Selling items privately - best advice for security and payment?

[Clariman]

We are having our kitchen replaced so have advertised our existing kitchen via a local Facebook 'Sell and Swap' closed group. We have had 3 people ask to see it already. Given that they cannot take it away until it is uninstalled later this month, how would you manage this? e.g.

• Would you take them in the order they enquired and sell it to the first person who says they will pay the asking price?
• Would you have the initial 3 all look at it, suss them out, check they are willing to pay - and then decide which of the 3 to sell to? (my inclination)
• Would you allow any enquirer to see it (seems like hard work)
• Should we ask for their address and phone numbers in advance - after all they will have to have our address?
• Would you ask for some kind of deposit in advance (they won't be able to take it away until about 3 weeks' time) or do it on trust - but keep the details of the other interested ones in case it falls through?
• What would be safe/acceptable forms of payment - cash on the day they collect or payment by bank transfer the day before would work for me.

Our main objective is to ensure the kitchen doesn't go into landfill and our secondary objective is to get some money back to subsidise the new kitchen.

Thanks
C

[redsturgeon]

Would you take them in the order they enquired and sell it to the first person who says they will pay the asking price?

That's what I would do.

Should we ask for their address and phone numbers in advance - after all they will have to have our address?

I assume you will get their phone number, I wouldn't expect to get their address

Would you ask for some kind of deposit in advance (they won't be able to take it away until about 3 weeks' time) or do it on trust - but keep the details of the other interested ones in case it falls through?

Definitely a non returnable deposit.

What would be safe/acceptable forms of payment - cash on the day they collect or payment by bank transfer the day before would work for me.

I would not do it any other way.

John

[jackdaww]

get as many buyers as you can to view.

ask for offers over £...

make a judgement on the buyers reliability .

if you accept an offer get the full amount in cash in advance - that should only take a few days .

get and keep all contacts details.

the GUMTREE website is good for selling household stuff .

[redsturgeon]

get as many buyers as you can to view.

ask for offers over £...

make a judgement on the buyers reliability .

if you accept an offer get the full amount in cash in advance - that should only take a few days .

get and keep all contacts details.

the GUMTREE website is good for selling household stuff .

I would agree to this IF Clariman was trying to get as much money as possible for his kitchen. He states that this is not the main motivation though.

For something in high demand then this approach may work to maximise the selling price but for a second hand kitchen then I don't think it is the optimum strategy.

If I was looking to buy I would be put off making any offer at all for a 2nd hand kitchen offered under such terms, for these reasons.

1. I would not be prepared to put in an offer "over" a certain amount unless that amount was very low.

2. I would not be prepared to ever pay money up front for second hand goods from a private buyer.

So I would be one buyer put off and I am sure there would be others.

Finally your strategy would involve getting as many buyers to view the kitchen as possible...something the OP seems not keen on.

John

[Clariman]

John

That's my kind of thinking. I want to be fair about it, so am letting first 3 folk see it and will then assess on grounds of (a) are they willing to pay asking price and (b) do I trust/like them.

If I enter into a bidding war then the other person is more likely to see me as fair game when it comes to collection and to argue the toss with things like "there's a scratch on that door that wasn't there before" or "I counted more cupboards than that", so I'm knocking 20% off.

C

[swill453]

What would be safe/acceptable forms of payment - cash on the day they collect or payment by bank transfer the day before would work for me.

Instant bank transfer on the day should be fine in these days of Faster Payments. You can check your own account to see it's arrived.

Scott.

[melonfool]

I'd only take cash.

And Facebook groups are dreadful for selling stuff, loads of time wasters, so be ready for that.

When selling bulky items privately I have often had the person who turns up in a too small vehicle and then asks me to deliver it (no) and the person who turns up on their own, unable to move it, so can I help (and deliver it) (no), etc. So make all that clear - no delivery, you take it away yourself, it's quite big so make sure your vehicle is big enough, it will probably take two people to shift it and we will not be available to help with that (say that even if you are available, just in case) etc. You can do two runs but they must be on the day and you must pay for the whole thing at once, cash up front.

