If you type “U of T Free and For Sale” into Google, you won’t find what you’re looking for. That’s because it’s an exclusive community — available to roughly 7,700 University of Toronto students. The group boasts a wide array of items from iPods to Metropasses and, since this is U of T, several sets of MCAT review books.
The current administrator of the group is Samuel Huang, a third year economics and statistics student at UTM. Huang saw potential in a smaller Facebook group which he took over: “At the beginning the group was just called “University of Toronto Social Group,” he explains. “I saw a lot of spam in the group and at the same time, a lot of students are posting stuff they want to buy and sell. I realized the admin wasn’t doing anything regarding keeping the group clean and useful, so I asked the person to make me admin and let me manage the group. During that time, the group was around 1,000 to 1,500 members.”
Since then, with the help of assistant admin Priscilla Suen, Samuel has been keeping a tight rein on the group. “The group is within University of Toronto, so only students with a valid UTOR email can join,” he says, adding, “Whenever someone [posts] inappropriate contents, hate speech, or spam, I just remove it, and sometimes ban the person too. This is how I keep the group clean and safe.”
Kanuga*, a first year life sciences student, had to deal with some mild “trolling” when she posted her prom dress up for sale on the group: “The weirdest part? I didn’t put up a price on the post, and some random guy wrote “$140 OR OBO” and I was like… who are you? It wasn’t his dress to sell.” Bonnie Dalaroy, another member of the group, says she has “personally never gotten any negative responses” but has “seen some pretty nasty comments pointing out an overpriced item.”
While the group is closed, there is still nervousness between buyers and sellers.
Sarah Luttrell, a member of the group who has bought and sold many items, mentioned a couple of her own “red flags.” “When someone is like ‘I have ten unlocked iPhones on sale,’ that raises some eyebrows,” she says.
Amina Collaku is one of those people having posted several iPhones, although hers are “locked” to Rogers. She claims that she posted the phones on behalf of a guy off of Kijiji, whose company “switched from Rogers to Telus,” and asked her to help him sell the phones. When asked if she is making a profit off the phones Collaku said, “I doubt I’ll get anything, but I don’t mind, I was just happy with his service and knew others would appreciate it as well.”
Another so-called “red flag,” Luttrell, pointed out was, “the concept of putting used makeup online,” which concerned her for hygienic reasons. However, third-year student Peili Li says that putting her “gently used makeup” online is just another way to stay within budget. “My monthly budget for beauty products is around $200, and some high end brand is pretty [expensive] for a student so I decided to sell the products that don’t fit my skin,” she explains.
Li has her own tips for assuring you enter into a good deal. She says go with your gut: “It may sound strange but behind the computer screen… through the [Personal Message] conversation, you can tell if the person is well-mannered.”
One of the more adorable, though undoubtedly strange, offerings to be found on the group were a couple of abandoned cats, as posted by Bonnie Dalaroy, a third-year Rotman Commerce student. Dalaroy was offered a lot of support and pet care tips through the group. “I find that really heartwarming, which is why I decided to post in Free and For Sale first instead of sending the cats to a shelter directly,” says Dalaroy, adding, “There are people out there who really care!” Currently the cats are living in Dalaroy’s uncle’s garage waiting to find, as described in her original post, “a forever home.” Dalaroy may take them to the Toronto Cat Rescue, some advice she got from a member of the Free and For Sale group, if the cats are not claimed soon.
Collaku echoed what many others had to say about the group: “Many students are tight on money so it’s great to help each other out… I’ve had great experiences with the page and look forward to using it consistently!”
Not everyone has had as much success. Kanuba, who tried to sell her prom dress over the group, had some difficulties, for example. “One girl was very interested in the dress, but I labeled it as “Zuhair Murad” because that’s who I thought the designer was… Anyways she did her research and told me it was Monique [Lhuillier] and changed her mind… Which is, well, awkward,” she says, continuing, “Did you like the dress or did you like the designer? Ah well.”
*Name changed at student’s request
Five items you can find on U of T Free and For Sale right now:
A Louis Vuitton wallet
Men’s “Worn Once out of Shop” Cole Haan oxfords
Guitar with tuner
“White Bunny” sneakers
The Portable Procrastinator Doodle Pad
