A friend of mine held a garage sale recently. Like many people, he put an ad for it on Craigslist. This makes me wonder: would the results be better if he advertised it on a site like Freecycle too? Of course, Freecycle is designed for giving things away for free, rather than selling them. But I get the feeling its audience is much more responsive than the people who visit Craigslist.

However, if you post a garage sale on Freecycle, wouldn’t you have to give out all the items for free? I don’t think so. Just make some portion of the products free, list those on Freecycle, and then say that you have other items available for purchase too. In essence, you’re taking the same approach as a retail chain. By making some of the items a loss leader or using them as a free giveaway, you attract a larger audience, and thus get the opportunity to sell more products.