Just a little update on my mission to redo our entire living room without spending any money we didn't raise for this makeover.
We have successfully sold our biggest ticket item and will be bringing in 800 smackeroos. This along with another sale made today makes 975 bucks to add to the living room makeover fund. I originally listed almost 2 grand worth of goods, mostly stuff that has sat around for years without being used and some things had never been used even once!
For example, the big ticket item was a fridge that we purchased right before we sold our house. We decided to buy stainless steel appliances to encourage a buyer to pick our house. We got a great deal on a stainless suite by stacking some discounts. First I looked for brands that several retailers sold. I picked appliances that were on sale at Best Buy, then printed off the sales and took them to Lowe's. I don't know how many people know this but Lowe's doesn't just price match, they will actually beat competitor's prices by 10 percent. Sweet, right? We then purchased everything with a Lowe's card during a promo and saved an additional 10 percent on top of all the other discounts! Basically we saved several hundred dollars and got coupons for free delivery.
Fast forward to now, we do not have a new house to put said fridge in. We sold the rest of the appliances a while back but getting someone to pony up the big bucks was slow going and my efforts sort of just fizzled out. Now armed with new motivation I was back on the horse and, actually, it took about three weeks.
We still have a few things to sell. Some tips to others when selling:
1) Price reasonably but still a little above what you really want for the item. I actually do not sell something unless I can list it at least a few bucks cheaper than my competition (same item and same QUALITY) and still able to make a reasonable profit. A lower price basically says to everyone, "Hey! Choose mine first!" Saves me time and hassle.
2) Be available to meet and promptly get back to people. People very easily lose sales and interest in your items if they have to wait. A lot of people are calling on impulse, so help you sale out and get that item to them fast- even if you have to go out of you way to meet them!
3) Clean up your crap! You can go out of your way to call someone and then meet them only for the item to look dingy/dusty/dirty and they change their mind and/or want money off the sale price. Make your stuff look as good as you can so there won't be any changed minds. I like to hear people say, "that looks brand new!"
Ironically, I feel like when I'm buying second hand the stuff is always filthy and I have to go pick it up in timbuktu. But the real reason I'm buying from the particular seller is usually the price or maybe the scarcity of the product. I'm buying from someone who couldn't care less if they sell their item and that's why it's the cheapest deal around or they know they have the market on it and I'm at their mercy.
