How to make hundreds selling unwanted stuff from your home
I am on a mad selling spree at the moment. Its the perfect time to declutter and sell your stuff that has been hanging around for far too long used and unwanted. Now is the time when people are looking for second hand Christmas gifts so prices will be good that you can get at auctions and everything should sell. Here are a few places to consider selling your stuff with a few top tips for each.
eBay
I have to start with eBay, the biggest market for selling stuff in the UK. It has a huge audience so you pretty much know that everything will sell. I have just sold 17 items on eBay in the past two weeks! Yes 17 items. I had a big stack of clothes that were living in a cupboard for months. All too big, but all designer label Ted Baker. I just needed to get into that selling mode and get it all listed. eBay is great for designer clothes or mid-designer names like Ted Baker, Jigsaw, Hobbs etc. My items sold for £300 after pay pal fees of 3%ish. I then had to pay out for postage of £50 and the eBay fees of £30. I am left with a nice £220 profit. Not bad for a load of clothes that I was never going to wear again.
You can sell pretty much anything on eBay but I find it works better for smaller items that weigh less than 2 kg and that you can easily post for £2.90 small package. Clothes and shoes work really well. Bags and electronics also work well. Children’s clothes work well.
There are alternatives to eBay including Debop, Gumtree and eBid. Maybe something to consider after the high selling fees from eBay.
Facebook For Sales Groups
I set my local Facebook group up three years ago knowing it would soon be a great alternative to eBay. The group is now 3000 strong and is a wonderful way to buy and sell locally. And hurrah no selling fees or postage costs! There is no auction facility so the price you say is most likely what you will get, unless you get someone trying to negotiate you down (which often happens!). Facebook items are great for selling bigger things, furniture and things that are bulky or heavy. I often see sofas, tables and chairs for sale on our Knebworth page.
Be prepared sometimes for hassle though as there is no company to back up the sales and you do get chancers who say they will buy then don’t show up to collect. Or those who offer you £10 for a £30 item. But it can be a really great way to support the local community particularly if you just want to give stuff away for free.
Auction Houses
For specialist items you might chose to use an auction house. A company such as BPI auctions offers a whole host of specialist auctions where they market your products to the perfect audience. They have auctions such as home & garden, cars, office furniture, even kitchens. They charge a commission of anything between 1 and 15% depending on the sale value of the item.
I have some paintings and autographed pictures that I want to send to auction. These are specialist items that I think will sell better at an auction so I will be investigating this option.
Specialist Sites
I have some designer bags that I wanted to sell and I wasn’t comfortable with selling them on eBay or any other of the way I have mentioned before. I was most excited to find this Designer exchange site who clearly states what they will give you for your designer bags and what they will sell them for. A quick search for my bags tells me that I should get at least £600 for them. Of course its no where near what I paid for them but its a good amount of money. They are a professional company that offer a really good service that feel a lot safer than eBay for high value items.
Which method of selling do you find most successful for you, share any big resale wins in the comments.
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