Buying Second hand stuff

[EquiumDuo]

Hi All,

I'm trying to use ebay and facebook market place to track down things like construction site fencing. Pile sheets and other consumable sort of items that some people may rent or buy depending on the situation.

 

Maybe I am naive, but I was wondering if its a case of stalking facebook or maybe ebay? Anyone have some good experience?

[Conor]

Best asking around through people in the trade or visit sites. Most stuff like this changes hands through word of mouth.

[ProDave]

ebay is probably easier.  You can search for an item and then have it notify you when new items fitting your search description are listed.  You can also include distance from your address so you only get to see stuff within travelling distance.

 

I don't "do" facebook but every time I have looked is seems so confusing and haphazard and you see something one day and it's nigh on impossible to find it again.

[EquiumDuo]

36 minutes ago, ProDave said:

ebay is probably easier.  You can search for an item and then have it notify you when new items fitting your search description are listed.  You can also include distance from your address so you only get to see stuff within travelling distance.

 

I don't "do" facebook but every time I have looked is seems so confusing and haphazard and you see something one day and it's nigh on impossible to find it again.

It is chaotic, but due to zero fees on facebook, all the cheap stuff is migrating there.

[jack]

36 minutes ago, EquiumDuo said:

It is chaotic, but due to zero fees on facebook, all the cheap stuff is migrating there.

 

My wife sells cheap stuff on Facebook, because it's free and often very fast due to being local. It's rare she's waiting any more than a day or two to get rid of something from the moment she lists, and there's no need to muck about with postage.

 

The downside is that it'll only sell if priced very keenly, but for a lot of stuff that's fine. 

[Jilly]

I use Gumtree, which is free, and Freecycle too.

[jack]

41 minutes ago, Jilly said:

 and Freecycle too.

 

We had nothing but grief from Freecycle and ended up giving up on it. The last straw was trying to give away a coffee table for free on the express basis that delivery was not available and then still having people asking me to deliver it several miles away for free. 

[EquiumDuo]

I haven't checked freecycle or gumtree yet.

 

Things I want are temproary fencing (the metal harris fencing?) or sheet piles maybe.

 

Thanks guys!

[Roundtuit]

I've bought and/or sold quite a few thing through gumtree; heras fencing, cement mixer, generator.  I like it, because if you find something local you like the look of, you can go and have a look and do a deal pretty much straight away - no messing around bidding etc.  More and more stuff does seem to be migrating to Facebook marketplace though.

[Bozza]

I’ve used Facebook marketplace a lot, mainly to sell building related stuff.  We all end up with things that are too good to throw away.  Someone will want it.  My tips for selling are:

 

You’ll be amazed at what generates a lot of interest, and what doesn’t.  It is free to advertise.

provide lots of pics

price sensibly.  I’ve seen people try to sell a £1000 wrongly sized made to measure door for £900.  What are the chances of a buyer wanting that precise sized door for 10% cheaper than retail.
don’t advertise too many items at once.  I’ve had 5-6 enquiries for certain items.  If you try to sell 10 items that’s a lot of messages to answer.

respond quickly to enquiries