After a lifetime of building a home and a family, most of us do have a lot of stuff just lying around in the garage or the attic. The only way to get rid of this stuff is to just junk the items or sell them through a garage sale. But both options are not really worth it and they will not get you any detectable cash benefits.
The website Volusion states that no matter what you have stored away, the best place to recover the cost of your junk is by selling it online. The Internet is the best place to try as there will always be someone looking for what you have and they will pay you for it. All you have to do is ship the goods to the customer and collect your money.
How Do You Start?
The website Presta Shop recommends you start by assessing the goods you already have that you are trying to sell online. What type of items do you have? Remember, the Internet is a vast place and if you want to quickly find a place for selling online, you have to find targeted or niche websites. For example, if you want to sell gently-used everyday clothing, Craigslist is a great place to start, but there are other websites that will stock gently used designer clothing, shoes, and accessories for sale. However, the business website Business Week states that before you do this, you should have an accurate idea of what you have for sale and how much it is worth. It’s also a good idea to wash, iron, and repair clothing and dust and clean appliances and furniture before you list the products for sale. Once you have an accurate idea of the value of your items, you can then list the products on the right websites for quick sales.
Finding the Right Websites.
As already stated, there are several websites that list used products for sale, but you have to list the correct products on the right websites. Here is a list of the most popular resale websites online and what they deal in:
- Etsy – This is probably the most popular online website for handicrafts, vintage items, furniture, handmade accessories, etc. The exact process of listing products for sale is simple. Items have to be hand-made or over 20-years old, and sellers can set up an online store for free in ten minutes. The site itself charges a small fee but this is quite worth it. This is a good website if you have a large number of antiques for sale. In case you don’t have antiques or handmade items, you can list your clothing, and accessories for sale or swaps on websites like Recycle Your Fashion, Ex-boyfriend Jewelry, Threadflip, etc.
- eBay – This is another site that is great for antique items. List the products for sale in the form of an auction and bidders will compete with each other to buy your products. The site encourages escrow arrangements that will protect the buyer and seller and prevent deals from falling through. However, listing fees may be quite extensive and they should be considered before you list your product for sale. You should know though that eBay has started actively moving away from auction-based sales as this sale method has not managed to gather substantial profits for the website. Now, more than 52 percent of the sales on the website is through direct sales, and in the near future, eBay could convert entirely to a direct sale website. Users have already noticed this trend and almost 40 percent of eBay users have moved on to other auction-based websites like iOffer and eCrater. These websites offer auction-based sale arrangements for any product category and are turning out to be as good as eBay for direct sales.
- Classified ad websites like Craigslist and Kijiji are also great to list your products for sale. All you have to do is open an account, photograph your item, and list it for sale. These websites have no fees and the entire process is simple and easy. You can list almost anything for sale on both of these websites and there is no need for transaction fees or any website payments. A word of caution though; these websites are unsupervised and the sale is entirely dependent on the buyer and the seller. If the deal falls through or you get cheated, there is nothing you can do.
Basic Precautions
Although selling online is a great way to make a profit, the website Finance Fox points out that consumers should know that problems can happen at any time. Deals frequently fall through and problems can happen at any time. To ensure that you are protected, you should read through the terms and conditions of the sale website completely. Make sure that you have a clear idea of cost price, shipping rates, buying condition, return policies, and storage fees and rates before you list the product for sale or before you actually buy the product.
Image Source: Dices Cubes With The Words Sell Buy, Calculator, And Golden Coins. Financial Chart As Background.