Who says you have to wake up early on a Saturday morning to browse the local garage sales?

Or set up tables at 6 a.m. before the first person arrives a half hour before you even said your garage sale would start?

If you’re anything like me, you may want to browse garage sales all the time.  I mean, after all, who doesn’t love buying something for $10 when it’s worth $150?

Or, in the case of selling, maybe you just don’t want to sit in your driveway for eight hours?  I get that as well.

While in-person garage sales do have its benefits, you’re limited as to when and how many you can actually attend, especially if you live somewhere cold.

So, in today’s post, I wanted to talk about another option — online garage sales.

Yep.

Garage sale-like websites you can visit and sell at any time, all from the comfort of your own home.

Listed below are the many websites you can browse right now that work just like visiting a garage sale in person.  Every single option is free and you can get started in as little as 30 seconds.

Online Garage Sale Websites

Facebook

No, I’m not talking about logging into Facebook and seeing if your friends or family have something for sale.

Instead, what you’re going to want to do is find a garage sale group that caters to your local town.  And, no matter how big or small your town/city is, I can almost assure you that there’s a garage sale group you can join and start browsing.

To find these groups, it’s extremely easy.

Use the search tool near the top, type in your city name, followed by the keywords “garage sale.”   For example, this is what popped up when I did it:

In doing this, you should then find groups that allow you to post things for sale as well as see what others are selling.  Also, inside these groups, if you have something in mind, you can search for used items as well.

As you can see from my screenshot, there are quite a few groups.  In fact, I could easily join 10+ groups, but I do live in a larger area.  Your results will vary.

All groups have their own rules, but generally, if you want to purchase something, you will be asked to contact the seller to arrange payment and a meetup location.  As for selling, there could be limitations or rules.  Again, read the rules to see what’s allowed to ensure you can stay active within the group.

For now, I recommend you join the more popular groups to see what’s available for sale in your town.

• Website:  Facebook Groups

Facebook Marketplace

Yes, I’m going to mention Facebook one more time, but this option is geared toward those who do not want to join a group and follow the rules of some random moderator.  It’s as easy as posting and waiting for a buyer or browsing at your leisure without waiting for group approval.

The Facebook Marketplace, which is open to all Facebook users, is 100% free to post and will instantly show your ads to other Facebook users in your area.  You can also browse thousands of listings in your area as well.

The nice thing about the Marketplace is that you don’t have to join a group and it has a ton of filters you can define if you want to pay a certain price and/or look at certain categories as seen below.

If you do find something of interest, you can then click on the listing to contact the seller as well as view their profile to see who you’re dealing with.

• Website:  Facebook Marketplace

VarageSale

VarageSale, as per its official website, is noted as “your online garage sale,” a website/app that allows you to buy and sell locally.  It works a lot like Craigslist, only that it focuses on items you can buy and sell.  You won’t find services, missed connections, etc.

Whether you download the app for your phone or browse online, it works just as if you were at a garage sale.

Simply swipe through the listings in your local community, and if anything catches your eye, click on the link to contact the seller in question.  Here, you can figure out a final price and a meetup point.

From $1 trinkets to cars, you can find about anything on VarageSale, making for a great way to browse garage sales at home.

The website/app is only available in a select number of cities, so I do recommend you check out my review for more information as to where they are operating.  It’s 100% free to join.

• Website:  VarageSale

Nextdoor

Nextdoor works a lot like the Facebook groups as mentioned, only that you’re dealing with members who have joined and confirmed their location.

While there are not as many people on the platform, it’s a nice way to at least connect with people nearby and see what’s for sale.

Most of the website revolves around the typical neighborhood chatter, but the company also includes a free marketplace, much like the Facebook option mentioned above.

Now, the thing about Nextdoor is that it isn’t as popular in some areas, but it is available everywhere.

I would at least recommend joining it, seeing it’s free, to find out how many people are participating in your area.  If there’s not a lot of marketplace action, it’s at least a great way to keep in contact with your neighbors.

• Website:  Nextdoor

OfferUp

OfferUp is said to be the simplest and most trusted way to buy and sell locally.

And the thing I like about this app is that it’s very mobile friendly, clean and fun to just scroll through the pictures to see what others are selling.

Whether you want to view the listings nearby, all of which you can filter by a category, or search for something in particular, OfferUp is slowly becoming the #1 app to buy and sell just about anything.  To date, they have millions of members.

If you find something of interest, you can instantly message sellers and even check out their profiles to see ratings, badges and transaction history.

Signing up only takes 30 seconds to do.

• Website:  OfferUp

LetGo

LetGo is similar to that of OfferUp.  It’s just a competitor, that’s all.

To use LetGo, you can either browse by category and contact the seller if there’s interest or you can sell any items straight from your phone.  It only takes a few seconds.  You will need to register to communicate and/or post, but as mentioned, it doesn’t take long at all.

LetGo does have more reviews than OfferUp, making it one of the largest mobile marketplace, however, the reviews are a smidge better on the OfferUp side.  Regardless, they are both rated quite high so it doesn’t hurt to at least browse both to see if you can find a treasure.

• Website:  LetGo

Craigslist

Craigslist has some potential, but I’m leaving it at the end because I find it to be the least interesting out of all that I listed.  And, I’m sure you have heard of it already, too.

If you want to act as if you’re browsing a garage sale, I would recommend you click on the “for sale” section and ensure that you filter your results to only show items that are less than $100.  That way, you can filter out the pricier items such as a car, appliances, etc.

Then, depending on how far you want to travel, you will want to make sure you set your radius from your zip code to make sure you’re not looking at listings 50+ miles away.

Once your filters are set, browse through the listings and pictures to see if anything is of interest.  I always make sure the thumbnail is as big as possible since I’d rather glance at the pictures instead of reading the text.

If you see something of interest, open the ad, find the contact information and get ahold of the seller.

Again, Craigslist can be a fun place to browse, but in comparison to Facebook and VarageSale, to name a few, the quality just didn’t seem to be there.  It’s worth a shot to at least browse if you want more options.

• Website:  Craigslist

Final Thoughts

As you can see, there a quite a few alternatives to that of visiting a garage sale in person. They never close and the options seem to be endless.

The same can be said about selling.  Also, f you want to learn more about selling, I did create a few posts in the past, touching upon niche-like sites you can use to sell your shoes, laptop, used CDs and much more.  I recommend you check them out for even more website/app ideas.  You can also use the search bar using the term “sell” to find more information as well.

While I would still recommend you visit garage sales in person to see what you can find, these online garage sales make for an awesome option when you can’t find a local garage sale.  It’s always fun to scroll around and see what other people have for sale.

Much like a garage sale, if you find something of value, make sure you act fast because the good stuff goes fast.  

As always, play it safe whenever meeting in person.  Even though some of these websites have profiles to help put your mind at ease, it doesn’t always ensure your safety.  If it’s a smaller item, try to meet at a public, well-lit place, but if you need to meet at the home, then it’s wise to bring a friend.  Just use your head!

For now, I think I covered the most popular online garage sale options.

In the meantime, if you have any other online garage sale options that you see I’m missing or you just want to sound off, feel free to comment below!