Well, Spring is well underway now and if you are like myself, the spring cleaning has been sitting on the backburner and its time to get at it! You might have tons of unwanted items lying around and like most you are thinking garage sales! Aaannnggg, wrong answer.
In short, garage sales are a pain in the butt. Advertising, tagging and pricing all of your items at once and then hauling them out side, praying that it doesn't rain that day that you have advertised. Well let me tell ya of a little secret thing called the internet. Online garage sale if you will! Think about it. You only have to sell the items you want, when you are ready, and the buyers come to you and negotiate through email. If you haven't sold anything online ever, trust me it is REALLY easy, and its pretty much hassle free. Here's a few tips to help you out:
PICTURES ARE KEY - if you have ever looked to buy something online, you know as well as I do that no one buys anything without at least seeing some pictures first. Try to take accurate pictures, nice a bright so people can see what they are buying.
DESCRIPTION - The key here is honesty. If that old couch has urine stains and ripped in spots, tell people. Otherwise you are wasting your time and theirs, and you will have people coming in and leaving quickly not purchasing what they thought they were coming to get.
DELIVERY - You can offer free delivery or for a small fee, but here's the beauty of online sales. You can usually hold out and find someone that is willing to pick up the item. Do yourself a favour though and meet them outside, and have someone else with you just in case.
PRICE IT RIGHT - Search online for what items that are similar to yours are selling for and price it correctly. Again it saves you wasting your time and others.
CHOOSE THE RIGHT SITES - Ebay is great obviously, but its much easier to find local sites to get actual local buyers. usedottawa.com, kijiji, and craigslist are some of the biggest ones. Be wary with craigslist though as it does attract a lot of spammers and scammers.
eBay once estimated that the average household has $2,000 worth of unused goods waiting to be sold. You may already be thinking of a few items that should find a new home before you do. Do yourself a favour and be rid of them. Declutter that house, and put a few extra dollars in your pocket for useful renovations, or items that will help you sell your home.
