Since you guys have been so helpful with a couple of other random issues, I’d like your input on just how does one sell used items these days? I used Craigslist a few years ago, it is still a thing? We also have a few community yard sale FB pages, but I just kind of feel uncomfortable about inviting a complete stranger over to my house to look at a them.
We have a nice drumset that my daughter had a bit of fun with in middle school, but she hasn’t used it in four years. It’s worth about $600 I think and she needs a new computer for school so that would go a long way in paying for that cost. We also have a Wii U with all the bells and whistles that my kids used about three times. It was a Christmas gift and I payed over $500 for it and all the accessories. How much should I ask for that?
What method do you all suggest to advertise and sell? I don’t want to invite a stranger into our home, but I can’t drag a drum set to a neutral location. I’m thinking of setting it up in the garage which wouldn’t be too much of a pain. I could take the Wii and meet someone in a safe public place. Does this sound like a plan? I didn’t used to be so wary of strangers, but the area I live in has some strange people. Thanks!
Take pictures and post them on YOUR Facebook page to family to friends only.
For the drumset…contact your schools. They might be willing to buy them. You won’t get the top,dollar…but you probably won’t anyway unless this is a professional level set.
For the Wii…how about eBay?
~~there’s a nextdoor neighbor site that’s really quite well used where we live. You can check that out in your area … .
~~facebook has local groups for buying and selling . .
~~craigslist reaches a large audience, but it’s dicier. I sell things on craigslist when they are cheap - and something’s not perfect with them. have a desk listed now; using a little duck tape under one of the drawers!
If you really want to sell your items, put cheap/reasonable prices on your items. look at prices on ebay for wiis now – they are going nowhere near what you might have paid for them. Your drumset - perhaps at local music stores you could put up a note. always have someone at home with you when its picked up at your house. (i know you know that!)
I use a combo of town/areawide facebook yard sale pages and craiglist. Actually have more success on facebook. I meet at a neutral spot - local grocery store or police station parking lot. Large items, like a drum kit, are a little tougher to sell that way but I have sold fairly large items. I’ve had good success and very few flakes.
Lots of people where I live put items they want to sell on Nextdoor.
You could try the “letgo” app. Very easy to use (basically walk around your house ans snap photos of things you want to sell) and allows users to search by location. You can choose only to interact with users who have high ratings. The service is relatively new, so there are not many high rated users, but they are out there.
My local community has a few FB Community Yardsale pages, one for kids stuff and one for general items. I feel safe there as it’s all local. Most times it’s an honor system thing, where you leave the item on the porch and the buyer puts the cash in an envelope under the mat. Larger or big ticket items are trickier for sure.
I recently saw an item I “had to have” off Craig’s List. I brought my husband with me as it was a large item and we would have to go inside the house.
I recently heard of Facebook marketplace when a friend, who is moving, is using that to sell some furniture etc. I thought I’d give it a look, and I visited that link for the first time last night. You can of course buy or sell. I set my buying radius as 10 miles, typed in “footlocker” and think I’ve hit the jackpot. I saw a really awesome vintage all-metal Army footlocker for sale for $50 (what a bargain!). I think it will be perfect for college dorm storage. I am having my 18YO burly son drive us there today after dinner, to number one, give the a-ok; and two, make sure I don’t end up in tiny pieces in said footlocker…
Bottom line, be safe. Don’t let anyone in your house alone and don’t go anywhere private alone.
@thumper1 and @bgbg4us Well I have about 30 FB friends and all of our family members live hundreds of miles away. I’m a very selective FB friender, lol, and I don’t see getting any interest from my local friends. But I could have my daughter post on her page - we’d probably have better luck taking that route as she does have a lot of friends who are interested in music. I did think about the schools - I don’t think they have a lot of staff available during the summer, but maybe I can look up the band directors online and email them. I did also talk to a local music store and told them the brand and model of the set and they are the ones who told me that it was worth $600 used. They would sell it on commission for me but it would be a 30/70 deal, so I’d rather try selling it on my own first. I was there buying my youngest (not the drummer) a ukulele for her birthday, lol. I never learn, but that’s what she wanted.
