Got some gear you’d like to sell?  Is the garage sale really “so last century” or should you consider selling old-school style rather than selling online?

Both online selling and garage sales have their advantages and disadvantages, it depends which outweighs the other in your eyes and circumstances.  Here are some points that you might like to consider:

Online Selling vs Garage Sale

Choose your answer from the two columns:

Strangers in your home    OK    Not OK

How much do you have to sell?   Many Items  Just a few

Would it sell in a shop?    Probably not  I think so

Effort of Multiple Packaging and Posting  Not OK  OK

Do you have larger items / furniture?  Yes   No

How Much time/effort are you

Prepared to put in?     One Whole Day Ongoing

Do most of your answers sit in one column?   If your answers fall mainly in the left hand column, then perhaps a garage sale is the better option for you i.e. you have a lot of items to sell, items that would be time consuming to post or ship, the item’s trash/ treasure status is questionable and you’re comfortable with it  being a whole day worth of effort (probably more because you’ll need to gather your items are prepare).     

If on the other hand you may be uncomfortable having people at your house, your items are of good quality (if you find the right buyer could fetch a good price), you’re happy with a little back and forth communication with prospective buyers, it’s easy to pack and ship – then online selling might just be your best bet.

Whilst Trade Me has the biggest audience by far, alternative online auction sites are popping up everywhere – just one little Google will give you pages of possible alternatives.   Here are two that you might like to investigate:  Zillion or Sella.