The Best Things in Your House to Sell for Parts
Chances are you have a lot of stuff in your home. Possibly in storage. Or maybe in your parents’ house, at your ex’s, or freely scattered around the globe. We all accumulate a ton of stuff over the course of our lives—it’s estimated that the average home has around 300,000 items if you count all the little things, like the bowl of paper clips on your desk.
Every once in a while, you get the idea of cleaning it all out and maybe selling some of it to get rid of all that clutter while making a tidy profit on things you don’t even use anymore. If you’re in this mode right now, consider splitting up some of your items rather than just selling them all, because you can potentially make a lot more money that way.
What does it mean to break up?
“Unbundling” is the process of taking something apart and selling the individual parts, which often have their own value. If someone has an old car that won’t start because it needs a part replaced, they probably won’t want to buy the whole car to replace it, although they could just buy the part they need, and are often willing to pay more. for comfort.
Dividing assets isn’t always easy: doing it effectively takes time, effort, and some knowledge (in many cases, not to mention specific tools). But if you have a bunch of unused items lying around, consider what might be worth getting rid of rather than just throwing it on eBay as is. You can share almost anything – if it has parts, there’s a good chance someone somewhere is looking for it – but not everything will be worth your time and effort if you don’t intend to turn it into a business. For example, taking apart vacuum cleaners can be lucrative , but it requires a lot of work, and taking apart an old vacuum when it stops working isn’t necessarily worth it.
The easiest way to find out if any of the parts in your junk are worth it is to go to eBay and search there – this can also give you an idea of the prices you can charge for the parts and whether the potential profit is worth your time . There are also often dedicated forums or marketplaces on the Internet dedicated to various parts, so it’s worth searching Google for those as well to see if your parts are in demand.
Vehicles
Cars are by far the most common thing that is sold for parts. People are keeping their cars longer than ever , and parts for them are in short supply , driving up their cost. And if you have an old antique car rusting away in your garage, some of these parts can cost some serious money . Even non-vintage car parts can net you some money—depending on the mileage, condition, and make and model of the car, the engine itself can cost $500 or more , while airbags can cost $150–$200. If you have the tools, time and experience to disassemble a car (or motorcycle, or even a bicycle), you can determine the estimated value of each part and compare it to the price you would receive for selling the entire car. .
Computers
If you have a computer, be it a fancy desktop gaming machine, a cheap Chromebook, or even a Mac, you can share it. Between hobbyists building their own machines and thrifters trying to keep an old warhorse running, there’s a lot of demand for many of your home computer components—and plenty of places to sell them . While some of these components require some tools and knowledge to remove, others, such as the RAM modules and graphics card, are fairly easy to remove with a screwdriver and some patience.
Laptops can be more complex due to their compact size; Many laptop components are soldered or very difficult to access. But if your laptop still doesn’t work, it’s still worth taking the time to gather spare parts. Searching the Internet for your specific computer model and seeing what parts people are looking for or selling will give you an idea of what’s worth salvaging from that old computer.
Board games
If you have a pile of old board games in your garage or basement, don’t throw them away—they can be quite valuable to collectors and enthusiasts. And they’ll make more money if you split them up , because people often miss the original parts of an old game bought at a garage sale or found in a basement or garage. In fact, eBay has a special section dedicated to board game items where you can see what you can make. Most of these parts don’t sell for a ton of money on their own, but you can make more money by disassembling this old game than by selling it as a whole.
Electric guitars
Tuning a guitar requires knowledge and skill. To disassemble the electric guitar, you will need a screwdriver. As with everything else on this list, unless your guitar is a classic vintage ax that can fetch a lot of money, it’s usually a better deal to part with a beat-up old electric guitar by selling everything from the neck to the humbuckers separately on eBay or another online site. trading platform . Many musicians want to build their own guitars from certain parts or need to replace worn parts on their guitars and want to save some money by doing the job themselves (or are having trouble finding a rare part), and you can benefit from this.
LEGO parts
People who love LEGO take it seriously . As you can imagine, building a complex LEGO set only to find that you’re missing a few pieces – or, worst of all, one piece – is incredibly frustrating. That’s why there are sites like Bricklink where you can find and buy LEGO parts. If you have LEGO sets you want to sell, you can use Bricklink to find out the estimated cost of a piece , which can be surprisingly high.