Where to sell household items other than Craigslist? (Raleigh, Wake Forest: for sale, apartment complex)

[nctchr]

Hello all!

My husband and I are planning a temporary move out of state and we will need to store most of our things for about 6 months. I plan to donate many things to the Salvation Army or Goodwill, but have a few things I'd like to sell like paintings, china, stemware, and some collectibles. I hate the thought of paying to store something that we are not using now, and wouldn't need for 6 months...

We live in an apartment complex, so I can't have a yard sale. I am also hesitant to deal with Craigslist. I would rather not do consignment because I would rather be done with it than wait for the things to sell piece by piece and then get a check for them...

Any thoughts on a reputable place to sell everything?? Any other suggestions? Thanks for your help! I really appreciate it!

[Francois]

I believe you can, or at least used to be able to, rent a booth at the flea market by the day...you just want to get there very early (i.e. 6 AM) to pick a good spot, of the ones that are available. And bear in mind, I haven't done this since high school so they may no longer rent one-time spaces. But I'd call them (they have a web site) and ask about it. I think the rent is cheap.

[lovebrentwood]

It's amazing what you can sell on eBay. You can also search for similar items and click "Completed Listings" to see what they sold for.

You might also consider donating things to ReTails, on Craftsman Drive in Raleigh. ANIMALKIND

ReTails is very well run, and 100 percent of profits go to fund low-cost spay/neuter programs. The dog overpopulation in our area is severe, due to people losing jobs, giving up dogs, and backyard breeders thinking it's a great idea to breed their pit bulls for extra cash. Shelters are full everywhere.

[DownEastB]

Ask around in local single family home areas if anyone is having a neighborhood yard sale and find out if you can piggyback onto it. Some friends of mine in Wake Forest are participating in a block sale in a few weekends and invited me to join in. You can probably find something similar going on where you live. Look for flyers in grocery stores and so forth.

[bdavis511]

You could also look into renting a table at a church's consignment sale, if any near-by are having sales soon. With it being spring, I'm sure many of them will be doing yard-sales sometime soon.

Also, another radical idea that I found today is free garage cleaning dot com. They are local and have been featured on WRAL. They clean out your space for free (crazy right?!) and then donate it to a variety of local charities or sell items for profit. Neat idea. They're trying to recycle and save stuff from going to landfills.
Garage Brothers - Raleigh, NC

[erineieio]

My suggestion would be to go with joining the sale of a friend/church/flea market, and then plan on taking the time at the end of the day to take good notes about what you're donating to a thrift store, etc. Without the notes, you won't be able to do a decent estimate of what you're donating which would come in handy for a tax write off next year!

You could always ask the office at your apt complex about it... they may be interested in organizing one for the whole place. They could let all of you set up in the parking lot at the office/pool? Can't hurt to ask... it'd be a shorter trip to haul everything

[KFran]

There might be some thrift stores that buy in bulk, consider contacting some in your local area.

[mjd07]

I haven't read all the responses, so forgive me if this is a repeat. I would recommend you contact your local town/city to find out if they have scheduled a community garage sale. I didn't realize our town did that after being here almost thirteen years. It definitely helps with advertising because people are likely to come out for more than one seller.

Also, the local schools and churches may have events you can participate in for a small fee.

I was hesitant about Craigslist, at first, also. However, I refuse to sell on Ebay anymore because of their non-stance against child predators listing inappropriate items for sale. Nonetheless, I sold about 50% of our non-used/unwanted items on Craigslist and rarely had an issue. You don't list your concerns, but it really is not as bad as all that. Here are few things I did and never had an issue.

* delete the emails from the people who want to pay by check or have the item shipped to a third party.

* If the item is small enough to transport, meet the person in a public place nearby.

* if the item is too large or bulky to transport, have your spouse there when you schedule the pick-up. My husband had to leave for his job out-of-state, so I asked a neighbor if her husband could come over during transactions. They agreed and he even helped my customer move the furniture to his van.

* always require a contact number and full name. Most scammers are not going to tell you their phone number because they don't want a paper trail in case you go to the police.

* Buy a counterfeit money pen and check bills received before handing over merchandise (I did this discreetly while getting change or some other excuse).

* Be smart. Be alert. It will be fine.

I have helped several people move their items on Craigslist with absolutely no problems. There will be some no-shows, but that would happen in any kind of transaction.

Good luck.

[lovebrentwood]

We bought enough furniture and household goods to furnish a 3-bedroom home we planned to rent as furnished temporary housing. We bought almost all of it on Craigslist (we bought new couches). We had a GREAT time. Everyone was wonderful, and we drove all over the region and met with people from the lowest to the highest economic levels. Most were middle to high income.

Then we found tenants who didn't want it furnished and the economy went sour. So we had to resell everything we bought, and of course, we used Craigslist. Again, it was great. Everyone was friendly. No problems whatsoever. It was actually fun.

I have heard there is a high incidence of "no shows" when you're selling things, but we didn't experience that.

[nctchr]

Thanks, everyone! Your ideas are helpful, and I feel a little less nervous about Craigslist. I'll look into community sales. I also noticed someone else's post about the shred event having Goodwill trucks that will take donations. What a great way to get things cleaned out before we move!