As part of Hiking Thru Life, we have a monthly newsletter and there is a “life hack” section in it. If you want to be a part of the Hiking Thru Life newsletter you can sign up here. We like to incorporate a “life hack” into the newsletter each month to share things we do in our lives that make life easier, save us money, or things we just love doing in our lifestyle that are worth sharing.
I am a huge fan of Facebook marketplace. We used marketplace to get a lot of the baby items and most were free! Pictured is the free stroller. If you want to read about all the baby items we got on marketplace read this article. So if you are new to this, let me make life easy for you by sharing some simple “ hacks” for Facebook marketplace searches.
Search daily: Daily searching is the key to finding the item you want. Items go quick on marketplace and timing is everything. You need to be dedicated to searching for the items you want. As much time and patience as this takes, it’s worth it to save you a few hundred dollars, or thousands!
Timing is key: Lots of people want the items gone ASAP so search on marketplace when you know you have time to go pick the items up. It’s a bummer but people are impatient and want their items out of the houses so they “preference” people who can come within a certain time frame.
Do not click the automated reply button: Many people do not reply to this. Make it a more personable message.
Do not be flaky: If you inquire about an item, reply if the reply to you! This will get you a good review from the seller. Having a good review will look good and more people will be willing to work with you.
Negotiation is possible: I suggest waiting to negotiate until you notice the item has been on marketplace for over a week. Save the item and check back. Usually, people will lower prices as time goes on.
Do NOT go to “FREE first come, first serve” items: We have been sucked into these. We end up driving to the location after hooking up the trailer and by the time we get there the item is already being hauled away by someone else who got there first. Sometimes they are really good items but the first come first serve is not worth it in my opinion because you spend time driving to the location to maybe get the free item. Stick to people who will respect your time and hold an item for you.
Get off marketplace and open your eyes when you are driving thru neighborhoods! There are lots of free items on people’s driveways that are super useful.
Pictured below: Free pavers. We learned that this is a hot item on Facebook marketplace. The free pavers took about a month to find this summer. However, we weren’t in rush to get them. If you are willing to search, be patient, and be persistent…free can happen!
