noise.
Most people, even some serious buyers, start with "Is it still available?" because that's the default button Facebook gives. Just reply something simple like "Yes" to everyone. Maybe 20% of them will follow up. That's normal. For slightly better responses, you could try "Yes, when can you come pick it up?" I would not spend any time looking at people's profiles.
The scammers are easy to pick out. They will use terrible spelling, ask you to give them your phone number (never do this), ship to their uncle in another state, send you Venmo or Zelle ahead of time (with a fake confirmation email that you've been paid but of course it won't show up in your bank account), or any number of weird proposals. Just use the report button and move on. No need to explain that you don't give out your phone number, don't do shipping, etc. Report and move on.
You'll probably get lowballers. I tend to respond "the price is $X" and if they continue to be pushy then report and move on. Wait for someone else to offer you full price or very close to it, which may take another few days. However, this strategy depends on knowing what the going price is for your items - do a Marketplace search for what you're selling, and specify "Availability: Sold." If you're not getting enough messages (ha), lower your price by $10-$20 each week. If you're getting too many, you could even raise the price.
And then for arranging pickup. I like to say that I'm available at this address during these times (which are convenient for me). I've even had good luck being specific like "can you pick it up tonight at 6pm?" If a person sounds fishy to me, I give the address of a house number that doesn't exist on the next street over. First come first served, cash only (or Venmo on the spot where you can verify on your own phone that you received payment), no delivery, no shipping, no holds unless they'd like to put down a small deposit via Venmo (this really weeds out people who aren't serious).
First come first served is the key to eliminating the madness, in my opinion. If someone says they're "definitely coming at 5pm today," expect maybe a 60% likelihood they will show up (although I've been lucky, my percentage is closer to 80%). But if someone else asks "Is it still available?" before that person shows up, I say yes. If they follow up with a viable pickup proposal, I let them know that "the item is pending pickup, but if that falls through you are next in line." If the first person doesn't show up, it automatically goes to whoever's next. If the no-show wants to reschedule, they are now at the back of the line. If someone wants to pick it up a few days from now, I would ask for a deposit or tell them you can't hold it but it's theirs if it's still available then.
Ebay is also pretty viable for things you're willing to ship. 1-week auction that starts at a low price, boom, your item will almost certainly sell. (Starting at a low price often yields a higher final price, although it depends on the category.) Do a search for sold items to see what recent selling prices have been like. Use Ebay or PirateShip shipping for the best rates.
Thank you for coming to my TED talk :)
posted by danceswithlight at 4:11 PM on September 29, 2023 [25 favorites]
Most people, even some serious buyers, start with "Is it still available?" because that's the default button Facebook gives. Just reply something simple like "Yes" to everyone. Maybe 20% of them will follow up. That's normal. For slightly better responses, you could try "Yes, when can you come pick it up?" I would not spend any time looking at people's profiles.
The scammers are easy to pick out. They will use terrible spelling, ask you to give them your phone number (never do this), ship to their uncle in another state, send you Venmo or Zelle ahead of time (with a fake confirmation email that you've been paid but of course it won't show up in your bank account), or any number of weird proposals. Just use the report button and move on. No need to explain that you don't give out your phone number, don't do shipping, etc. Report and move on.
You'll probably get lowballers. I tend to respond "the price is $X" and if they continue to be pushy then report and move on. Wait for someone else to offer you full price or very close to it, which may take another few days. However, this strategy depends on knowing what the going price is for your items - do a Marketplace search for what you're selling, and specify "Availability: Sold." If you're not getting enough messages (ha), lower your price by $10-$20 each week. If you're getting too many, you could even raise the price.
And then for arranging pickup. I like to say that I'm available at this address during these times (which are convenient for me). I've even had good luck being specific like "can you pick it up tonight at 6pm?" If a person sounds fishy to me, I give the address of a house number that doesn't exist on the next street over. First come first served, cash only (or Venmo on the spot where you can verify on your own phone that you received payment), no delivery, no shipping, no holds unless they'd like to put down a small deposit via Venmo (this really weeds out people who aren't serious).
First come first served is the key to eliminating the madness, in my opinion. If someone says they're "definitely coming at 5pm today," expect maybe a 60% likelihood they will show up (although I've been lucky, my percentage is closer to 80%). But if someone else asks "Is it still available?" before that person shows up, I say yes. If they follow up with a viable pickup proposal, I let them know that "the item is pending pickup, but if that falls through you are next in line." If the first person doesn't show up, it automatically goes to whoever's next. If the no-show wants to reschedule, they are now at the back of the line. If someone wants to pick it up a few days from now, I would ask for a deposit or tell them you can't hold it but it's theirs if it's still available then.
Ebay is also pretty viable for things you're willing to ship. 1-week auction that starts at a low price, boom, your item will almost certainly sell. (Starting at a low price often yields a higher final price, although it depends on the category.) Do a search for sold items to see what recent selling prices have been like. Use Ebay or PirateShip shipping for the best rates.
Thank you for coming to my TED talk :)
posted by danceswithlight at 4:11 PM on September 29, 2023 [25 favorites]
Yeah, do local pickup on eBay! My mom's friend bought a truck on eBay once!
posted by potrzebie at 7:17 PM on September 29, 2023
posted by potrzebie at 7:17 PM on September 29, 2023
For musical instruments most local music shops will sell on consignment, typically charging 20% which is more than the 13% Ebay charge but they will probably sell for a higher price and no postage involved so it all evens out.
posted by Lanark at 1:25 AM on September 30, 2023
posted by Lanark at 1:25 AM on September 30, 2023
For musical instruments, Reverb offers a version of local pickup only.
posted by drezdn at 5:15 AM on September 30, 2023
posted by drezdn at 5:15 AM on September 30, 2023
This might only be my local FB Marketplace but I've noticed that if I list something for cheaper than other similar listings I get tons and tons of scammers. I actually took down the item that was causing this issue and put it back up for $40 more and sold it to a real person a week later.
posted by possibilityleft at 8:16 AM on October 2, 2023
posted by possibilityleft at 8:16 AM on October 2, 2023
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I would recommend specialist web communities for some items but those aren't usually very localized.
posted by wenestvedt at 2:34 PM on September 29, 2023 [2 favorites]