As a minimalist, keeping clutter and chaos at bay is a daily challenge. In terms of keeping up with my zero-waste, less-is-more attitude, I often gather any excessive belongings from my home and sell them online, via Facebook local groups. So, why Facebook? With Facebook local groups super simple to sell your unwanted stuff on Facebook local Buy, Sell, or Trade groups easily and without out any initial out-of-pocket.
A few great benefits to selling locally on Facebook:
- On Facebook, you set your price and there’s no one taking a cut of your sale price or charging you to host your listing.
You can set your own preferred method of payment.
You also have the opportunity to become part of a community where people are looking for bargains as much as others are looking to declutter their homes.
So, if you decide to start selling, here are a few tips to get you started:
- Search for your state or region and the word “sell” or “buy” to find local buy/sell/trade groups.
- If there are none, you can always start one and get the word out in your community!
- You may find that many of the groups are closed, so you’ll have to ask permission to join, and others only accept certain types of listings.
- Many have strict listing requirements and limits on how many items you can try to sell per day in order to stave off spammers and scam artists.
- Be sure to check out each group/administration rules prior to joining.
- Once you are a local group member, list your own items for sale, and set your own prices.
Once you have items listed for sale, here are some pointers to keep in mind when negotiating locally:
- Be sure to note whether you’re willing to ship something, or—in the case of furniture or large electronics or appliances—whether you’d rather the buyer come pick it up.
- Be specific in your pricing and listings; do not use vague terminology, such as “make me an offer.”
- Be prompt in answering questions, commenting on posts, as well as taking down notices for sold items.
- Always check your “other” folder in Facebook messenger; those whom you are not friends with, will have messages posted to this folder, so be sure to check it often to not miss out on any awesome offers of sale!
- Every 24 hours you can “bump” a listing, an action which will automatically move a listing to the top of the groups wall by typing “bump” in the comment section under your listing; this can be done once per item, per group, per 24-hour period.
- Be courteous. Allow users to ask questions, and then try and sell to the first inquiry before continuing down your list.
Don’t be afraid of offers or hagglers. Know your items worth, not it’s sentimental value. In order to make a sale, you must be willing to negotiate on price; this doesn’t mean accepting insulting, low-ball offers, but reasonable offers. - When scheduling a pick-up time, schedule your drop offs in a well lit, public place, and bring a friend or family member with you. Also, if selling multiple items, have your buyers come in 15 minute increments to avoid wasting gas and time waiting on buyers who may be no-shows!
- Have fun! This goes without saying you should have fun, even when selling goods!
So today, I challenge you to start selling your items on Facebook using these steps:
- Set a small goal, say $100.00 in value, or ten items to sell.
- Find a local Facebook Group.
- Join your group.
- Prep your items for sale; make sure items are clean, ready for pick-up, sorted, and photographed.
- Be patient! Sales take time.
So folks, have you had much luck in selling locally on Facebook groups in your area? I’d love to hear about your tips, tricks, and experience below!
Here’s to saving,
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