The Best Places to Sell Your Junk
This month we invited you to make some pocket money by cleaning out your toilets and selling junk. However, you might be wondering exactly where to sell this junk. Don’t tie your old unnecessary panties in a knot. We got you covered.
Clothing: eBay or thrift store
eBay, of course, was a marketplace for everything from Beanie Babies to clothing and rare vintage items. However, as one reader asked:
Indeed, listing fees on eBay are complex and they can charge up to 10% of the sale price of your item. However, it is cheaper than some of the most popular apparel selling apps. For example, Poshmark’s commission is 20% on orders over $ 15. This means it will cost you $ 4 to sell a $ 20 shirt on Poshmark, compared to $ 1.83 on eBay. (Since their fees vary so much, here’s a handy fee calculator on eBay .) If you only have a few items, I still think eBay is the best choice for clothing.
If you have bulk items to sell, consignment stores like Plato’s Closet or Buffalo Exchange are probably the best place to save time. Yes, they charge a huge percentage of the commission ( Consumer Reports says up to 50% ), but you sell everything at once.
Buffalo Exchange even has amail-order program where they send you a box of clothes to fill out, you mail it, they choose what they want and pay you. Again, you can make more selling 10-20 individual items on eBay, but the trade-off is your time, which is also valuable.
Electronics: Amazon or Swappa
When we asked you what is the best site to sell your stuff , many of you voted on Amazon. One of the biggest pluses is its huge user base. Chances are, almost everyone you know buys Amazon. However, your mileage will vary by product. You will probably have better luck with expensive items that people are likely to compare to, for example, electronics.
Amazon is great for high-value items like electronics because when people search for that item, your items are listed for sale along with new versions. Therefore, if you are selling your used Canon 5D, shoppers viewing that item will be able to see “new and used” versions at a much lower price point.
Don’t worry, you don’t need the $ 39.99 / month Amazon Professional Sales plan to start selling used items on the site. Their free plan will charge you $ 0.99 when selling your item, plus a few other fees that vary depending on how much your item is selling and what the item is. Amazon is very similar to eBay in that its commission schedule is very confusing, but this Amazon calculator will break it all for you. For electronics they take:
- 15% on a portion of the total sales price up to USD 100; and
- 8% on any portion of the total sales price in excess of US $ 100.
Swappa is another online marketplace reader ranked in the top 5 places to sell . They charge a low, flat fee if your item is on sale. (if less than $ 50, no fee!) Most of their products are smartphones and tablets, but they also sell games, laptops, watches, and VR kits. To start selling, you simply confirm your account, take some photos, and post your ad. The device must be approved by Swappa staff to ensure that it is clean and marketable.
If you’re looking for an even easier option, try Gone or Glyde . Both sites look at your gadget, find a buyer for you, and make you an offer. If you accept the offer, they’ll send you a prepaid shipping box so you can just drop your item in the box and then throw the box away in the mail. Glyde takes 15% of the item’s sale price, while Gone claims to cover commissions ranging from 7% to 20%. Yes, this is a big part of your sale, but the process is very simple.
Books: BookScouter
Ah, I remember the days when Half.com sold used textbooks for beer money (or tuition fees). But Half.com is no longer there, so where can a book-laden college student turn to?
Bookscouter is a decent alternative, although it works a little differently than most merchandise sites. You are not selling directly through Bookscouter. You’re looking for the book you want to sell, and Bookscouter searches their database of book buyback sites to see which one pays you the most. Select the seller you want to sell to and Bookscouter will redirect you to their website. Most sellers will provide you with a prepaid label to ship your book, and Bookscouter does not charge you any commission.
However, this works best if you have multiple books to sell, because many of these buyback sites have a minimum buyback payment, usually between $ 5 and $ 10.
Amazon Trade-In is another decent option (and not on the Bookscouter list). You will not receive cash for the book, but you can exchange it for an Amazon Gift Card. Based on my own unscientific research, Amazon Trade-In offers were slightly lower than many of the vendors listed on Bookscouter, but not by much.
Furniture: Craigslist
Furniture delivery tends to be a huge hassle and probably not worth it, which is why the old Craigslist backup is probably the easiest place to unload your coffee table or sofa for most of the money.
Craigslist’s user base is huge and I don’t think I’ve ever listed a single item on Craigslist that didn’t sell. There are no fees, it’s easy to list, and you can name your own price with less competition since it’s local.
Of course, there are also downsides. You have to arrange pickup or delivery, that is, carry this furniture yourself or let a stranger into your house. Some quick safety tips: Meet the buyer in a public place (consider police “safe zones” ), take a friend or two with you, and only accept cash.
Everything else: Facebook
Don’t forget Facebook. They are full of local buy-sell-trade groups for anything you might need to sell. Some of them have rules prohibiting the sale of clothing and other items, but most of them allow household appliances, furniture, gadgets, cars and other goods.
Some of these groups are public, and private groups may require proof of your identity and address. Like Craigslist, everything is local, you can set your own price and no commissions.
Finally, if you have too much junk and not enough time to sell it all, there is always a good old-fashioned sale. Sure, you have to deal with strangers all day, but think about how nice it would be to unload all this junk at once and enjoy your clean cabinets.