Your policy on resellables - Page 2

Originally Posted by kss

Exactly. I would never buy a used microwave. For $60 you can have a brand new one with a warranty and the difference between $20 and $60, is almost nothing, and it takes out all the risk of buying second hand.

New sale limit of $50/item min will be imposed to weed out the riff-raff and ensure the stuff im selling is worth my time. Everything else can just be scrapped.

I noticed that too. I have pretty good luck selling the big range ones for $35-$50+, but those little ones are such a throw away item. For me if they aren't a name brand tabletop unit I don't deal with them. I did try an experiment of buying scrap tabletop units for $3-$6 from scrappers based on brand, but I found that a majority of the units I got were not repairable (carbon marks in the cooking chamber). I can repair a lot on a microwave, but once there's burn marks or bare metal inside the cooking chamber it's game over. Needless to say I am no longer buying those units. lol

The funny part about selling microwaves is that when the range ones are listed for $45 used no one really argued about price because of the 30 day warranty, but when I dropped the price to $20 everyone was trying to haggle on price. I would understand if the units were from the 90's, but I usually don't repair anything older than 2010. What I've started doing with units that sit for too long (3+ months) is I donate them to the local habitat for humanity store. That works pretty good.

Originally Posted by Kalvlin

I used to sell on CL but way too many flakes. Never used my real e mail fake account worked fine. switched to OfferUp and Letgo.
Between the two OfferUp has more volume in my area so now I use it exclusively. was averaging 300 a week extra sales when I have enough inventory.
My rules were clearly stated in the Offer to try and avoid wasting time.

These are my rules and I have has only 2 no shows in many years but I never left the house anyway...

1A I don't rearrange my schedule unless I want to. I let them know what are the times I can meet.
1) Pick up only
2) cash only
3) you will inspect the item to your satisfaction to be sure you are getting what you expect.
4) I meet ONLY at a Starbucks nearby- less than a mile from me ( but they don't know that)
5) Once the offer is made any offer made after that or when we meet may not be accepted ( they risk wasting a trip and going home empty handed)
On occasion if I feel like gambling and someone is trying to play games with an offer I will ask them if they feel lucky. I tell them we are going to flip a coin - if I win they pay my price - if they win it'll usually be a around what I wanted to get anyway - so there is little risk and it's fun.
6) I only leave my house when they message me that they are at the Starbucks ( they could lie about it but it has not happened yet)
7) If it's sell-able without much effort even if it's for 20$ I'll sell it ( usually I pay nothing for items I am selling)
8) I price my items based on what I think I should get plus some wiggle room. I do some research to determine a fair price and go from there.

Sure I get the occasional offer of 1/2 or less on my listed price but I just laugh it off and move on. jokers thinking I am desperate or something.
I have over 160 all 5 - star ratings which is the best you get. Be fair and expect fairness and most of the time it works out. YMMV

Also the bonus is I've met some very nice people over a sale of a 100$ laptop and made some great business connections for more sales.
Good luck whatever you decide -

All great rules. Maybe If I spell out my conditions in my posts Ill get less flakes/bad people. I also only meet at a gas station 1.4 miles from my house. I used letgo and CL. I have offerup installed and was going to start using it but found the UI to be unintuitive, or at least not as simple/well laid out as letgo.... but I didnt really poke around on it for more than a few mins. Might have to give offerup another try, I am not sure which has a stronger base in my area (letgo vs offerup). FB marketplace is also on my list to try.

Lots of good marketing ideas in this thread. Wanted to thank everyone.

I would imagine that some of it is situational. For some, it might be a quick one and done on CL , Letgo, & Offerup. Darned good advise on strategies for filtering out the flakes and making successful business transactions !

That's the best fit for what the OP was looking for. Maybe it will help get him navigate around the problems he's run into when first starting out. Heaven knows ... it's easy to get discouraged when things aren't going well.

Sometimes one or two good ideas can make all of the difference in the world.

Originally Posted by hills

Maybe it depends on what your endgame is. You've been at this for awhile now and it really seems like you're working hard to build an established business. You know what they say : Every business needs repeat customers except a funeral home. You might look at the time spent with your local customers as an investment in your future. You can earn their trust and loyalty this way. Folks are creatures of habit. Two or three transactions with you is likely to establish a habit with them. You'll end up being their " go-to " computer guy for the next twenty years. In time ... the whole thing can take on a life of it's own.

Maybe it's a lot of hard work to get the ball rolling but it gets easier as it gains momentum ?

Later edited to add:

It's kind of a similar thing with me. I can retire in a couple of years and have been trying develop something in the way of scrapping / refurbishing as a supplemental income going into my golden years. I'm in a remote area so CL and some of the other listing services may not work well due to the distances that have to be traveled in order to do smaller transactions.

I may eventually get into internet sales in order to expand my potential customer base but for now just trying to develop the local resource.

Word of mouth and reputation can make or break you here.

My endgame is.... find treasures off the curb, save them from the landfill, give them a second life, and maybe make a few bucks. OR become someone who is a go-to guy for electronics recycling. I have a full-time job and my scrapping will never be able to displace that income unless I put in some serious serious work, so not trying to make a full business out of it. I plan to retire early and would like to do something recycling related just to keep busy after that point. If it grows into something big then, great, but for now it is only something I can devote 5-10hrs to a week max, and family and my day job take priority over it.

Reselling is not something I care about or am interested in so I dont really want to grow my resellables side of the biz. If anything, I want to do it less. Its just a necessary by-product of the other things that I do actually enjoy. But all the tips on here will certainly make it less painful! Thanks everyone.

Lol ... ohh ... man ... you gotta be careful. This scrapping thing is fun & addictive . It can take on a life of it's own and lure you into all kinds of side ventures that you never could have anticipated at the outset. Sure beats the tedium of the old 9-5 existence & living paycheck to paycheck.

