How to Make Easy Money Selling Your Old Stuff

Another Sunday, another post here in Everything’s Famtastic. I know last week’s post was pretty heavy going. What, with talking about cornea transplants and pirate eye patches and such. By the way, my eyeball had the doctors raving with excitement at my check-up last week 😉.

This week I thought I ought to write something different! Something positive, motivating and hopefully really helpful. And let’s be honest, who doesn’t like to feel encouraged and nudged along sometimes?

Of course, at times a swift kick up the butt is needed to get things done! But today I was aiming more for the inform-and-inspire method of helping you to get the most out of a great opportunity to make some quick money. No, this is not one of those get-rich-in-a-scandalous-way-pyramid-type schemes.

I’m talking about selling your old stuff that you don’t need or want anymore!

I spoke to a bunch of family and friends who have sold household items, clothes, books and more; between them they have sold at dozens of garage sales, flea markets and also online. And now I share with you, dear reader, their best advice on how to prepare well and how to make your sale successful!

A few times these past weeks I have talked about cleaning up our house Marie Kondo-style (such as here). The kids have remained enthused by this process and my eldest even suggested today that we should do this at least once a year. *gasp!* My child is telling me that she wants to tidy?!? I almost had to check her for fever, Bless!

Whenever we sort through our house, once we know what it is we’re keeping and what is straight up rubbish, we are always left with a big pile of “What are we supposed to do with all this?”.

Of course, you can donate everything left and I am sure that many people do. Me? I do regularly donate plenty of things. But I also know that there are many toys (Lego! Playmobil!), books, CDs, puzzles, clothes and random household goods that could be worth some decent money. And honestly, our family bank account would really love us if we could sell those things!

From my perspective, finding a way to sell your unwanted possessions has a number of major pluses.

1. You get to clear out your house PLUS make money doing it.

2. Somebody who perhaps can’t afford to pay full price for these things gets to buy them from you at a super bargain price.

3. All those things don’t end up straight at the rubbish dump.

Win-win for everyone and the planet!

So, I have gathered the collective wisdom of these highly experienced sellers and asked them a series of questions designed to give you hot insider tips on how to make the most out of your sale!

Are you ready? Yes? Let’s get stuck into it!!

Where Should I Sell My Unwanted Stuff?

In a lot of countries (like Australia and the United States) hosting a garage sale to sell off your old gear is really popular. It’s also a super way to sell lots of gear all in one hit. One day, one sale, Done!

In Germany, on the other hand, garage sales aren’t really “a thing”, but selling your stuff at a Flea Market is. It seems like you can find a Flea Market anywhere, any time. Flohmarkt, Trash & Treasure Market, Car Boot Sale, Jumble Sale, call it what you will! Varying in popularity, they do exist worldwide!

And don’t forget that online options to sell via auction (such as ebay) and classifieds (eg. ebay Kleinanzeigen, Gumtree, craigslist, local Facebook sales groups) are almost limitless too.

Some people also told me that they sell clothes, toys and books to friends or family. And why not? Offer a bargain price to someone you know who can use those items and avoid haggling with strangers!

From my surveying though, it seems like the most frequent way to sell items is in person: garage sale or flea market. You are practically guaranteed to sell a heap of your stuff, even if not everything gets sold. Sure, a lot of preparation (and probably stress) goes into organising such a big face-to-face sale, but by the end of the day, you are finished with it. And even better, have a pile of well-earned cash to show for it!

A number of my interviewees spoke of using online classifieds (vs an auction) often. Of course you can make money there too. However, selling this way can be really unpredictable and if you have heaps of things to sell, it can be cumbersome trying to get them all listed and monitored. Some told me that their gear sold super quickly but others were dismayed that it took months or even a year to sell particular items.

Top Tip: For special pieces or large furniture, it is still worth trying the classifieds. But the best way to sell lots of gear, and quickly, is definitely a garage sale or market!

What are the Most Important Things I Should Do to Prepare for Selling?

So you’ve decided you have items that you could sell, and you’ve decided where you are going to sell them. What do you need to do to prepare your gear- and yourself!- for selling?

First up, be very thorough in sorting through your unwanted items. Is it ready for the rubbish bin or worthy of selling? That 500 piece puzzle may have been awesome, but if there are only 498 pieces in the box, nobody wants it. We all know the saying “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure”. But at some point trash is still really just trash 😉

Secondly, if you think it is good enough to sell, wash it, wipe it, clean it, whatever! Make it look presentable and tidy. Make it look appealing to potential buyers. Have you ever looked through an online classifieds site? Which ads look more appealing- those with one hazy, dark photo of the item or those with clear, bright photos? If you are selling online, take lots of good photos!

Next: organise! Package or present similar things together. Books for children separate from books for adults. Boys’ clothes separate from girls’ clothes. Kitchen gadgets separate from the old fishing rods. You get the idea!

