Where are the best places to sell baby things?

[CnR]

I have a bedside cot that DD won't need after October - getting a toddler bed instead. Most of her things we have given away to various people or nursery. But the cot is obviously much bigger and still looks brand new. And it is only 18 months old (well, less than that). Where do MN sell their things? Is it easy and convenient? I don't fancy having to stay in for people to come looking, etc.? Any ideas of places would be great.

I have been trying to sell or give away a cot and a pushchair for a couple of months now and no one wants them. Soon I shall have to throw them in a container at the dump and it seems such a waste. I just wish I could find someone who would benefit from them.

Janstar, the local churches here run a Furniture Store for the benefit of people who need kitting out in a hurry - eg if they've had a fire (not sure what other circumstances cause furniture emergencies???)...anyway they open one day a week in the basement of a church, and also operate a pick-up service that day.

If you have one locally, they would definitely take the cot and maybe the pushchair too - failing that, I think the Sally Army run a similar thing - agree, it would be v sad to just dump them.

I can think of 2 options for both of you.

MN allow you to advertistise items on the "noticeboard" section which can be accessed from the home page. I would do a link for you but there seems to be a prob with MN's home page at the mo.

You could also try Ebay (www.ebay.co.uk), as you can see here they have a large selection of items for sale. It is cheap to advertise and ebay is the largest and most viewed site of its kind. If you are not keen on the auction idea then you can always sell your item at a 'Buy it now' price.

Janstar - If you have no luck with these sites or selling them elsewhere perhaps you could consider giving them to a local charity shop instead of chucking them out ? BTW, what pushchair is it ?

I thought of e-bay but, having not used it before, I am not really sure on how it works. And what about postage and delivery. Obvioulsy a cot is heavy - who pays that?

It's a Mothercare Graco Sterling travel system. I don't have the car seat any more though. I have tried mumsnet noticeboard. I havve tried the Sally Army, they said they don't have a furniture scheme any more. I tried a local furniture recycling place but they do not take pushchairs or cots because of some regulation involving health and safety. A womens' refuge turned my things down for the same reason. Have advertised in Loot. I'm getting fed up with these items cluttering my hallway. I could try your ebay idea, that's the only avenue I haven't yet explored, I think.

Just been to the noticeboard. Might try posting there; never realised it was there before. Thanks!

janh, what area are you in? If I am near enough perhaps your church is an option.

Janstar - have you tried any local nurseries. Our DD's nursery has some cots in the baby room. I think they can't take mattresses but they did take second hand cots and pushchairs. We have given some of DD's things to our nursery - rocker chair, etc.

Janstar, I'm in Lancashire - aren't you down south?

Have just read what you said about the women's refuge turning them down for H & S reasons - maybe our furniture store would now too - it's probably because some really old things have eg large gaps between bars and finger-trapping mechanisms so they have to refuse all second-hand stuff rather than get involved in what is currently legal and what isn't...

Cnr - Usually the buyer pays the postage on the item they purchase. It is best to get a ball-park figure from the courier you would use (obv the cost will differ depending on whereabouts in the country you are sending it) but it does always help if the bidder knows what sort of postal charges they will accrue. You will need to know the approx weight of you cot when it is unassembled.

P.S. Ebay is really easy to use, registration and advertisements are done in a 'step by step' fashion so it is hard to get too muddled up ! They have a fairly good 'help' page and you can email a trouble shooter if you have any probs.

BTW, your item will sell better if you give it a good clean and spruceup and take some really good clear photos.

Placed a message on MN noticeboard for now. Will look at other options too though.

You could also try selling at an NCT sale. A percentage of the money goes to them and they check buggies for safety. You would have to sell the cot without the matress but they can be picked up cheaply enough. Do fix the instruction manuals with the items too.

We bought DS's cot from one and are really pleased with it.

eBay is fab though. If you can post on mumsnet, you can sell on eBay. Just give yourself some time to do a bit of research, i.e. look up other cots for sale and see which ones are getting the most bids, is it down to the best pictures, best make, best title, etc?

Yes, janh. Never mind.

I've sold quite abit through UK Parents they have buy and sell sections in their Forums bit. Also look in the wanted bit, it's amazing what you have around the house, that other people are desperate to get their hands on!

I have just got rid of the last of dds baby things, she is 3, and I have sold them all on Ebay.

The difficult thing with Ebay is posting things - ie how do you post a travel system, car seat or cot. I got round this by offering to deliver within a certain radius, usually 75 mile of home. I charged say £10, and it cost me about an hour and a half of my time. I got good prices doing it this way.

Good luck!