When old Henry David Thoreau said that " The mass of men live lives of quiet desperation " he sure hit it spot on.

Having spent 16 years running my own (very) small business ... i miss the independent lifestyle sometimes.

For me: A part of this is about running a (hobby) business in an industry where it can be very challenging to turn a profit. I don't often sell a refurb but i've found that there's better money in the " Better than scrap option " when i do.

It's well in keeping with the principles of how one should run a business. If it forces me out of my comfort zone to engage with the public & the community then so be it. Most of your personal growth occurs when you are uncomfortable anyway. This kind of thing keeps me alive & vital & engaged with the outside world. That's an important thing to do as you are getting into your elder years.

I've seen the alternative with some of my elder peers. That's not a fate i would wish upon myself.

Again ... it's just my thing. Certainly doesn't mean that anybody else should do it. We all have to chart our own course in life and it's most definitely different strokes for different folks.

Originally Posted by 406Refining

When I was listing items on CL I had multiple no-shows and those that did show up either looked really really sketchy or complained about the price. How can you complain about a $20 microwave with a 30 day money back warranty?! I switched to mainly marketplace and haven't had too many issues. I sell out of the warehouse where I work. Usually people show up when they are supposed to, but I've been seeing an increased number of no-shows lately. It's probably weather related. Oh well, back into the corner the item goes. kss I definitely understand your frustration with no shows and low-ballers. It only takes a few of them to ruin the whole selling experience. Are you mainly selling on Craigslist or on FB marketplace? A change may yield better results.

I am wondering if I may have gotten you started on the thirty day guarantee? I started doing that a few years back and mentioned it here in a thread about selling and a couple of the guys thanked me for a good idea. I like the guarantee because I can ask a premium and when people try to haggle, I tell them that is okay, but I won't give the guarantee. I have had them pay the full price after that and I have had them give up the guarantee.

Good thread.

Here's my resale policy...I don't. I won't say ever, but it's rare these days. I've toyed with picking up a stall at one of the flea markets near my sandbar but then I'd have to work it. I'd rather devote my time to other things..like filling an emptying my cooler, making sand castles, watching bears knock over my neighbors trashcan, an many other things.

Why you may ask? I have no patience anymore to deal with tire kickers an window shoppers. Far as computers, as Matador an others mentioned....I don't sell them anymore either for the most part. I wanted to be in PC Repair, I'd be working for some IT firm or a computer place. Done it, got the t shirt, no desire to do it again.

Am I leaving money on the table? Sure am. Do I care? Not really. I'm not greedy, I get my piece of the pie an I'm far from starving. Let others with the patience, & desire carve their niche. I have no ill will towards them for it. Means I don't have to deal with it, an I'm ok with that.

This works for me...for others...YMMV.

People will say you can't make a profit without reselling, an that's not true at all. It's all in how you do things.

I do what I enjoy...which is break things an sell the parts to those who buy such. Keeps my cooler full, an my wallet full an I'm ok with that.

Sirscrapalot - “Facebook just sounds like a drag, in my day seeing pictures of peoples vacations was considered a punishment.” - Betty White

Originally Posted by Sirscrapalot

Good thread.

Here's my resale policy...I don't. I won't say ever, but it's rare these days. I've toyed with picking up a stall at one of the flea markets near my sandbar but then I'd have to work it. I'd rather devote my time to other things..like filling an emptying my cooler, making sand castles, watching bears knock over my neighbors trashcan, an many other things.

Why you may ask? I have no patience anymore to deal with tire kickers an window shoppers. Far as computers, as Matador an others mentioned....I don't sell them anymore either for the most part. I wanted to be in PC Repair, I'd be working for some IT firm or a computer place. Done it, got the t shirt, no desire to do it again.

Am I leaving money on the table? Sure am. Do I care? Not really. I'm not greedy, I get my piece of the pie an I'm far from starving. Let others with the patience, & desire carve their niche. I have no ill will towards them for it. Means I don't have to deal with it, an I'm ok with that.

This works for me...for others...YMMV.

People will say you can't make a profit without reselling, an that's not true at all. It's all in how you do things.

I do what I enjoy...which is break things an sell the parts to those who buy such. Keeps my cooler full, an my wallet full an I'm ok with that.

Sirscrapalot - “Facebook just sounds like a drag, in my day seeing pictures of peoples vacations was considered a punishment.” - Betty White

I'm mostly not doing this for the money.... As I've said in this thread. I'm going to try your approach and only do what I like doing. If it isn't fun, why do it! Life's to short for that and the difference in my life between getting $20 for a microwave selling it (and being frustrated dealing with people) and scrapping it for $2.... My life will be the same either way, except better for not having to deal with the frustration. Thanks for your input

For me also if it is not wort at least $100 or so, I will not bother. The exceptions are where I have regular buyers, whom I have known for a long time and they buy in quantity and on a regular basis.
Having regular buyers for certain items can make a big difference, and not have to fool around with time wasters.

For example I have regular buyers for all the following:

LCD guy, buys monitors 19"+ working or not, he repairs and re-sells.
Laptop guy #1, anything newer as long as boots to BIOS, he builds and re-sells, also buys hard drives and RAM
Laptop guy #2, buys a little older stuff too, as long as in good working order.
RAM and CPU, buyer on this forum
Export guy, buys untested desktops, laptops, keyboards, mice, LCD monitors.
Cell phone guy, buys various cell phones and tablets.
Anything oddball but valuable or vintage goes on ebay, as long as easy to ship.

This way I seldom have to sell individual items any more, and waste my time, but it took years to meet these people, often by chance, and some when I listed items on CL.