Thinking about selling on Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist to sell the contents of your home? That can be a bad idea for a whole bunch of reasons.
While most people today understand that the best way to liquidate the contents of their homes and cleanout their houses is by hiring a company like Orion’s Attic to get it done quickly, some still think selling on Facebook Marketplace and sites like Craigslist is the way to go. Even people who should know better still suffer from that misguided impression. A Realtor called me recently to inquire about our services as the only thing standing between her clients and cashing in on the sale of their home was the stuff inside it. (Ditto for the Realtor making her commission.)
Estate liquidation market trends at a glance
I took the time to explain the basics to her, the way I’m always happy to do when people call. I conveyed that estate sales are going the way of the dinosaur. Next, I shared why estate sales are an ineffective way to accomplish the goal of selling treasures in a home.
I gave her an antiques and collectibles crash course. The market for many antiques is dead, I said. They generally cost more to move than they sell for. The entire market for “stuff” has changed, too, I elaborated. “There is too much supply of most things on the market today, and not enough demand.”
“The best, most effective and environmentally conscious way to clear your clients’ home is for us to do what we do best,” I continued. “We charge a labor fee and then get a house empty in a flash. What can be sold goes to auction and specialty dealers and your clients get the money. We take donations to charity and provide your clients with the tax donation receipts. Then we haul away the trash and sweep up on our way out.”
The Realtor took exception to what we’ve learned from 14 years of doing this work. She scoffed and said it’s ridiculous to pay a company to empty a house.
“Selling on Facebook Marketplace would be better,” she said. “Anybody could do that.”
I laughed out loud.
5 Reasons why selling on Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist can be bad ideas
I didn’t mean to laugh but the suggestion was absurd. Here are just five of the reasons why:
Reason 1:Â Most people wouldn’t even know where to start.
The average homeowner, estate executor or beneficiary would have no idea how to approach this task. They don’t know what’s hot and what’s not in the market. They don’t know how to price furniture, antiques or collectibles. Many people would struggle with he mechanics of accepting payments. Creating great listings with solid photos and descriptions isn’t easy, either.
Reason 2: It’s hard to root out scammers and time-wasting buyers.
The moment your start listing items for sale to the public, you extend an invitation for all kinds of scammers, tire-kickers and unscrupulous people to enter your life. People say they’re going to show up to buy something but fail to show, so sellers end up dealing with countless people before someone actually buys a given item. Spammers and identity thieves hit you up.
Reason 3: It requires an enormous amount of time.
It would take even a professional like me an exceptionally long time to attempt to pull this off. Time is money, and the big money is always in the house — not the contents. Most people have jobs and lives; they don’t have a year to spend selling Hummel figurines for $3. We landed yet another estate liquidation and home cleanout job last month AFTER a Silver Spring, Maryland man listened to bad advice from someone else. He tried selling the entire contents of his home on Facebook Marketplace. He sold a whopping 15 items, and the few antiques he sold went for next to nothing.
Reason 4: It’s not going to get the job done.
Even if homeowners, downsizes, executors and beneficiaries had all the time in the world, selling on Facebook Marketplace is still not likely to accomplish the goal. They’re still going to be left with likely most of their stuff still sitting there and all they’ve done is delay selling their houses.
Reason 5: Selling on Facebook Marketplace and other sites can be dangerous
I am not the paranoid type. Nor am I blind. The world can be an ugly place, and people do get robbed while trying to sell on Facebook Marketplace. Assailants even use guns against Facebook Marketplace sellers. I don’t think inviting total strangers into your home to sell a set of china for $20 makes sense. (Maybe you’re trained in the martial arts and have bulletproof vests at the ready. Is it really worth it to you to use either of them?)
A very nice young woman called me the other day. She said her grandmother told her before she died that she could sell her four wine glasses and a few pieces of china for “a lot of money.”
“Grandmothers always say that,” I said. “They don’t know any better.”
I asked the young woman to text me photos. I looked at them. The items sell for next to nothing today, if a buyer can even be found.
A simple alternative to the risk with selling online — donation
“Save yourself a lot of time and hassle and take it to Goodwill,” I said.
“But I could try selling on Facebook Marketplace,” she countered.
“Is it really worth it to you to risk your safety to maybe make twenty bucks?”
“Umm …”
“You seem like a lovely person,” I continued. “I recognize the odds of someone responding to an online listing and then stabbing you or killing you is are small, but I’d hate to read in the Washington Post tomorrow that a young woman died trying to sell twenty dollars of stuff.”
“But my grandmother said –”
“I’m sure your grandmother was lovely, too,” I said. “But she didn’t do what I do for a living. And I’m quite sure she wouldn’t want you to waste your time and risk death to make twenty dollars. She would be happy to see you give the stuff a second life at Goodwill and go on with your life.”
“Thanks,” the young woman chirped. “That helps. I feel better now. I’ll go donate it.”
Learn more about liquidating estates in our Estate Liquidation and Downsizing Guide.
Contact us today! Orion’s Attic is a full-service estate liquidation, downsizing and home cleanout company based in Silver Spring, Maryland. We also buy antiques and collectibles. We serve the greater Washington, D.C./Maryland/Northern Virginia region. Our service area includes Montgomery County (Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Gaithersburg, Germantown, Olney, Potomac, Rockville, Silver Spring, Wheaton, Takoma Park, etc.), Frederick County, Howard County (Columbia, Ellicott City), Prince George’s County (College Park, Greenbelt, Hyattsville) plus DC and Northern Virginia.
