We’ve been in our house a little over two years now. When we first moved in, we looked like minimalists because we’d gotten rid of so much before we moved.
Now, well, now the clutter is back with a vengeance. Our subdivision is having a garage sale in the next few weeks, so we decided to tackle the clutter and make some money.
If you’d like to do the same, keep in mind you’ll make the most money by selling your items across a variety of venues.
Garage Sale
The most obvious way to quickly make money is with a garage sale. However, you probably won’t make a lot of money and you’ll need to invest a fair amount of time both before and during the garage sale.
For this reason, this choice is really my last resort.
eBay
Do you have some more expensive or quality items that you’d like to sell? Consider eBay. My son is growing out of his clothes rapidly now. He has some nice quality Gap clothes that he was only able to wear a few times. Rather than sell them for a quarter at a garage sale, I’m going to list them on eBay.
When I list these kinds of clothes on eBay, I almost never list them as an auction. Instead, I list them as a 30 day listing at the price I want to make for the item. If the item doesn’t sell, I relist it for another 30 days. Using this process, I usually sell the items at the price I want within a few months. If you’d like to sell them faster than that, consider adding a best offer feature. You can entertain any offers potential buyers may have.
Facebook Groups
I LOVE Facebook groups.
You can join a group specific for an item you’re selling. For instance, if my child’s Gap clothes don’t sell on eBay, I can sell them at a Gap Buy/Sell/Trade Facebook group or a local yard sale group.
When you use these groups, you have an audience of people who are interested in the items you are selling. You have a targeted market. Even better, unlike eBay, you don’t have to pay fees when you use Facebook groups.
Second Hand Stores
Another good option is to sell your items to second hand stores. I like to do this at stores where I get credit and can buy things for free thanks to my credit.
For instance, if my kids’ clothes don’t sell on eBay, I may bring them to the secondhand kids’ store. There, they give me 15% more for my items if I take a store credit instead of cash. Then, when my kids need clothes, I just shop there first since I already have a credit and can get the items for “free.”
This strategy also works well for music and books. Secondhand music stores may offer you a store credit so you can get new music without paying anything out of pocket. Near us, we have a store, Bookmans, where you can exchange books, music, instruments, and games for credit for new-to-you purchases from that store.
Decluttr Or Other Buying Sites
If you’ve got a lot of old electronics, video games, movies or even Legos lying around, you could try selling your items on a buying site like Decluttr.
Decluttr will buy your old iPhone, Xbox games, DVDs and more by giving you a quick quote, which you can then accept, or not.
They will even buy your kids old Lego bricks by the pound!
In addition to Decluttr, there are quite a few other reputable buying sites out there like Gazelle, SellShark.com, Buyback Boss or BuyBack World.
Craigslist
If you have big items to sell, consider using Craigslist. Using Craigslist, I’ve been able to sell an exercise bike, a child’s toddler bed, and a deep freezer.
I made much more using Craigslist than I could have made bringing the bed to the secondhand store or selling them at a garage sale.
If you have clutter and you’d like to make some extra cash, try to sell your items across a number of places to make the most money.
Where do you like to sell your clutter to make the most money?
We’ve always found that we do better on larger items when selling locally through Craigslist. We’ve sold treadmills, couches, rugs and other furniture this way, usually for a decent amount.
For newer electronics, and some kids items we’ve sold on Ebay with good success.
Lately my wife has become quite the expert in selling things – even smaller items – on Facebook groups like you mention. She has joined local garage sale groups for our city, our area and a couple of mommy groups that allow selling through their group.
It really does seem like different items do better in different sales venues. Great post!
We try to sell our “common” junk through yard sales just to get rid of stuff in high volumes. For other specialty sort of items (air compressors, exercise bikes, guitars, etc.), we find that we can sell for much high if we go the craigslist route. No point in trying to get nickle-and-dimed on a high dollar item!
Facebook groups are getting bigger and bigger. My wife asked me if I thought they would make craigslist irrelevant and I think they will. Interesting post.
Mobile devices: Swappa.com
I really like the list.
My wife recently joined a group called Nextdoor that allows people within a small area to sell services, get recommendations and sell stuff. I know a lot of my neighbors prefer using this to Craigslist as you are vetted before you join the group.
I’ve actually made a business out of a Facebook buy, sell trade group. It started out selling items after we moved and now we go to auctions and buy low, then sell in the group(s) I always double my money and in most cases get back 10x the amount I paid. Depending how hard I push it, I can make $700-800 per month. The best part is, they come to me.
Unsure if it’s similar in the US but in Sweden we’ve gotten businesses where you basically just send your unwanted items to them and they will sell them for you and take a cut. I’ve had great success just with it and it wouldn’t surprise me if there’s any similar services in the US, could worth checking out!