The 5 Best Places to Sell your Stuff
How to Sell ‘Stuff’ Online
Purging stuff around the house you no longer have a need for provides two great benefits. First off, it allows you to de-clutter, which is satisfying for the psyche as it detaches you from being owned by your possessions. Additionally, it’s a means to gaining some value in stuff that you no longer find value in – and then using that money in a productive way.
I’ve used a number of different outlets to get rid of old goods, and each has their own unique benefits that comes in handy for different situations. We’ve probably at least a few of these channels at one time, but some of these channels are definitely better than others for certain products. Here are the different channels that I’ve found to be the most useful for different products and situations.
Selling on EBay
Ebay is great for rare stuff that there is a niche market for – typically branded items or sought after rarities. I’ve sold a number of beat up old branded cell phones on EBay, for instance, all for a surprisingly high amount. The amount of time it takes to create a listing makes EBay a poor choice for items that are going for a low price (I typically don’t sell anything on EBay that I know I can’t get $10 or more for). If you are thinking of putting something on EBay, check to see if there are any existing listings, and if those listings have a number of bids on them. If the answer to both questions is yes, EBay might be a good channel for your item.
Selling on Amazon
I sell all of my generic CD’s, DVD’s, and books on Amazon. Amazon has a huge group of buyers for these formats of goods, specifically. I prefer Amazon vs. EBay for these items because you can find out exactly what other sellers are asking for, and work from there. The listing process is a lot less timely on Amazon than it is on EBay.
Amazon is also a great outlet for rare items that are found in Amazon’s list of SKU’s due to the huge user search volume it gets for these formats. If a product is not found on Amazon, you’re going to have a hard time selling it. I’ve found that the trick to selling stuff on Amazon is to outbid your competitor by one cent for your products condition category about once a day or so. You may be outbid for the lowest price now and then, so updating frequently is effective. Since there is so much traffic on Amazon, the lowest price generally sells fairly quickly.
Selling on Craigslist
Craigslist is the place to go for huge ticket items, or big things at a local level. I’ve sold a car on Craigslist and almost sold a home. When you think of things that everyone needs at a local level, Craigslist is the place to be. Think realty, vehicles, bikes, exercise equipment, appliances, services that you provide, and tickets. Craigslist is not the place for small things because there can be a big time involvement. Do you really want to spend 15 minutes via email, phone, and face time in order to sell a $5 book?
Selling in Garage Sales
Garage sales are for two things: stuff that isn’t worth shipping or would be hard to ship, and stuff that nobody is going to be searching for on EBay, Amazon, and Craigslist. I made over $300 on stuff I had sitting around my house that I thought had no value at the one garage sale I’ve done. You know the saying, “one man’s junk is another man’s treasure”. It’s absolutely true.
Donating to Goodwill, Salvation Army, or other 501(c)(3)
Technically, it’s not selling, but it may make a lot of sense to donate versus sell. If you itemize your taxes (and even if you don’t), definitely give stuff away that you cannot sell elsewhere. If you itemize, realize that you can deduct the assigned value of what you’re giving away.
If you’re in the 15% tax bracket, it might actually make sense for you to donate a sweater that you value at $20 (a $3 tax deduction) versus selling it for $2 at a garage sale. When you do donate, make sure to document a complete list of what you’re giving away and get a receipt from the charity that you’re donating to.
Of course, you should donate out of the goodness of your heart, regardless of the potential financial benefit.
Selling Online Discussion:
- What is your best “I sold it online” story?
- Are there any websites or other channels out there that you frequently sell or trade stuff on?
- Have you had any bad experiences with the afformentioned channels?
Related Posts:
- How I Saved $1,700 by Being a Craigslist Subletting Nomad
- 5 Ways to Use Craigslist to Save and Make Big Money
I generally have gone with EBay, but starting to find a lot more value in selling stuff on Amazon and Craigslist. Also, I really like some of the CD, book, and DVD trading sites out there. If you want something, you’re generally going to come out further ahead by using one of these methods versus selling and then buying.
When I was younger I was obsessed with Sailor Moon a Japanese Animation TV show. I collected all sorts of things that I personally see no more value in. However a lot of people still do. Fortunately I keep my stuff in very good or mint condition and it is selling for more today than when I had originally purchased it.
I posted my Canon GL1 video camera on Craigslist a few days ago on the Pittsburgh section and last night a guy drove all the way from DC (4 hour drive) because he needed it so badly! I think Craigslist is extra-powerful because people can access the info on multiple cities.
