Moving and CraigsList

[jpg7n16]

So I'm getting married here in about a month. Starting to move my stuff into the new place, but we now have like 2-3 of everything. 2 washers/dryers (provided by new apartment makes 3), 2 couches, 2 beds, 2 TVs, 2 microwaves (provided by new apt makes 3), 2 toasters, 2 vacuums, etc.

When she moves in we won't have enough space for all this, and it's kinda wasteful to keep multiple things like that anyways. My mind is jumping to "sell this stuff on CraigsList" - but we've never sold anything like that before.

My questions boil down to:
1) How much of this is it worth the time and hassle of posting and meeting buyers to sell?
2) Would it be better to post on CraigsList - or to have a garage sale? Or some other option like a consignment store?
3) How can I ensure that we're safe from crazies?

I'd appreciate any tips for selling stuff. Thanks!

[MonkeyMama]

My questions boil down to:
1) How much of this is it worth the time and hassle of posting and meeting buyers to sell?
2) Would it be better to post on CraigsList - or to have a garage sale? Or some other option like a consignment store?
3) How can I ensure that we're safe from crazies?

I'd appreciate any tips for selling stuff. Thanks!

Congrats jpg!!

#1 - I think this is a very personal decision. My spouse is unemployed, so we sell anything we can get $10+ for. He sold something for $5 the other day, which I thought was crazy, but to be fair it was listed with a lot of other items.

On the flip side, *I* was trying to sell something my spouse couldn't help me very much with and I Was getting so frustrated with the flakes. If you both work, no amount of money may be worth the time and hassle. But you might do better with some kind of bulk listing. Garage sale would be to that same end. You'd probably get a lot less for everything, but could just be done with it and not deal with the flakes. Your time is likely more valuable.

#3 - I think overall Craigslist is pretty safe for low dollar items. I only meet people in public places, as a female, and we often meet female buyers in public at their request. My spouse drives me nuts because he is always selling things and invites people to our home. Over years of this I have calmed down a bit. The buyers tend to be more stupid than my spouse. (Women bring their kids into our house all the time, to meet a male seller - this personally horrifies me). That said, I would be really careful with the "meet at your home" angle if you have a lot of obviously high dollar items in your house. Our house just happens to be laid out that we have a couple of empty rooms up front with nothing of value, so I feel more comfortable with it. If you have thousands of dollars of merchandise visible from your front door, then you might want to just have a garage sale or meet buyers elsewhere.

My spouse is also home all the time so we feel a little more comfortable with Craigslist in this scenario. I think it's not very wise to tell people when you are and are not home. We tend to list things more when we know someone will be home all week to avoid over-sharing our comings and goings.

[disneysteve]

My questions boil down to:
1) How much of this is it worth the time and hassle of posting and meeting buyers to sell?
2) Would it be better to post on CraigsList - or to have a garage sale? Or some other option like a consignment store?
3) How can I ensure that we're safe from crazies?

1) I think it is all worth selling.
2) For small items, like a toaster (unless it is some high-end toaster), you may do better with a garage sale where you can move a bunch of items in a few hours. For larger items, like a microwave, vacuum, or washer/dryer, craigslist might be the better option. I'd spend a little time browsing craigslist in your area and see what things are listed.
3) For anything easily portable, arrange to meet in a public place. Make the transactions cash only (unless you have the means to accept debit/credit like a Square reader). For large items, like the washer/dryer, obviously the buyer would have to come to you. If possible, have those in the garage so that the people don't actually come into your house and see your stuff. Don't be alone when someone comes. And again, cash only unless you have an electronic option, but no checks or money orders.

[scfr]

Prior to moving from Seattle to Austin, we sold a LOT of stuff. I had a big garage sale, but most of the furniture I sold through Craiglist. I even sold 2 couches through eBay (local pickup only). I sold higher-value things through eBay, and books through Half.com. Since you don't have a lot of time, I recommend just one weekend for Craigslist and then a garage sale. We had a lot of luck with Craigslist. This was about 6 years ago, I think? Anyway ...

My tips are: do separate listings for each item or set, but list all the things at the same time, when you know you'll be home for a couple days and can receive people at any time. Give brutally honest descriptions (don't exaggerate condition), price competitively to sell, and post as many pictures as you can. For the most part, people showed up when they said they would and all who came bought (a couple mentioned that they had run in to quite a few ads that exaggerated the quality that they walked away from).

I learned very quickly that there was a certain type of Email that was a waste of time to reply to. If all they asked was "Is the xxx still available?" it seemed they were just fishing for my Email address. If I replied, I'd never hear back from them. But if they asked very specific questions about the piece (how long have you had it, are the joints dovetail, etc) those were always very serious buyers.

We set up a couple of rooms in the front of our house with all the stuff we were selling. People really couldn't see in to the rest of our house. We only had people over during the day or early evening, not at night. I met people downstairs. My husband was upstairs and would look over the railing and say hello, so they knew he was there and keeping an eye on things. Our dog was shut away in the bedroom, barking very deep and loud which added to our security.

I let people know it was "cash only" and they all understood. That's how Craigslist works.
All of my experiences were pleasant. I even had people who bought items that I was prepping for my garage sale in addition to the furniture they came to look at!

P.S. - The one thing you may want to consider keeping is the vacuum cleaner, depending on age and make and if you have the room to store it. They don't seem to last very long, and you might end up kicking yourself if you have to go out and buy a new one in a year or two.

[sblatner]

We've sold a lot on Craigslist - furniture, toys, household, lawnmower, tickets. I had tickets to a Pac-10 Women's basketball tournament. I didn't want to go to all the sessions so advertised on CL. A gal from Washington State bought two tickets from me. I had two extra tickets and told her to give them away at the door. She actually sold them and e-mailed me for my address and then sent me the money.

We hear about the transactions that go bad on CL but don't hear about the thousands that go right.

[maryadavies]

With us, we actually sold a broken car on Craigslist recently..well, one that'd cost more than the car was worth to get fixed. (Mom had run it into a ditch before she died and really messed it up. It still drove but the airbags had gotten popped and the frame was bent and the exhaust system had been torn up.) Went very well, just make sure you insist on cash only. That's what my brother did. Also he met the guy in the driveway so the guy didn't see our stuff; if he had been able to find a tire iron/airpump he would of met the guy in the nearby park since my other brother is really paranoid. (Said brother went ballistic when he saw what was going on; he really hates strangers.)

[snafu]

bors are interested in

I've found it very efficient to sell household stuff on CraigsList and Kijijji [local e-bay + name of your city]. Take a picture and write a brief ad for items. It helps to state brand name, style [top load wash or Tuxedo style sofa for example] color and details that would be important to you as a buyer. Pricing is super important to sell anything used. Our rule of thumb is 50% of replacement and lower depending on condition. The point is to have it gone. Anything that doesn't sell in a couple of weeks goes to Goodwill or the nearest charity shop that will take it!

If the community or your neighbors will join in a yard sale, it can be worth the time and effort.