If you have finally finished decluttering your home, you may be ready to celebrate. Yet the work isn’t done just yet. You might have put together a pile of items you want to move on, but if you don’t get rid of them as soon as possible, this opens up the possibility this clutter will find its way back into your home.
That will put you straight back to square one.
However, while you can donate items to a charity shop or take them to a recycling centre, there’s another route you should explore first: selling your possessions. Everyone is feeling the cost of living to some extent right now, so a little extra cash is always welcome. Plus, you might be surprised by how much you can raise with that clutter you simply want to shift.
To show you how to turn those unwanted possessions into money, here are some steps to follow:
Sell to a specialist buyer
Do you have any luxurious or rare possessions you want to sell? In that case, you won’t be struggling to find potential buyers. This is also the best place to start raising a healthy sum of cash. While there are different ways to sell such items – including via a traditional auction house or done privately – it is recommended to contact a specialist buyer who directly deals with the items you’re selling.
Say you have some desirable pieces of Chaumet jewellery you no longer wear. This is where it can pay off to contact a specialist jeweller willing to buy your pieces at a fair price and immediately. For example, you can sell Chaumet jewellery to Susannah Lovis Jewellers, recognised for paying the best prices for this brand. This makes it super simple and quick to move on your possessions and get a nice bundle of cash in the process.
Make use of eBay
It’s the original way to privately sell your goods online, and, in a lot of ways, remains the best place to do so. With eBay, you can sell virtually everything, and you have the power to set your prices. The platform also has a massive audience, which means there are potential buyers for even the most obscure niches.
There are two general ways to sell: Auction or Buy It Now. For the best method to shift items ASAP, you want to opt for Auction. You can set listings for just a single day. That means if you receive at least one bid in those 24 hours, your listing will be sold. It might not be the best way to maximise earnings, although that can change if you attract the interest of multiple bidders. Buy It Now gives you the option to set a specific price while adding “best offer” functionality allows potential buyers to make an offer on your goods.
Of course, it’s not all positive with eBay. There are fees you have to consider. You also have to handle all the postage and costs on your own. As a result, there are certain items – think low-cost goods – that may not be appropriate to sell on the platform.
Vinted
Vinted is an alternative to eBay, and it has fast grown in popularity. Even though it is mostly associated with selling and buying clothes, you can sell many different items on the platform – whether that’s toys, video games, DVDs and Blu-rays, electronic devices, or ornaments. It also has some notable advantages over eBay.
Firstly, you don’t have to pay any fees when selling on Vinted. Instead, the buyer is responsible for covering these fees. Furthermore, postage options with the platform make it easy to the point where you don’t have to think about printing off labels. That said, you’re unlikely to generate the best return from selling on Vinted.
Car boot sale/local fair
It’s far from the most glamorous. You’re also not going to generate big money on single items, as attendees are shopping around for bargains. Nevertheless, a car boot sale or local fair can be a great way to shift a lot of possessions fast. If you’ve already sold your most expensive items via the above methods, a car boot sale can be used to sell cheaper goods like DVDs, CDs, books, and clothing.
Remember you’ll have to pay a small site fee for your car. You will also have to get up early and spend an entire morning selling, so make sure to decide if it’s worth your time. Once you are done at the car boot, you could decide to donate the last of your possessions to finish your decluttering efforts.