7 Best Websites to Sell Items Online for Free in 2020: A Full Review

E-commerce websites have provided an exciting platform for small shop-owners and customers, particularly local buyers, to connect.Online selling sites have allowed small vendors to boost their revenue, while simultaneously enhancing the ability of businesses to reach to a wider consumer base. Hence, it is unsurprising that entrepreneurs are constantly trying to seek out websites to sell items online for free, that has a vast outreach. If you are an E-commerce business looking to expand your operations beyond physical stores, then free selling websites are indeed the way to go. However, you do have to choose wisely among the several e-commerce free selling websites, depending upon the kind of audience you are trying to reach, domestic or global.

Some websites charge a certain amount to host products, while others allow you to sell them free-of-cost. If you want to optimize your revenue, then free selling websites should undoubtedly be your preferred choice.

Also, websites with a huge following of their own, are another prudent alternative.

Amazon and eBay are e-commerce giants, and they know it. Hence, they leverage their market share by charging you hefty fees for putting your products on their websites. However, these are without a doubt some of the most visited websites on all of the internet right now. So of course, if you aim to reach a huge audience as fast as possible then these are the right websites for you to host products. You can capitalize on the exposure these sites provide you, and multiply your revenue stream tremendously, in a relatively short period. However, it is fair to say that these hefty charges are not everyone’s cup of tea, especially if a business has just started or is small and does not have much cash to spare.

Now that we have gone through some of the obvious e-commerce mammoths, here is a useful list that compiles some of the best free selling sites out there, that we think can provide the best showcase for your amazing products, and can help your business grow exponentially.

Craigslist – Preferred Online Selling Site

Craigslist came into existence as an e-commerce website in the year 1995. Founded by Craig Newmark, it is considered to be one of the most popular websites to sell stuff online.

Be it personal advertisements, job postings, real-estate openings, or deals on products and services, users can access it all on Craigslist, and more. This multi-faceted approach has made Craigslist the world’s largest online classified website. There is nearly nothing that you cannot sell on Craigslist.

What’s interesting about Craigslist, is its simplistic design and no-frills interface. The fact that it is so easy to use, attracts more consumers and businesses, who otherwise get turned off from unnecessary complexity. For instance, it makes sense, if the producer wants to handle everything by himself/herself. Be it sales, delivery, or after-sales services, producers usually prefers to do things their way. The fact that Craigslist allows you to do that is a huge plus. It reduces the possibility of unwarranted interference.

Usually, producers who are looking to sell their products or offer services in and around their vicinity, find Craigslist to be particularly suitable for that purpose. To put it simply, if want to sell locally, go Craigslist. It is a perfect fit for products that are comparatively bigger, or costly or delicate and require personal handling.

There is a lot for you to learn, by selling on Craigslist, as here you get to interact with your customers in person, which gives you the unique opportunity to create a foundation of trust and goodwill with them. The payment process is simple enough and you can also accept direct cash payment in exchange for your products or services.

And to top it all off, you also get free-of-cost, hassle-free shipping. Who doesn’t want that?

Geebo – A vibrant online market

Specifically catered towards the US market, Geebo is a vibrant free selling classified website. Greg Collier established Geebo in the year 2000, in McLean, Virginia.

Even though it is not that well-known as some other big players in the market, it still has a sizeable audience that finds it incredibly useful as a classified website. Many consider it to one of the premier websites to sell items online for free, which makes it worthy to be on this list.

Similar to most classified free selling websites, the web design and layout of the interface is simplistic and easy to navigate. But what sets it apart is the vivid and colourful outlook of this free selling site, which makes it vibrant and aesthetically pleasing to look at, unlike other common websites to sell stuff, that are pretty dull and basic in their presentation. Geebo attracts a lot of consumers as a result.

Staying true to its tagline “safe community classifieds”, Geebo tries to facilitate a more personal connection between the buyers and sellers, as compared to other selling sites.

Geebo is offering an opportunity for sellers to reach across large swathes of the US, without having to bear any listing costs. Geebo makes it easy for you to host products and sell for free online.

There is a wide variety of products and services, that gets listed on Geebo, including Job listings, real-estate openings, auto-parts and accessories, and other general merchandise such as fashion and beauty products.

Facebook – The market multiplier

There are thousands of groups that exist on Facebook marketplace, each promoting and selling a range of different products and services in all corners of the world. What Facebook offers customers, is the ability to search for local products and services. This provides local vendors and sellers with an opportunity to make a dent in the domestic market, using this global online sales tool.

