If you know me personally, you know I have an unhealthy obsession with Facebook Marketplace.
It kind of all started off as a joke between a few friends and me. One of them had spent the summer in Boston, and with employment opportunities slim and plenty of people moving out of the city, she and her roommates took advantage of the timing and started flipping Facebook Marketplace furniture. What this means is, she scours for cheap or free furniture pieces from people desperately trying to get rid of them, picks them up, and re-lists on Facebook Marketplace later at a higher price –thereby making a profit.
When this same friend moved into her off-campus apartment, she desperately needed a couch. When I was over at her place one night, I took it upon myself to find the perfect couch off of Facebook Marketplace, and as I was sitting in a Zoom meeting while browsing on the side… I found it. I struck GOLD.
The couch had only been listed 3 hours ago, and it was already 10pm. Although it wasn’t necessarily late, it was still an abnormal time. But after we decided to message the seller, he said that we could come pick it up immediately.
We conveniently found a Zipcar (pickup truck nonetheless) located right next to my friend’s apartment and drove on over to pick up the couch. Turns out, picking up the couch was not the biggest struggle of our night. Getting it into the elevator was a struggle of its own, and it was too wide to fit in the staircase.
After two tumultuous hours and a little bit of pivot work, we finally made it up before getting it stuck in the doorway going into her apartment. Again, the key to success was the pivot, and we finally got the couch into its home. The condition of the couch was immaculate – it looked hardly used, and the buttery natural leather was exactly what she was looking for!
Sometimes, you might not be looking for anything in particular, but I PROMISE you that a regular Facebook Marketplace check-in doesn’t hurt. That was how I came across this vintage Art Deco sculpture lamp. I am a regular follower of vintage interior decoration stores online and knew that this was definitely worth more than the $10 that the seller had listed it at.
I picked it up from a sweet older lady’s porch (masks on, socially distanced with contactless payment via Venmo, of course!) and later found out that the same type of lamp retails anywhere from $160–$900. I definitely scored with this deal, and while I don’t use the lamp for lighting purposes, it’s the perfect tasteful nude sculpture to really tie my decor together and give my room a more grown-up look.
So, what are you waiting for? Hop on Facebook Marketplace and browse through to see if there’s anything that tickles your fancy. And of course, make sure to stay safe and try to do contactless pickup and payment if possible!
