In my last article, I discussed several websites where you can sell your items online. However, certain items can be extremely cumbersome, or too expensive to ship to make selling online worthwhile. You know your item is worth money though, and since you don’t want to throw it away or give it away, there is the option of selling your items locally. This article will discuss some of the ways that you can sell your items locally, and avoid the hassle of shipping.
Internet Options
Thankfully, the internet offers several options for you to advertise your locally sold items. Following are several sites where you can list your items for sale.
Craigslist
Craigslist is the largest online classified ad site in the world with at least 60 million users in the United States alone. More than 100 million individual classified ads are placed each month, with over 50 billion pages viewed every month.
Broken out into geographic regions, you can sell to someone locally, or you can list your items in surrounding areas if you’re in that area often, or feel that it’s not too far for someone to drive to your area to purchase your items.
Craigslist offers several categories to list your items in, including a general category for items that don’t seem to fit in to any other listed categories. They even have a “barter” category, where you can trade items that you no longer want or need, with something else that you do want.
Most all items are free to list on Craigslist, and the area in which you live may determine any fees you may occur. In my area, the only items that require a fee to list are cars and trucks. I’ve sold more than one vehicle on Craigslist, and they sold within a week of listing them. I’ve sold several other items on Craigslist as well, and have most always seemed to have had good luck.
Facebook Marketplace
Facebook Marketplace is used in by 800 million people around the world each month, with about one out of every three people in the United States utilizing it. Ads on Facebook Marketplace are designed to sell locally.
Listings on Facebook Marketplace are free, although you can pay to customize your ad to reach a targeted audience. One of the greatest benefits of selling on Facebook Marketplace is that you know who you are dealing with, as it displays the location of buyers along with their Facebook profiles and cover photos.
OfferUp
OfferUp lets you sell your items directly from an app on your smart phone. Simply post your item, and you will get messages from interested buyers directly through the app. You can negotiate on price, as well as communicate when and where to meet through the app. They offer an extremely easy way to post your ads, and once you have the app you can start posting your items for sale in minutes.
Although some people may not be familiar with OfferUp, the company has been around since 2011. While many businesses suffered in 2020, OfferUp actually expanded their business by purchasing their rival app, Letgo, and merging it with their own. This allowed all users to gain access to a larger network of buyers and sellers that came from each separate company.
Posting items on OfferUp is free. If you want your item to gain more exposure, they do offer you the option of promoting your item for an additional charge.
5miles
5miles can be best described as a combination of all three of the sites above. The company was launched in 2014, and was designed for local buying and selling.
Like OfferUp, 5miles lets you buy and sell from an app on your phone. It uses Facebook to login to be able to identify who you are dealing with, and it also offers services and has a community section just like Craigslist. Like all three companies listed above, listing items on 5smiles is free.
5miles also offers an auction site called 5miles Dash. All auctions start at $1, and bids are accepted until the closing of that auction. If you’re not sure how to price a particular item, this is a good way to see how much someone is willing to pay for it. You do have the option of placing a reserve amount on your item as well to assure that your item won’t be sold for less than what it’s worth to you.
5smiles currently has more than 14 million users, and has created over $6 billion of transactions since 2015.
Local Options
Although the internet can be a great way to advertise your items for sale, if you intend to sell locally, there are also a few ways to advertise locally as well.
Local Newspaper or Publications 
Newspapers are no longer popular as they once were, but every area has them. You can also find free publications in front of stores or other businesses that have classified ads in them. You may have to check a few, but several of these publications will offer free classified ads to individuals (not businesses). They may limit words or characters, but you’ll always have enough words to list the basics of what you’re selling, along with your contact information.
Bulletin Boards
Posting your items for sale on local bulletin boards is another option. Many grocery stores and other businesses have bulletin boards in the front for people to post their business cards, items for sale, current events, etc. Many work places have bulletin boards specifically for their employees as well.
Sometimes permission is needed to post on a business’s board, so it is always a good practice to ask before posting on these.
Word of Mouth
Have your friends and family, or your colleagues help you sell your item. Ask them if they know of anyone who would be interested in your item, and let them know what you have for sale. I have sold items this way, and it’s a great way to sell. If it works out, it can save a lot of time and make the transaction much easier.
Stay Safe
When selling locally, you will have to meet with the other person to exchange the item for payment. Always keep safety in mind when meeting. One advantage of the app OfferUp is that they partner with local businesses and police stations to create community meet-up spots. These places are brightly lit and have video cameras. Many local police stations have areas designed in their parking lots for this purpose. 
Wherever you do decide to meet up, keep safety in mind. If something doesn’t feel right, or seem off about a situation, trust your instincts over your desire to make the sale. I once had a man that wanted me to bring something to his home rather than meet me somewhere. Something seemed off about it, and I declined. I didn’t make the sale, but I am safe. If you can bring another person along that is always helpful as well.
I hope these sites and suggestions can help you complete a smooth transaction next time you’re looking to sell something locally. Do you know of any other sites that work well for selling locally? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below.