Several of my insiders suggested to put some thought into the importance- to you- of selling the items. Do you really need for it to be sold today, regardless of the price you get? Are you prepared to alter your price only a little? Or is it something for which you will only accept a particular price and you have a lot of time and patience available? For a pullover or some DVDs these thoughts aren’t really critical, but for some of your gear, these will be really important questions to ask yourself.

And of course, if you are hosting a sale rather than online, be sure to have some small cash change available. When someone buys something for 3€ and hands you a 20€, you want to be equipped!

Top Tip: It comes down to presentation and preparation. Make it all look good and ready to sell!

How Should I Price my Items?

I have been selling bits and pieces online for years but last year we sold a multitude of stuff at our first ever flea market and made nearly €400 in one day!! Some of the people I surveyed for this post have made that much, and even more! You can make REALLY big money just by selling off items you no longer want or need.

If you’re in the selling mood, it can be easy to get carried away and dream about all the cash you could be stacking up and begin to overprice your items. Be careful! You don’t want to turn off potential buyers! But how do you decide how to set a fair price?

Well, you can either take a wild guess. Or, as my survey helpers all suggested, way better is to do a little research. Find out the answers to these questions:

How much does it cost to buy new?

What are other sellers (eg in the classifieds) trying to sell the same or similar items for?

Is it a rare or collector’s item, or does every person on the block already own one?

Is it from a special brand or from the bargain basement store?

Think about how much the item has been used and what condition is it really in? What would you pay for this item if you were the potential buyer?

Also consider how important it is to you to sell it. As mentioned above, if you place little personal attachment to an item, it will probably be easier for you to let it go at a lower price.

Top Tip: Do your research on similar items and aim for average to higher range, particularly if you are open to bargaining.

What Sells the Easiest? What Can be More Difficult?

This is where it gets a little tricky to answer definitively. It can depend on so many factors, like where you are trying to sell, who are the buyers currently looking at your items, is it a specialist marketplace/website, even the weather (for garage sales and Flea Markets, critical).

If you are hosting your own garage sale, you can sell whatever takes your fancy. If you are selling at a Flea Market, be sure to pay attention to whether there is a particular theme for the market.. For example there is no point taking your old power drill to a 2^nd hand Book Market or children’s clothing market. Right?!?

From the people I surveyed, the most popular and easiest items to sell were furniture, children’s clothes, toys, books, video games and children’s bikes. Having said that, others have found books impossible to sell, possibly given the popularity of e-book gadgets and such.

On the flip side, items identified as being more difficult to sell included: DVDs (so many people smile and say “meh, I’ve got Netflix, sorry” and blissfully ignore them), kitchenware (crockery, small appliances), larger electrical goods and expensive speciality products (left-handed ladies’ golf club set, anyone?).

Nevertheless, having a mix of items to sell practically guarantees that your range of stuff will catch somebody’s eye and be purchased.

Top Tip: For fast cash. if you’ve got clothes, books or toys, get ‘em out and sell them, regardless of what else you can also offer! If you have speciality items, research the best place to sell them- the local classifieds may not be it 😉

Experiences Shared…

While interviewing my panel of experts, they all had some stories to share about selling their unwanted possessions.

Like the mama who happily sold lots of old kids’ toys and clothes at a flea market, but was left speechless after her own children wandered around the market buying up more goodies to bring back home!

Or the father who was moving house and stacking up furniture on his driveway waiting for the removalists to collect them. Some people drove up, assumed it was a garage sale and started lugging away some interesting pieces. Luckily the “buyers” were able to be politely informed that the items were actually not for sale.

And of course many had experienced prospective buyers who expect items to be sold for a pittance and don’t recognise or appreciate that items have been priced that way for a reason. There will always be someone like that. Just smile to yourself and move on to a better buyer 😊.

#1 Secret Tip to Having Super Successful Sales

So, here we are, nearing the end of this “How to” of selling your old stuff. But I confess, there is more than ! 😉.

Here is the final round-up of insider tips from my group of experts:

Advertise- either through word of mouth, digitally or with actual signs. The more people who know you are selling, the more chance of finding a buyer!

Set your prices a little higher with the assumption you will be negotiating. Alternatively, if you want a quick sale, make the prices lower than anyone else’s!

If you will be doing any face-to-face selling, make sure that a helper is at hand. This can be invaluable if you have more than one interested customer making enquiries, but especially if people are coming to your own home it will increase your feelings of safety.

And the final, most important piece of advice: show off your items well! This means clean, organised and nicely presented.

Who wants to waste time reinventing the wheel, when others have faced the same tasks before you and can offer advice and tips on how to have a successful sale?!? I hope that you have found lots of useful ideas here in this post. They will help you focus on the important things in preparing to make some great money selling your unwanted possessions.

Happy Sale to You!

I would love to hear whether you have sold any of your old stuff before. Where did you sell? How did it go?

Alternatively, are you preparing to sell some of your old gear? Which tips here have helped you so far?

Share below!