I paid off the last of my student loans by selling CD’s on Amazon. I also got to know the postal employees really well since I was in there every day shipping out 20 padded envelopes.
I recently sold stuff on craigslist, I think it’s a great place to get rid of things quick you don’t need.
I’ve had great luck selling CD’s on SecondSpin.com. They tell you immediately what price they will pay, then you print out their labels for your box and send them in. You can receive either cash or store credit (great way to buy CD’s also.).
For items that don’t quite go in the “donation” pile, Freecycle is awesome. You can also make requests to see if anyone is looking to freely give of something you’re seeking. Freecycle is localized by city like Craigslist, but has a more pleasant user base than the vultures that pounce on freebies on Craigslist.
http://www.freecycle.org/
I generally lean toward Ebay or Craigslist. For clothing I usually just donate to Goodwill. I have never sold anything via Amazon, but I don’t really have CD’s, movies, etc. that sell well there. I have done quite well selling my old textbooks on Half.com.
Great article. Thank you. I usually find it is a matter of how much time you want to dedicate to selling your stuff that determine where you want to sell. I agree what you said about craigslist being better for higher priced stuff because of the hassle and calls and door knocking involved. I have sold my dvds to mx123.com with success. They buy directly from you online. I would make more with amazon + ebay but they make it more convenient to sell everything at once.
I just found a great new way to sell stuff online via Twitter. By adding #ihave or #iwant in your tweet you can post directly in http://micro.ilist.com, it seems to work pretty great. Plus they apparently will match you with someone who wants the same thing you have or vise versa.
I had good luck selling used textbooks on half.com.
amazon has INSANE commision fees and ebay charges for every little detail they can. what goes for $50 one day may go for $20 exaxtly one day later. ugh
I agree with mali about amazon and ebay,i have had good results selling on craigslist.
I’ve been looking at various options for selling a postcard collection I have. I’m really interested in some of the alternative auction sites like ebid and bonanzle as they don’t charge the vast fees but I’d really like to hear some genuine opinions as to whether people really are finding buyers and achieving good prices outside of the big players like ebay.
I have sold my CD’s and dvds at http://www.selldvdsonline.com. Its pretty straight forward since you just enter the UPC code off the back of the CD and it gives you an instant quote. They are similar to the site Peggy mentioned, I have never used secondspin though.
Selling stuff on classifieds is a great way to make some extra cash. If you are not sure what it is worth, try http://www.ValueJockey.com. It is a free site where you can ask others what they think your stuff is worth. You can also help others by giving your opinion about there items.
I sell my stuff on Boogiboard.com. It’s a site that is local for me in Ontario. I’m digging stuff I don’t need out of my basement that I will post on Boogiboard hopefully turn into extra cash for Christmas.
E-commerce sites are one of the very useful tool that we can use nowadays for big or small business. I personally think Amazon is the top leading e-commerce now.
I also use BoogiBoard and Kijiji. Both services drive a lot of traffic to my website http://www.the-dojo.ca Kijiji is good because of the sheer number of people who use it, while BoogiBoard is good because it’s much more localized and the features that kijiji charges for I get for free on BoogiBoard (like being able to include a URL in my listing).
Both are great for me, if I had to choose between them I’d probably go for BoogiBoard first, just because of the added free features. I can track through my analytics exactly how much traffic I’m getting from them. The only issue with them is that they’re smaller, but it doesn’t really effect my goals, and maybe one day they’ll be a big service too.
You know another great site that is growing is http://www.coppermountainvillagemarket.com it is an awesome online consigment shop. It may be an online consignment store but it seriously has a ton of cool stuff cheap! If they have a rep in your area they even come pick up and list your stiff free and you can log in and cashout at any time. Pretty cool service really! I bought a new pair of Abercrombie and Fitch jeans on there yesterday for 8$. PS… I am not a spammer!
Great article, I recently posted on with similar advice. http://discretionarydollar.com/2010/01/cash-for-clutter/
Is it easy to sell on amazon? How do you list?
I just tried the selldvdsonline site that somebody mentioned above, and it was pretty disappointing. I keyed in the UPC codes of 6 DVD’s. It wouldn’t take four of them (“not buying now”), and it would only give me 56 or 57 cents for the other two. And there was something there about the seller paying shipping? I’ve already sold two of those same DVD’s on eBay.. just packing them up to go this morning. One of the “no sale” DVD’s I just sold for $4 on Ebay.
It’s easier and faster than eBay, but you’d have to have about 20 DVD’s that they are wiling to buy to get yourself 10 bucks.
I haven’t yet checked out selling on Amazon, however… A good project for today!
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