It is crunch time.  In a mad dash to make some money, I collected all the things that might possibly have value, sorted through the piles, and now listings are alive and well all over the internet consumer-sphere!  Whatever doesn’t sell will be donated immediately.  This seemed like the best option for me right now because:

 

• My younger sister was really adamant that I finally get rid of all the things I’d been promising to sell for years.

 

• I really need to reduce a lot of my belongings to prepare for the big move.

 

• Turns out, reducing all the clutter in my home is helping with my anxiety!

 

• Might as well try to see how much cash I can get for things before I throw them out/ donate them.

 

• It’s a decent (and lucrative) way to whittle away the time while I wait to hear from various employers about my resume. (ugh.)

 

So, here I am, AMAZED at all the things I’ve accumulated – papers, containers, crap – as I haven’t moved in a while.  There are a couple of items I don’t really know what to do with, but insist they are collectible.  Old limited edition Barbie dolls, unopened perfume bottles, and the biggest downers: the  CDs and DVDs I own.  After some research and price comparisons, disc-media jsut don’t make a lot of money at all now that Netflix and iTunes are all the rave with the young folks.  Who wants my Floetry CD or my Family Guy Season 2 boxed set in the middle of a recession?   I’ll tell you:  NO ONE.

 

Anyway, I wanted to share some of the sites that have shown some kind of tacit specialization in the art of reselling:

 

eBay – of course is good for your random, big ticket, used things.  I’ve been selling some clothing and costume jewelry on it.  Basically, if it’s in the way of my cleaning streak, it’ll end up being on sale.  I have way too much clothing and accessories anyway…
Amazon.com –   There is  2-week wait for funds to clear into your Paypal, so it’s money, but not very quick.  I say good for books (especially for textbooks right now, as the school year begins!) but their commission is SO HIGH, that I actually asked for a more transparent breakdown of the deduction they take.    On a recent textbook sale, this is the breakdown that was provided:
Order date: 08/18/2011

Buyer’s price: $64.25

Amazon commission: -$11.98

Shipping credit: $3.99

Your earnings: $56.26
Close to $12 for a commission!  that’s like 3 days of food!  Amazon.com , I’m madatchoo!  BUT I NEED YOUR SERVICES RIGHT NOW, UUUUGHHHHNNNN!  (na na na naaaaaa)
Half.com is great for books, but the selling prices for books seem a bit low right now.  The commission they charge is fairly straightforward, and the disbursement of funding is fairly quick.  They seem to be on top of seller accounts, too, to limit fraud and other scams.  Turns out I had about $125.00+ from previous sales that went unclaimed, and they put my account on the “vacation setting.”  There are some simple steps required to reinstate my account, all involving the verification of my identity, so I plan to go back to Half.com like a guilty lover as soon as I do.
secondspin.com  & mightybuyback.com  – For those CDs and DVDs, there are tons of sites that basically buy  your used things, check if they’re in decent condition, then resell those items at 200x their buyback price (yes, totally possible if they offer you $0.05 from the jump.)  There are some sites like secondspin.com that offers website credit to choose from pre-owned media they carry on their site – buybacks just like yours.  Other sites like mightybuyback.com offer cold, hard cash and free shipping for your items (but only if you have more than 15 pieces approved by them.)  I’ll try the mightybuyback.com and post a review later, but there are tons of sites to choose from if you just Google “where to sell dvds.”
Selling it yourself – For other craftier things I find around the house, I’m thinking about etsy.com , but I know they have listing fees for storefronts.  Since I want to avoid that charge, I’m thinking of taking the lead from my friend’s online, and just use a combo of Tumblr, Paypal, and Facebook to get rid of more specialized junk.  Look at Kristia’s site, Salaamat Jewelry & Adornment , the model for the site I’m to build to see what I mean.

 

We’re looking to expand this list, so do you know any more sites where people can make a quick dollar? Do you have any other creative leads for selling online?  What are some interesting things you’ve sold online?  Please leave a comment below! 

 

 

 

Yours,

 

lawdamercy!

 

ps:  in case you’re interested, my sister has some Murad products for sale. Help her, and clear up your acne SIMULTANEOUSLY.  It’s a win-win!