How to sell on the Facebook Marketplace? Last week, I talked about my epic purge of our entire house. Now I want to tell you what I did with all that extra stuff! We are moving in one week! There’s no better excuse than an opportunity like a big move to get hubby to say “yes” to swapping out much of our hand-me-down newlywed furniture for pieces that will better fit our style and feel a lot more like “us.”
Sell On Facebook Marketplace – Price It To Move
I’ve done a LOT of selling this summer. We’ve sold our bedroom set, a Bowflex, dining room table, coffee table, rug, lamps, old amps, patio set, and TV!
When you sell on Facebook, Marketplace is definitely not a get-rich-quick scheme; however, totaling everything up I’ve made just over $1000 so far! It sure beats leaving it on the curb come moving day. And if I exchange our old stuff for previously owned furniture, I may even come out ahead.
Packing and Purging? Sell on Facebook Marketplace!
When something failed my Purge Inducing questions, I put it into one of three piles. Those piles were to trash, to sell, and donate. Cleaning a house of stuff you have not touched in a while is good for a healthy lifestyle. It will also reduce your internal stress of what to do with all this stuff.
I threw away stuff only a hoarder crazy person like me would appreciate, like empty coffee cans and old magazines. I set aside stuff that wasn’t worth anything but could be donated to a charity, like clothes or our old bedspread. And I spruced up larger pieces like furniture and “like new” quality stuff to list on Facebook Marketplace.
Psychos, Gang Bangers, and The Mob
My poor mom has heard (and related every detail to me) all the horror stories she’s heard about people selling their stuff on Facebook Marketplace and winding up in some psycho’s trunk instead. I think there was even a “Facebook Marketplace Killer” out there a while back, which didn’t help. Hopefully, this will help convince her that I’m playing it safe!
We gals (and maybe guys, too) want to sell our stuff and feel safe doing so. It’s a little intimidating to have a stranger at your door and invite them to your house to see your stuff. There are some common sense things we can do to play it smart and avoid becoming fish food.
1. Advertise the item and only the item
I don’t know about you. However, the TP isn’t the first thing jumping out to me in the picture here. Besides distracting from the item I’m trying to sell, I’m advertising to strangers what valuables I have and maybe even the general contents of my house.
I try to keep ad pictures as distraction-free as possible. I want to sell my TP!
2. No address til the last minute
It’s up to you when you give a buyer your address when you sell on Facebook Marketplace. My personal M.O. is to withhold it until someone has confirmed they’re definitely coming and then give it out a few hours before the appointment. If I’m planning on being out all day, I don’t want strangers to know I have a $200 value weight bench for sale in my backyard, ripe for the picking. And if the item is small enough, I might consider meeting in a public place like a coffee shop to do business.
And,
Pretty Pretty, Please,
DON’T PUT YOUR ADDRESS IN YOUR AD!
I can’t think of a good reason to tell the wide world where you and your expensive stuff are located!
3. Have a buddy on hand (or pretend you have one)
For the most part, I schedule pick-ups in the evenings or on the weekends when Jason is home. When Jason can’t be home or if I feel safe handling the transaction on my own, I either have the item at the front of the garage, or just inside my house so I can bring it into the driveway and do my business in the front yard.
Did I say I did my business in the front yard?
“Um, hi, Mr. Facebook Marketplace person, my husband’s just upstairs taking a shower… I mean, cleaning his guns… oh, what’s that, honey? Make that sharpening his swords. How can I help you?”
If no one’s home, try my approach. Dress like a rogue ninja and wield a weapon. Then, if they turn out to be normal, you can play it off like, “Oh, it’s just a game me and my kids like to play…”
4. More ways to play it smart
Chances are everything will be fine, your transaction will go smoothly, and the man at your door won’t be the Facebook Marketplace Killer. By following these tips, you’ll make it that much harder for someone to even THINK about doing something shady.
Don’t invite people into your home if at all possible. Only accept cash. And don’t feel embarrassed to check that those $20s are real! Nobody from Nigeria wants to buy your armoire as a birthday present for his relative in Maine. And don’t give him your Paypal email address either.
Final Thoughts on How to Sell on Facebook Marketplace
Side note, trunks are actually pretty comfortable. Having all this furniture gone will undoubtedly make our moving day easier! I’m praying I can find lovely pieces to replace the stuff I sold, and soon. At any rate, it sure beats the creepiness of Craigslist.
