Selling items we don’t want to move

[Scuba]

We have a few items we don’t want to move with us, such as a 10 ft ladder and a garage cabinet, both in near new condition. In the past, we’ve used NextDoor or Facebook Marketplace to sell these types of things, and it’s always gone really well. This time, the only people contacting me are total scammers. No serious buyers. We are asking 30-40% of retail and both of the items are recognized brands that are still sold today. Not even getting any offers.

Any advice on other sites that work better these days? Worst case, we will donate the items and the minimal amount of money doesn’t matter that much to us, but I’m just shocked people aren’t snapping up the items as they did a few years ago when we advertised several things.

 

[retire48in2018]

Perhaps expand the area to sell - if you are in a limited area. Photos. A lively spirited story in the post that draws attention…

Also - have a quote from a 3rd party who would move it - if someone asks - and have that in the listing?

We got rid of about 40-50% of our stuff through FB marketplace and strategically advertised vintage yard sales.

Only 2 items would not sell regardless - 4 counter height shaker chairs and a Sole E35elliptical. We ended up donating. Other things were very surprising in how quickly they sold - pool table, couches, vintage purses, lawn tractors, etc. we donated these 2 items and garage sale items that did not sell.

 

[Piper20]

We’ve sold thru Marketplace. Car ramps, gas power washer, ladder, chainsaw, battery charger, camp stove, etc. No bites on some items. We’re are going to use Jdog to remove furniture, exercise equipment we won’t need. People we do know have no use for it. We don’t feel comfortable having unknown individuals in the house.
Going to ask my mower dealer if they would purchase the 3 yo zero turn if I can’t sell it.

 

[cbo111]

I've had good success with Craigs List for selling cars and motorcycles. It is free so you might try it.

 

[Ronstar]

Wow I'm surprised OP. I've had great success with FB marketplace.

 

[mystang52]

In the end, if you can't sell by the time you're moving, there's always your local "Freecycle" Facebook page.

 

[disneysteve]

I’ve sold a fair number of items on Marketplace. In my listing I always say “LOCAL PICKUP ONLY. NO SHIPPING. CASH ONLY. NO VENMO, PAYPAL, OR CASHAPP. NO TEXTING”. That seems to dissuade the crooks looking for folks unaware of all the usual scams.

 

[audreyh1]

Donate. Salvation Army might pick them up for the garage cabinet.

 

[Time2]

Wow I'm surprised OP. I've had great success with FB marketplace.

We have too! But, we have also had our share of scams. My son and I have had to keep an eye on my wife, we have slowly become comfortable that she can now recognize a scam or at least she will ask about it.

 

[sengsational]

Nothing you write in the Craigslist ad will have an effect on the scammers because they don't even read the ads. If they say they want to change com channels right away (they say "respond to my personal email" or "call me on this number"), I respond with a comment through the official channel asking some question any normal buyer could easily answer and would be happy to answer. That's the last I heard from them.

eBay will get more eyeballs, but it's not good for local pick up stuff. And the % final value fees are outlandish on high dollar items. But there's not many other ways to get that many eyeballs. I put items on FBM, CL and eBay concurrently. You can cancel an auction if the item sells on another platform.

 

[Which Roger]

When we sold our house, we donated, gave to friends, and freecycled as much as possible, but there were a few items, like a portable shed, an extension ladder, and a big storage cabinet that were easier to just leave in place. So our realtor checked with buyer's realtor, and buyers were happy to have us leave them.

 

[COcheesehead]

FB marketplace sometimes just requires patience. We renew listings when able to bring them back to the top. Everything eventually sells. eBay is good for things you can ship. We stopped using Craigslist years ago. It’s was almost unusable to sell stuff in our area. Low response rate, high scam rate.

 

[Morgan22]

When we sold our house, we donated, gave to friends, and freecycled as much as possible, but there were a few items, like a portable shed, an extension ladder, and a big storage cabinet that were easier to just leave in place. So our realtor checked with buyer's realtor, and buyers were happy to have us leave them.

We just bought a house a few months ago and the sellers left behind some useful items for us. (The realtor did ask if we wanted them first.) We were very grateful to receive an extension ladder and storage cabinets in the basement.

But we've also bought some items off of craigslist since we've moved in. We don't have access to FB marketplace since we don't have accounts with FB.

I say give Craigslist a try. And there's nothing wrong with receiving payment via zelle, venmo, or paypal, etc. That's how we've paid for a majority of items since its easier and the seller receives money immediately. Of course we purchased some items with cash too from some older folks who didn't have electronic instant payments set up.

 

[Texas Proud]

You can always sell it to a pawn shop... we did that with some tools that my oldest sister had after her DH died... we did not want to go through the hassle of listing, meeting etc.... we actually got more money than we were expecting if we had sold ourselves...

 

[c998877]

I have also used the OfferUp app.

 

[Scuba]

Update - I added more items today and had success from some real buyers finally, but only for very inexpensive items - art prints for $25. Even after dropping prices to a pretty low level, no takers other than the scammers for the ladder or the garage cabinet. I’m really surprised. Both of these items sell for over $300 new. Oh well. Our buyers may wish to purchase them. If not, we will donate.

We listed the items on Facebook Marketplace, Nextdoor, and OfferUp. Four years ago, we had tremendous success selling several items. *

 

[Luvtoride]

We have been “Cleaning out/ decluttering” our house since my retirement 2 months ago. We have mostly been throwing items out and occasionally posting an item on Facebook Marketplace with limited success.

What we have found that’s worked great if Freecycle. There are certain things we don’t want to throw away that are in excellent condition and can be used by others. We had several old pieces of luggage and tote bags that we no longer used. We put them out at our curb and posted this on Freecycle. Within 5 minutes, people were pulling up and helping themselves to what was out there. The people who came were very appreciative and were considerate to just take 1 or 2 pieces each (we had about 25 bags out there). Within an hour, everything was gone.

Yesterday, during a rainy day here, we came across my MIL’s set of China that we took out of her house when she passed away 20 years ago. All the pieces were still wrapped in newspaper that we used when we packed it up at the time of her death. My wife posted it on Freecycle and within 10 minutes someone responded wanting the China. The nice guy who showed up to claim it was a recent immigrant from the Ukraine with nothing and was trying to start over here in the US. He was sooo appreciative of our generosity. While we spoke with him we found out he has 3 young children ages 7 months to 10 years old. After learning that he has a 3 year old son, we told our daughter, who lives in town and was going through our Grandsons old clothes (he’s almost 5 years old). She put aside items that would be appropriate for a toddler and texted the guy. He came over to her house and picked up 3 bags of boys clothes for his son.

This act of kindness to someone who has obviously been through a lot was worth more to us than any small amount of money we could have gotten for selling old items.

 

[iloveyoga]

Update - I added more items today and had success from some real buyers finally, but only for very inexpensive items - art prints for $25. Even after dropping prices to a pretty low level, no takers other than the scammers for the ladder or the garage cabinet. I’m really surprised. Both of these items sell for over $300 new. Oh well. Our buyers may wish to purchase them. If not, we will donate.

We listed the items on Facebook Marketplace, Nextdoor, and OfferUp. Four years ago, we had tremendous success selling several items. *

I sell a lot on eBay and Marketplace. Every once in a while something just won't sell and then it is donate time.

 

[ransil]

on market place make sure you are placing ad in local groups
offerup and Craigslist were duds in my area selling stuff