The Internet has made it simple to buy and sell anything, but depending on what you want to sell, certain venues are better than others. Not every platform or marketplace is appropriate for every application. It’s infuriating to spend a lot of time and effort listing a lot of clothing, for example, only to have it sell for $1.

The secret to getting a fair price for your old items is to think about where you want to sell them. This covers alternatives both locally and online.

This post will provide you with an overview of your alternatives and help you decide whether it’s worth the effort to re-sell. There are also some photography suggestions for taking appealing photographs of your stuff.

Decluttering clears your thoughts and allows room for new experiences in your life. Not more stuff that gets in your way over and over, but items you actually enjoy and utilise. The minimalist trend has shown us how fantastic it feels to live lighter, more simply, and with less things to worry about.

Getting rid of your clutter opens up new opportunities. Making significant changes, such as deciding to downsize or get things in order, requires fortitude to let go of the old. This, in turn, has the ability to release fresh potential. When we let go, great things can happen.

Everything is ultimately universally connected, and the more physical clutter you have, the less attention you have. Decluttering does more than just free up physical space. You’re also doing something positive for your emotional health.

None of this implies that you must donate anything you declutter if you are unable to do so. You don’t want to contribute to our already full landfills, either. Enter the used-car industry.

It’s often worth the effort to sell your used items simply because it might generate a lot of extra cash. Furthermore, selling personal belongings from your own household that you’ve held for more than a year is normally tax-free in most areas. Just be sure you’re not flipping newly purchased products with the aim of reselling them. In most countries, that would put you in the commercial tax bracket.

Where to Sell Your Clutter

There are numerous ways to generate money while decluttering your home, ranging from private buyers and resellers who will purchase huge amounts of goods to consignment businesses. Once you’ve decluttered and decided to sell some of your used stuff, conduct some online research. Look for similar things to see what they’ve sold for and where there appears to be a demand.

Where you should sell your items is mostly determined by what you wish to get rid of. Some sites allow you to sell almost anything, while others concentrate in specific types of goods such as DVDs or luxury clothing.

Let’s look at the greatest options for getting rid of unwanted items.

Online Marketplaces (eBay & Co.)

Yes, eBay is still a thing in many countries! It’s also a fantastic resource to estimate the value of what you want to sell. On the con side, their fees can be high. Before listing your item, you might want to wait for one of their regular 1$ / 1€ / 1£ weekends where they cap their fees at said low price.

Auctioning your things off on eBay or one of its regional counterparts like Qoo10 is a great way to get rid of many different types of things. If you want to set a fix price instead of risking a low auction bid, you can opt for that, too. Alternatively, you can start items at one buck, but set a minimum price for the sale.

On eBay, it’s also possible to bundle the same type of items into a single lot. If you have a huge box of old rubber stamps you decluttered from your art and hobby supplies, for instance, you could list them as one lot. This would save you a significant amount of time it would take to create individual listings.

Creating a Listing

Generally speaking, you must be registered to use these platforms. Once you log on and click the Sell button in the top bar, you will be guided through a menu with everything required to list an item. You often also have to have a Paypal account, such as in eBay’s case, to comply with policies and provide buyer protection.

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To list your stuff, eBay charges a fee based on the starting price and other things such as if you opt for gallery images or promoted listings. A lower starting price often promises a higher selling price, but you also run the risk of selling your stuff below value if you forget to set a minimum sales price.

Choose the right category so potential buyers can find your item. Many buyers search for items not only through the search bar, but also systematically in the respective categories.

Provide comprehensive information in the item description. The more details you provide, the better. In particular, describe the condition of the item for sale insofar as it differs from the original condition. Does it have scuffs, a tiny stain, or a hole on the inside seam? Your potential buyers want to know!

The description must be accurate, and complete. Since a legally effective contract between you and the buyer comes into place with a winning bid, the buyer could otherwise demand a reversal of the sale.

State explicitly that you are a private seller selling a used item from your personal household as described. This can protect you from potential claims.

Include some good pictures of your item. They should be in focus and ideally in natural lighting. Make sure you never “borrow” any photos online or from other sellers (or their item descriptions!). This is a violation of copyright law that can be easily traced back to you and might result in a lot of headaches, not to mention a nasty fine.

Garage Sales

Everyone loves a good garage sale, and they typically have a huge local following. Loads of folks scour the classifieds for garage sale announcements, and if you’re holding one, they’ll come. Check with your local authorities to make sure your planned garage sale is compliant with your town’s regulations. Set a date and tell your neighbors so they’re aware (they might even want to join you!).

