selling stuff online...

[TooPatient]

We've got some stuff at home that we never use and is in good condition. I'm tired of the clutter and the $$$ would be really helpful too.

Most of it is smallish but the things I'm most interested in selling are large (packaged would be 3'x3'x6' or larger) and one of the things weighs 70 pounds.

Based on that, I was thinking that using Craigslist would be best so I could keep it local and avoid the challenge/expense of shipping.

Each of these larger things will be listed for about $2,000. Is that too much to trust to a Craigslist listing? Would I be safer using e-bay and just adding the cost of shipping?



What online selling sites have you used? What were the ups/downs of using them?
Any other advice would be greatly welcomed too -- I've never done this before.

 

[Pandora II]

I use eBay and just mark the listing as 'pick up only'.

If I really don't want to/can't possibly post the item then I make a point of stressing that it is pick-up only and the area of the country I am in when I write the listing. Had a couple of people email to ask how much to post and I just refer them back to the listing.

 

[D&T]

if you are new to ebay selling high priced items, you may not get a lot of traffic, as you have no feedback selling high dollar items. The other downside is (i'm paranoid) is that some experience buyers/scammers could rip you off of ebay stating this and this broke or this and that was not described and you could be out of your item and shipping money if you are brand new to ebay, not trying to scare you on ebay but it can happen. Ebay is very keen on their buyer protection.

I would also try craigslist, but again, high ticket item that is small and portable sometimes makes me nervous to list especially if they want to "come see" at your house. You could meet somewhere else to do the transaction. We've had great success on both craigslist, and ebay. However, on ebay I bought quite a few things first so I can be vetted and have some feedbacks before I attempted to sell. The nice about craigslist is you get immediate cash on the spot - Always ask for cash on craigslist is my recommendations.

How about doing a garage sell first? then unload on craigslist? afterwards?

are these items considered antique items? are there any consignment antique shops around?

 

[TooPatient]

if you are new to ebay selling high priced items, you may not get a lot of traffic, as you have no feedback selling high dollar items. The other downside is (i'm paranoid) is that some experience buyers/scammers could rip you off of ebay stating this and this broke or this and that was not described and you could be out of your item and shipping money if you are brand new to ebay, not trying to scare you on ebay but it can happen. Ebay is very keen on their buyer protection.

I would also try craigslist, but again, high ticket item that is small and portable sometimes makes me nervous to list especially if they want to "come see" at your house. You could meet somewhere else to do the transaction. We've had great success on both craigslist, and ebay. However, on ebay I bought quite a few things first so I can be vetted and have some feedbacks before I attempted to sell. The nice about craigslist is you get immediate cash on the spot - Always ask for cash on craigslist is my recommendations.

How about doing a garage sell first? then unload on craigslist? afterwards?

are these items considered antique items? are there any consignment antique shops around?

Great information. I never really thought about the downside to the protection of e-bay.


The larger items aren't small or easily portable. If someone wants to see them though we'd still meet in a public place.

One thing we're selling is a set of seats from an airplane and the other is a blasting machine (like a pressure washer but is really heavy duty and can use things like baking soda and walnut shells). I don't think either is really good for yardsale.

Hmmm... One thing I haven't looked into is aviation specific listing places.

 

[D&T]

oooh, pressure washer would be good on craigslist, check out your local CL for pressure washer or similar items that you might have to sell and and you'll see how much they are going for and I usually price mine accordingly but if you are the first out there, then you could set your price and see what happens. Many contractors or service people scour craiglists all the time. I have really enjoyed my experience on CL, haven't had a problems yet...(knock on wood) although we bought an Iphone off of CL and met the guy over at a convenience station late at night once in a not so great area... that was the only time when I said maybe we should rethink, but smooth transaction.

 

[texaskj]

Don't waste your time on Ebay with that stuff; the shipping would be a nightmare. Try Craigslist. It won't cost anything. Just make sure nobody ever comes over if you're alone and insist on cash.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

I've sold two very big ticket items on CL, but will put an emphasis on big. One was a hot tub and the other a high-end elliptical. Neither could be just grabbed and ran for. We delivered the hot tub. . I've sold a lot of other stuff on CL, eBay, and amazon. Best advice is have the item weighed in advance and realize the pros and cons of each sale site. CL attracts weirdos, eBay has fees, and amazon presets shipping cost (so you can end up paying part of profits to mail item). I sent an oscilloscope, which probably nobody knows what that is (!) and regardless of location it cost the same. Well, the buyer ended up being in fl and it was double what amazon determined was the shipping credit so I paid part of that.

 

[TooPatient]

Thanks for all the advice!

I created a new e-mail address to use just for selling stuff (the e-mail I use has my first & last name and I'd rather not post that everywhere). We're going to try Craigslist first since shipping would be rather difficult for these items. Also, they are big enough to not be able to easily run off with (one is 70 pounds and in a box that is over 4ft tall) but small enough that we're able to load them up and take them to a public location to meet.

Cash only, and NEVER by myself.