Selling stuff online - which platform?

[Fluke]

I've been selling stuff on and off on Ebay for years whenever I have another one of my clear outs, and am very familiar with the site and how it works. What I don't like about it is the selling fees which can be quite steep but mainly the packaging up and posting off of sometimes low value items which the buyer has to pay for. Also this isn't always practical if the item if a bit bulky. So my question is about selling stuff locally, I've just registered with Nextdoor and to get the hang of it I've just listed an item as free for collection as it's electronic and needs a battery, I didn't want the hassle in case it didn't work, it literally went in under 5 minutes!

The other one is Facebook marketplace. While I have a fb page I don't use it very much at all. I don't know how fees work on either fb or nextdoor, not even sure if there are any?

Anyone have any experience of these platforms, or any tips?

[kiloran]

Freegle is good if you are giving stuff away
https://www.ilovefreegle.org/explore

--kiloran

[BullDog]

I have used eBay quite a bit, but I never sell on it without having an 80% off selling fees offer. They come around quite often. The 80% off fees offer makes the fees around what I think is justifiable.
The two alternatives I have used for more local selling is Gumtree and Facebook Market place. In my experience, stuff has to be really cheap to sell and even then you get low ball offers. I have sold stuff successfully on both those places but don't expect to get good prices would be my thoughts. Better than throwing stuff away I would say.
Overall, I think eBay is the better option of the three, but only with the cut price fees offer.

[richlist]

There is always Gumtree.
Ok you have to put up with a lot more time wasters & low offers but there are ZERO fees to pay.
I sell more via Gumtree than I do on Ebay......and it's all local and collect only.

[didds]

No fees on FB marketplace.

its "all" an expectation of buyer collects (though I have negotiated posted items in the past with consequent cover of potage of course)... but there's no LIKELY need to wrap and post stuff etc. people come to your door, give you the cash, you give them the item, they leave.

Ive sold and bought via both that and ebay - as a seller you are just as likely (if not more so IME) to get time wasters on FB marketplace... i often get queries about if its still available, i respond with yes and never hear from them again.

then i've had people asking if i can deliver to Spain (seriously!).

I sometimes suggest in my marketplace ad i can deliver locally for £10 which will go to the local air ambulance ... in an attempt to overcome the "can you deliver mob" [1] but that's no guarantee it wont get asked as its also clear to me people often don't actually read what is written anyway!

didds


[1] some basic caveats here which i wont bore you all with!

[richlist]

We have standing joke in our household.
I also often get a message asking if an item is still available on Gumtree......my standard response is .......'Yes. When would you like to collect it ?' Like you I never hear from them again. We are convinced that the web site converts my polite response to 'p*s* off and stop bothering me'!

[Fluke]

Thanks all, useful to hear people's experiences of these platforms, I'd forgotten about gumtree. I must say eBay is pretty reliable for most things so long as you can get one of their low fee offers, and you can always say due to size/weight it's collection only on this one, which cuts out all but local buyers anyway.

I'll be poised ready with my ads and photos for when another 80% offer drops into my message box, the last one I got is out of date.

[richlist]

Just a comment about online sales in general.
I've been selling my stuff onEBay and other platforms for years. Since about February this year I've noticed that sales are down considerably. It's not just sales that are noticeable but also views.....there seems to be less people looking. Selling anything has never been so difficult.

The cost of living has hit many people hard and I suspect that's the root cause.......I think it's going to get far worse over the next year.

[didds]

Just a comment about online sales in general.
I've been selling my stuff onEBay and other platforms for years. Since about February this year I've noticed that sales are down considerably. It's not just sales that are noticeable but also views.....there seems to be less people looking. Selling anything has never been so difficult.

The cost of living has hit many people hard and I suspect that's the root cause.......I think it's going to get far worse over the next year.

I just presumed it was people are moving to other platforms which form a buyer's perspective is "safer"... no concerns about sending money first and then tbhe item not arriving, or being delivered by a delivery driver somewhere else with in effect no recourse to finding where etc etc ... as opposed to not handing over the money until youve physically turned up at a house/office and seen/received the item concerned

[airbus330]

Been an ebayer, gumtree-er, freecycler and FB Marketplace-er for years and largely agree with what has been said before. Especially the timewasters on FB! I tend to sell more mechanical stuff and find eBay is still good for that. Gumtree for mid price items such as tents and sports gear. Freecycle for furniture or FB. My daughter has done quite well selling clothes on Vinted. There is a bit of a technique in presenting stuff which Youtube videos cover. When all else fails, there is the Car Boot, which is fun once a year. Always amazed at the rubbish people will buy!

[AF62]

For me -

- eBay for lowish value stuff I can post, but only when they are doing 80% off fees (or recently a sell for £1 offer)
- eBay for items where there is going to be a limited audience - I advertised an old leather motorbike jacket I hadn’t worn in 30 years and had been in the loft since, and thought I might get £40 or so for it. I was astonished when I sold it on eBay for ten times that.
- Facebook Marketplace for lowish value bulky stuff that is too expensive to post
- Facebook Marketplace for things like mobile phones where I don’t trust the buyer not to play the ‘not arrived’ or ‘doesn’t work’ scam, and in fact for most of those sort of things I just sell them to CEX.
- Facebook Marketplace for stuff I just want to give away.