Hope you can get it sold!

Mel

[MyNameIsUrl]

The suggestion I would make is to take plenty of photos of every unit and door as well as general layout before you take it out - we had a plonker who was very enthusiastic, and then dicked us about after we had taken it out. All the units were then squashed into our dining room which made it impossible for viewers to have a good look at the condition or to try the doors or look inside the oven and fridge.

[midnightcatprowl]

I hope you have success with the Facebook group Clariman. If it doesn't work out please do try Gumtree which can work very well for this sort of thing.

You've already decided to be 'fair'. Personally I would not look at the transaction in this sort of light. For example if you'd come into my shop and asked to buy an item I'd have sold it to you on the spot and not asked you to wait until x and y had also been to see it! If being fair works out first time around that's great, if not then I'd advise you to get more ruthless and sell to the first person offering the price you want.

I'd also suggest that assessing whether people are trustworthy or not can be remarkably difficult. Be ruthless instead and make it very clear that all items must be collected by x time on y day and if not you move on automatically to the next person who asked for it.

[Clariman]

Thanks for your advice and suggestions. Some good comments. Our approach worked well for us. We had 3 people requesting to see the kitchen within 12 hours of advertising it (overnight!). Others asked during the morning so we decided to have 3 people seeing it late afternoon. All were willing to pay the asking price. The kitchen is still installed so we felt it unreasonable to ask for full payment now. Nevertheless 1 person did offer to pay in advance and we are going with them - bringing the cash in the morning.

That works well for us because it mitigates the risk of someone negotiating us down when they came to collect - that was my biggest concern.

[Alaric]

Nevertheless 1 person did offer to pay in advance and we are going with them - bringing the cash in the morning.

It's an interesting thought that a second hand set of kitchen units has a value. I suppose though, if you view it as furniture or appliances, then there's some value there.

I've never gone for built in appliances, taking the view that they need replacing more frequently than cupboards. I wouldn't on principle have a cooker or oven that didn't have a separate grill. My other half complains periodically about the longevity of a stand alone Panasonic combination microwave that I/we bought in 1988. It's seen off several kettles, cookers, freezers, fridges etc.

[modellingman]

Our main objective is to ensure the kitchen doesn't go into landfill and our secondary objective is to get some money back to subsidise the new kitchen

Laudable priorities.

The quickest way to dismantle a kitchen, and therefore the way favoured by a typical tradesman, involves liberal use of a wrecking bar and a lump hammer. The removed units will be useful for little more than scrap wood and chipboard.

Assuming that you'll not be dismantling the old kitchen yourself, you will need to make sure whoever will be doing the work is aware that the units need to be undamaged after removal and capable of being reused elsewhere.

[Clariman]

It's an interesting thought that a second hand set of kitchen units has a value. I suppose though, if you view it as furniture or appliances, then there's some value there.

A couple of kitchen companies suggested it, so we decided to give it a whirl. Our units are still a popular style and they are in good condition. We also included 3 appliances (2 not integrated) and even the kitchen sink! We sold the lot for high 3 figures. Given that 3 people were willing to pay that in under 24 hours, we could probably have got more, but it will pay for our February holiday in Spain, prevents landfill, makes someone else happy - all with zero hassle for us.

[Clariman]

Our main objective is to ensure the kitchen doesn't go into landfill and our secondary objective is to get some money back to subsidise the new kitchen

Laudable priorities.

The quickest way to dismantle a kitchen, and therefore the way favoured by a typical tradesman, involves liberal use of a wrecking bar and a lump hammer. The removed units will be useful for little more than scrap wood and chipboard.

Assuming that you'll not be dismantling the old kitchen yourself, you will need to make sure whoever will be doing the work is aware that the units need to be undamaged after removal and capable of being reused elsewhere.

Thanks. Yes our installer knows we are selling it. The person we are selling to is going to ask him to quote to install, so he may have a greater incentive to remove carefully!