We all have things we can, and should, part with. I am a prime example. There are still so many items in my house that I could part with and, in doing so, I would have a much less cluttered and attractive home. But, I have started the process of decluttering and along the way I am making money! I have attacked this in two ways, selling online and also selling at my own yard sales.
What really got me started was after my father passed away, we had his house to clean out and then ready the house for sale. My sister and brother came to help and we tagged everything and priced stuff as best we could. Things were marked from $1 to $50, as we had some antique golf clubs in the mix. The sale lasted all day Saturday and Sunday. We amazingly made over $2000. This money went to fixing the house for sale … but what a surprise. And I know from a previous experience that had we sent these items to auction that we would have only netted a few hundred dollars.
So, the decluttering of my own house began. The first items we sold were some collectible pieces of pottery and we sold those for several thousand dollars on eBay. The best thing you can do when selling on ebay is to check recent sales of items you wish to sell to see if they are currently bringing decent prices. The market on ebay does fluctuate so this is important. You can sell items at a set price “buy now” and or sell at a set auction time that you control Note that you can always set a reserve price so that the item you want to auction off doesn’t sell for less than your minimum price.
Besides selling online, I am now selling some items at my own yard sales where I usually make from $200 to $400 in a weekend. Not bad for some extra money. And besides only selling my own stuff, if I see some really underpriced items at another yard sale I will purchase those and resell them myself.
There are many, many online places to sell almost anything you have, whether it is slightly used, new or collectible. But you have to be smart and check out the sites to see where your items will possibly sell the best. The convenient thing these days is that you can take photos with your smartphone and then post things immediately. It is really easy. So where do we suggest you start looking to sell?
General Items
This is a site where you can sell almost anything. One of the most successful areas seems to be collectible or antique items but we know friends who have sold toys and household goods and they do very well selling.
Selling your stuff on craigslist is great because you can buy and sell in your own geographic area, which is what most people do. You can not only sell items on this site but you can even list your home for sale. We have sold sports equipment, furniture and even jewelry on craigslist.
Etsy is a fun site that you can use to set up your own shop. You can sell handmade items, art, collectibles and vintage items. One great thing is that there are only minimal listing fees and you make all of the profit. This popular site makes a lot of money for many people.
Amazingly, although you might only know Amazon as a place to buy things, you can also sell your stuff on amazon. You can set up an account to sell just a few items, as an individual, or if you plan to sell on a regular basis you can set up a professional account for $40 a month. Your items will actually show up next to similar new items that a customer searches for on the site … giving them the option of buying new or used.