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Has Marie Kondo or the weather gotten you wanting to declutter your home? Want to make some extra money while doing so? Most of us have stuff laying around the house that we no longer love, use, or need but have a hard time tossing it or even donating it because of the money we spent to purchase those things. In this post we’ll cover the places you can sell your unwanted items along with some tips and tricks we’ve learned along the way to get the most money for your items with the least amount of effort.
Determine What to Sell
There are as many ways to get started decluttering as there are ice cream flavors, so how do you decide which on is best for you? To put it simply, it is all trial and error, until you find the right method for you. Some go from room to room while others, like Marie Kondo, focus on whole categories of items before moving on.
While we are selling most of our things in preparation to live and travel in an RV full-time and using that money to buy our RV essentials, we have been selling and acquiring items to resell for over 10 years. Some of the methods have changed as new services become available, but the general premise has remained the same. Many of these methods are easily adapted to your needs and the items you are selling, regardless of how many things you are looking to unload or how much time you have to dedicate to this venture.
Where to Sell Your Unwanted Stuff
After you have settled upon a decluttering method that works for you and gathered some items to sell, it’s time to get down to business.
We recommend using one or more of the following to sell your unwanted items. Visit each site to get started:
eBay is best when selling items of special interest or those that have a low shipping weight to avoid hefty shipping fees. Their platform also makes it easy for potential buyers to see all the items you have available to sell which can encourage them to purchase more than one item from you. eBay also has a rating system that allows you to build credibility with potential buyers. eBay allows you to sell items locally but there are other platforms that better serve that purpose.
OfferUp is useful if you wish to keep your real name and personal contact information confidential when selling items locally. Their platform has a rating system to build credibility and you are able to sell locally for free or ship items for a fee. Like eBay, OfferUp’s platform makes it easy for potential buyers to see all the items you are looking to sell, encouraging potential buyers to purchase more than one item from you at a time.
Facebook Marketplace is a way great to sell items locally and those that are larger in size or weight, such as furniture or tools. Items can be posted to several Facebook groups and get in front of tens of thousands of potential buyers depending on the areas you are posting in. As a result, you will quickly know if you have priced your item appropriately based on the type of responses (or lack thereof) that you receive.
Craigslist is an oldie but still has its purpose. Of the other three, Craigslist is most similar to Facebook Marketplace except you will either need to provide a phone number or use an automatically generated Craigslist emails to communicate.
Which Selling Platform Should I Use?
We have found that cross-posting items (posting or listing items across several platforms) is the surest way to obtain the most money for your items in the shortest amount of time. We’ll dive deeper into each of these platforms in future posts to provide tips and tricks and how to avoid scammers and potential pitfalls when selling your belongings.
It is best to start off using only one or two of these platforms until you become familiar with how they function and perform. This is particularly the case when using a platform to sell items locally. While we find OfferUp and Facebook Marketplace to be useful in our area they may not be as effective in another location.
If you are under a time constraint to get your items sold, due to a future move or another life event, it’s best to focus on selling the items that will give you the highest return on your investment of time, such as furniture or highly valued special interest items. Otherwise, you can go at a slower pace and really maximize your earning potential listing all of your unwanted items of value and waiting for a buyer who will pay what you’re asking.
3 Tips and Reminders
1. To Get the Most Money – Sell large items locally and ship items of special interest
2. Go at Your Own Pace – Set aside time or specific number of items to list and stick to it
3. Keep It Simple – Use just 1 or 2 platforms to start before adding more
Selling your unwanted items is a great way to clean house and put some extra money in your pocket! Selling your things doesn’t have to be overly time consuming or exhausting. Make sure you pace yourself and only do what you can, when you can.
Let others know, what services have you had success with when selling your unwanted items? What methods haven’t lived up to their hype?