Trade in Your Clutter for CASH!

Wouldn't it be great if you could turn your clutter into some good old-fashioned green cash? According to an eBay/Nielsen survey, the average American household has about $3000 worth of valuable items waiting to be cashed in! 

Of course you can sell pretty much anything on eBay, but Ladies Home Journal's August 2009 issue has a great article on what items fetch the most cash. Here's the scoop, according to LHJ:

• Used name-brand kids' clothing: All of those designer labels that your kids have outgrown will command a great price on eBay! At least your "investment" kind of holds its value this way.
• Vintage children's books: Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys books taking up some shelf space? Someone would love to take those off your hands.
• Kitchen equipment: Kitchen Aid stand mixers and other high-quality, small kitchen appliances are valuable to the eBay community. That is great news, as I have seen many a kitchen with too many gadgets they don't use! My favorite example of a superfluous kitchen gadget? A "Hello Kitty" waffle maker. Yes, really.
• Exercise equipment: Your treadmill no longer needs to burden itself holding up your clothing before it gets washed or hung in your closet! Let it go to a good home where someone will appreciate its true gifts.
• American Girl dolls: I don't have girls, so I missed out on this whole phenomenon. But if your daughters are older now and not sentimental about keeping these, someone would love to have them instead, so cash in!
• Used china: Evidently the strategy is to sell these by the piece, so that people can replace individual pieces in their collections, vs. selling the set as one lot together.
• Bridal gear: Great bridesmaids' dresses apparently sell very well, which makes sense given that they are only worn once and nobody likes to have them taking up closet space. This article specifically mentioned that J. Crew has bridesmaid dresses that really hold their value.
• Electronics: Many people don't like to be the "early adopters" and try out the latest stuff-- they are happy to let you do that first and then use your stuff when you move on to the next latest thing.
• Rock & roll memorabilia: Got some cool concert t-shirts from back in the day? They might be worth something!

If you don't have time or know-how to sell items on eBay, you can also try Craigslist.org which is a little more straightforward. You can also hire a savvy neighborhood teenager to do the listing and selling for you-- this is a great way for them to use those natural tech-skills and make a little pocket money too. You can tell them they get a percentage of what they sell, and you can consult with them on the specifics of the item description to help them out. (UPDATE: Commenter Lynne makes the excellent point that you need to trust the person helping you with your login information, etc. so that is important to note. Do take care to make sure you are working with someone you know well. I have done this successfully as have some of my clients, but as always, take care!)

What a deal-- lose some Clutter-Pounds(SM) from your home and get PAID too! Share your success stories in the comments!

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Comments

[Lynne]

It's not really as easy as it used to be any more. Ebay makes it very difficult to sell anything unless you are a retail entity. The buyers have the ability to rate the seller in numbers from 1-5, and any deviation can set your exposure to the public to the point of being completely extinguished. Just check the auctionbytes site for a section called "everyplaceIsell". There are numerous places you can set up and just list your items for almost no fee at all, and find others who sell similar items. Bonanzle seems to be a more user friendly site.
If you delegate to a teen, remember , these sites are restricted to kids under 18, there are adult items, and you will have to share passwords and login information as well as emails, etc. paypal, payment info, so, unless you feel 100% sure you can trust the person, I would be VERY careful with help from teens.
Used to be a big online seller, also antique dealer..now I'm stuck with way too much inventory in addition to years worth of my own "stuff"..yikes!

[Kerry Rego]

I supplemented my organizer income with selling items my clients didn't want or need. I did it for 2 years with eBay and CL. I did great but the market has absolutely TANKED in the last 6 months. I use eBay's "Complete Listings" feature to ascertain (much like Kelley Blue Book) an item's current value. This is helpful in dispelling myths about an items perceived value. If you see that your prized collector's item is only going for $4, you might think twice about spending hours of your time on the process. - Kerry @kregobiz P.S. If the manufacturer calls it a collector's item, everyone collected it too so there's no demand!

[Genny Esterline]

I used Craigs List to sell all of the unwanted furniture from my fiancee's home when we blended houses. It worked great. I made sure that I had someone with me whenever I had a prospective buyer.

EBay is a bit daunting for me. I have some very unique, and very heavy, dining room furniture that I would love to sell but the shipping aspect is more than I can deal with. One piece probably weighs as much as or more than a piano. (I tried Craigs List for these items and got the scammers each time. Red Flag immediately)

I have friends that go to thrift stores to seek out the "Finds" and then puts them on EBay. They are doing very well.

Genny
www.connectionsforwomen.com

[Mary Warren]

For large and/or heavy items to sell on ebay:

List them as Pick-up only. This works very well, especially around vacation times.

[Robin]

My Name is Robin and I am a hoarder. God. It sounds so AA. But I have to admit I have a problem. I keep "collecting things." At the moment I acquire it, I truly believe that THIS thing or book or CD, etc, is the thing I need to change my life. It doesn't. It just adds to the pile. For my grad school class, I have to do an inquiry project. Mine is on clutter-mine to be specific. I want to know why I do it, (why anyone does), and what I can do about it-permanently.

[Lorie Marrero]

Thank you, Robin, for sharing this with us. I hope you are watching the Hoarders show on A&E that just started airing on Monday nights. On their website there are some resources you can read about. As I was saying in my recent post about hoarding, I am NOT a hoarding expert, so I can’t really comment on why you’re doing it, but it’s wonderful that you are examining this and are ready and willing to make changes in your life. - Lorie