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How to Make Money From Your Spring Cleaning?

by Jerry JuaMaking Money

Aug 15, 2020

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Last year I did some spring cleaning, so this year I thought I’d write this helpful article about how you can make money from spring cleaning.

So, how do you make money from your spring cleaning? The main way is to sell unwanted items. The best place to sell used items is an online marketplace.

There are a few tips for selling on an online marketplace that you should be aware of. I will also list additional ways to sell your items, in case you have a preference.

Where can I sell items I found while spring cleaning?

You want to list them on an online marketplace. If you do, you will have the best chance of getting the highest price you can.

Other options, such as having a yard sale or donating them to charity, give you a reasonable return. But, selling them through a website will get you more cash.

This website sheepbuy.com is an online marketplace where you can list items for free. You don’t have to pay any selling or hidden fees. It is an easy to use platform. You should give it a try by clicking here to go to the registration page.

An online marketplace will show your listings to lots of people.

You can increase the number of eyeballs on your listings by putting them on multiple online platforms. Just be careful not to sell the same items twice as this will annoy your customers.

Continue reading to find out exactly what other websites you can list your items on.

Sell clothes through consignment stores.

One of the most popular is ThredUp.com. They inspect, photograph, list, and ship. They then give you a percentage of the sale. Other consignment stores that you can choose from are:

*Provided by Millenialmoney.com

The clothes can’t be stained or have rips and custom alterations. Consignment stores have unique policies for what clothes they accept.

They can have better markets for specific items. For example, some of the consignment stores might have a bigger audience for baby clothes.

You should look at the requirements and how the collection process works to find the best solution to declutter your house.

Sell used electronics on specialist websites.

Suppose you’re not going to list your items on an online marketplace. In that case, you can also sell on many specialist electronics websites.

I have summarised the data provided by Frugalforless.com in the table below. It shows where you can get the best price for your electronics. He used an unlocked Samsung Galaxy 32GB S7 in ‘good condition’ as the test device.

Rating	Website	Price they will buy a Samsung Galaxy S7 from you
1	Ebay	$180 to $270
2	Sellcell	$140 to $218
3	ItsWorthMore	$155
4	USell	$153
5	Amazon Trade in	$150
6	BuybackWorld	$150
7	Craigslist	Up to you around $150
8	Facebook	Up to you around $150
9	Nextworth	$140
10	Gazelle	$140

As you can see, the top 3 websites to sell your electronics are eBay, Sellcell, and Itsworth. The price you can get for your electronics is about the same.

Have a yard sale

Yard Sales are a traditional way of making money from spring cleaning items. Most people that go to them expect the items to be priced to clear.

Individuals also make money by going to yard sales. They will look to buy in bulk or buy rare items and cheap items for resale.

You want to announce your yard sale ahead of time to stir up excitement. If you put up a sign on the day of, you will get fewer customers.

Tips for having a yard sale

Look into having a community garage sale.

Team up with someone else in your community to generate more interest in your yard sale. Suppose people know there will be various households having a garage sale in the same neighborhood. In that case, buyers will be more excited to go because the chances of finding something awesome are better.

Gather supplies

You can get some cheap pricing stickers or post-it notes. Keep track of them in a separate notebook.

Below, I will give you a pricing sheet for some recommendations on how much to charge for the items you found when spring cleaning.
You will also need some change when people pay with cash.

Organize your items

It’s hard to throw out some items, even though we rarely use them. The clutter builds up over time until enough is enough.

When spring cleaning, decide which items you want to keep, throw away, or resell. If you are holding an item, find a place where it will stay permanently.

Items that you will sell, organize them by category, and decide how you would like to display them to the public. For example, you can display clothes in three different forms:

Trash bag
Folded on table
A Portable Garment Rack

You can bundle up your clothes in a trash bag, not recommended. The price would significantly lower, and buyers might not purchase because they do not know what’s inside the bag. You can place them folded on a table, which is also not recommended because everybody will be unfolding, making a mess, and having you work double. Lastly, you can display them on a portable garment rack, most recommended. Clothes are easy to see, captivate more views and sales.

