Christopher S. Nelson 
Do you want a little extra to finance your holiday shopping? Consider selling items you already own. Selling your little used goods frees up space in your home and generates money.
As the pandemic continues to stifle the economy, nearly half of Americans plan to participate in some sort of parallel turmoil to fund vacation spending, according to a recent survey by the Harris Poll. Luckily for the time constraints, you don’t have to take a second job or take overtime at work to make money.
Selling items you already own has become a snap thanks to dozens of websites that cater to niche buyers and sellers. And while multipurpose sales sites like Craigslist and eBay can be useful, many niche sites sell things faster and with less hassle.
Most sales are done online. All you have to do is list what you have to sell and mail the item.
Clothes
Marykay Carota thinks Poshmark is the perfect place to sell used clothing. Carota started selling clothes six years ago, when she dropped 10 sizes after gastric bypass surgery. Her closet was full of beautiful things she couldn’t wear anymore, and she wanted to make room for her new wardrobe.
She first tried selling through eBay. But this service allows buyers a full month to return goods, and several buyers were clearly wearing Carota’s clothes before returning them, she said. So she turned to Poshmark.
Poshmark gives buyers only 72 hours to return items they believe have been misrepresented. Otherwise, sales are final. Better yet, Carota said, the site connects to your social media accounts, which has helped her plus-size clothes “fly out the door.”
She is still on site, selling her own second-hand clothes as well as items she collects from thrift stores. In a typical month, she earns between $ 900 and $ 2,000, she said.
Another plus: Poshmark provides the shipping costs.
Two other sites – Mercari and the RealReal – are also marketed as clothing markets. However, SideHusl do not recommend them.
Mercari is hassled with complaints about fraudulent buyers and a system that does little to discourage them. RealReal charges big commissions and pushes sellers to lower their prices to accommodate bargain hunters. RealReal also gives itself the power to reduce your goods by up to 20%.
Furniture
When it comes to selling furniture, Sally Clary prefers Facebook Marketplace. The appeal is simple: The buyers are local and are mostly either your friends or the friends of your friends, she said. For large items such as furniture, the final sale is usually done in person. Being part of the same group of friends as the buyer makes the sale less risky, she said.
“I tried to sell on OfferUp“Said Clary.” But I didn’t have a lot of traction and I felt less secure. On Facebook, because you’re linked to your profile, the person knows who you are. There seems to be a lot more to it. courtesy.
Clary recently sold all of the furniture she had in her Santa Monica apartment to make her move to Austin, Texas easier. The whole process took a week, she said, and she didn’t have to cut items down sharply to sell quickly.
Like Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace doesn’t charge a fee for a single ad. The site only charges to “boost” an ad in order to increase the number of people who view it. Boosts cost as little as $ 1 and have a big effect, Clary said. When she decided to sell her bike on her last day in Los Angeles, she spent $ 1 to increase the list. The bike sold out within hours.
Art
The best place to sell art depends on the type of artwork it is. If you’re selling cheap art that you had on your walls, a local site like Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace is probably your best bet. But if you are selling expensive works of art, it would be wise to go through a reputable dealer or auction house such as Sotheby’s.
What if you’re not sure if it’s high-end art? Have the room assessed. After all, you don’t want to be the idiot who sold a $ 9 million Jackson Pollock painting for $ 5.
What if you wanted to sell the art you created? Take a two-pronged approach. If you are a professional artist, you should build a website to market your originals. You can also register with print-on-demand sites, such as Company6 and Redbubble, who will put your art on coffee mugs, iPhone cases, t-shirts and hoodies and pay you a royalty on each sale for providing the design.
Books
If you have textbooks, the best place to sell them is probably BookScouter, a marketplace that helps you find a competitive price. AbeBooks, meanwhile, is a market for rare and out of print texts.
What about widely published paperbacks and hard covers? If you have access to a used book seller or a local garage sale, these are your best bets. Failing that, you can donate them to your local library and get a tax deduction for the value of the garage sale.
There is also Decluttering, which promises to buy a wide array of items, including books and videos, but has a reputation for losing shipments and paying less than promised.
China and crystal
A company called Substitutes supposedly helps people sell classic porcelain and crystal. However, SideHusl does not recommend this site. Too many consumers complain that the site foregoes offers to buy once the goods have been sent, which significantly reduces the purchase price. And shipping breakable items is hard to do inexpensively.
However, this is an area where versatile sites such as eBay and Amazon can shine. These sites are marketed all over the world, increasing the chances of finding a buyer who is looking for your exact model.
Both sites charge sales commissions and fees. You are also responsible for shipping the item securely. However, if you have branded glassware, these sites are likely to get you the best price.
Electronic
If you are selling a smartphone, electronic device, or game, Swappa can put you in touch with people who want to buy it. The consumer-to-consumer model is likely to get sellers the best price. However, a number of resellers may also be interested in purchasing. For a full explanation on how to sell used electronics, check out our recent blog post. “The best sites to sell a cell phone.”
Jewelry
When Tammy, a New York recruiter, ended her 10-year marriage, she decided whether or not to keep her diamond engagement ring. She ultimately decided that the $ 17,000 ring was too valuable to sit in a drawer.
She signed up with Worthy and was immediately assigned a personal representative, who explained the sales process.
“Rachel was really empathetic,” Tammy said. “Even though it’s just a ring, there is a psychological connection that was difficult to get rid of.”
Worthy was trained specifically to handle the resale of wedding and engagement rings after the relationship ends. While it’s rare to get the full estimated value of any second-hand jewelry, the site is one of two sites recommended by SideHusl for providing fair prices and reasonable terms. The other, About, also has a handful of brick and mortar desks where you can bring in some beautiful jewelry for an appraisal.
Jewelry can also be sold in person at many local jewelry retailers.
It is wise to get multiple offers when selling an expensive item. Jewelry typically sells for between 40% and 60% of its appraised value, depending on the stone, setting, and buyer. Local jewelers often sell to high end customers. If they have a client with your taste for gemstones, this may be the perfect option. Otherwise, online shopping sites cast a wider net.
Wedding dress
Among the pandemic’s many mini-tragedies are canceled wedding celebrations. Financial services firm Loanry estimates that one in 10 couples who are planning a wedding in 2020 are still repay loans for weddings they had to cancel.
Wedding dresses are a major expense that can rarely be returned or reimbursed. However, brides can resell their wedding attire on a handful of sites, such as Occasion wedding dresses, Always white and OnceSea. All three sites charge a relatively modest fee – $ 20 to $ 30 – for advertising a dress. And the list stays active for at least a year – that’s important, because wedding dresses don’t sell overnight.
Kristof is the editor of SideHusl.com, an independent site that reviews hundreds of lucrative opportunities in the concert economy.
