Part 1: Sell Your Stuff
Sell the stuff you don't use. Buy the stuff you're going to need.
I'm starting with a post on selling your stuff (particularly stuff you have but don't use) as an option for those who (like me) don't necessarily have a ton of cash flow to invest in generators and the like. In the past several months I've sold a couple pieces of exercise equipment, camping equipment, and clothes, and have made about $1,500 US, which I've invested in solar panels.
Here's what I know about where to sell things - this is mainly info for the US/N. America. (I’m based on the East coast.)
I used to scoff at facebook. I don’t anymore. In terms of buying and selling personal items, it has become the new craigslist/nextdoor, so I’m bumping it from the bottom to the top of this list.
no fees
First: find and join local garage sale fb groups. (I was suprised to find 7 active groups near me, all of which had at least 10K members.)
Next: list your item on fb marketplace. as part of the listing info you can check boxes next to the groups you’ve joined to share in multiple places at one time. Super easy.
You can indicate on the listing whether you want to do door pickup (someone comes to your house) vs. meeting in a public place. You can also elect shipping for lighter items.
takes 20% of sale price as a fee
primarily clothes, home goods, electronics, new/semi-used beauty products
Tip: buyers will "like" items, then they expect you to send them a discount offer. Best to list at ~20% above goal price and then mark down using this "send an offer" feature with discounted shipping. I've found this increases the probability of sales.
takes 10% of sale price as fee, + 2.9% for payment processing
clothes, accessories, new/semi-used beauty products, home goods, electronics, toys
Tip: buyers will "like" items, then they expect you to send them a discount offer. Best to list at ~20% above goal price and then mark down using this "send an offer" feature with discounted shipping.
takes 10% of sale price as fee + 3.49% for Paypal payment processing
since 2021 is a subsidiary of Etsy
mainly clothes, accessories, some housewares
takes 6.5% of sale price as fee + 3% for payment processing
people sell basically everything on etsy now. it's become more and more like ebay.
Not sure if the "like and wait for discount offer" applies to etsy, have not tried that
Tip: a LOT of people sell plants on etsy. If you have an unusual plant, you can propagate it and sell rooted cuttings for $5-30+ and people will buy them! (I've purchased several myself.)
primarily outdoor/sporting equipment
used to have a very low 10% commission, but they changed their format in the past year. now they do all the prepping and shipping. best return is on high price (>$600) items. not sure I’d recommend them anymore for selling.
takes a 15% of sale prices as fee + 3% payment processing fee
mainly for high end furniture & housewares
www.chairish.com is another similar site (takes 20% fee)
Specialized online marketplaces
There are a lot of online buy/sell forums (fora?) for specialized products
Here's one for audio equipment. Here's one for books.
Shipping may be costly depending on item so look for ones with a local pickup option
Local community / neighborhood sites/listservs
Many communities use nextdoor.com
Some communities also have neighborhood-based forums - here's an example from Minneapolis
If you're not already on your local list(s), you can probably ask around to find out what most people use
Often used for local buying/selling
Local consignment stores
If you have items that will be more likely to sell if people can try them on, check out local consignment stores
Furniture consignment stores are also a thing
Selling your car
If you have a fancy ride and are considering trading down for something with better gas mileage - some possible ideas
You can actually sell your car as an independent seller. Many of the tips at the end of this post apply.
Get your car serviced before listing, then say in the listing that it was just serviced and mention what was replaced.
Have a pre-sale inspection done and provide the inspection report to potential buyers.
Provide a free Carfax report. (Or your local equivalent, depending on what country you live in.)
You could spend $800 on an extra/new set of tires and potentially make an extra $2000 on the sale.
List on multiple sites -- craigslist, fb marketplace, autotrader, cars.com, as well as any of the local options above.
The obvious other options :)
Ye olde craigslist & ebay
A couple tips on selling:
Most sites let you filter for sold items, so you can check to see what items comparable to yours are selling for.
If you have clothes that have pilling, use one of these! They work miracles.
Blue Dawn dish detergent will get 70% of stains out of most clothes. Also armpit stink. :)
When you list things, include as much specific info as possible in the listing title, e.g. The North Face Summit L5 Gore-Tex Pro Jacket Men's size L, instead of just "North Face Jacket" -- specificity will make you more findable in google searches.
Use abbreviations in post titles: NWT = new with tags, NWOT = new w/o tags. EUC = excellent used condition. GUC = good used condition, etc.
Include as many photos as possible in your listing. Listing with more pix will sell faster. Same goes for descriptions - you can copy/paste descriptions from retail websites.
You can buy dress forms on amazon for <$40 to show off your clothes better. Also shoe thingys.
If you have small but heavy items, use USPS prepaid shipping boxes. If you have small + breakable items, pack them carefully in a box, then pack that box in another box w/ peanuts or bubble wrap around the first box. Your stuff is much more likely to arrive unbroken that way. (I’ve learned that the hard way.)
For sites that have seller ratings (e.g. etsy), consider listing a bunch of things cheaply to start with (and shipping them quickly once they sell) to rack up 5-star ratings. Buyers are more likely to buy from sellers w perfect ratings.
Always be honest about the quality of your item(s). If it has a flaw, always show the flaw in the photos and mention it in the descriptions. Honesty will get you more 5-star ratings.
If you use venmo/paypal or similar for sales, you *may* be required to report the sale for tax purposes, however if you’re selling at a loss (99.999% of private sale items are sold at a loss) you can claim it as such on your taxes and it won’t be included in your gross income amount.
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Do y'all know of others? Are there certain ones that you've had good success with? If you live in other parts of the world, what kind of networks do your local communities use?
Any and all other advice welcome!