Pricing your yard sale items

You don’t want to make the mistake of pricing your items too expensive. If you are unsure, you should ask a friend to come over and ask them what they would pay for it.

Here are some average prices to give you an idea:

Item	Price range
Shoes	$4 to $7
Books – hardcover	$1 to $2
Books – paperback	$0.25 to $0.50
Toys and games	$1 to $3
Furniture – low quality	$10 to $30
Furniture – high-quality	Less than 30% of retail
CDs, DVDs, and Blu-ray discs	$3 to $5
Jewelry (unappraised)	$0.50 to $2
Home Decor	$3 to $5
Baby clothes	$1 to $3. Less for worn items.

Local community events to sell your unwanted items.

Some regions have frequent local markets. They are organized by churches, charities, and other non-profit organizations. If you keep an eye out in your community and ask around, you can find out when and how to participate.

You could organize your event and create a Facebook page for it. Or promote it to your family and friends to spread the word.

Get a tax deduction for donations.

When you donate your items to Goodwill, the Salvation Army, or similar organization, you can get a tax deduction. The way it works for each municipality is different.

You should check with your accountant or do a Google search for the laws in your region.

Rather than paying the total amount of tax for a given year, you can pay less. That means you can keep a percentage of the tax you would usually pay. It can be worthwhile each time you spring clean to donate unwanted items.

It increases the bottom line for the thrift store because they can sell them at a 100% markup.

You should be on the lookout for charities that aren’t credible. You can search for the charity name to see if they are reputable by going to Charitynavigator.org. Many charities will also give you an estimate of the tax deduction if you contact their support team via email or give them a call.

Amazinggoodwill.com wrote an article which explains the IRS guidelines, which you can read by clicking here.

Post your items in your social media newsfeed

This is one of the easiest ways to get rid of items you find when spring cleaning. Just post up the item and ask for offers. Or put a fixed price. If nothing else, it keeps your friends updated on what you have been doing.

Consider which of your items each friend might be interested in, and tag them in the post. You can list items individually once a week or so. Alternatively, you could list four to five items at once.

Post on your community

Post them on your local supermarkets, shopping malls, and parks. You can list your price ranges and a contact number or email. It is a simple and effective alternative to online methods.

How much should I charge for my used items?

You should check out our full-length article on How Can You Determine the Resale Value of an Item in a Thrift Store? It covers how to use eBay to determine the price of your used items.

A general estimate is the 50, 30, 10 rule. It says that you should charge 50% of nearly new items. 30% for items that are slightly used, and 10% for heavily used items, according to apartmenttherapy.com.

How long will it take to sell items?

The time it takes is dependent on where you listed it, how in-demand your items are, and how well you created the listing.

The previous methods require different timeframes to complete. For example, if you are selling at a local market, you will have to wait until Sunday or whatever day the market is.

So, it would take about a week until people will see your products. But, if you spread the word within your community, you could begin getting inquiries immediately.

Sometimes you can make a quick sale when you put them on social media. Most people have their notifications turned on, so they will see your post immediately. They might message you right away.

If it takes a long time to sell your items -over two weeks- you should look at your strategy and adjust it. Whatever method you are using is not working. So, you need to experiment with others. You need to put your listings where lots of people will see it.

The more people see it, the faster they will sell. However, you might have listed your items very well and have traffic but are too expensive. So, ask a friend or family member about it and get their feedback.

Many times, we can miss something significant that is stopping us from getting our used items sold.

Conclusion

You can make money spring cleaning by selling your used items. Places to sell your used items include yard sales, social media, online marketplaces, and by talking with your neighbors and community. Once you sold an item online, for example, you can get a testimonial. A good rating goes a long way in getting people to trust you, which increases sales.