Making Money from your Clutter

We would all love to make a little extra cash. Whether you’ve managed to float above the recent tough economic times, or if the recession hit you particularly hard, a little extra money is never unwelcome. With the recent pop-up of hoards of money-making schemes, we here at Five Point Capital have decided to give you some scam-free ideas for how to make an extra buck.

First, clean out your house, apartment, garage, or dorm room. Separate everything into four piles. First, things you need to keep. Second, things that are trash and need to be thrown away. Third, things you feel you should donate to charity. Fourth, things you can sell.

Put away everything from the first, need-to-keep pile and throw out everything from the second, trash pile. Bring everything in the third, donation pile to your local second-hand shop or Salvation Army. Make sure you get a receipt, as even the smallest donation counts as a tax deduction! Now, take a look at your fourth pile. This usually ends up consisting of old electronics, books, clothes that are in exceptionally good shape or are of designer origins (note: you won’t make any money selling your three-year-old pair of Levi’s—those are for the charity pile), furniture that has been stowed away in attics, and other household items that you simple no longer use. Maybe it’s your old CD player that you never use since you got your iPod. Your old cell phone charger. The extra battery for a laptop you don’t even have anymore. Books you’ve already read. Books you know you will never read. Textbooks from college. These can all be sold.

The way to sell these items is really a personal choice and depends on the item itself and your personal preference. For extremely specific items, such as an LG Verizon phone charger or a second generation iPod mini hard drive, eBay or Amazon are probably your best bets. It would be an extreme coincidence if someone looking for your specific phone charger also happened upon your garage sale. We tend to take to eBay or Amazon for specific, hard-to-find items such as these.

For books, we recommended websites for textbooks, such as Half.com or your local college’s book exchange website. For novels, yard sales are great. Even if you sell the books for $2 each, you can make a little profit with very little effort. Post an add on Craigslist saying you are having a yard sale on Saturday or Sunday morning from 9am to noon, put the books out on your front lawn with a sign that reads “$2 Each,” grab yourself some iced coffee and enjoy a morning of sunshine while making a few dollars.

For designer clothes we recommend consignment shops, or if there are not any reputable ones in the area, eBay. In essence, you donate the clothes to the shop, and you make a portion of the profits when the item is sold. Make sure that the shop is reputable before handing over anything valuable, or you may never see any of the profits.

For things that are commonly sought after, try Craigslist. This is a great option because unlike eBay, Craigslist does not take a portion of your profit, and buyers like it because they can pick up the item that they want right away, and do not need to wait for it to be shipped. DVD players, iPods, and furniture are all great things to sell on Craigslist.

We hope you find these tips helpful and useful. Not only will you be able to make a few extra dollars, but cleaning out your house can be a great way to clear clutter and reduce the amount of unnecessary stuff you have in your way! So take our advice and get to cleaning. You may be surprised at what you find.