Letgo

What: Letgo lets you sell almost anything you own to other local buyers, without paying a fee to advertise your items for sale.

Expected Pay: NA

Husl$core: $$$

Commissions & fees: none

Where: Nationwide

Requirements: a smart phone and something to sell

Review:

Like Craigslist, Letgo lets you sell almost anything you own to other local buyers, without paying a fee to advertise your items for sale. FYI, Letgo was acquired by OfferUp in August of 2020, so this site’s rating has been downgraded to match it’s parent. It’s currently unclear whether Letgo will continue to operate independently or if it will be folded into OfferUp.

That said, Letgo currently operates via app that works with both Apple and Android phones. You take a picture; list your item for sale; set the price and describe it. You then chat with buyers via the app about arranging the terms of the sale.

The site does not collect payment for you, so you have to use good judgement and don’t, say, mail items to buyers who promise to pay later; take “cashiers checks” that are made out for more than the price of your item (this is a fake check scam); or meet buyers anyplace where you’re going to feel less than perfectly secure. The site suggests that you meet in public places and accept cash as your preferred method of payment.

Other complaints from sellers: Sometimes buyers say they’re interested, but don’t show up when they say they will; some buyers offer ridiculously low prices for your valuable stuff or otherwise try to rip you off. This falls into the category of “some people are jerks.” That’s not Letgo’s fault, so we haven’t rated the site down for it.

You’ll find identical problems when you try to sell on Craigslist or anywhere else. The only shortcoming here is that Letgo doesn’t appear to have quite the traffic of Craigslist or eBay. That said, you can list your items for sale on as many sites as you want. Since this one is free, there’s no downside to listing here. 

What their sellers say:

“I’ve now listed several dozen items on Letgo from our garage and attic. We even listed items during our recent tag sale. The app is fairly simple to use. Posting is relatively quick and easy. It’s also fairly simple to communicate via messaging in the app. The rating system is basic and a nice idea, but many people have not or have never better rates so it isn’t all that useful just yet. We have sold at least a dozen items now faster than Craigslist (same item listed both places, same time) and faster than at tag sales. Not too shabby.

The Bad: Developers apparently thought users would be so incredibly lazy as to need quick reply buttons with preset phrases and no 2-step process of select and send. They placed these red buttons directly above the keyboard where users can easily accidentally press them. As a result, you’ll occasionally send “quick” messages to users which you did not intend to send. And you’ll send a couple more messages apologizing for the error….thus rendering these buttons an inconvenient pain in the ass. For large fingered individuals such as myself, this happens often even when taking great care. Those buttons need to go.

Also Letgo lacks a decent set of categories. Consequently, you are forced to put your automotive tools into a stupid unrelated category such as Home & Garden. Was it really that difficult for the developers to visit Craigslist just to see and then recreate its basic but effective list of categories? Finally, someone somewhere in Letgo Land has been authorized to fck with your ad titles. That’s right….shortly after you submit your ad, some schmuck somewhere at Letgo decides what *s/he* wants to call your ad…and they edit your ad title without your permission. Often making it too generic to be useful. Fortunately you have the ability to change the title back to whatever you had previously. It’s annoying,”

“There is no magic formula for dealing with idiots who want to waste your time. But I try to add as much info as possible in the item description. I always state my price is firm, no trades, no low ball offers. Of course some morons ignore the info and ask stupid questions regardless.

For those people I generally delete the chat and block if possible. Again no magic wand can eliminate all the idiots. As for meeting with potential buyers. My advice is to greatly limit how much time you are willing to waste. Small items you should always pick a busy public place. Preferably one with cameras. I have a Walmart very close to my house and it is perfect for meeting people. If you have a shady buyer, it is a pretty good deterrent when they are aware of heavy foot traffic and everything is on camera. Your ideal spot should be 3 to 5 minutes from home. I give the buyer 5 minutes extra time to show up and then I’m gone. This limits my wasted time to 10 minutes or less and virtually zero drive time and wasted gas. Your deal isnt done until you have captured your full funds. They may no show you. They may make you drive out of your way and then low ball you figuring you will bend to make the sale. Not worth it in my eyes. You’re dealing with strangers, flakes, lowballers, etc. Limit your loss of time from flakes and you will keep your sanity. Good luck.”

“Every single time I ask if its available or if I can still buy, the person will either mark it for sale right away or never respond. If im selling however, people will ask for me to drop my prices to ridiculously low prices, ask if they can have it for free or want to trade something like a $#*!ing pokemon card for an Xbox! Its crazy. The worst part is how it seems almost everyone says they will meet up but when they are supposed to, they never do and then never reply. People are trying to waste your time.”

Try Let Go