I've been selling stuff (there's no better word to describe things we've owned but no longer want) online for a dozen or more years—first on eBay and then books on Amazon, and then on Craigslist for whatever I can't or won't ship. This year I added Facebook Marketplace to the mix.
When you sell locally, you have to decide on a place to meet to hand over the item and receive your money. I can think of only four times when buyers came to the house: when I sold a giant old piece of farm equipment, an even bigger stand-on-the-floor stainless steel kettle, and two generators. When I list an item for sale, I usually tell what county I'm in, and name a couple of places in the county and in a neighboring county where we can meet.
I sold a juicer outside a church where I was photographing a jazz concert, and a TV in our high school parking lot. I've met buyers in front of Starbucks, TJ Maxx, and Tractor Supply. Some buyers have puzzling suggestions. My most recent transaction was with a woman who suggested we meet in a town I'd never heard of. I don't know how she came up with this, since we live less than 10 miles from each other, and the town was 60 miles away.
OK, that is a weird request. I desperately need to get rid of things, and the how is daunting. I have a friend who sells things the way you do all the time, and meeting people all over the place.
ReplyDeleteI understand about the how being daunting. Sixteen years ago (yikes--I didn't realize it was that long ago) I asked my son, who was experienced with eBay, if he would sell some of his dad's science books. He said I should sign up with eBay and do it myself. I didn't think much of that idea at all, but he said once I got into it I'd love it. He was right. Perhaps "love" is too strong a word, but I've sold a lot of stuff on eBay over the years and have enjoyed it enough to have conducted several workshops on the subject at our library. I can say the same thing to you. Knowledge dissipates fear. You're already familiar with Facebook, so take a look at Facebook Marketplace. You have way more writing ability than the listings require. Let me know if I can help you in any way.
ReplyDeleteI will definitely keep this in mind! Thank you!
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