When the seasons change, the closets change. Sometimes even the home decor changes. It’s a never-ending process, and if you are a scoop reader, you probably do your part to support the local economy.
If you are looking to “clean house” a bit, a great place to buy and sell are the local Facebook BST (Buy, Sell, Trade) pages. While not only for parents of little children, Facebook BST’s are especially fantastic for moms whose children grow faster than weeds. New-to-you clothes, toys and shoes are always needed, and an effective way to sell outgrown items is key.
Most groups are closed and require you to be approved by an admin on the page. As with any BST activity, we recommend you meet in a central location for pick up or do “PPU” aka “porch pick up”. PayPal and Venmo are great to use for payment as it takes the hassle of cash out of the process.
I did a very popular story on the M2M (Mom to Mom) Facebook pages earlier this summer, and Nicole checked out the non-mom options in her posts for Charlotte and Lake Norman at the links.
Here are my picks from the others out there:
Micit – Charlotte (aka Moms in Charge)
Includes pages for Women, Baby, Kids, Men, Home, Teen, and more. These pages are in transition to a more formal website, but the pages still see lots of action from devoted users. These pages are all set up as “Secret” in Facebook, so you will need to have a friend who is already a member add you to the list. There is a member capacity on many of the pages, so you may be on the waiting list for a while. Like M2M, the secret micit facebook pages can be very hard to even find, but keep searching and eventually you may succeed, or at least find an easier to access alternative. This is a great place to have a friend with connections 🙂
The good news is that most of the other closed (vs secret) facebook groups are fairly easy to find on FB and request access.
Ballantyne Bargains & Ballantyne Bargains 4 Kidz
As noted in the name, for purchases and sales on these pages, you must be willing to meet in Ballantyne. Everything from home decor to clothing, tools, furniture and more, and the “Kidz” page is bursting with toys, children’s clothing, gear, books, etc. With over 43K members on the Bargains page, and close to 20K on the Kidz page, you are sure to find lots of goodies.
Lake Norman Classifieds
If you live in North Charlotte or at the lake, this is a great page for you. In addition to BST, this page often has job openings, homes for sale and more.
Fort Mill Tega Cay Buy It, Sell It, Give it Away
South Charlotte and Upstate SC folks, this is for you. Find all kids of items on this page. Similar to the Ballantyne pages, you must be willing to meet in Fort Mill or Tega Cay for sales.
Baxter Village Market
This page, like the ones above, are geared toward those people in and around Baxter Village.
Just 4 Kids (sell/trade/free or wanted)
The name says it all. Clothing, toys, books, furniture and more, all for kids.
Look for Something Specific?
There are BST pages for specific items and/or brands. Most of these are not just Charlotte, so plan to ship what you’re selling, and pay for shipping when you purchase. Still, if you’re on the hunt for something in particular, these are a great place to look. These are just a few…with a little searching on FB, you’ll find a BST for almost anything.
Tory Burch BST
Lillebaby BST
Mini Boden & Hanna Andersson BST
Lularoe BST
American Girl Doll Online BST
Lilly Pulitzer BST
Read the Rules & Abbreviations You Need to Know
Most of the pages have the same basic rules, but be sure you read each page’s rules, just in case. Some limit the number of posts in a day or ask if you have multiple items that you list in an album instead of separate posts. Most don’t allow business postings, but you may find that some do. If you break the rules, you risk getting booted from the group, so make sure you’re aware.
You’ll see all kids of abbreviations on these sites (like BST for Buy/Sell/Trade) so here’s a little cheat sheet for you…
- EUC (Excellent Used Condition)
- VGUC (Very Good Used Condition)
- GUC (Good Used Condition)
- PPU (Porch Pick Up – or – Pending Pick Up)
- NWT (New with Tag)
- NWOT (New without Tag)
- NIB (New in Box)
- PM (Private Message)
