Why Facebook Marketplace is So Much Better Than a Garage Sale

This past weekend I took part in my first community garage sale (still wearing masks and following social distancing guidelines, of course).

It’s something that I’ve always wanted to do since I was a kid — similar to a lemonade stand.

I was excited to sell my pre-loved items and had a great experience with my garage sale.

However, I think I’ll stick to mainly selling on Facebook Marketplace.

Here’s my experience with both and why.

What is Facebook Marketplace?

Facebook Marketplace gives you the opportunity to list and sell your items through a post in a specific section of the Facebook app.

While logged in to your Facebook account, you can share your postings across numerous Facebook groups (including Marketplace), communicate via Marketplace Messenger, handle transactions through Facebook Pay, and even choose to show to/hide your posts from your Facebook friends.

Garage Sales

Garage sales allow you to sell all your items at once within a certain timeframe.

In most places you may need to apply for a garage sale permit from your town hall before hosting one.

Without the hassle of creating individual listings on the Internet, you can communicate directly with people who may be interested and coordinate the transaction right on the spot.

Selling Through Both at the Same Time

Garage sales are a little bit difficult to conduct, especially during the pandemic, when it’s safer to stay at home.

Depending on where you live, it’s also hard in general to get people to visit your sale if they don’t know about it.

You’re in charge of putting up physical signs so people know when and where to visit, as well as sitting outside under the sun to make sure everything runs smoothly.

After having a garage sale for two days, I realized I had trouble selling some items compared to others.

The overall success of your sales really comes down to who happens to visit and what they’re looking for. I also learned that it’s best to coordinate your garage sale dates with your neighbors and do it at the same time.

While I was sitting outside, I decided to put the same items on Facebook Marketplace.

Within a few hours to a few days, I was able to sell exactly some of the items that people didn’t seem to find interest in during the garage sale.

Why Facebook Marketplace is So Much Better

There are pros and cons to selling on Facebook Marketplace and at a garage sale. It was a beautiful summer weekend, but sitting outside for hours on my days off was a bit tiring.

I personally found Facebook Marketplace to be more convenient because I was able to specify the items that I’m selling and target who might be looking for that exact item, while working on other things.

Facebook Marketplace gives you the option to use hashtags and upload pictures when sharing your posts so people can see what it looks like.

They tell you how many people see your post and give you recommendations for what you can do to increase your views.

I haven’t done it personally, but if you find that there aren’t enough interested people you can also “boost” your item posts so more people see it.

And overall, you can arrange ahead of time when to have the customer pick up and pay (in cash or through credit card via FB Pay).

Selling Online vs In-Person

Selling my secondhand items is still quite a new experience for me.

It made me happy to finally check off “having a garage sale” from my list of things to do.

There a great benefits selling both physically and virtually but Facebook Marketplace, among other apps like Poshmark, Depop, and OfferUp, continues to be a great option.

With so many people logged in and online nowadays, there’s no doubt that these platforms are very helpful with sharing the right information.

Of course, this is just my experience. What’s your take on garage sales?