How Do I Sell Big Items Without Meeting Strangers or Getting Scammed?
Commonplace founder Ari Kimmelfeld on Simple + Intentional: why selling a big item yourself means scams and strangers, and how a crew pickup removes both.
Listen to the episode: 187// How to Declutter the Big Stuff (plus buying and selling secondhand with ease), Simple + Intentional with Sarah Horgan, aired October 6, 2026. Listen on Apple Podcasts.
Short answer: Let someone else handle the buyer. On Commonplace you list for free, buyers pay through the platform, and a Commonplace crew comes to pick the item up. The crew takes it apart, carries it out, and pays you at pickup, so you never meet a stranger and nothing leaves until you are paid.
This question came up on Simple + Intentional episode 187, when host Sarah Horgan listed everything wrapped up in getting rid of something big: "meeting a stranger from Marketplace, dealing with the messaging back and forth, people not showing up, worrying about whether or not people are gonna scam them."
What Ari said
I need to sell this to someone, I have to move it. I have a stranger coming to my house, supposedly giving me thousands of dollars for something. And if anybody has used these platforms, there are legitimate scams... people message you trying to get a phone number or a Zelle or something like that.
Ari Kimmelfeld on Simple + Intentional #187, at 13:27
You also don't need to deal with strangers. We come in, we disassemble everything, we take it out, we pay you on the spot... There's really no, is there a stranger coming? Am I gonna get scammed? Nothing leaves your property until you are paid.
Ari Kimmelfeld on Simple + Intentional #187, at 14:35
Why the messages are part of the problem
Managing the listings can sometimes be a part-time job. In my experience of selling, even if you have two or three listings, sometimes you'll get 20, 30 messages a day. And a lot of these folks, they might like a picture and so they'll message you.
Ari Kimmelfeld on Simple + Intentional #187, at 23:03
On Commonplace a buyer who wants the item reserves it with a $1 hold instead of messaging to ask if it is still available. Nobody else can buy it while it is held.
How it works for the seller
- List the item for free and set your price. Start from the home gym, furniture, or hot tub sell page.
- A buyer reserves it on Commonplace. You do not trade numbers or messages with them.
- A crew inspects the item at your home, takes it apart if needed, and carries it out.
- You are paid at pickup, before anything leaves your property.
Hear the full conversation in How Do I Declutter?: Ari Kimmelfeld on Simple + Intentional.
Related questions
How do I sell big items without meeting strangers or getting scammed?
Let someone else handle the buyer. On Commonplace you list for free, buyers pay through the platform, and a Commonplace crew comes to pick the item up. The crew takes it apart, carries it out, and pays you at pickup, so you never meet a stranger and nothing leaves until you are paid.
What scams should I watch for when selling furniture online?
Ari Kimmelfeld said the common ones are messages asking for your phone number or asking to pay with Zelle. Keep payment and pickup off private apps and away from your door when you can.
Is selling something big myself worth the time?
For many people it is not. Even two or three listings can bring 20 or 30 messages a day, and meetups often fall through because both people are busy. Weigh that time against having the pickup handled for you.
Thank you to Sarah Horgan for having Ari on Simple + Intentional. Quotes are from the episode, lightly edited for reading. Listen to the full conversation on Apple Podcasts.
More from Ari's podcast interviews: questions Ari answered on podcasts and every show he has been on.