Traci emailed in this reader tip:
I had been planning a yard sale for months but this summer I decided I didn’t have enough or valuable enough things to make it worthwhile.
About this time, I joined a handful of Yard Sale groups on Facebook and bought a few things through them. After purchasing a few things from others and realizing how easy it was to post things for sale also, I decided to list a few items around the house.
Within minutes — even seconds, sometimes — I had people interested!
I started cleaning out closets and found so many other things that I wanted to get rid of. It felt great to purge and makes some money, too. Items that I have sold so far have been: adult and children’s clothing, toys, kitchen items, furniture, books, and movies.
Money is tight this Christmas, but by selling items on the Facebook Yard Sale Groups, I was able to pay cash for Christmas for my entire Christmas for my family and even had some extra money leftover!
The best advice that I have for selling on local Facebook Yard Sale groups would be consider the time and gas you are spending to buy or sell an item. If you have to travel far, this could be eating your profit or savings.Post that others need to pick up in your city. I like to try to arrange pickups or drop-offs either in the morning or evening as to not interrupt my daily work, school, and family routine.
I also don’t have strangers come to my home. Remember safety first and it is best to meet in a public place like a shopping center or, even better, the local police department parking lot.
Also remember that people have busy lives and things happen that they have to reschedule a transaction sometimes. With that said, if someone is not being respectful of your time or you are not comfortable with something, don’t meet with them.
I am not stressing about Christmas this year and have not put one thing on a credit card that I will regret having to pay for later! -Traci
What a fantastic idea! Yard sales went online, such as the offer at this website. In addition to Facebook sale, you can click here to get fast personal loans and get your funds instantly. A combination of these two offers can really mean a lot.
Thank you for publishing my submission Crystal!
I have been selling in some groups on Facebook as well. At the beginning I did it to buy nice and affordable clothes for my little girl, then I started to sell her gently used clothes as well in the same groups. I made money selling her clothes (most of them gifts from my mom, so 100% profit) to buy newer clothes. Then, I realized that I had some many clothes and shoes in great condition that I didn’t wear or like anymore, so I joined to several Yard Sales in my area. In the last two months I made around $300 dollars to buy some things for my daughter and cover her birthday party.
Something I learned: be willing to reduce your prices if your items do not sell within some days, in a yard sale $1-2 dollars make a big difference. I would rather have $13 on my hands than a $15 item laying around for months.
I also am a member of several Facebook garage sale groups. I have gotten some amazing deals. I was able to furnish my sons college apartment with items I bought online while at the same time I sold some things to pay for the ones I bought. But with that being said it is NOT all that easy. People offer you much less than you are asking, they make plans to meet you
and at the last minute cancel, want you to drive miles for a $10 item, or some things just don’t sell at all. I have learned to price things just a bit over what I know it will probably sell for, allowing for the lower offer I am going to get. Don’t get your hopes up thinking you are going to make a ton of fast money. If you have big ticket items like furniture or appliances then yes, you will do better. But all the little things take time to add up.
I’ve been using our local yard sale site to declutter my home — I’ve been working with a home organizer and the money I’m making from selling is paying for her services and then some (I even found the organizing professional on the site — don’t worry, she’s a friend of a friend and was well recommended). Items I’ve sold include photography equipment, a ping-pong table, furniture, shoes, clothes, toys & games, and decorative items. I’ve bought baseball tickets, pants for my teenager, and some home organizing supplies. Our group is more than just a yard sale, it’s a community.
I’ve made $500 in two months using three main yard sale FB groups. It’s allowed me to focus on minimizing / organizing one room at a time. There have been items that wouldn’t sell for three weeks, then I waited a month and those same items sold in 15 minutes. Definitely meet in a safe place and set boundaries for your time. Otherwise you could use more gas than you make on the item making too many trips around town. Have fun!
Woohoo!
I really like the idea of the Facebook yard sale posts and love it when people post in the spring and summer where the yardsales at people’s houses, I found a awesome like new double sit and stand stroller for $20! But the one im a member of is kind of rough 🙁 It’s our local county one. I watch the fights that go on there like crazy and it discourages me from selling on them as well as buying because there was a few cases of people selling stolen goods or being scammed. I hope it gets cleaned up a bit because I love the idea!!!
I love when they post their actual yard sales on the sites, too! I found several wonderful items we needed at a site earlier this year because it was posted early that morning and I was up early! I would not have known about it otherwise. I found several nice things there; it was a three-family sale at one house.
In my area, the different pages are divided by smaller neighborhood locations within the city. This makes it much easier to list small, inexpensive items and have people willing to drive for them, because it’s within 2 to 4 miles.
I’ve been selling for the last few months, and I have plans to sell more items. I find it best to take photos during the day (for better lighting) and list in the evenings or at night.
I have found some great deals, too, including boys’ jeans in sizes 10 to 14 for $2 to $4 a pair. That’s higher than I usually pay at garage sales, but these sizes are harder to find, so being able to find them this way was fantastic. The sellers were selling several pairs at once, so my gas was definitely worthwhile. I paid for those items using the money I made selling items on the Facebook yard sale pages.
I generally find that I can get at least what I was going to ask at a garage sale, and often more, on small items like clothing. For instance, an item I might sell for .50 I can ask $1, or $2 to $4 for a nicer piece of clothing (such as a dress) that I would normally price at $1 at a garage sale.
Brandy, I really like the fact that I can make more than a yard sale for an item but pay less for an item that I could at a local thrift store. I also find that I even get good responses to In Search Of Requests. A mom I know recently needed dress shoes in a certain size for her child and I had them!
I sell all the time from our local Facebook garage sale site. I have made a lot of money and I find it so convenient.
I certainly agree with your tip about driving to meet someone in another town. It isn’t worth my driving to meet someone if they only bought a small item from me. I usually have them come to me. I find that if someone really wants to buy what I am selling, they will be willing to come and get it. 🙂
Traci,
I’ve been a part of a number of yard sale facebook groups like you. Most of the people have been nice and helpful. One time I was looking for Enfamil formula $5 checks and so many people gave me theirs for free.
One tip I learned from using these groups: Post your sale items during evenings and weekends when most of the people check their facebook page. That way you’ll get more viewers and quick turnover.