Selling Clutter: How to Turn your Clutter into Cash! (2024)

I recently read that a typical home contains at least $1600 worth of clutter!

That is crazy to be sitting on such a treasure chest of potential fun. Because I know you want less clutter in your life and will have no trouble at all figuring out how to use the extra cash.

But the trick is knowing how to turn your clutter into cash, which isn’t as straightforward as it seems, especially if you’ve never tried it before.

Many folks intend to sell things but aren’t quite sure what the best way to do it is and the items just clutter up their homes.

Here are some easy guidelines to sell clutter aka unwanted items and actually make some money in the process.

So many times when working with clients, I’ll come across items that they no longer want, or in the case of gifts, items they never wanted but have kept anyway.

And one of the things holding them back from letting the item go is the value of the item.

This was the case with my client Kara and I helper her make $3500 from her children’s outgrown toys and clothing over a few months, using the same techniques described below.

The very first step is to gather all of the items you’d like to sell.

One of the biggest opportunities for making money from clutter is from what I call gift clutter.

You know, gifts that people give you that you don’t exactly want or need.

Gifts clutter is often in near perfect condition, so it holds a potential greater value than other items you might want to sell.

With some items gathered, you next have to figure out if the items are even worth selling.

There’s time involved in this process and to be quite honest, not everything holds it’s value and it may not be worth your time and effort.

A great place to start to get a ballpark value for the items is to search on eBay, Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace to get an approximate value.

Be sure to check completed eBay auction listings too to see what items actually sold for, as opposed to live auctions that just indicate what sellers want for the item.

If you can’t find the item for sale, then that means one of two things.

There’s no interest aka market for the item or in the case of a newer item, they just may not have been on the secondary market quite yet.

Generally speaking, you’ll get 25-50% of the original price back from selling it.

Of course each item is different and this is just a ballpark estimate.

Condition and item desirability factor a lot into the price decision.

It’s really important to do this little amount of research to get an idea of the going rate for items and see if it’s even worth your trouble.

Also, you don’t want to give your treasure away for peanuts.

It’s ultimately a balance between how much you’ll get in the end and the amount of time it’ll take to get it.

Next, figure out the best sales venue for selling clutter.

Is the item worth less than $10?

Then you might want to go with a garage sale or even donate that item.

It might not be worth your time to have a garage sale and deal with all the hassles that holding a garage sale entails.

Watch this videofor help with making that decision:

Item worth more than $10?

Craigslist, eBay and Facebook are your new best friends!

Here’s how to go about working each of those sites along with some advantages and disadvantages too.

To sell items on Facebook, find local groups that are for sale by owner groups.

They’re essentially virtual garage sales groups that are great alternatives to Craigslist because it is really easy to list items.

Snap a picture of the item, describe your item in a new post in the Facebook group page and attach the picture you just took.

Make sure to include your price and other relevant details such as whether the item comes from a home with pets or smokers.

Also note the condition of the item (rips, stains, dents, chips, etc.), as the picture may not show everything a buyer would want to know.

Pros & Cons: Potentially faster than listing on Craigslist, and in my experience, there’s an ease to communication because everything stays within Facebook.

Interested buyers either comment on the item post or send a private message to indicate their interest.

Payment and item pickup arrangements are then made between the parties.

I’ve had items sell in 2 minutes of being listed.

It is pretty easy and painless to sell your clutter this way.

But on the flipside, there is a potentially smaller pool of potential buyers depending on how many groups are in your area and how many members are in each group.

To list an item on Craigslist, I highly recommend creating an account.

You’ll be able to manage all of your listings and can easily edit or re-list your items.

Once you have an account, start getting your items posted, using the same guidelines as described above.

Pros & Cons: Ability to list items anonymously.

Easy management of item listing.

Broad audience to reach.

Potential to get Spam messages, but they are filtered through Craigslist and the spammers do not have your real email address.

It’s really just an annoyance.

Learn to spot fake responses – people replying to your posting at 3 am are likely not legitimately interested!

Worried about meeting strangers?

Arrange to meet in a public place – a Starbucks parking lot, perhaps.

Or set a pickup time for when you know your spouse or roommate will be home.

If you have something collectible, a great option is eBay.

You’ll need to create an account, but the company has made listing items pretty easy.

Fill out the listing with an item description and condition information as described above.

Pros & Cons: Potential to get more money for items since you’re reaching a niche audience for your item.

You don’t have to meet people in person.

The biggest con is that you’ll likely have to ship the item, but if you like seeing the friendly folks at your post office, that could be a pro!

Ok, so you’re convinced you’re going to de-clutter your home and line your pockets with cash at the same time.

But you’re still unclear about how exactly to do that…

I’ve designed theperfect guide that walks you through a more detailed step-by-step process covering everything you need to do before posting your items for sale, taking picture to boost profits and even includes what to do if your item doesn’t initially sell.

It’s all covered in the How to Sell Your Clutter Guide.

Snag it now to start making some money from stuff that’s just in your way.

Hope this post has inspired you to do a little decluttering in a pretty non-traditional way!

It really can help you get items out of your home that you’re stuck on because they have value, but at the same time you’d rather have the money instead to he actual item.

Proactively selling the item is a great way to make this happen.

If you do make some moolah selling your clutter using the tips I’ve shared here, please let me know.

I love to celebrate wins with my readers.