Just post a picture of your product or a small description of your services on Facebook and you are good to go. Buyers who are looking for something even remotely similar to your offerings will be able to locate you easily, just by typing a few keywords that will make your name pop-up on their timeline.

The primary benefit of having Facebook marketplace is that you get to properly asses and determine the type of person you are dealing with. All you have to do is to go through their Facebook profile once, and you will know everything you need to know about the person whose product you are buying. This unique accessibility creates a sense of trust and credibility among customers, as they believe they know and understand what they are buying and from whom.

You can go through the listings on Facebook and visit the listing Profiles. It will help you to select an appropriate listing profile that suits your products and services. We recommend you to apply a filter and seek only verified profiles, which will help you to separate the wheat from the chaff. Buyers have easy access to sellers, as they can contact you easily through Facebook Chat or Messenger. Hence, price negotiation is pretty simple and easy on Facebook. In iOS, the shop icon at the bottom of the Facebook app is for the marketplace, while in Android app the same icon is placed at the top.

Going by the numbers, Facebook is one of the fastest-growing online selling sites, right now.

Letgo

Another rapidly expanding free selling site is Letgo, especially if we are talking about domestic sales of goods and services. With a no-cost listing on Letgo, sellers are getting a free platform for their products through which they gain quick access to buyers in their locality. An assortment of items can be listed on Letgo, including electronics, apparels, automotive, furniture and fittings, and many more.

Letgo, as a free website to sell stuff, functions along the same lines as Facebook, but its pinpoint filters are a lot superior to that of Facebook. The app makes savvy use of artificial intelligence to categorically and systematically organize your products under an appropriate title.

With an in-built chat feature, this app facilitates easy communication between buyers and sellers.

Letgo allows you to sell stuff online for free, however, by shelling out a small amount of money, you can get your product highlighted and emphasised on this free seller website, amongst the competition. Currently, Letgo is one of the best free online selling websites out there.

So this was a short compilation of all the websites through which you can sell stuff for free online, which, in our humble opinion, are the best in the business.

However, many other websites to sell stuff are providing the same platform at a modest cost. By spending an insignificant amount, you can gain access to these websites and list your products and services there as well. After all, no amount of exposure is ever enough, right? So, the more outreach you have, the better it is for your business.

ebid

A major competitor of eBay, ebid is an online auction app. Based in the UK, eBid can be accessed by users of both Android and iOS. ebid is currently operational in 23 countries.

Ebid does not charge any listing fees, however, sellers are required to pay a sales fee or commission of up to 3% on every sale they make. Absence of any listing fees and comparatively lower sales charges makes eBid a more economical version of eBay.

What’s more? You can even eliminate the sales fees or commission if you want. All you have to do is to upgrade your account and pay a subscription fee, on a monthly or weekly, or yearly basis.

Ebid has got an online selling site as well, apart from the mobile application, both of which can showcase your products with equal finesse.
Given, these phenomenal features, it is not surprising that eBid attracts around 6,00,000 unique visitors every day. All the more impressive is the figure of 8 million-page impressions that eBid gathers every month.

Etsy

First started in the year 2005, this online community was formed as a convergence point for craftsmen, artists, and vintage buyers and sellers. Based in New York, the world’s capital, Etsy houses over than 1.6 million sellers and over 26 million buyers, on its platform. With over 12 million products being featured on this selling site at any point in time, it is one of the most prolific websites to sell stuff online.

As an e-commerce platform, Etsy specializes in hand-crafted or vintage articles and supplies. Exclusive factory-manufactured products are also listed on this free seller website. To list your product on the site, you have to only pay a modest sum of $0.20. This incredibly low cost of listing allows a lot of local sellers to expand their business by gaining access to the platform’s massive online audience of millions. On every sale you make through the website, you have to pay a minimal sales fee on every transaction. As far as handmade or vintage products are concerned, this is, by far, one of the best suited online selling sites for those.

How to sell on eBay

Even though this article presented some useful know-how on some of the best, free or low-cost e-commerce platforms, we think that if you are a seller sincerely probing free online selling opportunities, then your knowledge would be incomplete without information about one of the premier sales platforms, which is eBay.

