FB Garage Sellers - Safety?

[ajwolfe]

I do this quite often on a small, local group. The area is pretty small that uses this group, so most of the time I will know the person or at least know of them when I meet. I almost always meet in a public place, unless it is something too big to meet with like furniture. In that case I would only have people over if my DH was home.
I'm not sure I really like the idea of the porch pick up because if you are trying to keep people from knowing where you live it sort of defeats that purpose.

 

[SEA333]

We live in a small school district/village suburb of a big city, and we are a closed group that has to be invited/approved in. Its mostly families of kids from the schools. We have rules, the best being that only local people are allowed in the group and all buying/selling has to be local. I have bought from some people over and over again, so you get to know them. I also have sold big items like our formal dining room table with no problem. Our nickname for our group is "the swap", and its well known in our area. If someone acts like a jerk or rips someone off, word would get around, so most people are on the up amd up. Lots of porch pick ups (which I prefer!), big items I will knock on the door or arrange a meeting time with DH. I feel perfectly safe at all times and have never had a problem.

If someone said they would only meet me in a parking lot or mcd's, I would think it was weird and prob not buy from them again. Not that I think there is anything wrong with being safe, but in my particular group/area, it would be more of a red flag of the person requesting the "public" meeting. I would wonder what they were hiding that I couldn't meet them/pick up at their house.

 

[dpswift]

It does seem that most are by invite. We belong to one and I am trying to get my DDs to look into invites for the suburban ones. We live in the suburbs not the city.

A few years ago DD then about 17 bought some concert tickets on Craigs list. We were shocked that not only did they arrange for pick up at their house but left us alone in the kitchen for several minutes. This was in a very expensive neighborhood.

 

[pjlla]

What site is this? I live in an apartment and have stuff to sell but unable to have my own garage sale. I tried craigs list but for smaller items, noone seems interested. I tried to look up on FB but I only see a site that has posts with sayings and pics and nothing of people selling anything. I tried the website and it just gives tips to selling stuff, but nobody is selling anything. Obviously I have to be doing something wrong or in the wrong place.

Around here they are called Yard Sales or Garage Sales (usually including the town or area name.... for example.... South Boston Area Yard Sale group or Manchester Garage Sale). They used to all be opened groups about a year or so ago, but with their increased popularity you usually now need to be invited by a group member. If you don't find one for your town you could always start one!

Usually the group rules are pretty simple. Post your item for sale (usually including a picture) along with your location (especially if the yard sale group covers a large area), price and any other specific features. Then wait for folks to comment on the post or to possibly send you a PM. Most of the groups I belong to request that you at least post an asking price but you can also state OBO or OBRO or "negotiable". Most of my groups request that you only "bump" your item once every 24 hours, but some groups request that you only bump once a week. It usually depends on how busy the group is. Most of the larger groups request that if you are listing a group of items.... especially LIKE items (such as 5 pairs of kids shoes) in an album so that it doesn't clog up the feed.

There are also usually rules about "first come, first serve" versus "hold for questions" and things like that. Usually folks are fair.... if someone requests a hold for questions an the questions get answered and they want the item, they are in line ahead of anyone else who commented after. It seems pretty easy, but folks can get riled up about things not being fair. Apparently these folks never had parents who told them that LIFE ISN'T FAIR!

A few of the groups around me are organized in such a way that they have a specific meeting place and time.... usually an empty parking lot on a Sunday morning seems to be the most popular. That way you list a bunch of stuff to sell, folks agree to buy it, and you meet them all within a short span of time at this pre-arranged spot..... along with other folks doing this. It seems to increase the safety for some folks. That being said, some folks from this local group were taking this to be their own personal yard sale space and setting up tables, etc.... until the cops came along and told them that they couldn't do that any more. The groups still meet to exchange items/cash, but no tables or trunk sales are allowed. It is limited to pre-arranged sales.

Good luck. I find the biggest PITA with this is that I live pretty far from EVERYTHING and EVERYONE and folks aren't always willing to wait until a day when I am heading into town for other reasons and it isn't always worth the gas money for me to make a special trip for a $10 item.... even if it is a good deal.....................P

 

[pjlla]

We live in a small school district/village suburb of a big city, and we are a closed group that has to be invited/approved in. Its mostly families of kids from the schools. We have rules, the best being that only local people are allowed in the group and all buying/selling has to be local. I have bought from some people over and over again, so you get to know them. I also have sold big items like our formal dining room table with no problem. Our nickname for our group is "the swap", and its well known in our area. If someone acts like a jerk or rips someone off, word would get around, so most people are on the up amd up. Lots of porch pick ups (which I prefer!), big items I will knock on the door or arrange a meeting time with DH. I feel perfectly safe at all times and have never had a problem.

If someone said they would only meet me in a parking lot or mcd's, I would think it was weird and prob not buy from them again. Not that I think there is anything wrong with being safe, but in my particular group/area, it would be more of a red flag of the person requesting the "public" meeting. I would wonder what they were hiding that I couldn't meet them/pick up at their house.

And for myself, I usually ONLY meet in a public place like a parking lot or a McDonald's. I find it sketchy if someone wants me to come to their home. And I'd rather not have people coming to my home.... but I have done it on a few occasions with large items. I'm not hiding anything, but it is just a matter of safety. I live in the boondocks and if I were home alone and a stranger came to my house, it might make me a bit nervous. And I'll admit I'm weird about going to a stranger's house. I've done it a time or two, but it always seems a bit odd..... like the woman who had no front door and her side porch seemed to be where her chickens lived! I had to push past a few hens to get to the door to knock! And after all that she wasn't even in the house and her teenager didn't even seem to be aware that her Mom was selling anything! Mom was in the barn, even though she was expecting me at this time.......P

 

[SC Minnie]

What site is this? I live in an apartment and have stuff to sell but unable to have my own garage sale. I tried craigs list but for smaller items, noone seems interested. I tried to look up on FB but I only see a site that has posts with sayings and pics and nothing of people selling anything. I tried the website and it just gives tips to selling stuff, but nobody is selling anything. Obviously I have to be doing something wrong or in the wrong place.

The pages I'm on are closed groups as well, someone has to 'approve' you. They are usually called area/area/area Buy/Sell/Free or Buy It/Sell It/Give It Away. If you request to be added someone will add you.