My mother is moving to a condo from her very large home. I am listing a lot of her furniture for sell on the Craigslist. What are some things I should watch out for. My sister is coming up for two days to stay with mom. I am trying to schedule all showings while my sister is there.
I would try not to price items too high. Around here, there are a lot of formal dining sets with buffets that are priced too high as well as bedroom furniture that probably was expensive at one time but hasn’t retained its value.
Second, try to sell to the first person who can bring cash and has plans on how to move the furniture out of the house. Be clear about your ability to help physically move the furniture. If someone wants to think about it for a week or so, you need to move on to the next person.
You may do better to find someone that does estate sales. If you are going to do it yourself, we are seeing (Fairfield County) that Facebook tag sale groups get a lot of traffic and sales. (If you are in Fairfield County CT I’d be happy to hook you up with my local friend whose business is estate sales)
The reason I started a thread is I think someone just tried to scam me. I listed a dining room set for $x. This person offered me $50 more. He said he would send me a cashier’s check (I thought that was fairly safe), then he started saying he would include mover’s fee in the check so the mover could be paid. I told him that I was not going to be responsible for his mover and he shouldn’t include it in the cashier’s check he was sending me. I then read through Craigslist’s scam page. I found out cashier’s check is not safe. It could be fake, so my bank would get money back from me if it is a fake. I guess, he was going to take my furniture then have me pay his mover in cash, so I would be out of cash and furniture. After I told him that I wasn’t going to pay his movers, he stopped communicating with me.
Scam, definitely scam
Craigslist buyers can be ridiculously flakey, at least some of the inquiries you’ll get. Is NextDoor available in your area? In theory that seems a little safer because the area is more limited and real names are used.
Cash only! Agree about seeing whether there is a neighborhood Facebook page for local sales.
A friend has had success on Facebook Marketplace…
I’ve used and had success with Craigslist. Make sure to state in your ad:
- Cash and "carry" only.
- In-person transactions only
- Any responses to ad that do not include a phone number will be ignored and deleted.
- First come, first served. You will not hold furniture.
- Scammers will be ignored.
- Don't ask if items are still for sale, ad will be deleted (or updated) when items are sold.
Fully describe item your items and price them to move. Take good photos. Also, ads that hang around too long will invite more scammers. Typically, the initial responses within the 1st hours of the ad being posted are the serious buyers.
If you get frustrated with Craigslist, I second the suggestion of an estate sales business.
We sold quite a bit of furniture and household items to an estate sale business when my father downsized.
In our case, the person gave us a low but fair price, and hauled it all away in one afternoon.
Think about how much your mother wants to sell?. And what will you do with the stuff that doesn’t sell?
I hate to say this but in my experience, there is a lot of things that your mother thinks are worth something that aren’t and no one wants them.
When I moved last year, I sold most of my stuff( deck furniture, kitchen table) on Facebook. I had more success there than Craigslist, though I’ve sold stuff in Craigslist in the past.
We’ve found Craiglist people to be on the … um…dingier… side of the bellcurve. They say they will show up - and don’t. Or they show up and bring less cash than the agreed upon price. Or they show up and expect you to load the item. Or, in our area they don’t speak English and the transaction is confusing at best. I’m also reluctant to let folks know where we live. I second the Nextdoor idea.
The winner of our Craiglist contacts goes to the guy that wanted the free item and then demanded we deliver it - 50 miles away. He was perplexed and angry when we declined that offer.
Cash ONLY…and I would suggest putting for sale items in your garage…don’t let folks in your house.
Any chance your mom’s neighborhood has a Facebook page? We’ve sold things of ours by putting pics on our FB pages. Went to friends only…and friends of friends. Worked well.
Of someone contacts you from Craigslist, make it clear…cash only. Scammers run away when they hear the word “cash”.
I would also suggest you not have strangers come there after dark.
Get a place that handles estate sales. They will move it and dust it and sell it. So much easier and less stressful.
If you do sell some things yourself try Facebook Marketplace. It automatically lists by how close you are to the buyer. Specify “cash only” and meet at a Kroger or Target or bank parking lot. They have surveillance cameras and you don’t want many of these buyers to know where you live. If you are selling “old lady” furniture some criminals will think you are a rich, helpless old woman. Larger items will need to be consigned or go to estate sale. Do not risk your safety to sell things.
I have contacted estate sales and someone is coming over. We are not looking for a lot of money, the focus is to get someone to get the stuff out of the house. I will check out FB pages.
Free at curb!
My kids laugh at us “old folk” who put “the” in front of things like Craigslist or Facebook! Lol!
Only let someone come look if you have people around. Be safe us rule #1.
Join your mom’s area Nextdoor.com and advertise thee. Be sure to select the option for her surrounding neighborhoods as well.I sold a few things tht way, and you can be pretty sure you are getting trustworthy neighbors coming by to your mo’s house.
I honestly wouldn’t sell anything in a way that required me to allow strangers on my property… Years ago friends held an outdoor tag sale, and days later they were robbed of all the wife’s jewelry. The police tied the robbery directly to the tag sale. The event had been heavily attended and apparently my friends didn’t notice that someone was “casing the joint” by peering in the windows and checking out potential entry points.
When my dad died, I took bids from companies that did flat-rate household clear-outs and retained one that agreed to take literally everything in his house, from the classic mid-century teak chairs to the cruddy gardening tools. They handled removing the items and carting them off. I’m sure I didn’t make as much money as I could have selling them individually, but it was efficient and easy and totally worth it.