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Halls of the Dark Muse

I Just Want to Sell My Old Stuff

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I have a bunch of old (but perfectly good/functional) stuff lying around of which I no longer want, I could also use some extra money. I figured the best way to resolve both of these problems was to sell my unwanted stuff online. I considered my options carefully in what would seem to be the most convenient way to go about doing this.

I am hesitant about selling on ebay because ebay charges a listing fee. Meaning that regardless of whether or not you actually sell your item and make any money you still have to pay something. And I don't know if ebay is the same as esty in this regard, but I know in estay in addition to having to pay a listing fee, it is only good for a certain period of time, so if like in a month say your item doesn't sell, you will have to pay the fee again to keep it up another month.

I considered Craigslist as an option because one benefit is that not only is it completely free, but you will get 100% of the proceeds and will not have to pay any kind of seller fees, or shipping fees if you sell locally. But the problem with this is the hassle of figuring out where to meed the potential buyer, and than having to actually deal with someone in person and well it is Craigslist, so you know that is often where the gutter of society congregates so there is a 98% chance that the person who contacts you will in fact be a creepy perverted weirdo.

Finally I settled upon Amazon. I love Amazon, I use them all the time as a buyer, and as a buyer they are easy to use, and I trust them. I know they will protect both buyers and sellers, and I can do everything from the safe distance of home without any actual interaction with other people. Plus in doing my research about selling online everyone recommended them and talks about how easy and great they are to use. And one of the major benefits of Amazon is they do not charge to post items. It is free to list your items. After the item is sold they will take a fee which can vary depending upon the item, but the minimal fee is 0.99. They also offer compensation for shipping costs.

I signed up for a sellers account and began the process only to find out that as an individual seller Amazon is not so user friendly or simple as one might be led to think. I appreciate what they do to protect their buyers (being one myself ) but at the same time as regular everyday person just wanting to sell some unwanted stuff selling on Amazon is not ideal. You have to fill out lengthy complicated forms in which they request a bunch of information in which either I cannot provide because I do not have. (How do I know who the manufacturer is of some figurine I got when I was in High school) What the heck is a UPN? OR EAN? And how do I get one to sell my stuff? (Yes I know what one is now, it is basically a bar code, but I don't have one of those for my old stuff). Pages and pages of forms to fill in which half of which leaves me scratching my head in confusion.

Amazon might be great to sell your stuff if you are a small business or if you are selling something like used books, or other common, well known, products. But it is not a great place for just random person wanting to sell their miscellaneous random stuff.

I am thinking of reconsidering Craigslist. If I agree to me somewhere in public in the middle of the day I probably won't get murdered and I can incorporate the money I will have to spend to get there into my price (I don't currently drive, but I am working on that) or maybe find somewhere within walking distance of my house.

I will have to consult with a friend of mine who I knows sells stuff all the time. I does use CL a lot but he might also be able to give me other advice and options for wanting to sell unwanted stuff.

I did also consider going old school and having a yard sale, a lot of people do that in my neighborhood, but than I would have to post up a bunch of signs, and set a whole thing up in the driveway and it would be complicated and a lot of work which might produce minimal to no real reward.
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  1. qimissung's Avatar
    I think Craigslist can work. Maybe take a friend or your sister with you when you go. It should be easy to meet at the public library or something.
  2. Dark Muse's Avatar
    Yeah I am thinking about giving CL a try. I will consult with my friend first who has experience selling stuff, and does use CL a lot for selling.

    But there is this park which I have used as a meet up spot before. It is in a downtown area, and in the middle of a bunch of shops and restaurants and such so it gets a lot of foot traffic, plus on certain days it also hosts a Farmer Market which attracts even more people, so in the middle of the day there it should be fine.