In an incredibly competitive marketplace, you need all the help you can get. And eBay offers exactly what your business, and a lot more. But to take full benefit of a platform like eBay, you must know how to navigate this marketplace.

eBay offers up a chance for you to grasp the basics of online selling sites. It will teach you valuable lessons on how to work with users and sell them your products and services, all the while dealing with negative feedback. The following are some starting points, from where you can jump-start your learning.

• Start with little to no investment. You can begin spending more, as and when your products start to sell and your returns start rolling in.
• Do thorough research, as just posting a couple of auctions will not generate a steady income for you, at least not in an online marketplace.
• You have to make a comprehensive plan and strategise the way you want to pursue your marketing and promotion tactics online.
• You have to methodically implement that plan to achieve any desirable outcomes.
• Thinking through every single detail will help you craft a presentable, more attractive offer, that the online users will naturally gravitate towards.

Tips to successfully sell on eBay

As you are just starting in this sphere, it is better to take is slow. You should take your time to familiarize yourself with the ins and outs of the marketplace, instead of rushing head-first into something you do not completely understand.

Once you start to get a feel of how things work and you begin to feel comfortable with the mechanisms, the following insider tips will help you sell your products on eBay.

• Take a test drive
As a new fish in the eBay ocean, we would strongly recommend a test drive for you to test the waters and get a deeper grasp on the fundamental frameworks and functionality of the market on eBay. Only, then will you be able to learn how to sell on eBay.

• Instead of going straight for an upgraded subscription, we would suggest you start from a regular eBay registration. Because there is still a lot you haven’t learn about selling on eBay, you won’t be able to make the most of your extra spending.

• Once you have spent some time and gained some knowledge and experience in the market, and if you are feeling confident about your business prospects in this sphere, you can go ahead and sign-up for a business account.

• Having PayPal as your payment partner will simplify things for you, money-wise. Thus, make sure to have a PayPal account. It would allow you to receive payment as soon as your product gets sold.

Price your items appropriately

One of the most important aspects of free online selling, that you must get right is the appropriate pricing of your products. It is the fundamental factor, in most cases, that can make or break a deal for a customer who is interested in buying your product.

The most common mistake new eBay merchants make is that more often than not they look at the retail value or active eBay listings. To gain accurate information on what eBay buyers are paying for products similar to yours, you’d need to examine entire listings that demonstrate historical sales data.

This video will explain how you can gather price data via listings filter of eBay.

Understand the cost of selling your products

eBay charges four kinds of fees:

• Insertion fees: For listing your products
• Final value fees
• Supplemental services fee
• Advanced listing upgrades fee, which might also include the buy-it-now option or fee for bigger pictures

A certain amount of products can be inserted for free in any given month, depending upon the kind of seller account you have. Have a look at the below image.

Enhance your feedback score

Based on their trading experience, every member of the eBay community is provided with a feedback score. This number representative of the overall experience, combining both buying and selling transactions. It’s an uphill task to attain substantial sales with a low feedback score. What it means is that the more feedback you earn, the more authentic and trusted you will appear as a community member. One of the easiest way to earn feedback is through the purchase of some inexpensive goods from eBay. It will help you get ratings from the sellers. After receiving your product in a satisfactory condition, leave suitable feedback for the seller and ask him/her to do the same for you. Once you have accumulated enough feedbacks, you will find it easier to sell stuff online for free.

Do in-depth research

Every day, innumerable new listings appear on eBay. So, it’s paramount that your item description is accurate and fits under the right category to garner the attention of the maximum number of potential buyers. You can find the most widely used search terms via the eBay Pulse tool from Goofbid as shown in the image below.

FAQ for Best Websites to sell items online for free in 2019

  1. Where can I sell my stuff online for free?

Craigslist- Well-suited for sellers who are looking to sell stuff online for free, in and around their vicinity. Best for selling products at a local level.

Geebo- It is useful for people looking for an alternative classified free selling website.

Facebook Marketplace- Find more about the person you are entering into a transaction with. It is always a plus to know a bit about the seller or buyer before an online purchase.

Letgo- It is primarily a mobile app, though it has a website to sell stuff too. It provides proper placement of the product image under the right category and an appropriate title.

  1. Which websites sell products with minimal service charge?

eBid- eBid is more cost-effective than eBay. But the seller is required to pay a sales fee or commission of about 3% on every sale.

Etsy- It is the best marketplace for buyers looking for homemade, hand-crafted or vintage products. Listing on Etsy costs a modest $0.20 only.

Have you tried any other websites to sell your items online for free? Let me know by leaving the site name in the comments section.