Things to Sell to Make Money

How to Get Money Selling Household Items

Things to Sell to Make Money
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

Selling unneeded items from around your house is a great way to get cash quickly.  If you have items you have accumulated but are no longer using, why waste space storing them?  There are several easy ways to sell things quickly to get cash.  Here are my favorites:

eBay

Some items are best sold on eBay.  You can potentially reach millions of people, so eBay works well to sell items that may not have many local buyers.  Using the auction format of eBay can also help prevent you from pricing your item too low- the market will decide the price in an auction.  You will get the most money for your item that anyone is willing to pay.  The typical fee for selling an item on eBay about 15% of the selling price.  A typical auction lasts one week.  A seven day auction covers one weekend, giving

How to Ship Sold eBay Items

Craigslist

One nice thing about selling on craigslist is that it is free.  Another nice thing is that you don't need to deal with shipping your items.  You can find local buyers who will pick up your item at your house, or you can meet at a mutually convenient location to complete the transaction.  One downside of selling on craigslist is that you will be dealing directly with strangers yourself, and you may need to deal with someone who is unreasonable or unpleasant.  You will need to take time to meet with potential buyers to show them your craigslist items for sale.

How to Sell on Craigslist

Thrift Shops and Consignment Stores

Thrift stores and consignment stores will sell your items for you.  The downsides are 1) they charge a fee, typically 60% of the item's sale price and 2) it may take a few weeks or more to sell your item.  The advantage is that the thrift shop or consignment store does all the work- you just drop your items off and pick up cash later.

How to Sell Used Items at a Consignment Shop and Get Cash

Garage Sales

Garage sales are another free way to get money for your items.  However, it takes a bit of work to organize a successful garage sale.  A garage sale works best if you have a lot of items to sell.  Garage sales are more successful at certain times of year, especially spring.  If you have things to sell in January, a garage sale may not be very successful.  You may be better off selling some of the items on craigslist individually and other items at consignment stores.

Garage Sale Tips- Buying Bargains and Selling Secrets

Things to Sell to Make Money

Here are the best things to sell to make money:

Sell Old Cell Phones and Electronics

Sell old Cell Phones and Electronics for Quick Cash
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

I recently took my old cell phone to Best Buy to sell it.  They said it wasn't worth anything, but they offered to recycle it for me.  I said no thanks to that offer and investigated further.  I ended up selling the phone on eBay for $100!  I have sold other cell phones for $35 each at Best Buy for store credit.  You can also sell cell phones to buy back services and at ecoATM kiosks for cash.  You can also sell old tablets and laptops to get quick cash.

How to Sell your Old Cell Phone and Get Cash

Sell Old Clothes

Every once in a while, my wife goes through the closet and thins out clothes that are no longer worn.  I take these to a consignment shop to sell.  The consignment shop sorts through the clothes and keeps the ones that they think they can sell.  I take the rest to Goodwill and come back in a couple months to pick up cash for the old clothes.  If you want to get money for old clothes faster, you can try selling them at a garage sale.  You may be able to sell some of your clothes at a garage sale, and you can take any that do not sell to a consignment shop.

Sell Old Musical Instruments

Musical Instruments Sell For A Lot of Money
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I have sold several old musical instruments, and I am always surprised how much these sell for!  Older instruments seem to be generally high quality and people are willing to fix them up and play them again.  New instruments cost several thousand dollars, so you might be able to get hundreds of dollars for an old instrument.  I have sold a violin, french horn, and soprano saxophone on eBay for quick cash.

Sell Lawn and Garden Equipment

Spring is a great time to sell extra or unneeded lawn or garden equipment.  People are looking for rototillers and lawn mowers of all kinds.  I once sold an old rototiller on craigslist for hundreds of dollars, and I had two buyers that were competing to buy it.  Check craigslist and eBay to see what similar items are selling for so you know where to set your price.  Lawn and garden equipment can also sell at a garage sale if you have other things to sell as well.

Sell Furniture

Sell Furniture on craigslist for Quick Cash
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

I have had good success selling old furniture on craigslist at any time of year.  Take lots of pictures and post them with your ad.  New furniture is so expensive in furniture stores that your old furniture may be worth quite a bit more than you think.

Sell Textbooks

Most used books are not worth very much, but used textbooks can sell for $50 or even $100 if they are still in use.  If you have recent textbooks sitting around that you do not intend to look at again, you might have a lot of potential quick cash.  Years ago, I sold textbooks on amazon and made a lot of money.  There are other places online now that pay cash for textbooks.  Here are the details on how to sell textbooks online and get the most money.

Sell Sporting Goods and Exercise Equipment

Some local stores buy and resell used sporting goods and exercise equipment, but I have found the prices offered to be too low most of the time.  I would recommend using craigslist to sell your old gear and get cash.  Things like treadmills and weight machines that are sitting unused can be turned into cash.  Smaller gear like roller-blades, golf clubs, and baseball gloves can also sell well.

Sell Extra Bikes

If you have bicycles that you don't use, you have a source of cash.  Used bikes sell well in the spring, especially name brand bikes in good condition.  Craigslist is a popular place to list bikes for sale.  You might consider eBay if you have an exotic bike to sell.

Sell Antiques and Collectibles

You can sell antiques and collectibles on eBay for quick cash.  I think the auction format is useful to make sure you don't set your price too low.  Descriptive information is valuable to include in your listing- describe any printing, dates, markings, etc. on the item.  Background of where the item came from can also be valuable to buyers.

Sell Weird Stuff!

Sometimes you find odd things in your garage or attic that you that you don't really need.  You could easily throw these things away without realizing that you can get quick cash by selling them.

A few months ago, I discovered a set of new floor mats for a car I had already sold.  The floor mats had never been used and were still in the original package.  They were too nice to throw away, so I did some research and found out that the set of floormats sells for around $120 new.  I listed them on eBay with a starting price of $30 and they ended up selling for nearly $100!

Once, I replaced the original tires and inner tubes on a 40 year old vintage bike that I ride.  I thought the tires looked too good to throw away.  The tires had some nice labels on the tires that were still readable.  I tried listing them on craigslist so I wouldn't have to deal with shipping them, but no one was interested.  I ended up listing them on eBay and they sold!  I made money selling something that most people would just throw away.

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