Providing for local pickups can be an important step in selling large, heavy, or cumbersome items

This guide will provide you with a few tips on arranging a local pickup safely, quickly, and efficiently, with the least confusion possible

There are a few things to consider when arranging for a local pickup, such as:

• What kind of item will be picked up?
• Does the item require special considerations when picked up, such as it being perishable or fragile?
• Do you trust that the person who is picking up is safe?
• Some things to do are to call the person with arrangements to get a feel of who the person is, and to check their feedback.
• Do they have a good rating and many feedbacks?
•  Does the feedback indicate any previous local pickups?
• You might want to consider meeting in a neutral area for local pickups
• If you don't want the person to know where you live, consider meeting at a restaurant or near a warehouse
• This would probably make you and the buyer feel more comfortable
• Make it an area with more traffic, so you will never have to be alone
• Make SURE you are not meeting in a dark alleyway

Some more things to think about are:

• Is it worth the time?
• Consider putting a good handling fee on the object, something like $20-$30, to reimburse yourself for the time spent arranging the pickup and following through with it
• Will you need anything to perform the pickup?
• Think about if you need a lift-gate or if you can lift it
• You cannot count on the other person being as strong as you are unless they tell you that they will be able to lift it
• Consider the payment options
• You should set in your description different payment methods for local pickups
• Do NOT accept checks on pickup, as these take a while to clear, and the customer would be long gone by then
• Consider the following:
• Paypal (Make sure payment is cleared before the transaction
• Cash (This is the best way, but be wary of too many large bills. Try to protect yourself by buying some Counterfeit money detection pens. These only cost a couple bucks, and would be well worth it to test cash to avoid fraud
• Checks (As stated above: NO)
• Money orders (Check for authenticity: Look for water marks, special security features, and make sure all info is clear and precise)

In summary, local pickups can be great to help defray the costs of shipping (Which will naturally drive more bids) and can be a lot easier that shipping. However, do NOT take listing an item as local pickup only lightly. You are cutting off 98% of your possible customers, and you are dedicating yourself to arranging a pickup. Make sure that you have the time and energy to go throught with the pickup BEFORE you list!!

However, when used right, a local pickup can be a very effective and useful tool in selling bulky, heavy, or odd-shaped items.