Four dining chairs for $30.

Brand new game console video games for $5 each.

A pool table, complete with billiard balls, for only $50.

Where can these incredible sales be found?

A lot closer than you think. Landing deals or selling unwanted belongings is easier now than ever before, thanks to social media.

“For Sale in Sandy” is a Facebook group started a little more than a year ago
by Megan Galster. With more than 4,300 members from as far away as
Oregon City, Milwaukie and Troutdale, the group resembles an online garage
sale where users are able to buy and sell used items and services – usually for
less than half the original price.

“I got the idea from my brother-in-law,” Galster said. “He mentioned that he
was a part of a group where they buy and sell things on Facebook. I thought
to myself that that would be great for the Sandy area.”

Through Facebook, users of the group post pictures and descriptions of items
they wish to sell, along with a price. The first user to comment and express
interest on the post can purchase the item. All information exchanges and
meeting times and places are made via personal message.

“It is not only items that are sold here,” Galster said. “People also post looking
for lost pets or stolen items, as well as asking for services like car or
miscellaneous home repairs.”

The group’s success has inspired other Facebook groups, including “For Sale
or Free on the Mountain,” a group started in late August that serves the
Welches, Brightwood and Rhododendron communities.

“I was inspired after joining the ‘For Sale in Sandy’ group,” group
administrator and founder Amber Hague said. “I just knew that we needed a
similar group for the Mountain community. Our intentions are to bring our
community closer.”

The group is run similarly to Galster’s group, but caters specifically to the
needs of people living locally on the Mountain, something that Hague felt
other groups were lacking.

“I felt there was a huge need for a group exclusively for the Mountain
community because it is more convenient and cheaper than driving into a
bigger city or waiting for what you bought to be shipped to you,” Hague said.
“You may just find what you’re looking for right where you live for half the
price.”

With more than 600 members and counting, Hague predicts that more people
will join the group, hoping in turn that it will strengthen the community and
help those in need.

“We sell items that we no longer need for those who need to be able to get
things cheap and locally,” she said. “This group will grow, it grows every day.
My hope is to get more people that live on the Mountain to join and partake in
this new group so that we can help out a lot of locals.”

Administrators are responsible for resolving conflicts and answering questions.
They also admit new members.

Danielle Donnelly, another group administrator, admits for a non-paying job,
the responsibilities of an administrator are pretty big.

“For the site to run the way ours does, it really requires administrators to be
available at any time of day,” Donnelly said. “We ask people to contact us if
there is a problem so we can handle it without the community taking it into
their own hands.”

The Sandy and Mountain groups are comparable to other sites like Craigslist,
but the groups manage to accomplish something that others are unable to –
building a stronger community.

“One specific thing that brought our community together was when a great
friend of mine went to the site for help,” Donnelly said. “She hadn’t heard
from her husband, who had gone out hunting early in the morning. She came
to the site desperately seeking help from fellow hunters in the area. I can’t tell
you the support she got. So many people met up with her and even baby sat
her kids while she went out to search for her husband. The site has done so
much more than eBay or Amazon could ever do.”