Announce your upcoming garage sale everywhere you can online and offline. Social media, group chats, the pin board at your supermarket, community centre, and synagogue or church, and the classifieds in the town gazette. Get ready to hustle when the big day comes. Start very early in the morning and have signage on your street and out front so people can find your sale.

Have enough coins and cash on hand so you can give people change. Be sure to use a waist bag to hold your cash. You don’t want to leave your money lying in a cash box or have it all stuffed in your pockets. You’ll want to have enough table tops to lay out your stuff so your visitors can peruse what you’re offering. Keep big furniture items towards the walls and out of the way to avoid accidents. Weather permitting, you can spread out your tables in the front garden if the garage can’t fit everything.

Be ready to haggle! That’s part of the fun with garage sales. The huge advantage to them is that buyers make their purchases at sight and on site and cart their hauls away themselves.

Garage sales are a great way to make money decluttering prior to a house move, too! They give you a set timeframe to really weed out the things you don’t need. Plus they’re a nice opportunity to mingle with your neighborhood community one last time. Selling your stuff from the comfort of your garage or front lawn means you’ll have less to pack up for moving day. Plus, more cash in your pocket for some new things you’ll inevitably need in your new place.

Consignment Shops

Helping every individual item find a new owner instead of bulking everything together in one lot has a huge advantage, for sure. You’re bound to make more money. Yet sometimes it’s just too impractical to sell a large number of items you’ve decluttered. Or the return on your time invested in listing them all is simply not worth it.

Consignment shops and secondhand stores can be a great option in these cases. You can leave an entire lot of kids’ clothing, toys or vintage goods with a local consignment shop, and they’ll sell it for you. These places usually either accept your goods on commission or pay you upfront. If you give clothes to a store on commission, they’ll usually stay in the store for a specified amount of time. You’ll only receive payment if they were sold within that time frame.

Secondhand shops generally take a big cut of the selling price, often up to 60%. If this sounds like exploitation to you, you can always revert to listing your items individually on the marketplace of your choice. It is what it is. These shops are saving you the hassle of photographing, listing, and shipping everything. So that service comes with a high cost.

Classifieds

A good alternative to auction platforms and marketplaces is the classifieds. Local searches in particular are super easy here. Think furniture! Or bikes! Or anything big you’ve decluttered, which can’t be shipped. These are ideal candidates for your local classifieds.

Just like in the classifieds section of a newspaper, it’s fun for potential buyers to simply browse here. If you list your items on a classifieds platform such as Craigslist, OLX, Quikr, or eBay Classifieds, you’ll be able to attract a good deal of potential buyers who are ready to haggle with you on the price.

While it might be annoying having to field an onslaught of inquiries about your item, the good news is that buyers will come to collect stuff themselves. Things can thus move very quickly! Another huge advantage of classifieds is that no sales fees are charged. This can be great for individual items of a larger scale, such as cars, furniture or bikes and scooters.

Facebook Marketplace & Facebook Yard Sales

Facebook Marketplace and Facebook Yard Sales are yet another fantastic option for easy, local sales in your area. The marketplace works much like your usual classifieds. The advantage here is that you don’t need to register with a new platform if you’re already a Facebook user.

The yard sales on Facebook are really good for moving things super fast locally. They’re essentially Facebook Groups. There’s a sell/swap/buy group for pretty much every city on Facebook, or you can join a group for specific items. To find these virtual yard sales, search “Swap” and then your town or the next closest city to you.

Once your request to join is accepted, read the group’s rules and you’re in. Prices tend to be low in these groups. The aim is to get clutter out of the way fast. You can find buyers looking for children’s gear or outdoor furniture, bikes, baby buggies, and the like—all right in your area.

Private Indoor Sale

Indoor sales are kind of like garage sales but for city dwellers. If you’re getting ready to move, they can be a hugely effective way to get rid of everything you don’t want to take to your new home.

Plan your date and let your friends and family know. Tell them they can bring other folks with them, too. You can either corral all your items for sale into one room or if you’ve already moved out and just need to clear the rest, let folks do a walk-through.

Stick a post-it with the asking price on each item. Keep your prices realistic. The point of a private indoor sale is to get rid of the clutter. Be prepared to give some stuff away for the taking. You’ll be relieved to find almost everything gone at the end of your private sale.

The clutter you sell should generally be in good, usable condition or have working spare parts that other buyers are seeking. No one wants to buy trash. So wipe your stuff down and wash any used clothing you plan on selling. Your stuff may be used, but your buyers expect it to be clean.

The better condition your things are in, the more money you’ll make. Again, don’t try to hide any defects or broken parts. You’ll only annoy the buyer and could wind up in a stressful dispute. If you’ve done a major declutter at home and sorted out broken or dirty things, recycle them responsibly. Check your local garbage regulations so you know where to dispose of what.