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5 tips for selling on Facebook Marketplace before moving, to help you pack lighter while making some extra cash!
Last year, Roger and I went through our 3rd season of decluttering in about 2 years time.
Our move this spring will mark our 5th move in less than 7 years of marriage.
After our 3rd move, I realized that I couldn’t keep living/moving the way we had been for the first 4 years of our marriage, especially if we were going to keep up this track record of moving so often.
So around the first stage of home renovations in our last house, we went through and donated a garage full worth of items.
During our second round of renovations, we donated another garage full worth of stuff.
And last fall, right before we moved, I discovered Facebook Marketplace.
I quickly learned that Facebook Marketplace is an easy, convenient way to discover, buy, and sell items.
After just one post, I was hooked on selling through Facebook Marketplace.
While we did donate another garage worth of miscellaneous items, I also decided to sell some of our bigger furniture items, so I turned to Facebook Marketplace to get those items quickly sold!
Last fall, about a week before we moved for the 4th time, I put a couple of big items up on Facebook Marketplace, including a couch and storage bed frame.
By the end of the week, all of the items were picked up.
We were then ready to move hassle-free without those extra items and with some extra cash in our pocket!
And now that we’ve completed our 5th move in 7 years, I thought I would share with you how I used Facebook Marketplace once again prior to our latest move.
From furniture and home decor, to clothes and electronics, you can easily turn your items into cash with Facebook Marketplace and make room for something new.
All you have to do is just snap a few photos of your item, write a brief description, and name your price.
And to help you get started, I’ve put together 5 Facebook Marketplace tips to help you start selling today!
1. Clean the Item
Once you know what you want to sell, I recommend cleaning and decluttering the item to make it look presentable for pictures.
The bookcase I sold was filled with books, DVDs, and a bunch of other miscellaneous objects prior to putting it on Facebook Marketplace.
So to make it look presentable, I removed everything from the shelves and just put a few items on it so that potential buyers wouldn’t be distracted by our stuff, and instead could imagine it in their home displaying their favorite items.
2. Take Good Pictures
You don’t have to have a professional camera to take good pictures.
I often take photos with my phone when my camera is not on hand.
A good tip for taking good pictures with any camera you have available is to take the photo with natural lighting, without too many distracting elements in the background (which goes back to cleaning and decluttering the item).
This bookcase was originally in a back corner with no natural lighting, so I staged the bookcase in our living room near some windows to present it in the best light.
Haha. Yes, that pun was intended!
3. Share Important Details
I like to keep my descriptions short and sweet while being sure to include key details that potential buyers will be interested in knowing.
For my listings, I like to include the price, the size of the item, and that it’s been in a pet-free and smoke-free home (as many people have allergies).
You could also include the condition the item is in (like new, good, well used), how long you have had it, or if you are willing to meet people or even drop it off.
The first time I posted on Facebook Marketplace last year, I completely forgot to add dimensions, and I found myself copying and pasting the information from one message to the next from potential buyers who wanted/needed more information.
Sharing those important details upfront will save you time when you start receiving messages from interested buyers.
Also, remember that people will want to haggle the price, so I definitely don’t recommend that you list the item at the lowest price you would take on it.
4. Reply to Messages & Mark When Sold
I try to reply to messages as quickly as I receive them in order to sell the items as quickly as possible.
I had one person offer 33% less than what I was selling an item for on Facebook Marketplace.
If you are desperate to sell the item, you may want to take it.
I knew the value of the item and wasn’t willing to part with it for that particular offer.
Even though I did have some unreasonable offers, I found that everyone kept it kind and civil, and some were even willing to negotiate higher prices.
That may sound crazy, but I also had someone offer 33% more for the bookcase if I was willing to drop it off at their house.
Also, don’t forget to mark the item as “sold” once you have officially sold it so that you don’t continue to get messages from interested buyers.
5. Play it Safe
I always recommend playing it safe when it comes time to meet someone you are selling an item to.
I have some standard play it safe rules for myself, but honestly, you really have to go with your gut feeling sometimes.
For example, when selling things before a move, I totally don’t mind having someone come over to our house to pick it up.
I put the item in the garage so that they aren’t coming into our home, and I make sure that I have a family member or friend at the house with me when they come to pick it up.
When meeting someone, I make sure to choose a very public place, such as a busy parking lot where there are lots of families coming and going.
I did agree to drop off the bookcase at someone’s house for 33% more than the original price, but I did my research first.
Not only did I bring someone along with me, but I also checked out the house on satellite maps so that I could see what kind of neighborhood I was going into and if I would feel safe.
I’ve been using Facebook Marketplace for about 6 months and I’ve had a really good experience!
And even with all of the decluttering and downsizing we’ve done over the last 3 years, I have a feeling that once we are settled into our new home, I will have more items I will want to sell.
If you use these tips to help you sell on Facebook Marketplace, be sure to share a picture and tag @DomesticallyBlissful on Instagram so that we can all see how you use these tips to help you make a sale.
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Do you have any tips for selling on Facebook Marketplace?
Feel free to comment below, email me, or tweet me on Twitter!
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With love, Giusti
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