I joined a couple of the local FB sites for selling things but haven’t been accepted yet, but just looking at the members made me uncomfortable - some of them looked like people you wouldn’t want to meet in a dark alley. And yeah, I know I’m not going to get near what I paid for the Wii back - so frustrating, I did do a google search and saw some used ones selling for about half price on Amazon, so I think I can get a couple of hundred for it. I might try E-bay as a last resort for the Wii - like I said - I might be able to sell that locally via the FB pages and just take it to a public place to meet up with the buyer. I’ll also check into the nextdoor neighbor site - I’ve never heard of it, but I’ll check it out - thanks for the idea.
Thanks for your suggestions! I’ll let you know if I have any luck :).
Thanks guys for the additional suggestions - I’ll give them a shot. LOL @Materof2 re the footlocker - what a bargain, but yes, sounds like something out of “Bones” episode . 
I have a friend who is downsizing–she sold furniture on Next Door. The Next Door site has an option for choosing areas where you list your posts. She limited her listings to our town only. All of her buyers were people from our town.
She also had some furniture from her family (antiques) that she appraised by an auction house. Those folks came to her house and to do the appraisals. She had them sell stuff that she didn’t want. Even though there were fees for the auction house, she felt she got more than she would have on her own.
The other thing…any chance you know a percussion teacher or another percussion player? Maybe one of them would like a drumset. But I do think the price will have to be lower.
Both of my kids dabbled in percussion, and we had a full set. We gave it away.
@ Thumper1 I probably would have given the set away a couple of years ago - I’ve given away a lot of things in the past that I probably could have sold for several hundred dollars, but we kind of need the money now - college costs, I don’t know if you responded to my “buying a new car” thread - we HAD to buy a new car recently - we just couldn’t put it off any longer, and our home HVAC unit died this summer so that was another $5K out the window. The set is in very good condition and it is a quality brand so I feel we can find a buyer for it. Cutting the costs on the new laptop (her old one died and she’s been using a Chromebook) will really help us out.
@LeastComplicated
I’m not sure you will get a better price than the 70% the consignment place offered you (was 70% your share???).
I hear you about giving vs selling…but we have also sold a fair share of instruments. My son, the musician, has also sold a fair share of instruments…all professional quality. We never got as much for them as we thought we would.
If you could find a percussion teacher…that could help you…because they might have an interested student.
Do you know anyone with an EBay account…because priced favorably…the Wii could sell quickly there. Just make sure you have the buyer pay the shipping costs!
@thumper1 Yep, 70% was our share. I’m going to try the other suggestions for a week or so first though before I do the consignment thing. I think the guy at the music store was a little optimistic. I just did an online search for a similar used set and I’m finding the going rate is about $400. Unfortunately, one of those sets is at a music store 10 miles away, so I have some competition.
I think I sold a couple of things on E-bay a few years ago - I have a business Paypal account,so I may have to see if I can remember how that worked. But you’re probably right, in this day and age, a Wii would probably be easier to sell than a nice musical instrument and that’s a shame. I am surprised though that my youngest has actually put her phone aside for several hours a day since she got her ukulele and has learned several songs in just one week! I hope she stays interested in it - she’s catching on quickly, teaching herself by watching youtube videos.
Thanks again for the suggestions! I’ll let you know if I get any bites.
Ukuleles are the rage this day and age. My kid has two! She even dragged hers all over Europe last year.
If you don’t want to do ebay, there might be a kid your daughter knows who can sell your items for a small commission.
@BunsenBurner Yeah, I already had my daughter post the items on her FB page and I posted them myself on Next Door. We’ll see what happens.
Yeah, the ukulele fad is so funny. I remember when Tiny Tim played one and everyone thought he was a weirdo - well, OK, he was. They had about 20 in all different colors to choose from at the music store where I bought hers. I was going to get her one painted in a bright color, but the music guy told me the standard clear varnished ones were better quality. My daughter approved, she said she liked the plain one - the colored ones were babyish. If she stays as devoted to it as she has been since her birthday, I can see her dragging hers around too. Maybe she can write her college essay about how she became a late blooming ukulele virtuoso in one year (she’ll be a junior this year). And decided to become a music major :)) **Not that there’s anything wrong with being a music major - she just can’t carry a tune at all - we thought our oldest was the musician in the family. They actually make a great duo, she’s been playing her uke and her sister has been doing the vocals :).