Secondhand treasures are the best indicator of local residents’ real-life values
I ’ve flirted with edit my Facebook story for years — I’m mindful it ’s insalubrious to check in on the popular people from my high school to see how they ’re senesce , or contemplate the political literary argument I could have in my Friend ’ parent ’ comment section . My hate for Mark Zuckerberg grows with every pass off newspaper headline .
But I stay for Facebook Marketplace , the ability to sieve through other people ’s property without give to ever in reality meet them . For those who have never had to furnish an flat on a budget , Facebook Marketplace is basically a virtual garage sale where topical anesthetic can number anything from used couches to apartment sublets . Over the twelvemonth , I ’ve used it to buy a bicycle , shelves , and my entire time of origin Dr. Marten ’s collection — all of which are still in use . Beyond the more hardheaded items are the beautiful , wacky treasure , like swordfish bait , children ’s nontextual matter projects , and a genuine bucket of leftover bacon grease . The weird listings pass on me with questions I know will forever obsess me , and I love it .
But the literal magic of the tool come alive when I ’m travel . Facebook Marketplace , it turn out , is the window to a urban center ’s soul . One whorl through the “ Today ’s pickaxe ” section alone tells me everything I need to know about the topical anaesthetic , or more specifically , the dusty trinkets — or rather , taxidermied toad frog ( yes , I have see this)—they keep buried in their cellar and are quick to sell .
Photo by Loop Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Every township has a different smell of market . Predictably , in trendy city likeNew York CityandLA , you could find out Marketplaces full of people selling their worn in Gardana Clogs and generously using the term “ mid - hundred Bodoni ” to make a profit on what is an quotidian dressing table from West Elm . But the true gems lie in the less traveled cities . When I take the gear to visit my safe friend inPhiladelphia , I enter a marketplace wonderland where sensational one bedchamber apartment with summit molding are being rented out for $ 800 andvintage Pyrex dishesin everlasting condition are listed for a steal . In small town where the occupant tend to skew older — like Yarmouthport , Massachusetts , where my friend ’s female parent lives — handsewn quilt and pristine fine art deco antiques abound .
Is this second - script voyeurism ? dead , and its appeal is n’t altogether raw . Facebook Marketplace is just the latest fashion of expunge the same itchiness as antique , thrifting , or trawl another city ’s classified section . The thing people are willing or ready to part with can say you so much about them — their life stage , precedence , or dreams . If a bunch of sellers are getting rid of Lego set or Easy - Bake Ovens , it ’s safe to assume you ’re somewhere full of families . When a person is selling their Vera Bradley bag from the 90s , I care to opine how their gustatory modality has evolved over the years . More than anything , explore these different Facebook Marketplaces remind me that a city is more than just a appeal of shops or hotel or tourer attraction ; it ’s the hoi polloi ( and yes , their property ) that make a blank space unique .
true , I ’ve never actually buy something from the Facebook Marketplace of a urban center I ’ve claver . It requires a pot of coordination with the sellers , which is one of the last thing I want to do when I ’ve already planned an entire trip with a packed agenda . Plus , as we all know , suitcase spaceis precious , leave behind short way for a thirty year old handknit sweater or a ceramic plantation owner in the shape of a Gallus gallus . And while I ’ve often fantasized about lugging a Bauhaus armchair and match ottoman onto the Amtrak after a daytrip upstate to Cold Spring , I have neither the forcefulness nor the followthrough to take it back with me . A girl can daydream .
so as to take advantage of this , you need to alter your location on Facebook Marketplace . It ’s crucial to try out surroundings different from your own from meter to time . Who knows , you might just find that rareCalico Critterset that you justhaveto have . And if you want to get really freaky , there ’s always Craigslist .
