Well, after cleaning a little, we realized we just didn't have enough space for everything. And coincidentally, our neighborhood's bi-annual garage sale was happening on the first weekend of June. We got everything prepared and it turned out we had a ton of stuff! And some big things, too! I was excited. With so many big things, we were sure to get rid of things and make a little money.
The day of our garage sale came, and the weather was beautiful! I had high hopes for the day! Unfortunately, I didn't sell most of our big stuff, and we ended the day with just over $100. It didn't feel like a failure, but I definitely didn't feel like it was a huge success.
Since we did have so many big items left over, I knew I wanted to try to sell them still. My husband suggested Facebook Marketplace. I'd never sold anything on there before so I was a little nervous. And I definitely had no idea what I was in for. In the end, I sold everything that I wanted to in less than 2 weeks and made $221.
Here's how you start. Go to Marketplace (located at the left hand side toward the top on your desktop). Again, on the left hand side, click on “Sell Something” and fill out the prompts. They make it very easy! Make sure you add some great photos of the item you have for sale. The thing that sells your item the most is the photos. It's best to have them from every angle.
Tip 1: I only put 6-8 things for sale at a time and that worked great for me because even with just a few things for sale, it can get hard to keep track of all the people messaging you. I love how they keep your item for sale at the top of each conversation to help you keep everything organized.
Tip 2: Don't consider anything sold until you have agreed on a time, place, and amount. I had so many people ask “Is this available?” and when I said yes, they never said anything else. There were also plenty of people that asked questions about the item, seemed like they were going to buy it, and then just never said anything else. So I started replying “Yes” whenever anyone asked if an item was available until I considered it sold. I only had 2 people (out of probably 50) that got upset because I sold it while they were still thinking about it. And that's just how it goes. You can't miss out on potential sales while someone takes forever to reply that might not buy your item.
Tip 3: Don't feel bad about moving on. I had someone set to meet and then they messaged me a couple hours before that they wouldn't be able to meet until 2 hours later. That's fine. I'm flexible. Then, they messaged me again that it would be better for them to do the next day. Ok, starting to get annoyed, but again, I'm flexible. The next day, they message again, that they would really appreciate it if we could meet the day after that. That was enough. They offered to pay through Facebook to show they were serious about getting it, but I was annoyed. So I told them it wouldn't work for me and I relisted the item. Lucky for me, I had it sold and delivered with cash in my hand within 24 hours. The point is, move on if people seem like they're just there to make your life more stressful.
Tip 4: If you feel uncomfortable meeting with people at your house, it's perfectly ok, if not expected, to meet someplace public. I met at our local police department multiple times! But I was also flexible with my meeting location. I also met at Sam's Club, the library, Wal-Mart, and a couple other places. I only had 2 people pick up at my house and it was only because my trunk was too small.
So if you've ever thought about getting rid of stuff, definitely try Facebook! It costs nothing. It's super easy to set-up. And you have the opportunity to make some money without the hastle of a garage sale. I'm still glad we had our garage sale and in the end, with everything combined, we made about $330. And that's not too bad.
