Extra $37K in Third-Year

• Sarah Scott, 27, spends five hour a week selling used furniture on Facebook Marketplace.
• She has made $37,000 more than her full-time income this year.
• Three pieces of advice are provided by her for beginners looking to sell on Facebook Marketplace.

Sarah Scott was driving home from work in January 2020 when she noticed “a lot” furniture and other household items on the curbs of her neighborhood.

On a whim, she decided to pick up an “entire car load” — including a coffee table, a bookcase, and a broken lawnmower. Within 48 hours, she had sold it all. Facebook MarketplaceFacebook has a section called “E-commerce”, where users can sell or buy goods to and from local people.  

According to documents from Insider, the 27 year-old has earned an additional $37,000 in 2022 through her side hustle. She sells furniture, art, and any other interesting trash she finds in her Memphis suburb. 

Scott works full-time as a digital marketing consultant for FedEx and earns just below $90,000. She says she spends just five hours per week on her side gig — three hours for driving and picking up items and two hours for staging, photographing, and listing items online.

Scott told Insider, “We are here just working as hard we can, because our time and the means allow us to have big dreams,” Scott and her husband purchased their first rental property in August “directly because” of her side hustle, she explained.

Prices are subject to change continueScott is among millions of Americans shaking up traditional values. 9-to-5. US workers filed over five millionThe most recent update since 2005 is the introduction of new business applications for 2021. A 2021 Upwork study found that 59 million Americans — or 36% of the US workforce — had performed freelance work over the prior 12 months. Others have. ditched collegeFor trade schoolsor apprenticeship programs. Some, such as Scott, embrace reseller platforms like PoshmarkFacebook Marketplace to make extra money or become a full-time reseller. 

Scott’s method of organizing her time and pricing items for her side business

Scott decided to jump in after her unexpected success on Facebook Marketplace. 

“I realized after doing it the second evening just within my town, that this was going be very lucrative,” she stated. 

Scott devised “trash routes” that she drives three nights per week — Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday — visiting a few different neighborhoods each night.

She estimates that she earned $500 per month the first few months. She began to learn the best routes and which bestsellers were most popular, and her performance improved.

She’s noticed that people are more inclined to leave items out on the curb during spring and autumn, but less during summer and winter. Perhaps because they’re more likely be traveling.

Scott uses Google Image search for the retail price to find items online. She estimates that new items usually sell within 24 to 48 hours. Used items in good conditions can take between three and five days. If an item doesn’t sell in two weeks, she donates.

Scott sells her items for roughly 70 to 80% of the retail price — “cheaper than anything else people would find online,” she said. Scott sometimes ships items, but she leaves the majority of her items out on her porch so buyers can pick them up. Venmo allows her to pay for the rest. She also uses the pickup option to avoid shipping. Facebook’s5% shipping fee for shipped items 

According to her records Scott had earned approximately $10,000 by 2020. This rose to $18,000 by 2021 and $37,000 at the end October. She estimates she will reach $40,000 by the year’s end, and sells an average of 30 sales per month.

Three tips for beginners on Facebook Marketplace resellers

Scott’s first piece for beginners is “Get started.”

“Drive around even if it’s your local trash night,” she said. “One item at $20 is 20 dollars more than if you didn’t do it.”

Her second piece of advice? “Experiment” with different products. 

She said, “If you are passionate about something, then lean into it.” “Video games or furniture flipping — find that thing that speaks to you, because then it’ll be easier to do it.”

She suggests that anyone interested in selling household products should consider “anything made of wood” as they “go crazy over” nightstands.

An antique rockingchair for $425, an antique set of silver teacups and a three-drawer chest for $255 are the three most expensive items she has ever sold. However, her average selling price is between $40 and $50. She says $45 is often the “magic number” for selling an item quickly. 

Scott claims that she has never modified items for resale. She gives them a quick cleaning and then stages them in her home to make a picture. 

While she still considers reselling trash of other people her “bread and butter”, she was able to help a client who was moving and needed to clear out their house earlier this year. 

Scott estimates that she sold more $60,000 worth property in eight weeks. She charged a 30% commission, and walked away with roughly $20,000. 

She recommends that people “get involved with their community” via online channels.

“One of my greatest joys in doing this is all the people I have been able to help, realizing that they wouldn’t be able to afford the item if not for me.” It would have ended in the trash.

Scott said that she doesn’t plan to slow down as she moves forward. She loves the extra money and wants to continue contributing to a more sustainable world. She discovered that she had a greater soft spot for sustainability than she thought. This motivated her to keep going. 

Nearly three decades later, she’s not only saved nearly 1,000 items from landfill, but has also offered others the opportunity of using them in their own homes. 

She said, “I can’t save all.” “But it’s made my feel like I’m doing something.”