Up Your Wealth Wednesday | Best Places To Sell Your Old Stuff

Up Your Wealth Wednesday is a new personal finance series I am bringing over to Futures every Wednesday. I love writing about personal finance – about making money, saving money and everything in between. I hope you enjoy this series. The series was given its name by my fabulous partner in crime, Sarah.

We all like to have that little bit of extra money in our pockets and many of us sell our old stuff when money is a little tight or when we are in desperate need of a declutter. But where exactly are the best places to sell your old stuff?

I have used a variety of places over the years – both online and in real life but I have finally found my favourite few. Of course, these all have their pros and cons but here is my own personal rundown of the best places to sell your old stuff .

Facebook Selling Pages

I don’t know about you but I have a whole plethora of selling pages for my local area. I live in a tiny village surrounded by a number of fairly big towns and cities – and I am in close proximity to them all, meaning I can take advantage of the selling pages. We even have one in our village for parents which is fab – you don’t just have to sell kids things on it but whilst you wouldn’t think that a small villages page would be that popular, I actually have quite a bit of success.

I also used to use a big page for the city my village is next to but because my cousin and I run a smaller page for the city, we were banned by an admin on a power trip and blocked too. I used to do well on there – but ah well, plenty of other pages!

After some luck and some success, I have a new rule. Only list a few things at a time (up to 20 so bumping the posts up the page takes a matter of seconds, not hours) and add something else once something has been sold. I have managed to make quite a bit via these pages.

What are the positives? Quick and easy sales, no selling or Paypal fees, restricted to local area so no postage fees.

What are the negatives? Be prepared for people to not turn up (and not let you know or come up with a totally unbelievable story – believe me, its happened to me!). People try to get items for the lowest they possibly can so list with a price slightly higher than what you want.

Vinted

This is probably the app I use the most as it is just so simple to use. You add photos, add information and bosh! There it is, listed. Buyer pays the postage and chooses it their end, buyer pays the protection fees. No fees to pay on your end.

The only thing I do find is that they can be a little bit overzealous. For instance, you aren’t allowed to relist the same items with the same photos. You used to be able to get away with simply cropping them but the system seems to have clocked onto this now. However it works well.

What are the positives? No fees for sellers, quick and easy to use.

What are the negatives? You tend to get a lot more people who want something for nothing on Vinted, you get silly offers, the system can be a little overzealous.

 

Ebay

I’ve only just started putting things on Ebay again but I tend to use these for higher value items or larger items (collection only). Over the years I have made quite a bit on the website – especially as the app makes listing items so easy. I’ve only ever received one piece of negative feedback in my entire time of being on the site (from someone who took 3 weeks to pay because they were apparently abroad and they took umbrage to the fact I relisted after such a long time) and it can be a good place to sell your old stuff if you have the things that people are looking for. I am even considering loo roll tubes!

What are the positives? Items can go for quite a lot of money.

What are the negatives? Ebay often side with the buyer even if the buyer is in the wrong – this leaves you out of pocket and without the item too as Ebay allows them to keep it.

Gumtree

Whilst this isn’t my favourite by any means, this has been handy in getting rid of some of the bigger items in my house when I am in serious need of a declutter. I don’t use it that regularly at all but it has definitely been instrumental in selling some of the larger items at decent prices – always handy if people aren’t biting on local Facebook pages or Ebay.

What are the positives? Larger items sell very well.

What are the negatives? Be wary of what information  you give out on Gumtree as there are a lot of strange people about.

Local car boot sales/ table top sales

Finally, local car boot sales or table top sales are great for selling your old stuff – only if you are hoping to declutter though. Don’t expect to make a fortune from these places. From experience as both a seller and a buyer (who loves a bargain and will not hesitate to haggle!), people don’t want to pay much at these sales. Expect to sell things for less than you may necessarily want. My friend sold at car boot sales most weekends in the run up to her wedding and sold items much lower than she really wanted to – but every penny counted towards her wedding and they needed the space so she sold them for the lower price!

What are the positives? You can get rid of many items and have an empty car boot on the way home. If your main aim is to declutter, then great!

What are the negatives? Be prepared to sell things for much less than you may actually want – this is why car boots and table tops are much better for when you simply need to declutter and not make a huge amount of money. You may find yourself with a car boot full going home if you aren’t prepared to come to an agreement on price with the hagglers.

These are just a few of the ways I sell my old stuff and have had varied success from. These are definitely the best places for me – Depop and other websites just haven’t had the same success for me. What do you find are the best places to sell your old stuff?