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I have heard that eBay and Craigslist have loads of deals as people sell off gifts post-holiday season. This is a good time to clear out your closets. Take an inventory. You’d be surprised at what you can sell. Here are some items to sell to make some money and pay off some bills.
eBay:
Books - lots of competition but I have sold craft books and other specialty books. In the US, you can ship by media rate.
Gadgets - perhaps a gift that you never used
Unopened makeup - MAC cosmetics and other popular brands are in demand, particularly on colours that are in short supply. Do a completed auction search under “cosmetic lot” or “makeup lot” and you’ll be surprised at how much these lots go for.
Magazines like Martha Stewart - put them in lots like Thanksgiving or Christmas and they sell better
Collectibles like Royal Doulton and limited edition plates sell well. There’s a large audience on eBay looking for these. I once paid for a resort weekend selling a few items.
Craigslist:
Furniture - take good photos and measure height, width and depth. Be honest about condition. Don’t get greedy. Easier than eBay because no shipping required.
Jewelry - the better the photo, the easier to sell. Jewelry depreciates heavily after you leave the store. Consider doing costume jewelry *lots*. I bought a 15-ring lot for $10 including shipping on eBay, kept two rings and sold the other 13 rings for $15 on Craigslist.
Baby and kid stuff - clean well and describe them in detail. I have friends who have bought the bulk of their kid’s needs from Craigslist.
Tools - make sure they’re clean and in good working order. Describe them well.
Musical instruments - perhaps a flute from high school could be sold.
Material and building supplies (your extra patio stones, bricks, flooring, lumber)
Filing cabinets and office equipment
DVDs, CDs - list out what you have and how much you want for them.
Bigger stuff that doesn’t need to be shipped sells better on Craigslist. I find people like to examine tools and electronics in person to see that that they work.
When you do a search for an item on Craigslist, look at items selling 2-3 weeks earlier. Chances are, if the item didn’t sell right away, the person will be more willing to drop their price and get rid of the item. I was looking for a small utility trailer and found one on Craigslist listed almost a month earlier. I asked if it was still available and when I received a “yes” back, I offered him half of what he was asking. He said okay.
Similarly, grab last week’s (or older) copy of your local classified newspaper section and look for items. If it hasn’t sold, the person may be motivated to sell rather than re-list their ad.
Know what the item is worth because there are reasons why an item will languish on Craigslist or Kijiji.
Every minute, people list thousands of items on eBay and Craigslist. Because of this number, misspellings are pretty common and you can score deals on items that people just can’t find.
There are even websites that help you find alternate spellings:
http://www.typobuddy.com
http://www.auctionbloopers.com
http://www.missing-auctions.com
I searched the word “surger” to find a serger (a type of sewing machine that makes nice finished seams).
Cashmeer for cashmere, Del for Dell, expresso for espresso when buying a cappuccino machine (try cappucino as an alternative spelling), Exbox, Kichenaid, Meile, – the list goes on and on.
Make sure you’re not buying some weird factory’s version of “Addidas” that’s a cheap knockoff.
Works for both Craigslist and eBay.
I wanted to play Tribond (the board game) over the Christmas holidays. You know, the one where you’re given three items and you have to cough up the common thread. Examples:
What do these 3 have in common?
Eggs, Eyes, A Load of Laundry … They have whites
Florida, A Locksmith, A Piano … They have keys
Buffaloes, Cellular Phones, Nomads … They roam
I checked out We Be Toys (aka Toys R Us) and Chapters Bookstore and the game is $39.95. Eeek.
Over to Craigslist. Now, I wasn’t planning on buying five other board games but I got Tribond (the original target), Mastermind, Trivial Pursuit, Mousetrap and two others that are still in my car — for $25 ! All in good shape with all the little, tiny pieces. Now, don’t do what I did and slam on the brakes at a light and have all the games fly towards you from the back seat. Fortunately, none of them opened.
Good luck in your hunt.
I have Craigslist bookmarked and I visit it almost every day. I have bought and sold many things.
I have sold:
An imitation antique desk, comforters, a microwave, picnic tables, a plant (given away), a keyboard, software, electric meters, a mailbox, car parts, a countertop in the basement (another giveaway), tires, a couch, another couch, Blue Jays tickets, golf balls, Season 2 of the TV show “24″, collector plates, a commercial refrigerator, oak cupboard doors and a TV. Posted now is my 2001 Toyota Echo, a commercial lawn mower and a free desk.
I have bought:
A couch, two used cats, two armchairs (not for the cats), Xmas decorations, pine chairs for our cabins here at the campground, a serger, a cell phone still on contract but transferred to me, bedding and many dictionaries.
After I saw a Craigslist ad from a TV show looking for house with a ghost, we had a film crew and a medium come here and communicate with the attic ghost on this 1796 house that we live in.
I love Craigslist.
Let’s say you are short money. You need to come up with $500-1000. Car broke down or you had some unexpected expenses. Where can you get money fast?
I would sell items around the house. Most of you have DVDs or CDs you could sell on eBay or Craigslist right now. Clothing, tools, lawn furniture, toys, plants, jewelry, pictures, books, decorations, magazines. I once had two seasons of the TV show “24” and they sold the same night that I listed them on Craigslist. I saw one gal had all of her Martha Stewart magazines for sale on eBay but she had categorized them in lots of Halloween issues and Christmas issues so they sold for a LOT more money.
You could have a yard sale. Go through your closets and basement. You can even advertise yard sales for free on Craigslist or Kijiji.
I’ve bought and sold on both. Craigslist has the advantage that it’s free to sell your things but you may have to talk to loads of people and have them come to your home to pick up the object. Many people email and then seem to evaporate. No shipping involved though. I’ve found that larger objects like furniture work better on Craigslist. I’ve bought boxes of books including dictionaries on Craigslist. There’s a lot of overpriced stuff on Craigslist.
I’m wary of buying anything that is electronic on eBay. I bought a transcribing machine years ago on eBay and it worked for a few months and then died. I would have been better off buying a new one with a warranty. You can’t go and see what you’re buying on eBay and you have to trust the buyer and the photo. On eBay, I sold a lot of my mother’s collectibles – Danish plates and Royal Doulton. There are a lot of collectors on eBay and they even have certain items tagged to be notified if they are listed.
You can always list it for free on Craigslist and then, if it doesn’t sell, take a shot at eBay.
