Skills / Sell something online
Sell something online
List one real item for sale, properly. Photos, honest description, checked price, shipping, and the common scams named first. Use when they say "help me sell my X", "how do I list this", or "is this buyer message a scam".
Use this skill. Nothing to install.
Don't have an agent? · Raw file: skills/sell-online-basics.md
Watch the first two minutes
This is how a session goes, including the scam message that shows up within hours. Click through it.
Scripted example of a real session.
Sure every buyer is a scammer?
Most buyers are fine; the trouble is that the scammers arrive first and they all run the same four plays. The skill names them before your listing goes live: the overpayment refund, the fake payment confirmation email, the move to pay outside the platform or in gift cards, and the buyer who asks for a verification code texted to you (that one is an account-takeover attempt). Money is real only when you see it inside the platform's own site or your bank, checked by you directly and never through an emailed link. Once you know the plays, the remaining messages are just people asking about the item.
What you end up with
A live listing with honest photos, honest words, and a checked price, plus a handoff plan and a seller who knows the four scams by name.
- The flaw photo is mandatory. Six to eight shots in daylight on a plain background, including the damage close-up and one proving it powers on. The flaw photo feels like it lowers the price; what it actually lowers is the odds of a dispute.
- Everything stated is checkable. Exact model number from the label, condition stated bluntly, what is included and what is missing, and a boring honest reason for selling.
- Sold prices set the number. Three of them, written down with where they came from. What you originally paid is not in the math.
- Handoff decided in advance. Public place in daylight, someone along, payment on the spot. For shipped items instead: weigh the packed box, get the real carrier cost, and ship only after the platform confirms payment, with tracking, always.
Anatomy of an honest description
The skill drafts every description to this shape, all of it true:
- A Exactly what it is, with the model number checked on the label.
- B Condition stated bluntly, every flaw named and photographed. "Like new" only if it is.
- C What is included and what is missing: box, cables, charger.
- D The reason for selling, when it is boring and honest. Boring reads as trustworthy.
Questions people actually ask
I'm under 18. Can I even do this?
Most platforms require accounts to be 18+, so the listing may legitimately live on a parent's account, with them involved. That is the skill's default assumption for minors, and the parent should also be in the loop on the handoff plan.
How do I meet a stranger safely for pickup?
Public place in daylight; many police stations advertise safe-exchange spots exactly for this. Bring a parent or a friend, and take cash or the platform's own payment on the spot. Never hold an item on a promise and never deliver to a stranger's home.
When is it safe to ship?
Only after the platform itself confirms payment, and always with tracking. Before listing, weigh and measure the packed item and get the real cost from the carrier's or platform's calculator so shipping is in the price math from the start.
A buyer sent a payment confirmation email. Is that real?
Treat it as fake until you verify it yourself. Money is real only inside the platform's own site or your bank, checked by you directly and never through a link in an email or text. Fake payment confirmations are one of the four standard scams the skill drills before the listing goes live.
Does the agent handle the sale or the money?
No, and this is not financial advice either. You create the listing, answer every message, and receive every dollar yourself; the agent drafts, checks the price math, and warns about the scams. Payment and account questions go to the platform's own pages and, for minors, a parent or guardian.
Where to go from here
Sold it? The same muscles, pointed at services and repeat selling:
Liked the cataloging part? Build around it:
Curious? Read the full skill — the exact instructions your agent gets
---
name: sell-online-basics
category: money
description: List one real item for sale, properly. Photos, honest description, checked price, shipping, and the common scams named first. Use when they say "help me sell my X", "how do I list this", or "is this buyer message a scam".
---
# sell-online-basics
Help someone list one real thing they own for sale online,
end to end, on one platform. Not a reselling operation — one item,
listed well, so they learn the whole loop. They create the listing
and handle every message and every dollar themselves; you draft,
check, and warn. Minors need a parent or guardian involved — most
platforms require 18+ accounts, so the listing may legitimately be
on a parent's account.
## Pick the item and the platform
The item: something they own, can photograph today, and are actually
willing to part with at a realistic price. First sale should be
simple — no fragile, no huge, no "untested, for parts".
The platform: one, chosen by what the item is and how it will change
hands. Local pickup platforms (Facebook Marketplace and similar)
suit bulky or cheap items and skip shipping entirely. Shipping
platforms (eBay and similar) suit small valuable items with a wider
market. Have them read the platform's own fee page — fees are real
and belong in the price math, and you should not quote fee numbers
from memory.
## Photos and description
Photos sell the item. With their phone: daylight, plain background,
the item filling the frame. Front, back, close-up of any flaw, and
one photo proving it works if it powers on. Six to eight photos;
the flaw photo is not optional — it prevents the dispute later.
Description, drafted together, all true: what it is (exact model
number if it has one — check the label), condition stated bluntly
including every flaw photographed, what is included and what is
missing (box, cables, charger), and why they are selling if the
reason is boring and honest. No "like new" unless it is. The
price-your-work skill's market check applies here: three sold
listings for the same item set the price, minus a little if they
want it gone this week.
## Ship or hand off
Shipping: weigh and measure the packed item first, get the real
cost from the carrier's or platform's calculator, and decide
whether price includes it. Ship only after the platform confirms
payment, with tracking, always.
Local pickup: public place in daylight — many police stations
advertise safe-exchange spots — a parent or friend along, cash or
the platform's own payment on the spot. Never hold an item on a
promise, never deliver to a stranger's home.
## The scam filter
Go through these before the first message arrives, because the
scams target new sellers within hours:
- Overpayment ("I'll send extra, refund the difference") — always a
scam, built on a payment that later reverses.
- Fake payment confirmation emails or texts — money is real only
inside the platform's own site or their bank, checked by them
directly, never via an emailed link.
- "Pay me outside the platform" or gift cards — no.
- A "verification code" texted to them that a buyer asks for —
that is an account-takeover attempt, never share it.
Rule of thumb they should keep: any buyer who adds complexity to a
simple exchange is the scam. Real buyers ask about the item.
## Done
- The listing is live with honest photos, disclosed flaws, checked sold prices,
and current fee and shipping math
- The seller can identify the four scam patterns and knows how the chosen
platform confirms payment
- Age rules and a safe handoff or tracked-shipping plan are satisfied; the
agent handled no account credential, buyer message, or payment