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How Facebook trading groups work
Writer Megan Hundahl Streete's 19-month-old daughter, Macy Taylor Streete, checks out the new "Time Out" chair her mom bought on the Memorial Area Trading Facebook group.
This is the third in a series of articles on community Facebook groups.
Are you a picker and bargain hunter who can’t pass by a resale shop or estate sale without slamming on your brakes? Save yourself the time and sore feet.
As a member of a local Facebook trading group, you can simply type “ISO” or “INT” from the comfort of your couch, and the bargain hunt begins.
For those of you who need translation, this is the group’s lingo for “In search of” and “Interested in purchasing.” Facebook group members have their own acronyms for quick communications. Quick is an understatement. Your fingers best move like Carl Lewis. Some members type “INT” before reading the item description just to be the first in line to purchase.
Change your mind? Just type “PASS,” and the next member in line is given the purchasing option. Every group has its own rules, but it’s considered rude to hold up a sale. Manners are encouraged – and demanded via banning if necessary.
These are your virtual neighbors. But since you may not know the person in reality, completing sales requires some safety sense. Trading groups encourage members to meet in public locations such as malls or grocery stores. Some buyers and sellers never even meet if it’s a “PPU.” That’s “Porch pickup.” Yes, you can leave or pick up an item on the front porch and designate where the payment should be hidden, generally for low-dollar sales only, of course.
No one knows the Facebook trading-group market better than Claire Wilson. Wilson participates in over 51 Houston-based groups. While most members are selling personal items, Wilson is a professional. As the owner of The Salvage Savant, she restores and sells antique lighting and décor.
“Facebook groups have opened the door to those who have treasures to sell but aren’t interested in quitting their day job,” Wilson said. “Facebook is the go-to option for those who may have inherited their aunt’s antique furniture, but have modern taste. These one-off sellers have filled the Houston vintage scene with rich new options.”
Wilson says staging pictures is important for the best sales result. “I take the time to make sure my lamps are showcased with proper lighting and stage a background that complements them. Posting great pictures can start a selling frenzy.”
Leslie Knott Cordray, a retail buyer for Stage Stores, experienced the power of the Facebook phenomenon first-hand. Cordray was helping her family sell her great grandmother’s 200-piece set of Haviland china. Being a china collector, Cordray knew the china was in perfect condition and a rare find. Unfortunately, no one in her family would be able to put the set to use. Her great grandmother, Mabel Lipper Levy, affectionately called “Big Mommy,” had had the white china hand painted in gold with her monogrammed initials, “MLL.”
Cordray emailed Antiques Roadshow china expert David Lackey for his advice and said he replied that antique monogrammed china is generally “impossible to sell.”
Cordray, a member of the Memorial Area Trading group, decided to post the china on MAT on a whim. Within a few hours, Leslie had over 12 MAT members type “INT.” The first five people soon changed their minds and typed “PASS,” but the sixth one, who said she had a niece whose recent nuptials made her new initials “MLL,” ended up buying the china as a wedding gift.
I am a sucker for an estate sale and addicted to my phone, so for me the combination of these two has become a marriage conundrum. Recently, I scored my own jackpot, an antique, child’s, French, upholstered, fauteuil chair. I realize my daughter probably would have preferred a bean bag from Pottery Barn, but the junk gypsy in me couldn’t resist. As I pointed out to my husband, other chairs similar to this were going for over $2,000 on eBay. It was such a steal listed at $100. The chair found its way into the back of my car. “SOLD.”
Megan Hundahl Streete has been a senior producer for CNN news shows and a creative consultant for TV producer Shonda Rhimes. She currently works in client communications, including marketing and social media.
Facebook shopping lingo
NWT = New With Tags
NWOT = New Without Tags
EUC = Excellent Used Condition
OBO = Or Best Offer
GUC = Gently Used Condition
Cross Posted = Posted in more than one group
TIA = Thanks in Advance
PM = Private Message
PPU = Porch Pickup
ISO = In Search Of
INT = Interested
BUMP = Moves item to the top of the sales list
Local Facebook trading groups
When looking to join Facebook groups in your area, there are a few things you should know.
There are three different categories of groups.
- Public: Anyone can see the group, its members and their posts.
- Closed: Anyone can find the group and see who’s in it. Only members can see posts.
- Secret: Only members can find the group and see posts.
Remember to ask your friends what groups they are participating in. In some secret groups, members can add new members. The group’s status may change frequently, so check back periodically for updates. Or, if you can’t get in, do what others before you have done: Start your own group.
Here is a sampling of local Facebook groups. If you want to share any others, add the names or links to the Comments below.
Memorial Area Kids Info Trading
Memorial Area Tweens & Teens Trading
Moms & Ladies of Southwest Houston (closed group)
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