For me personally I have more tech and hardware stuff but also just general items. I used Craigslist back in the day but that site now seems even worse. Am I correct or do I just need to rethink how I post? It’s never been good but it’s seemed like it’s never gotten better. I’m aware of Facebook market place but I really want to stay away from anything meta if possible.
I’m scared of getting scammed selling online. With all the nonsense sellers can say, the fees to eBay or whoever, shipping costs and hassle, online and shipped is the last resort for me unless it’s something small and simple.
Do I have to take my stuff to the flea market, set up everything in my trunk, and hustle?
Craigslist for basic stuff is pretty chill these days. List as local pick up only, ignore anyone asking you to ship it or doing anything weird, and arrange a local pick up in a police station parking lot or in the middle of the day at the gas station of your local mega-grocery chain. 60% of the time, it works every time. I give a lot of my old crap to goodwill and may occasionally sell something on eBay but that’s rare, like mr. clean with hair.
Years ago, I bought a gadget off Craigslist and did the trade in the parking lot of a gas station. Was nervous about getting ripped off. Fortunately, it was legit and the thing still works.
Doing a trade in front of a police station is a great way to filter out scams. What a great idea!
Facebook marketplace is the only place I’ve been able to actually sell anything for at least a couple of years now. Craigslist used to be the shit, now it’s just shit. OfferUp is absolute trash. Let go was pretty good, but got bought out and shut down by OfferUp a while back. Unfortunately, FB might be the best place, for now. I can’t wait until I can finish selling off all of the stuff I need to get rid of. It’s the only reason I haven’t fully deleted my FB account yet.
Offerup has the choosiest beggers and no way to block people.
Unfortunately it seems like craigslist is a ghost town compared to Facebook marketplace. It sucks, but if you want the most eyeballs then FB is the way to go.
I still use Craigslist, but only for items I just want gone. Like, “This thing is free and sitting out on the curb. First one here gets it.” I’ve given up on actually buying or selling there. Too many flaky people who don’t know how to communicate or fail to show up at the agreed time and place.
eBay is my long-standing go-to for buying/selling used things that have actual value. I’ve been screwed twice in 20 years. Both times it was a seller who took my money and never shipped my item. When I sell things, the buyers have always been great.
I avoid Facebook Marketplace, though I hear it’s the popular spot now.
How much money do you lose on fees and shipping all said and done? I need money but my introversion is pushing me to pay the price to not deal with Facebook marketplace.
Long time ebay seller here:
Just a quick tip for how I like to do it
-take (good) pictures of your items
-box it up
-weigh it
-finish listing the item.
Depending on what I’m selling, and how fast I want to do it, and how much it would potentially cost to ship it, this is usually a very good way of doing it. I like using Ebay because it’s very informal and you don’t have to deal with the irritating interactions of people quite so much as on the other platforms.
The buyer pays the taxes and shipping on top of the item’s price. eBay is pretty good at estimating the shipping costs. As the other commentor said, eBay’s fees are about 10% and are paid by the seller.
It’s like 10%, but you get a larger audience. Just be really specific about the condition and make sure to always say “as-is, no returns”
I miss craigslist, but unfortunately just nobody uses it anymore. Everyone is using Facebook marketplace and for this type of thing you kind of have to sell where the buyers are. It sucks because the quality of people is so much worse, but at least there are actually people there. I can’t even count the number of times I’m selling something and get a “Is tHIs sTILl aVaiLAble??!!?!;;??!”, which I answer “yes, if you see the ad it’s available” and then never hear from them again. Very frustrating. On the flip side, BUYING things is actually easier because if you prove that you’re intelligent enough to reply to a message then you basically are guaranteed to be able to buy the item
Selling online and shipping? EBay is still king.
Selling local-only? Ask your friends and neighbors what they use. My previous town still has a healthy craigslist community. My current town sells everything on Facebook marketplace (ugh).
We mostly use nextdoor these days. It’s always local pick-up.
Privacy-wise, nextdoor is crap. It’s also oddly full of drama, as people come on and rant about some controversial topic, but otherwise it fells like Craigslist did in the early days.
I second next door if you have to avoid Meta, but agree that it’s not great privacy wise
OfferUp is full of spam, but as long as you use an email alias that you can delete later and meet at one of their designated safe seller spots (mostly police stations), it works ok. Probably not “the” answer, but it’s another possibility to add to the collection of shitty options. I sold some stereo stuff on there recently without issue, other than bargaining down a bit.
Ebay? Amazon? Pawn shop? Garage sale? Ads?
If FB marketplace is the only game left in your town, create a fake Facebook account solely for using marketplace and you’ll probably have the easiest time selling stuff. It’s less convenient to chat with people if you don’t install their awful apps on your phone, but it’s less invasive.
Craigslist isn’t the king anymore but it’s still very active. There’s also Craigslist clones of various types in various cities that might be active for you - just try a local search for selling stuff and odds are the sponsored results will be big enough players in your area that they bother to advertise.
Or just throw up a sign with your phone number or email and stick it up on a community notice board, apartment building mail room, etc. For types of items that are pretty universal you shouldn’t have much trouble finding a buyer.
In all cases, set a high bar for scammers and idiots. Clearly post in your ad that it’s for pickup only and price is firm. If you get a message from someone saying anything but “is it still available? I can come over tomorrow”, just delete it. I’ve gotten tons of stupid messages like “call me 555-5555” or “I’ll give you 30% of asking price in cash”. Don’t waste your time with those fuckers. They’re either lazy or dishonest and you don’t have time for them.
I wouldn’t go to the trouble of setting up a table at a flea market unless you have a lot of valuable stuff to sell and have a strong stomach for dealing with hagglers.
Unfortunately Facebook marketplace is the best place for cheap or heavy stuff. eBay is still best for anything with value.
Kijiji is quite popular where I live.
One of the news outlets in my area has online classifieds that are well known and utilized. Maybe there’s something like that in your area?
I hear some stories about scams on there, so it’s not immune to that, but I don’t believe it’s a significant problem.
As someone living in Ontario I’m forever grateful for Kijiji
