I made £10k in a year selling on Facebook Marketplace and it was so easy – I always make sure they pay in cash too
AFTER finding herself in over £150,000 worth of debt four years ago, Lauren Miller has dedicated a lot of her free time to making extra cash.
That includes selling unwanted furniture on Facebook Marketplace to make a whopping £10,000 in just 12 months.
The mum-of-two, who had £24,000 of credit card debt alone in 2020, sold over 50 items on the social media reselling platform last year.
Predominantly flogging furniture priced around £160 and upwards per piece, Lauren made a whopping £10,250 across the year.
Now, the 36-year-old has shared her tips for others trying to amass a small fortune reselling their unused homeware and furniture online.
“The number one thing that helped me sell things quickly was listing in local groups,” she said in a TikTok video.
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“When you post your listing on Facebook Marketplace, make sure you check off groups that are local to your postcode.
“So it gets posted in your local areas and people can see it.
“Every time I’ve done this, I’ve got hits the same day and sold the item within a couple of days.”
Alongside uploading clear pictures, Massachusetts-based Lauren also urged sellers to include the dimensions of any furniture because “people always ask that”.
“My third tip is a little controversial,” she continued. “But it’s worked for us.
“I would highly suggest using a male name on your Facebook account.
“We use my husband’s Facebook, and we weren’t Facebook users, we just created it for Facebook Marketplace only.
“You don’t have to have an established account for sales to work.
“Create one, use a male name and honestly, all of our transactions have gone really smoothly.”
Lauren also only accepts cash for her items, and makes this clear in the Facebook Marketplace listing by writing “cash only”.
As most of the stuff she sells is around £160 or less, it’s an easy amount of cash for buyers to withdraw at cash machines.
This method also protects her from the scams that come with digital money transfer sites and online banking.
Lauren urged people to never give out their personal phone number because anyone who asks for your digits is “undoubtedly trying to scam you”.
Cyber criminals are capitalising on the uptake of reselling platforms, including Depop and Vinted, to con innocent users out of thousands of pounds.
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A golden rule is to never give out personal details or click on links sent by someone you don’t know, or links that look fishy.
Speaking exclusively to Fabulous, cybersecurity expert Tom Holloway shared his top tips for staying safe when shopping second-hand online.