To think the reality of online selling is far worse than people suggest on here...

[SkyBloo]

On here there are regularly people claiming expensive items like pushchairs, children's bikes etc sell secondhand for at least half what you paid for them and as much as 80/90% of the retail price.

In reality, whenever i try and sell anything online, nothing sells at all even priced at lower prices to sell quickly.

Eg - lightly used uppababy (my kids hated the pushchair so we used a carrier more) in excellent condition with foot muff, carrycot etc, gender neutral popular colour. Put on for £150 in the hope of selling it fast. Zero interest at all.

Childrens 16 inch frog bike, excellent condition, owned from new & ridden by one child. Red. Put it on around november time thinking people might buy as Christmas gift. Asked for £125. No interest whatsoever.

Solid oak coffee table in great condition. Offered for £50. (Retails for about £300). No interest

I post with lots of good images. I live in a south east commuter town and see other people posting things that also aren't selling, they are reposted again and again for months.

My experience is the only things I've ever had anyone actually want to buy second hand are things priced incredibly low (£5 etc) or offered free, yet people on here claim to resell things for high prices. Is it a regional thing?

@theresapossuminthekitchen

I do think, however, that people mainly want new stuff and will only buy it second hand if it’s an absolute bargain

My experience is that if the stuff you're selling is in excellent or "as new" condition, then you're probably going to get pretty decent money for it.

What people don't want to pay good money for are things that are broken, stained/marked, incomplete, etc. You're definitely down into bargain basement territory if what you're selling isn't top notch, missing instructions, missing boxes where applicable, etc.

Gumtree is a much more reliable site. I've just advertised a few items and getting interest already.

Maybe it's a timing thing - Sunday is a good day as people have time to collect items. By Monday the ad has disappeared 😊

It is very area dependent. I think it also depends on the socioeconomic makeup of the area and attitudes to buying second hand.

In our area fb marketplace, mum's local selling group, Gumtree are all about bargains. Some people have put bugaboo, yoyos, uppa baby pushchairs on for over £100 and they are there for months and months. No-one will pay more than £50 for a pushchair regardless of brand and condition. Same with kids bikes, no-one pays more than £20 for a kids bike on them. There have been quite a few frog bikes and isla bikes and they have been listed for months and months. I have a friend who sells exclusively on the FB page of the "posh" large village 15 minutes drive away. It's a completely different demographic and attitude to second hand there and people are willing to pay more money for quality second hand. She sold her double bugaboo donkey on there for £200 whereas on our local FB pages she was getting offers for £20 and they wanted free delivery.

ebay fees are 15% which isn't too bad. They have offers almost weekly for listing things for lower fees. They've recently made it free to sell used clothing - makes me thing they're being squeezed by Vinted.

Is it a wrong location issue? I’m in the SE and been looking for a 16 inch Frog bike but none of them have been within a reasonable distance to collect.

I gave up selling anything as nobody wanted it or wanted it for free
Lots of people manage to sell things , but I'm clearly bad at it

I'd say it must be regional - stuff round me flies off FB marketplace if it's half decent and priced sensibly. The stuff that sits for months tends to be overpriced - saw a sideboard and mirror from Next (veneer, not solid wood) yesterday with a massive stain on the top priced at £200. They've no chance. Be lucky to get £50 for it.

I buy and sell bits online.
I think it depends on finding the right place to sell, for example gumtree is dead in my area but facebook marketplace is popular as are local groups.
Also vinted is very popular atm but most things sell very cheap on there.

Also, depends on the item. I had an expensive baby swing, around £200. Didn’t end up getting used much. Had it on sale for ages, reduced to £40. Finally I just wanted to get rid so I put it up for free and it went the same day.

I don’t think it is realistic to expect 80-90% if you bought it new. If it was that much, I would rather buy new and have the option for refund and customer service that comes with it.
Yes, if you buy secondhand, then you can still recover most of that cost if it’s in good condition.

So for me I wouldn't spend over £100 on something used.

The frog bike for example I would just buy a cheaper bike new.

I've had a lot of success selling but I've sold dresses that cost me £60 for £10. Nike hoodies that cost £40 for £8

I've made a few hundred pounds I wouldn't have otherwise.

Ive noticed this and I think it’s demographics. In my rougher local area there is no little interest unless stuff is dirt cheap, even if it’s in immaculate condition. Brand doesn’t seem to factor. Friends can’t seem to give Silver Cross prams away.

In BILs naice area, there’s more active selling groups and people are willing to pay more for quality branded second hand stuff in good condition.

Do you still have the uppababy? Is it the vista? I'm in the SE and ours is about to die!

We've sold loads on eBay recently. SE commuter town and always offer postage. Even on big items. Highest postage was 22 quid for the STOKKE Flexi Bath which sold for £60. I think people would rather pay for delivery than collect. It also does really depend on search area and when you list it. Best time to list items is between 6 and 9 pm.

I rarely buy online, as there are too many scammers. I wonder if you were pricing things too cheaply? £125 for a Frog bike is a bargain - I wonder if people assumed it was a scam?

Has anyone done an NCT sale lately - the ticket style - what are selling prices like for toddler clothing, toys etc?

Obviously I know you only get a percentage but it might be useful for hard-to-shift stuff.

I tend to find:

Ebay - things sell well as long as they are reasonably priced. I have always thought that one-third of new was the mark, for a very good condition item.

Vinted - I decided not to get into Vinted as I knew what I was doing with Ebay and couldn’t be bothered to learn a whole new system.

Mum2Mum sales - tabletop - as above, but keep clothes at £1 max. Don’t take too much stuff and actively try to engage with people to find out what they want, rather than sitting slumped behind your table! I also give freebies if someone has bought something then I might give them something else in the same size.

Car boot sales - did my first one last summer. It’s a bit daunting when you arrive and being directed into position but fun once you’re set up and some surprising items (random household items) sell quite well.

Gumtree: excellent, it's UK only which for UK people is a big advantage over Facebook Marketplace which attracts a global audience of mainly scammers and weirdos

other benefits of Gumtree, the ads are free for a basic one and you can pay a bit extra to bump it up, or as a Premium 'sticky' advert for businesses.

A very useful feature which I think adds to the reliability of users is that they ask you to rate the people you interact with, so if they're time wasters or give you any issues including giving you the runaround on your sale, their card is marked!

I put two items on there this morning and they were collected by lunchtime. No messing about, the people were local to us and very friendly and punctual.

Frog bikes have good resale where I am.

Pushchairs: bought second hand for not a lot and sold on for similar. I think people are only willing to pay £50 for a pushchair. You don’t really know that it’s in great condition until you use it for a while and nothing breaks.

I genuinely did recoup most of what I paid for lots of baby items albeit about ten years ago. It depends on where you live, and crucially the brand name.
Before I even bought certain items I would check their resale value and if they had no resale value, I wouldn’t buy them. A few things I bought on eBay and sold for the same price 1-2 years later.

Cots have hopeless resale value. However baby carriers and certain types of baby chair held their value really well, as did some baby gyms.

Clothes are mostly hopeless except for some top end brand names eg Bonpoint, Barbour.