Tips For Buying and Selling on Rockford Facebook Groups

It's becoming more and more popular to ditch the traditional garage sale for selling your unwanted items on Facebook.

I sell so many items and have purchased many items on different local Facebook Pages.

Rockford Buy, Sell, Trade and Automobiles is a group with over 11,000 members right here in our own backyard.

Selling items can keep stuff out of the landfill and can make a bit of spare change for you in the process.

In order to sell your items efficiently, there are a few simple steps to follow:

Post a clear photo of the item you are selling. Nothing is more frustrating than either not having a photo of an item to look at or trying to guess the color of fabric on the chairs. Many Buy and Sell Facebook groups allow multiple images or a single item. Make sure to check the rules of each sale group, or message an administrator to make sure.

Provide a clear and honest description. Please don't lie. Nothing is going to kick you out of a Buy and Sell Facebook group faster than selling damaged goods. If you are selling a couch with tears on the cushions, make that known. If you are selling a children's sweater that is brand new with tags, make that known. Be honest and upfront about the condition of your items.

Price fairly. No one is going to buy your 20 year old television stand for $300. It clearly needs a paint job, the dog chewed through the left leg and it is super dirty. It's worth $10, max.

Clean your items. I'm not going to pick up a bookshelf that weights and extra twelve pounds because of all the dust on there. Have some common courtesy. This goes back to photos too. No one is going to by your dust magnet, but someone will buy a clean bookshelf.

Know the lingo. There are plenty of terms you may see such as: PPU - pending pick up or porch pick up. Bump - bumping your item up to the top of the pages news feed so it can been seen again. OBO - or best offer (price). X-Posted - this item has been cross posted to another site as well.

Set a safe meeting spot for payment/exchange. This is by far the most important of all of the steps. Pick a location during the day and in a public place to exchange items/payment.

Currently, according to WIFR, Rockford Police are looking for a man who robbed a seller at gunpoint. He was trying to sell his television set to someone from a Buy and Sell Facebook Group.

The two men met near Arthur Avenue, not far from Auburn to exchange payment for a television set. Instead, the man trying to sell the television was robbed at gunpoint and stole the television.

The crime is still under investigation, but remember you can always meet at the police or fire station to do an exchange.

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