Have you read the KonMari method of decluttering your home? (If not, you can grab a copy here The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing
Anyway, even though I can’t get rid of everything that doesn’t bring me joy, there is plenty of stuff that I found that I could get rid of! And the best part is, I didn’t just get rid of it. I sold it using our online local classifieds, Amazon, and eBay. I prefer selling locally because I hate paying shipping, and for whatever reason, it seems impossible for me to get to USPS, FedEx, or whoever. Even though it’s actually really easy.
We did not want to U-haul anything unnecessary when we moved. We still have a few things for sale that we had to cart here with us, but overall I’m pleased with our purging of goods.
5 of the Items we have recently sold:
- DSLR Camera: $375.00
- A small fraction of Danny’s dental school equipment: $1950.00
- An inflatable raft that technically belonged to Danny’s family: $200
- A multi purpose heat tool: $10
- A TV stand: $25 (we bought it used in our local classifieds for $10. We cleaned it up, used it for 4 years, and then sold it for $25!)
We actually still have a ton of stuff we are still in the process of selling. These things can take time, you know. When we started packing up to move, I really didn’t think we had much stuff we could sale– but I was wrong. We made nearly $3000 from stuff that was literally just sitting on our shelves! Granted, most people won’t have expensive dental equipment just hanging around, but I’d wager that you’d still be surprised what some of the things just sitting around your place are worth. So, I thought I’d share a couple of our tips for how you can earn money selling things from home.
5 TIPS FOR SELLING THINGS FROM HOME:
Create high quality images of your products.
One of the best and quickest ways you can sell your stuff from home is by creating high quality photos for your listing. This is true no matter what online platform you are selling your stuff on. (Whether its Amazon, ebay, or a local Facebook Marketplace). As a general rule of thumb, the more photos of your item, the better. Take photos of your item(s) from several different angles. Be sure to capture any defects in your items. Also, take photos in a room where there is good natural light coming in.
Be honest.
Have you ever been to a car dealership where the salesmen just SWARMED you and made all kinds of outrageous promises and guarantees? How’d that make you feel? I know for me, it made me want to book it out of there. I don’t like to make purchases from people like that. Why? Because I don’t trust them. And neither do you. Which is exactly the problem with selling things online. Your buyers don’t know you. And that’s scary. Buyers want to buy things from people they trust. So be a trustworthy person when you are selling things. If you detail all of the defects or anything (no matter how small) that is wrong with your item(s), people are actually more likely to purchase that item from you. They trust you more. Be sure to capture photos of those defects. For example, the camera that we recently sold had a rubber part around the view hole that was broken. Not a huge deal, but it’s made the look ugly and used. I noted that in the description of the camera and took a photo showing where it was broken. That camera sold within a couple of hours of its listing.
Be flexible.
Another way to actually sell the things you want to sell from home is to make sure you are being flexible. Be willing to wiggle a little on your price. The tv stand we sold above we had listed for $30. The lady drove to my neighborhood to pick it up. I wanted the sucker gone. I honestly would have given it to her for free. So when she wanted to negotiate on price, I was willing to come down a little. Be willing to meet people (if you are selling locally)– this is also a good safety measure so you don’t have strangers coming to your house.
Ask for reviews and ratings from past customers.
If you are using an online service like Amazon or ebay to sell items, make sure that you are asking for ratings and reviews from your customers. ANY and EVERY time you sell something online, ask that person for a review. Even if you aren’t trying to make a business out of selling things online (like us– we just sell things online when we are ready to get rid of things) you should still ask for reviews and ratings because that is how future customers will trust you more and be more willing to make purchases from you.
Ship your items as soon as possible.
If you are selling your items online, be sure to ship them as quickly as possible. The faster your customer receives their product, the happier they will be. Happy customers make future purchases and provide good reviews and ratings. These are all good things. If you are actually physically meeting up with a person to sell your item, be willing to meet them as quickly as possible and work around their schedule. Again, the idea is that you want them to feel happy and like the whole transaction was smooth and convenient.
What things have YOU sold online? Any tips for selling your things? Drop us a line!
This post contains affiliate/referral links for products or services that I actually use. If you make a purchase through one of my links, I may get a small percentage of the sale even though the price to you is either discounted or the same.
Hi there! I’m Amber! And welcome to the Deeply in Debt blog where we’re offering simple solutions for big debt.
That’s great to get rid of things around your home and definitely really freeing. We finally managed to sell an old dresser and desk that we’ve had stored in our garage for years. $350 for something sitting in our garage. But I wasn’t flexible and actually rejected a few folks who showed up and then tried to lowball me.
Whether you can do that really depends on how bad you need to sell the item, so my advice typically is, if you are moving and will need to get an item gone at some point, get your item listed for sale as soon as possible. You want to give your self some cushion so you aren’t forced to give the item away or worse, throw it away.
Here’s what even more interesting. Last year, Ms. Panther and I lived in an apartment and discovered that people who were moving out would just throw away perfectly good furniture, rather than sell it! Over the course of the year, we would just head down to the recycling area in our building and pull out whatever we found in the trash down there. By the end of our lease, we’d made over $1000 selling furniture and other things we’d fished out of the trash! It was incredible!
We’ve since moved back into our home located in a college neighborhood, and its now like Christmas here for us! College kids are just moving out and tossing perfectly good furniture that we are now picking up off the sidewalk and selling on Craigslist and OfferUp.
As a tip that might run contrary to your tips, I never meet people anywhere that requires me to travel. Craigslist and OfferUp are filled with flakes and I don’t want to waste my time traveling only for the person to not show up. In my experience, something like 50% or more of the people on Craigslist or OfferUp will say they want an item, might even set up a time to meet, but then never actually show up.
Instead, I tell folks to meet me at a gas station down the street from me. It makes me feel a little safer, but doesn’t require me to adjust my schedule in any way. If they show up, I put on my shoes and walk over. If they don’t show up, I just continue on with my day as normal.
I agree Kevin! It really is freeing. And I LOVE your furniture finding idea! Haha! We’re pretty close to a university so I’ll have to go check out their dumpsters at the end of the semester! 🙂
I loved that book too! I feel like I am always in the process of decluttering! I am sharing this article with my readers for sure!
Right?? It’s a lifelong process that’s for sure. Thanks so much for the share!
My first semester of graduate school 12 years ago I decided to declutter. My son & I had far too much stuff for a family of 2. I got rid of more than half of what I owned and after a few months, he asked if he could get rid of things too. Having less stuff to take care of was a life saver for me when I was in graduate school and working. Since then I’ve gotten married, added two more children and become a stay at home Mom. When I think about the amount of stuff the average family of 5 owns I feel overwhelmed.
This is awesome! We’ve sold quite a few things that we no longer needed too. For me it’s good motivation to declutter and get rid of things. I tend to be a sentimental person, so sometimes knowing that I can get $20 for something will make it easier for me to part with it. The great thing is, the more I get rid of and declutter, the more free I feel and so I’m actually finding it easier and easier to let go of stuff. Contrary to what we often think, stuff really doesn’t bring you happiness most of the time!
That is SO true Lydia. It can be hard to part with sentimental things. But stuff really doesn’t bring happiness, as much we get tricked into believing that! 🙂