What an awesome idea: have a Virtual Garage Sale!
One of the great things I like about belonging to and reading different blogs, forums and RV sites is because I get so many ideas from all of the others who have 'gone before me'. After all, why reinvent the wheel, right?!
This idea came from a fellow RVer who is also a member of the group RVer Wannabees at RVillage.com. Ivan and Marie are currently in the downsizing phase, as are we. Their idea is simple and I've already laid the foundation of it. Facebook is the platform in this idea but I'm sure other social media sites may have something similar.
I started a group called Rene' & Ron's Virtual Garage Sale yesterday. It's set up as a secret group so you won't find it in a search. The only people who see the posts are members of the group. I invited all of my local friends when I initially set up the group to make delivery of the sold items easier.
I'm currently in the process of taking photos with my camera, as opposed to my phone, and then uploading them into an album. But not all one album -> that would get too big. I'll make several albums with different titles such as kitchen stuff, games, knick knacks, tools, books & movies, etc. Then I'll add a short description of the item and my asking price. When a person is interested in an item all they need to do is add a comment next to the photo. This creates a first come, first served method. As the items sell I can easily delete the sold items and the albums are kept neat for more perusing. I can message the buyer and arrange a meet up for delivery.
I've heard over and over about how people living the full time RV lifestyle wish they starting purging their stuff in the early stages. I think this will help us to get an early start in the process.
Do you have other ideas that helped you in the purging process? Thanks for reading and I'll let you know how it turns out in a future post.
We're in the purging stage also. I've been putting items on craigslist to sell. I sold a large smoker that won't fit into our RV on craigslist. I tried to sell our timeshare on ebay but ended up donating it to donate for a cause
ReplyDeleteKevin and I are hoping to move into our RV late May 2015. I hope you items sell quickly. :)
Ron sold his 135 gallon fish tank on craigslist back in July. It's actually a great way to sell the larger items-like your smoker.
DeleteI'm hopeful that this idea will work for the little stuff. We've had plenty of garage sales to know the work involved and we don't care to do it again.
We plan on a summer 2016 departure so we have a wait. But, we figured we may as well start early with the little things.
It's too bad about the time share not selling. Hopefully you'll at least get a tax write off for your donation.
Best of luck to you both in your downsizing! Perhaps we'll meet up on the road one day.
Great idea! So many times friends have kids getting their first apartment or know someone else who is looking for just what you have - but the connection is never made. We had 5 yard sales last year and gave most of the big items to the kids. We still had a couple of larger pieces left the last week so posted on Craigslist for free and at Freecycle.com. All were picked up within 24 hours. Have fun "lightening the load"!
DeleteOnce we whittle down the stuff I may be more willing to have a garage sale at the house. With our business, a lot of items are stored (upstairs, no less) there and transporting it back and forth is too much.
DeleteOur kids are too far away but our friends have college age kids who may need something. It's all about connections.
We gave away some extra bricks through CL free listing. Thanks for the reminder.
In the end, the STUFF will be gone and we'll be happier for it!
Your post about a Virtual Garage Sale peaked my interest so I Googled it. Guess what, "there's an app for that"! There are also several other idea links. You might do a search as well.
ReplyDeleteSince I don't use Facebook or any other social media, I guess I'm kinda screwed since I have no "friends". But I can see how this might work for those that do.
Wow, just googled it myself. Pretty neat website ideas.
DeleteI'm just not into a traditional garage sale. I thought this would be a fun way to get rid of some of our clutter and see my local friends at the same time.
We've actually been able to get rid of quite a few boxes of stuff. In fact, I need to take some more photos of items I have up in our attic and get them into new homes!