If you’re like most people, you probably have piles and piles of junk sitting around your home that you never seem to use. These things are an endless stream of clutter and are disruptive to our daily lives. However, with all of this clutter comes endless possibility. You won’t believe how many places there are to make money off of your old things. The first step to cashing in your unwanted stuff for the big bucks is to get organized. Read on and see how you can gain some extra spending money this month.
Get Organized
The first step to making money off of your clutter is to get everything organized and decluttered. Go through each of your rooms and decide whether or not you really need, or want, each item. You’ll be surprised at how many things have piled up over the years. Organize everything into boxes: sell, keep and store.
Once you’ve gotten organized, return anything to its rightful place that you want to store (or take this opportunity for a room-makeover). Then, head to your storage unit and put all of the things you want to store away. After you’ve taken these steps and you’re left with your boxes of clutter that you want to sell, you’re ready to begin.
Be Smart
The first thing to keep in mind when selling your clutter is that you need to be smart about it. Don’t try and sell holiday decorations right after the holidays have passed and never try and sell summer clothing in the middle of the winter. There won’t be a market for it and you’ll just waste your time. Sell seasonally for the best results. While you’re waiting for the season to come, you can store all of your ready-to-sell clutter in your storage unit. The Lock Up Self Storage offers affordable, climate controlled units for every budget.
Next, you should reserve your big-ticket items for the big-ticket sites. Think Craigslist, Amazon and eBay for large, expensive items and certain collector’s items that are high in value. However, if you have a bunch of clothes, don’t bother putting each individual shirt on as its own listing. The cash return is not worth the time.
Finally, don’t underestimate the value of your items. Do some research and know what they’re worth. You never know what that creepy old china doll could go for.
Sell Your Clutter
Luckily, we no longer live in the days where garage sales are the only way to sell unwanted goods. Now, with the Internet, selling your clutter has never been easier. Most of the time all it takes is a few pictures here and a couple of clicks there for your posting to be active and visible to thousands of potential buyers. Check out some of our favorite ways to make money off of your clutter below.
Tell Your Friends
The best way to kick off your efforts of selling the things you don’t need is to tell your friends. You never know what they’re looking for until you ask and it’s much easier than creating listings on numerous different sites. Post a quick status on your Facebook, take a Snapchat video or simply send out some texts. Even though it’s old in your hands, it will be new in theirs.
Garage and Yard Sales
As we mentioned, we no longer live in a time where we need to have garage sales or yard sales in order to sell our things, but that doesn’t mean we can’t. In fact, a lot of people enjoy setting up their sales and being able to relax while things slowly disappear. You can sell anything you want, within legal boundaries of course, at garage and yard sales and it takes much less energy than creating individual postings for each items. If you plan on hosting an annual garage/yard sale, rent a storage unit throughout the year so you have a place to keep everything until the time comes. It’s a great way to keep your home clutter free and your items safe and undamaged.
Consignment Shops
The next place that you can take your clutter to make money is to consignment shops in your area. A consignment shop is a place that will essentially sell your items for you, but they do take a certain percentage of each sale. The best part about these is that you can simply drop off your things and let someone else do the work. Since they are a more reputable seller, they also have a better chance of selling your things for better prices. These shops are great for baby and children’s clothes and toys along with any other items you don’t think you’ll get good prices for individually. If you don’t have any consignment shops around you, do some research or stick to online sales.
A wise word of caution regarding consignment shops is to make sure that you fully read the Terms and Conditions that they have at the bottom. This is where they will list details about rejected or unsold items along with any hidden costs. Make sure you know what you’re signing before you start selling!
Sell Old Technology
The next big step that you should take is gathering up all of the technology that you and your family no longer use. While we understand that a lot of people tend to hoard these, just in case, it’s usually unnecessary. If something happens to your phone or computer, it’s very unlikely that you’ll take a downgrade and use your old devices. In fact some of them might even be impossible to use anymore. For instance, older iPhones have a different sized SIM card, which could end up costing more money to reactivate than to simply fix your broken phone. Free up some space and get rid of the tangle of wires sitting in your desk drawer by selling your old technology for cash.
A few places to check out are Gazelle and Envirofone, both of which will buy your old electronics off of you hassle free. The newer your technology is, the more money you’ll make.
Online Marketplaces and Apps
Finally, there are hundreds of different online marketplaces and applications that you can use or download for free. Check out our list of some of our favorite re-sale sites below:
- Amazon
- eBay
- Facebook Marketplace
- Bonanza
- Etsy
- Online forums
- Craigslist
- Let Go
- OfferUp
- DeCluttr – for old CDs and DVDs
- BookScouter – find the best resale price of any book
- ThredUp – online consignment store for clothes
Recycling Centers
If you have a few items that have seen better days, consider heading to a recycling center. There are a ton of different manufacturers out there that will post incentives for recycling certain products. Some of these incentives include everything from discounts to a slightly newer, working version. If you’re in the construction business and have scrap metal lying in a unit somewhere, take it to the junkyard for a satisfying return. As an added bonus, you’ll free up a ton of space in your storage unit.
Donation
Finally, some things just won’t sell online or will have such low offering prices that it’s not worth the hassle. Keep a few boxes of items that you can’t sell in your storage unit and continually add to them throughout the year. Then, as the holidays approach, take your boxes to your nearest legally established donation center. Doing so will help you lower your taxable income and allow people who are less fortunate to buy your things at a highly discounted rate. Just make sure that you ask your donation center for a receipt so that you can use it when you file your tax forms the following year.
At the end of the day, however you choose to handle your stuff is your own choice. However, this list offers some of the best ways to make money off of your clutter and we hope that it will help with your endeavors. If you are starting this process and realize that you are running out of space, look into renting a self-storage unit like those at The Lock Up Self Storage. It is a great space to use for seasonal items, antiques and more. All of the units at The Lock Up are climate control, affordable and secure. With 24 hour video monitoring and perimeter alarms, you can be sure that your things are in good hands. Visit us at www.thelockup.com today to browse the available self storage units in your area today.
