VarageSale: A New Way To Bargain Shop

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Anyone who knows me knows I love deals. I love saving money, and I LOVE online shopping. What could be better than online shopping? Shopping through an app on my phone.

Enter VarageSale.

Started in 2012 by a Mama on maternity leave, VarageSale is an up and coming way to sell and buy online and via app. It’s a way for local people to buy and sell gently used (or new) items to and from each other.

VarageSale local

The way it works is not entirely unlike other buy/sell/trade groups on Social Media. The biggest difference is that, on this site, administrators pay close attention to users. You have to live near the area for which the group is established, and if you have multiple instances of standing buyers (or sellers) up for transactions, you can be banned from the site. To me, this makes it feel like this site is safer and more secure than your average social media site, and I really like that.

I have been a member of VarageSale for a while but just recently made my first purchase. The site is incredibly easy to navigate, making it much easier to find items that interest me than other sales sites. I could specify what I wanted to search for, which, in my case, was purses. I love that the search function is detailed because it really does narrow down the hundreds of items posted.

VarageSale Categories

Another great feature of VarageSale is that there are little notations that let people know how long the item has been listed. This is great for two reasons: the longer the item has been listed, the higher likelihood that (a) the item has been sold or (b) the seller may be willing to negotiate on price.

I found a purse that had been listed for a little while, so I commented on the pic, asking if it was still available and letting the seller know I was interested if it was still up for sale. Generally, the comment section is for that, as well as to ask any questions about the items prior to arranging a meeting. Usually, transactions will be arranged via a private message within the app. However, in my case, the seller and I just used the comments section.

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I was really pleased with the transaction—the purse was exactly as promised and totally worth meeting for. The hardest part for us was nailing down a time to meet That however, clearly isn’t a fault of the app. That’s just the result of busy lives!

I definitely encourage you all to check out the app and site. There really are tons of great deals to be had, and the quality of the items offered is top-notch. There is a lot less junk and a lot more treasure to be found!

A couple of tips for buying in VarageSale:
1. Ask questions about the item before arranging a meeting. Sometimes, by asking for more details, you will find you don’t want the item after all. Questions will save you (and the seller) a trip!
2. Meet in a busy area. Even though I do feel that VarageSale is less risky than other online sales sites, you ARE meeting a stranger. I met my seller in a Target parking lot in the middle of the day.
3. If you plan a meeting, exchange information in a private message. My seller posted her phone number on the comments about the item. I privately messaged her mine. Again, a safety thing to my mind. On the comments, EVERYONE can see what you post. In a PM, only the person you intended the information for can see it.
4. Feel free to negotiate a fair price, but don’t expect free (unless it is marked “free”).
5. If the price says “firm,” there’s no wiggle room. If you aren’t comfortable paying the requested price on one of these, move on.

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Amy
Amy is a Northernor by birth, but please don’t hold it against her! Amy has called Middle Tennessee home for over twenty years and couldn’t picture raising a family anywhere else! Today, Amy lives just outside of Nashville with her husband of over seven years (JP), her four year old spitfire of a daughter (Lily), and their eleven-year-old-but-still-acts-like-a-puppy black lab (Alley). It’s a daily toss up as to who rules their house—Lily or the dog—and Amy has many funny stories to prove the battles. Amy is a working mama by day—a fraud and suspicious activities investigator at a local, community bank, and a jack-of-all-trades by night and weekend. She loves crafts, music, the outdoors, saving money and bargain hunting, gardening (and all the canning, freezing, and preserving that comes with it), comic books, and anything upcycled, recycled, or DIY, and she’s just crunchy enough to call herself a hippie. She can often be found perusing yard sales, flea markets, Pinterest, and Etsy, looking for her next big project, or playing superheroes, painting, or playing outside with Lily. Currently, Amy and her husband are on a quest to find the best burger in Nashville and love visiting all the fantastic foodie spots this great city has to offer!

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