The Grande Sale – Part 1.

So it finally happened after our Easter trip to the Murray River this year. The decision was made – after many years of going away camping and 4wd touring discussing and dreaming of the day we can leave our day jobs and take the year travelling this great country or ours at our own pace – it was on.

Now to reality, before securing a caravan and finishing the modifications to the vehicle, it was time to sell our surplus belongings.

We live in a roomy 4 bedroom house, garage, small workshop and garden shed. When we moved into this house less than a year ago we had no intention of packing up and setting off with all but a pittance of our current belongings. We were still in Hoarding mode and have way too much stuff!

It’s time for the Grande Sale I have been talking about for a long time. Inside we have 4 years worth of kids toys to sort through, furniture to sell, rooms to sort out and clothes to get rid of. Outside the house I have workshop equipment which needs to go, a load of car parts collected in the last 15 years, camping gear surplus to our needs on this trip and some more furniture in the garage. Oh and lots more boxes of stuff we haven’t sorted through yet.

Start Selling!

I started with the big ticket items. I had some large workshop equipment, furnature and car parts to get rid of first. A few items at a time got listed simultaneously on eBay, Gum Tree, Facebook marketplace and the relevant Facebook groups.

eBay:
The most convenient way to list on Facebook is to take photos on the iphone, immediately uploading the photos using the eBay app and creating a short description. I listed most of my items with a set price without the best offer option.

You need to be realistic about most items. Generally at 1/2 the new price good condition items would sell. Remember eBay take 10% fees plus pay pal fees, so you can allow for this in your desired price and you will be happy when you hear the beloved “Cha Ching” after your items i sold. 99 times out of 100 the item is paid for by pay pal within a few minutes of the sale, and you drop into the post office the following day and the transaction is completed with minimal fuss. Not so easy with Facebook:

Facebook (marketplace and groups) and Gumtree:
Prepared to have lots of time wasted with questions and low ball bids. To sell on Facebook quickly, unless the item is highly desirable, you need to accept an offer or provide a counter offer. Everyone wants a good deal on Facebook and Gumtree. Keep this in mind with the asking price and you can generally ask a little more knowing that you will receive offers of 50% the asking price.

A lot of interest Facebook Is quite random and relies on the purchaser seeking your item in the feed they are currently viewing. You need to catch the buyers attention by immediately replying to their messages, get them committed and ideally get the item paid for before they change their mind.

Prior to accepting offers, i recommend getting a commitment for when the buyer will pick up the item. A few times i have had people offering low ball offers and committing to buy only to tell you they are interstate and cannot pick it up for a week or more, then after this time you never hear from them again. Twin weeks wasted.

Don’t worry if someone asks one of the generically generated questions Facebook provides:
– “is the item still available”
– “what is your lowest price”
– “would you accept $15?”
and you never hear from them again. Just move on. Concentrate on the next buyer. I have a suspicion it could even be their kids pressing the screen on their parents iPhone sending you bogus interest.

I managed to move quite a few items with decent prices in the first month or so of selling. You will also find people will buy anything, especially if the item looks good in the photos, and it is the right price.

Stay tuned for part 2, the garage sale….

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