Sell Your Used Stuff Online!

If you have found your way here to The Thirty Something Student there is a pretty good chance you have also visited Man vs. Debt. One of the big ideas you hear over there is that how selling your crap can be freeing, as well as put a little extra cash in your pocket.

The more I read and thought about the idea the more I liked it. I already live in a fairly small home, so naturally a little more space sounds great, as well as a few extra bucks.

There are a few different options available when trying to sell your used stuff online.

Ebay-I have previous experience selling things on ebay, nothing like a power seller or anything like that, but small items like books and what not.

Amazon-Since I live in Illinois, Amazon is out of the question. I am bummed about this for more than one reason, but the powers that be leave me little choice. Turns out I was wrong about this. I am only unable to be an Amazon Associate. I can still sell my used stuff there, yipee!

Craigslist- I am yet to ever buy or sell anything on Craigslist,I finally did it! I am still very interested in it and have begun to search it fairly often to get a feel for it. Mr. Money Moustache swears by it for buying luxury items at a discount.

Garage Sales-I could host a garage sale in the spring or summer and try to sell a larger amount of goods. This is not really my first choice, or second, or third. It may be good for getting rid of knick knacks around the house for 25 cents but I think the other options allow for better marketing of your used items. Getting your product in front of the people who want it is half the battle.

For my purposes, I intend on focusing on Ebay and Craigslist. I know there are other options but I do not want to spread myself all over the place. I would rather focus on these two avenues and hopefully maximize my results.

So this is what I intend on doing. I am going to sell my used stuff that I don’t use anymore.

After every sell I make, if possible, I will link to the page or try and screenshot it. This way we will be able to see what worked or what didn’t work. There will be items that I might have overpriced or under-priced, but the way I see it, if I get paid for something that I do not use, it is a victory. I suppose they can be looked at as mini case studies.

I use to have somewhat of a book buying problem. Now I am much better at using the library, so I have a feeling I will be selling some of these in the future.

I am not going to go absolutely nuts with this, but I do want to unload some of the clutter. I also hope to help myself feel a little more detached from my possessions. I think this can go a long way.

Another benefit from selling my used stuff online is that my purchasing power will not diminish. Obviously some items appreciate with age, i.e. collectibles, but not everything is a collectible and therefore depreciates with age. By getting rid of these items I will be able to hold onto some of the power of my money. If, in the future I realize I simply cannot live without some item I sold, I will simply repurchase it. I highly doubt this will be the case though.

I think this will be a lot of fun and it will be a good way to un-clutter my home of stuff I don’t use and put a small dent into my student loans.

Have you used Ebay or Craigslist to sell your used stuff? Do you have any suggestions? Let me know.

Ian

The 30SS