By Chris
Disposable income means more to dispose of. We know it, the world knows it; as Americans we love to buy, we impulse buy all the time, but what happens with all the unnecessary ‘knick-knacks’ and ‘gotta-have-it’ specials we throw our money away on? They end up either in a basement or attic that isn’t far off from appearing on “Hoarders”’ or they’re discarded and soon end up in a heap of trash we drag out to the end of the driveway on a weekly basis. So what’s the solution? What are you to do with all this excess waste? Turn one man’s junk into another man’s treasure, is what I say.
Don’t want to pay top dollar for some of those worthwhile items, me either. Long ago, before people lived on their computers and mobile devices, mankind still existed. There was still a need for survival and there was your basic form of a bartering system.
There are quite a few outlets to turn to when looking to offload some of those impulse buys, and to top it off make money on the turn. Perhaps people stray away from these sites because of the amount of effort they themselves have to put in, but the reward can certainly be worth the risk.
Last week I shared with you the value of buying from craigslist, but what if you’re in the market to sell?
Craigslist has your answer again. Sure there are other forums where you can sell some of your excess treasures but Craigslist holds a few advantages to websites like Ebay. But to make this a fair bout, here’s the tale of the tape:
Craigslist:
Pros
- Proximity: List your merchandise in your area – negates shipping cost and makes for faster offloading of your stuff.
- Sell everything: Craigslist isn’t just about products; you can sell automobiles (as long as you re-title the vehicle), sports or concert tickets (equal to or below face value), even services. Basically, whatever you could sell at a yard sale, you could sell on craigslist.
- Timetable: You pick the timetable for the sale.
- Face to face interactions: Buyer gets to check product out and seller usually receives a cash transaction.
- No fees to Craigslist.
- Price Negotiation: You sell the products, you name the price.
Cons
- Sales limited to local area if pickup is required
- People may show interest but not show up
- Requires you to meet up with a stranger
- Or best offer (O.B.O.): You may not get the price you want everytime but you can choice whether or not to sell depending on the next best price.
- Old listings
Ebay:
Pros
- Auctioneer system means price could rise
- Time limit to sale meaning people will buy faster
- Easy and quick online transactions
- Easy shipping
- Sell globally
- Seller sets price
Cons
- Fees on listing and items sold
- Online fraud
- Harder to sell larger items
- Trust factor and buyer feedback could hurt selling profile
There’s clear advantages and disadvantages with both Craigslist and Ebay, but for moving something fast and locally, Craigslist has your answer. For a larger market, really rare or collector item, Ebay is the way to go but be weary of the fees you’ll eventually have to pay. The other aspect of Craigslist people tend to miss is price point and negotiation. With Craigslist you can set the price and there’s even a chance to haggle through trades, whereas with Ebay you set the price and unless anyone bites or you have a high-profile item, people will not go crazy bidding war mode for fear of the price raising past what they’ll pay.
Just think that impulse buy that’s collecting dust in the corner might not actually hit the wallet that bad after all. And you never know what someone will view as valuable.
Try selling and why not ImpulseSave what you recoup?
