I started selling items online for one reason: to get rid of wedding items we didn’t need any more.
There were some things I knew I was going to keep, like the flowers my mother-in-law made, our cake toppers, my dress. I may have even kept a vase or two.
But I knew I didn’t have much use for like, 25 gold mason jars, you know?
Some of these items were either gifted or sold cheap to friends. What was left was listed on Kijiji and in Facebook buy/sell groups. Once the wedding materials were sold, I moved on to selling other items.
And while I made a few bucks doing it, it didn’t take me long to realize I really did not enjoy it at all.
In fact, I kind of hated it.
Why I hate selling items online
Reflecting on my experience, I realized there are four specific things I dislike about selling items online.
Creating listings
The amount of time and energy you put toward creating your listing when selling items online is, ultimately, up to you. When you look at items listed for sale online, you’ll find a wide range of approaches with varying degrees of detail.
Sometimes you don’t need to put a lot into a listing to sell an item, particularly if it’s in high demand. But more often than not, I found listings with quality photos and descriptions sell better.
And for me, the process of putting those listings together was tedious and time consuming — especially where I’m rarely listing those high demand items that sell for big prices.
Dealing with responses
There are few things I find more frustrating about selling items online than fielding questions that are answered in the listing. If you’ve ever tried to sell something through Facebook Marketplace, there is a good chance you’ve experienced this.
Look, sometimes there are legit questions, things I didn’t think about when creating the listing. And I’m happy to answer those questions!
But when someone asks me “how much?” when the price is clearly listed in both the subject line AND the body? It’s a bit too much.
“Negotiations” with potential buyers
Alright, so the item has been listed, you’ve dealt with a few messages asking questions and you finally have someone who is interested! Awesome!
Sometimes, the next step goes smooth. You chat with the person, maybe you go back and forth on the price until you land on something you both think is fair.
Other times, you’re “negotiating” with someone whose first question for you is “what’s the lowest you’ll take?”
Yes, that is actually a question someone asked me once on marketplace. My answer: make me an offer and we’ll go from there.
Look, I don’t mind getting lowball offers — honestly, sometimes I’m more interested in getting an item out of my house than getting the maximum value for it. But the “what’s the lowest you’ll take” question ticks me off, especially if it’s followed with rude behaviour.
Organizing the exchange
Every time I list an item, I specify it is for pickup only. That never stops potential buyers asking me to deliver it to their home.
This is particularly frustrating to me in scenarios when I am willing to take a lower offer. Like, no. I’m not going to deliver a $2 item to a location 20 minutes outside the city. Why would anyone think that’s going to fly? Come on.
What I prefer to do instead
It’s simple: instead of selling items online, I prefer to give them away.
How this happens depends greatly on the item in question. Clothing, for example, often ends up in a donation bin (but only if it’s in good shape), while books might end up in the hands of a friend.
And if the item isn’t in good enough shape to donate or give to a friend? Chances are, it’s off to the trash.
Maybe it’s the result of getting older, but I find I don’t hold as tight to my possessions these days. Am I leaving money on the table when I do this? Probably. But I don’t mind, especially if the item in question is useful for the person receiving it.
Final Thoughts
There are a lot of people who enjoy selling items online and have great success with it. If that’s you, that’s awesome! Keep that up! I’m not here to say there is anything bad or wrong with this. It’s just one of those things that didn’t work for me.
Does this mean I will never sell an item online ever again? Never say never. While I don’t anticipate creating Kijiji or Facebook listings any time soon, who knows what the future holds? I’m also admittedly curious about perhaps exploring Poshmark some day.
But for the time being, I’m content to be out of the online resale game.
What’s your best tip for selling items online? Alternatively, any advice for getting started with Poshmark?
This is exactly me right now! In the past, I was more than happy to pour my time into listing items to sell online. It was fun and gratifying to make a teensy bit of money back.
But nowadays, life is just way too busy! It takes me entire days of work to sell maybe $200 worth of stuff. So not worth it!
Like you, I much prefer to give things away. It helps friends and family who need the items, or a charity who is able to sell them. It’s a win-win!
I’m so glad I’m not the only one who feels this way about selling stuff online!
Yup! You’re not alone. I can totally relate to all of this. I genuinely enjoyed selling off the wedding stuff — in part because I was able to recoup some of the cost associated with them in the first place, but honestly, it was also because I was able to help someone else save a bit of cash on an otherwise pricey day (I definitely priced my stuff lower than I could have, mostly because I remembered how much it sucked to shell out big bucks for it in planning). Maybe it’s because there’s a different market for that kind of stuff, but ugh, has that experience ever not been reflective of my experience selling other things.
That’s not to say I’ll never sell anything online again, but my “is this actually worth the time I’m going to put into it” bar is pretty high!
I think it’s even more complicated with COVID too. I haven’t tried selling anything online recently except someone bought some shoes I had listed on Poshmark (my first sale!). It was easy I just dropped the shoes off (in a package) in the mailbox.
Craiglist people are annoying especially when they say “is it still available” and your post says “if it is up it is still available”
I hadn’t even really thought about that element of it (likely because I try to avoid selling as much as possible haha). That would definitely add a new wrinkle to it! I am curious about Poshmark, admittedly. How are shipping costs calculated?
UGH YES. Drives me up the wall…especially since, at least in my experience, it is usually followed by a lowball offer. Come on, man!
I can relate to this. In the past I’ve sold stuff from Kijiji or through the letgo app, both quite successfully, but I always get the “what’s the lowest you’ll go” even though the ad says the price is firm.
As for the COVID thing, I added a message that says it is still available, but for community safety it is not for sale at this time, but will remain posted for those that can wait till later. Surprisingly, I got positive feedback for it. One prospective buyer said, “I’m interested, please let me know when you feel ready”. Meanwhile, someone else said, “why post it, if you’re not selling it”. I mean, some people just don’t read the ad, they only look at price. Now, if its something you’re selling for $5-10 I can’t understand, but when you’re selling something for thousands of dollars, you’d think someone would take the time to read it; nope.
And like, OK, fine — nothing wrong with a little negotiation on the price. But to start with “what’s the lowest you’ll go”? Come on, man! Just make an offer. The worst response you can get is a counter offer, you know? Usually when I get that question, I want to respond with “the price I listed it for!”
I like the idea of attaching that little note on whatever you’re selling! I wish I could say I was surprised that some people are ridiculous about it but it makes perfect sense to me for those bigger items!
Your reasons are exactly why I prefer donating to charities or giving them away at work or to the Buy Nothing Project. Dealing with people over a buying/selling forum is painful! And the people who don’t show up after not bothering to call (they’re always the most insistent too on getting the item ASAP) is the worst!! Anyway, yes, the sharing economy is great, especially when I know the person receiving it appreciate s it!
Oh man, I forgot about the no-shows! I only had that happen once but it was SO frustrating. I brought the item to work, waited in the lobby for her for the better part of like 25 minutes and then she messaged through Facebook and was suddenly “sick.” Never heard from her again and ended up selling to someone else. What a hassle!
LONG LIVE THE SHARING ECONOMY!