Let’s face it, we all have more things in our homes than we actually need. Most of them are fortunately too good to throw out, but figuring out how to sell them seems like too big of a task to tackle. Thankfully, you do not need to become a professional seller, learn to take stunning pictures of your items and write detailed descriptions. Neither do you have to negotiate with multiple potential buyers, nor organize your very own yard sale. Instead, there are much easier ways to get rid of what you no longer need.
Broadly, there are three categories of items you might want to part with:
Broken beyond your own ability to repair, without collector’s value: you want to find an easy way to get rid of them. Upcycling or recycling might be your best option for these types of items.
Mass market items that are still in good condition or can be easily repaired: you are not likely to want to put in excessive effort into finding a buyer.
High-value items that are quite unique or sought-after, such as rare stamps or expensive brands (with original packaging and in great condition): these can fetch high prices and might be worth putting in the work to find a buyer willing to pay good money.
Once you know what kind of item you wish to part with, you need to decide how much effort you are willing to put into getting the best possible price. Consider this example: you have an old binder full of stamps from when you thought you might want to start a hobby as a philatelist. If you can sell your stamp collection to your neighbor for $500, but you know if you went to a specialized store in your town, you could easily get $2’000, you should probably go with the store option to maximize your benefit. If, however, you would need to travel to a fair to have your stamps appraised, paying for travel and hotel, it might not be worth your time or the potentially higher selling price, and you can contribute to a happy relationship with your neighbor instead.
Similarly, if you have decided to part with a large number of items at once, listing each item individually on an online platform would take ages. Instead, some companies allow you to minimize your effort by listing the items for you, sometimes even covering multiple categories. While you won’t necessarily get the best possible price, you can still make good money, with much less effort required from your side.
(almost) New Clothes: thredup
You can get their “clean out kit” and send any new or lightly used clothes to them. Clothes they don’t accept will be sent back to you and you have to pay for that, but you get a percentage of the sale’s price and they take care of the whole selling process (taking pictures, writing descriptions, etc.). Read more about the whole process in this Insider article.
Electronics, books, CDs, DVDs, Videogames: decluttr
Use their app or website to get an instant quote for your item. If you like the quote, you can print a shipping label from them and mail in your item. That’s it, leaving you a little lighter.
For an even more hassle-free decluttering, you could also consider donating your things, ideally to an organization in your local community. Many offer pick-up for large donations.
Finally, there are two things to keep in mind: First, unique and valuable things can fetch bigger prices, if they reach the right audience. It will pay off to spend some time thinking about who would value your precious items the most and find ways to sell to them specifically. Secondly, on the other end of the spectrum, stay realistic, particularly important (and hard) with the items you are emotionally attached to. Just because the sweater you have outgrown was your favorite, serving you through numerous cold winters with the stains and holes to prove it, does not usually make a compelling case for anyone else. For these things, you might still be able to upcycle them and sell your creative product or find the best way to recycle them instead.
Are you interested in maintaining your items in good condition, to begin with, so that they can serve you longer and still retain their resale value? Try our app Savvee for iOS and Android to get tips customized to the item you own.
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