When going through your cluttered home, you may discover things that you no longer want or need but that you can sell to put a little extra cash in your pocket. This can be big ticket items such as bicycles your kids have grown out of, furniture that you don’t need or power tools that have already been replaced.
But it can also be clothes that don’t fit or you just don’t want anymore, small kitchen appliances and even tubs filled with old toys. There are a number of ways to sell these types of items. You can have an old-fashioned yard sale, list them on Craig’s List or an app like 5 Mile or on a local Facebook swap site.
There are a number of ways to sell these types of items.
You can have an old-fashioned yard sale, list them on Craig’s List or an app like 5 Mile or on a local Facebook swap site.
Clothes, shoes and handbags can be sold online at ThredUp, The RealReal or Poshmark. If you have one in your area, you can also bring teen and young adult clothing and accessories to Plato’s Closet or another consignment store.
When selling online, you usually will need to take a photo of each item and have a description of it written out. Some sites like ThredUp will send you a bag in which to mail your items to them at no cost to you and then they will take care of photographing, describing and pricing them.
Then, once the item sells, the site will send you a check or give you a credit that you can use to purchase other items from them. Unsold items are usually donated to charity.
Useful tips to keep in mind:
- Depending on the platform you choose to sell your items, the fees you will need to pay for.
- Amazon charges different fees depending on the selling plan you have. The standard individual plan charges 99 cents per item sold.
- eBay generally charges 10% of the final sale price.
- Bonzanza charges based on the proce of your item.
- Poshmark chages a $2.95 fee for clothes under $15. For anything worth $15 or more, the fee amounts to 20%.
- Keep in mind that if you select the bigger platforms you may need to cover the shipping costs and taxes as well. Be sure to check before setting the price.
- Sites like Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, Letgo don’t charge taxes or fees, but there is no shipping. You generally have to arrange with the buyer to either have the person pick it up from your home or meet at a public place.