Selling stuff, safely

So far, I have done about 50 or so buys and maybe 30 sales on FBMP and much prefer it to CL. On FB, you can see the profile if the buyer or seller and determine if they are for real, because of this, there are much fewer scammers there. I have done parking lot exchanges, deliveries and at home exchanges. I never had a negative experience other than someone flaking out on a deal.
Every time I have used CL (Probably twice a much as FBMP), it seems I get at least 3-4 emails from scammers. I've also never had a deal go bad (Other than dating) there but it's more of a hassle.
 
Marketplace seems safe to me, but I am in a small town. So many sellers seem like a date playing hard to get. I’m interested, like to see it. A day and a half later they answer OK. I ask where. I can meet you. Where? Maybe Walmart. When? I can’t tomorrow. When then? Some won’t give directions till you leave home. I try to get my next day planned, rather than spur of the moment. Not much cell signal here for GPS so I look at map before leaving. Makes me feel like I’m going for a drug deal. I would much rather go to a house, or they come to my house. I take the item to the front yard and they can look there. Most people are OK. Most difficult is when spouse lists it for them. No info, no model, no size, does it work?
 
RJSakowski said:
Consider donating to a charity. You usually get a generous tax write off which may match or offset the amount you would get selling at a huge discount.. Oftentimes, they will pick up the items as well.
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Actually, an estate cannot get a write off, under current tax code. I asked my estate attorney about this. Personally I can do this with my share, but unless the estate specifically mentioned mandatory donations, you can't get any deductions for estate donations. That's the tax code, whether I like it or not.
 
tq60 said:
When we do Craigslist, we state we have odd working hours, so please use email as first contact.
Some folks comment that people may not be able to contact that way and only use a phone.
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I have a Google Voice (I know, I hate Google) account and use that number for FBMP texts, or use Messenger. For Craigslist I use GV.

tq60 said:
We indicate if the ad is visible, it is available, and pull add when sold.
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I also say that on any platform, plus tell them not to just hit the "Is This Still Available?" button as they will be ignored.
 
mmcmdl said:
So Wobbly , I have to ask . What have you got ? The daughter just bought a house . :)
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Actually far more than I can deal with! All sorts of furnishings, kitchen ware, china, some antiques, various odd things. No good tools, or things like that. I'd bet your daughter won't need a snow blower in Gaithersburg.

I just yanked a pair of AR3 Reference speakers my Dad had. Just tested them and they still sound pretty good. These were made in the 60's by Acoustic Research. Apparently they are still sought after, so I may sell them. The sold prices vary between 1-2K for a set. They weigh about 47 lbs each. I'm not going to leave them in the house and get $25 for the pair... I'll sell them or keep them. These speakers are in decent shape considering they were shipped back and forth to the Marshall Islands between 1964 and 1965. (The Marshall Islands are between Hawaii and Guam, 9 degrees north of the equator.). My wife gave me the stink eye about mentioning bringing them home. So I need to dump some speakers if I keep these. Might do that, don't know.

Just came to the house so the fire alarm stuff could be compliant, and the dang company skunked me. It seems on the original install they pulled a permit (which they are required to do) but they failed to have it inspected, in 2021! Had the Fire Marshall over for a consult and he told me there were 3 deficiencies. So I have to have them fixed. The Marshall was rather nice to come by. When they are fixed, he'll be back to inspect and sign off the permit. I still have to get a certificate of compliance, but he told me, he'd basically sign off on it, since he will personally inspect the system. Still, it's another $50 that has to be spent... Rescheduled another appointment, which means a minimum of two hours of driving for the round trip.

Seriously, this estate stuff is a pain in the posterior. I'm not going to do this to my kids!
 
Makes me sad to see the fear and paranoia in modern society. Especially when it comes to men.
I have hundreds of transactions on CL - both buying and selling. Have bought and especially sold many thousands of $ worth of stuff. Tractors and parts, tools, lumber, materials, machines, appliances, seed, trees, antiques, books, movies, etc, etc there.
I have sent a few screw balls packing and made some friends.
I always put my phone # in the ad and say calls preferred.
I sold two vises yesterday. The guy was a nice guy and we haggled over the price.
He came up, I came down. He gave me the cash and we shook hands warmly - both of us pleased with the deal and pleased to meet a fellow straight shooter.
I say Go boldly, Live Fearlessly and have some fun in life.
 
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