Selling Used Building Materials
Here's the old Trex decking. I took my time taking it up and it looked perfect after cleaning each piece. Ready for selling as used building material. Copyright 2017 Tim Carter
Selling Used Building Materials TIPS
- People will buy just about anything - don't assume you have garbage
- Clean everything up and take great photos
- Be honest in your description and price about 45% below new
- WATCH VIDEO BELOW
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DEAR TIM: I’m about to do a significant amount of remodeling and was about to order a dumpster. A friend at work suggested I sell lots of my used building materials instead of putting them in the landfill.
This doesn’t seem worth it to me. Is it safe to do this? Is it practical? Have you done this yourself? What’s the best way to sell used building materials? Julie M., Ann Arbor, MI
DEAR JULIE: I think I can best answer your questions by sharing a few stories with you.
My Selling Success
I’m a huge fan of selling used building materials for any number of reasons. Years ago I discovered that what you might think is junk, some other person might consider it gold.
Burying something that still has useful life under tons of other debris and dirt is not prudent for all sorts of reasons.
Hard To Sell Shattered Drywall
Some items need to be discarded because they get destroyed taking them out. That’s understandable. But many things, even built-in cabinets and bookcases, can be carefully removed giving them a second chance to serve someone else at their home.
Free & Fast Bids
Selling My Trex
Last year I was tasked with building a new deck at my home. Part of the job involved remodeling two existing decks that were adjacent to the new deck. The two decks I was restoring had fifteen-year-old generation one Trex decking on them.
Who would have thought that someone would want my old decking and treated-wood railing system?
Sold My Deck Railing Too!
While the railing was in great shape and needed a coat of paint and the sections were random in size, it still was appealing to a homeowner sixty miles away! I sold the railing on Craigslist.org in less than two weeks for $600.00!
Selling Materials Video
Here's an interesting video of a man who's selling lots of his loot!
Price Way Below New
I priced it about 45 percent what it would cost to purchase the same materials to build the railing from scratch. It’s critical you price out what the same item is selling for new before you list an item for sale. You want to make sure what you’re offering is a great bargain.
Old Can Be In Demand
I was able to sell every piece of my used generation-one Trex decking as well. I had 1,280 square feet of it. You might ask, “Who would want used decking?” That’s easy.
It turns out one of the buyers had a deck covered with the same material. It’s no longer made and he wanted to enlarge his deck. My decking saved the day for him!
Other buyers wanted a no-maintenance decking and the price of new composite decking took their breath away. I ended up selling my used Trex decking for $1.25 per linear foot!
Old Plumbing Fixtures
Just yesterday, I sold a gorgeous 15-year-old rain shower head to a person who was remodeling his bathroom. This model purchased new would be over $1,000. I wanted to just get rid of it and gave it away for $125.00.
This gorgeous shower head sold in less than 24 hours. Your used building materials are wanted by your neighbors. (C) Copyright 2017 Tim Carter
Great Window Boxes
Later in the afternoon, I sold two used no-rot PVC window flower boxes for $130.00. Believe me, you can sell used building materials and fixtures.
Here's a photo of the flower boxes I had for sale. I originally had nine to sell. At the time I uploaded this photo here, I had four more to sell. Copyright 2017 Facebook, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Facebook Groups
In the past week, I discovered a better way to sell used items. As crazy as it sounds you do this using the social media website Facebook. It turns out there are thousands of local groups on Facebook that are marketplaces to sell just about anything.
Here's a current listing of mine of a fantastic white china pedestal sink. It will sell for $225 no problems. Copyright 2017 Facebook, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
You just need to go to Facebook and look up your town, city or community name followed by the words yard sale, garage sale, or similar phrases. You’ll be stunned by what you discover.
Push vs Pull
Facebook differs from Craigslist in a fundamentally different way. Facebook employs push technology instead of pull. When you list an item on Facebook, everyone that’s part of that group gets notified instantly
With Craigslist, a buyer has to search for your item. If you don’t put in the correct words in your listing title, a buyer who wants your loot may not find it!
Get Best Price
To get the best prices for items, you need to make sure they’re in as good as condition as possible. All the online sites allow you to upload lots of photos of the item.
Take great photos of what you’re trying to sell and upload them. Provide all the dimensions of the items if it makes sense.
Be honest in your description. Even though something is not in that great of condition, some buyer may be willing to invest the time and energy to restore it.
Safety Suggestions
As for the safety of transacting business with total strangers, I’ve never had a problem. Just yesterday, a single woman came to my house to pick up the flower boxes. She didn’t know me from Adam. You need to use common sense and it’s never a bad idea to take a friend with you if you’re going to buy something. It’s not a bad idea to have a friend with you when you sell to a stranger.
Contact your local police department as many are now offering lots of great advice about how to be safe doing online business. Some even have a special area in their parking lots where buyers and sellers can meet while the entire transaction is videotaped. This might be a good idea if you don’t want strangers coming to your home.
Only accept cash. NEVER EVER accept a check. A common scam is to give you a check that looks real. They're not and will bounce.
Start Listing Now
A month from now I intend to list hundreds of things that have been gathering dust in my garage, attic and my outdoor shed. I’ve had such great success using the Facebook groups technology I’m sure I’ll sell every item. It’s just a matter of pricing things right. Good luck and happy selling!
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