An online ‘yard sale’: Mountain Brook Trading

If you’re tired of bidding and waiting for results or setting up and stressing about yard sales, there is now an easier way to sell and trade unwanted items.

Laura Silsbee started the Facebook group Mountain Brook Trading in November 2012, and the group has since expanded to more than 12,000 members. The group was designed to provide a safe outlet for selling within the community.

Mountain Brook Trading gained popularity so quickly that Silsbee added her friend, Jennifer Ware, to be an administrator to help cover the workload.

The way the group works is simple, Silsbee explained. She reviews each request to join the group and determines whether to add members based on location and proximity to Mountain Brook. Silsbee uses this method to avoid spamming issues as well as to keep it localized.

“I think that’s why this has done so well,” said Jennifer Allen Reese, a member since December. “No one is getting ugly because it’s a community site. Someone will know you, and it’s going to get around.”

 A member posts a picture, description and price of an item they want to sell. Silsbee and Ware approve each post because they only want quality items on the site.

When a post is approved, other members then post “interested.” The seller goes through the list and double checks with each interested member starting from the top of the list. When the sale is made, the seller is supposed to delete the post. Members have also started posting “ISO” for “in search of” followed by what they need. Others reply if they have the item and give a price.

“If you can get something for a good price that is quality and looks new, then you feel like you’ve won the lottery a little bit,” Reese said. “It also feels good to make a little pocket money by getting rid of clutter. Everyone wins on this group. Meeting new people is always fun too.”

The group is self-sufficient with members buying and selling without much administrator interference, but Ware tries to keep the group organized.

“When everything gets posted to the main wall, it’s easy to get lost in a sea of photos,” Ware said. “We ask people to delete their posts once an item has been sold to avoid clutter, but the problem is members can’t find their post.”

There are so many posts per hour that it’s becoming harder for members to locate items they are interested in.

“It’s really, really out of control as far as the wall goes,” Ware said, but she did offer a solution. Posting in albums allows users to find items with ease, and with a quick comment, make it appear at the top of the wall for more views.

Items go quickly, Silsbee warned, calling it a “wild, wild frenzy.”

“People here are always redecorating,” Silsbee said. “This is easier than eBay because you can take pictures with a smart phone, post it and immediately have replies. People have made hundreds using this site.”

Ware is one of them.

“I have sold a ton of stuff,” she said. “I have definitely been able to redecorate the majority of my house from this Facebook page just by buying, selling and replacing.”

Ware definitely isn’t the only one. Lauren Goessling, who first joined in November, said she has sold everything from a $10 Gap dress to a $350 bamboo dresser and has found a Restoration Hardware pendant, a barley twist coffee table and a Kilim rug.

“Overall, I think we all have items in our home that we are done with that would be a great deal to someone else,” Goessling said.

She thinks people prefer using the group to eBay and that they don’t like the idea of anonymous people from Craigslist showing up at their door.

“When I see that I have 10 mutual friends with the prospective buyer,” said Goessling, “I feel a lot safer about letting them stop by or meeting them at Western. Another bonus is I’ve met a lot of really nice people on the site! It’s a great community builder, overall.”

Silsbee created Facebook group, What’s Happening in Mountain Brook, and is now working on a website called Village Passport, which will act as an advertisement and information board for locally owned businesses and boutiques in Mountain Brook.