5 Great Ways to Get Money for your Used Stuff
As a giveaway and contest lover, I obviously love getting free things, finding great deals and making some extra money.
I also have a lot of things lying around: winnings, former purchases, clothes that no longer fit me, things I no longer use but are still present in my apartment, and so much more.
Instead of throwing it away, I would much prefer to make some money off of it. Well, great news – your junk can be someone else’s treasure!
Let’s go through a few great ways to sell your unwanted goods and get some money in exchange.
1) Sell your DVDs, CDs & Games online
Just because you got some great use of them in the past, doesn’t mean that others shouldn’t now!
We all have dozens to hundreds of CDs, DVDs and games lying around the house. (In my mom’s case, thousands!)
Take advantage of sites that are happy to buy your used CDs and DVDs and pay you money in exchange.
They’ll even let you know upfront how much they are willing to cover.
It’s an easy way to sell your DVDs and CDs, and a profitable way to get rid of all that clutter!
2) Auction it off
Take a picture, write a short description and auction off your goods on sites like eBay.
Before selling anything, make sure that you do your research. You could be selling something valuable for very cheap!
Look up the item’s used sale value online; keep tabs on how much others are selling the same item for, and under what condition.
Assess the value of your item versus other sales listings, and you’ll be able to have a stronger grasp on what is a fair asking price.
3) Yard Sales
I was always obsessed over yard sales; I loved buying interesting, used items for cheap. It was thanks to yard sales that I had a collection of Archie comic books and crafting materials as a kid.
In the end, it was a great way for someone to get rid of their unwanted clutter and sell it to a happy, willing customer: me!
Yard sales can be fun to arrange, albeit a lot of work. You can sell lots of goods, but make sure to advertise as best as you can – on Facebook, newspapers, forums, CraigsList, etc.
You can also publish online in websites like YardSaleSearch so people looking for goodies find your yard sale.
4) Consignment Shops
Consignment shops are unique in that you provide the item, and when they sell it, the earnings are split between you both.
The percentage varies from consignment shop to shop, so do your research when you approach them.
These types of stores are usually very picky and will only sell quality items; they must be in excellent condition and worth a decent amount.
You can find online consignment shops, including some that focus mainly on selling gently used clothing, accessories and perfume.
Some may even pay you for the item upfront rather than wait until a customer completes a purchase!
5) There’s a used store for everything online
We live in a digital age where everything can be done and found online.
Take advantage of that privilege and search for sites that cater to the specific products you want to sell. Interested in selling electronics like mobile phones, computers or tablets?
There’s a site for that. Interested in selling books that you have read too many times? There’s a site for that, too.
What about the stuffed animal your ex-boyfriend gave you for Valentine’s Day three years ago? Yep! You can find a place to sell that online, too.
These shops are becoming more social and active, so your items can be showcased to your Facebook friends.
Payments will come in easily and promptly through Paypal or if you chose, through gift cards to online stores like Amazon.com.
These are the reasons I’m so thankful for the internet! You’re right there are used sites for everything and if I can’t sell it on ebay I’ll find somewhere for it go.
Great post.
This is very helpful, thank you!
Great tips. We always find stuff that we are no longer using and could benefit from the extra money instead!
This is a great group of tips. My kids want to do a yardsale so bad they can taste it!! 🙂
Lately, I haven’t wanted to mess with selling my used stuff, so I’ve been recycling it to those who need it on Freecycle.org. If you’ve never heard of it, you can put things you want, or things you have to offer, and everything’s free. I love the “pay it forward mentality”
I am a big one to donate my stuff to someone that is having a yard/garage sale to raise money for a good cause. I figure that I don’t have a garage anymore because we converted it into a childcare room for my business and I don’t have a place for a garage/yard sale so I just save it up and donate it for someone else to sell.
I love to use eBay and yard sales are always great. Thanks for all the great tips.
These are some great ideas! I have sold a few things on Amazon and it was so easy, I should do more that way!
Great ideas! I have LOTS of things laying around that I need to get rid of. My worse problem is boxing things up for a yard sale but never getting the chance to have one! I haven’t tried Amazon to sell yet but I may have to try that soon! Thanks for the great post 🙂
Thanks for the tips! I have always wanted to try selling stuff on ebay, I should definitely look into that!
Love these tips! Will definitely use them in the future! 🙂
I know my dad really loves eBay, but I didn’t know there were so many second hand online shops to also use. Clearly, I need to explore more than just the usual craigslist and local online papers. Thanks for the idea!
What a great article! My husband has hundreds of video games he is not using anymore and musicmagpie seems a great place to sell those CDs. Thanks for sharing useful tips!