I have been using Facebook buy, sell, trade pages for a while now. I get joy when my house is cleaned out of stuff we are no longer using and it is going to someone who truly wants it. It is great to pass along our furniture, clothes, and toys to someone who needs or wants them. I always sell for a fair price that is a deal for the buyer. It is a win-win situation! It is easy to use these pages on Facebook for buying and selling, but you do need to know a few things in order to use the pages properly.

  1. You must join a local page in order to sell. You can search for local pages by entering in the name of your town in the search bar on Facebook and then also adding “buy, sell, trade”. You should find at least a few pages for your area. I live in Southlake and there are more than several buy, sell, trade pages online for Southlake. Here are just a few that I use:
  2. There are rule for every site. You can typically find them under the “pinned post”. Once you are accepted to a buy, sell, trade group you can click on the “pinned post” right under the “joined” button on the home page. You should then have the rules for the group pop up. There are some that put them elsewhere, such as files. Sometimes the rules can also be found in the “about” section of the site. However, most are in the pinned posting. Familiarize yourself with the rules, or you may be wasting your time posting your item, only to be deleted. For example, there are some groups that do not allow children items, as there are local pages dedicated to buying and selling for children’s items exclusively.
  3. Take good photos of the items you are selling. Try to make the area where you are taking the photos and items themselves clean, with no junk in the background. Remember, you are selling and buyers can be picky, even with used items. Your photos and description will sell the item, but truly the photo are most important. Don’t sell anything broken and be specific about any minor flaws. Buyers want honesty.
  4. Once you have the photos ready its time to get some measurements. You will need measurements especially for furniture. When in doubt of if you will need measurements, take them and post them. You have better odds of selling if you have the specifics in your ad. Here is an example of an ad so you can see how it is done:
  5. When you go to create your own posting. Simply go to the buy, sell, trade home page for your area and where it says “What are you selling?” click on it and a box like such will pop up for you to complete your ad:
  6. I click the marketplace button because then the item is posted for sale in more places. More visibility makes it more likely for the item to sell quickly.
  7. I typically add about 5 photos for a large item. I add photos that show some close-ups and a variety of angles.
  8. You can post your item on several pages, but you need to put in your posting “cross posted” somewhere in the description.
  9. There is some lingo on these pages. When someone types “want” in the comments it means that they want to buy. You can then send them a private message asking them when they would like to pick up the item. PPU means Porch Pick Up. You can put this in your posting if you would like the person to pick up the item from your porch. If you do a PPU for your item, then have a specific place for them to hide the money (under your front mat, under a plant, or something like that). Let the buyer know in your private message where they are to put the money if you are doing a PPU sale. I have done dozens of PPU sales at my home and have yet to have a problem. If someone types “interested” in the comments it means that they are interested but not necessarily wanting the item. I usually have to follow up on these comments with, “do you have a question or do you need time to decide if you want the item”. “Want” always trumps “interested”, unless the rules of the group specify something different.
  10. If you have an item in high demand, the policy is to start with the first person who posts “want”.  If that buyer falls through or does not respond within an hour to your private message then move on to the next person who says “want”.   Please note, that there are some groups that have specific time guidelines on these situations, but not all, so read their rules if you don’t know what to do. I do not recommend holding an item for more than a day for a buyer. I once held a stroller for someone for two weeks and then they decided they didn’t want it! I had other buyers wanting it, except I had deleted the ad because I thought I had a buyer! If someone really wants the item they will come up with the money asap! Don’t hold for days or weeks. You are likely to get burned and miss out on other buyers. It creates more hassle for your life as well.
  11. Do not place your address in the ad. Simply post your town or a major intersection or store you are located near. I live near Sprouts in Southlake, so that it what I type for my location. I only give my address to the buyer in a private message when a time is set for them to pick up.
  12. Be careful! For example, if you live in Southlake and the buyer is coming from Dallas and you don’t have friends in common and they are on a Southlake buy, sell, trade page then be careful. I like the Facebook buy, sell, pages because it is often someone I know or we have multiple Facebook friends in common. When it is someone I don’t have any friends in common with I would never open my front door to them or invite them into my home. When selling furniture I also always made sure my husband was home when the pick up was scheduled. Not only can he help to load up the furniture, but I also felt safer. There are also places such as the fire station and the police station that have designated places in their parking lot to do these exchanges of goods and money. If you don’t want the person coming to your home and would prefer a public place then go to one of these designated exchange locations.

Once you do a couple of postings you will have the hang of things and find it enjoyable. You will also get addicted to cleaning out your house of things you no longer need or utilize. Even better if you can get some extra cash for selling these no longer needed items! I often turn around and use my cash right away on the buy, sell, trade pages. You can find some great deals and fun things! Like this purse I spotted today…