Spring cleaning your houseis hard work —you break a sweat moving furniture and evenshed a few tears sorting through nostalgic photographs. It's difficult, so youdeserve to know how to make it as rewarding as possible. You can easily make the most of your annual cleanupby getting the clutter out and earning cash for those used items. Here are all the best money-making ideas to try this year:
Clothing
Clean out your closet and sell whatever you don't want withhelp from resellwebsites likeThred Up, which sends you a free clean out kit. Pack your clothing from brands like Ann Taylor, J.Crew, Ralph Lauren, and Talbotsin this kit, and send it back. For items under $60, they'll pay you as soon as they process the item in their warehouse, and for items listed over $60,Thred Up will pay you as soon as it sells through their website. You can then use the money as credit towards a Thred Up purchase or receive cash from PayPal.
Gift Cards
If you decide to tackle that catch-all-drawer (we all have one)and find a few gift cards that you know you'll never use, sell themto Gift Card Granny. You'll get back as much as92%of their value in cash. Sure, it isn't the full amount, but it's better than nothing if you weren't going to shop at that store anyway.
Sports Equipment
After organizing your garage or basem*nt, sell your child's unwantedor unused sports equipment through Swap Me Sports, a site where you can buy, trade, sell, or donate sports gear. You can sell your items by joiningfor 30 days for just $5.
Kid's Clothes and Toys
You know better than anyone that your kids outgrow their clothing and toys superfast. With locationsall over the country, you can easily stop by aKid to Kidshop,and earn cash or store credit for your child's apparel, shoes,toys, books, movies, costumes, school uniforms, and more. Theyalso accept maternity clothing and baby items like strollers, high chairs, car seats, changing tables, baby clothing, and more. See the full list of gently used items they'll buy from you.
And if you don't live close to a physical consignment store, you can also send your child, baby, or maternity items to Swap.com. They provide you with a pre-paid shipping label so allyou have to do is grab a box and pack your items to send in. Sellers earn an average of $150 per box they sell, according to Swap.
Antiques and Collectibles
Maybe you're not spring cleaning your house, but helping your parents clean out their home. If so, you can help Mom or Dad sell their valuable antiques or collectibles through eBay. To sell your items through theauction site, you simply create an account,list the item online with nice photos of the object, andship it to whoever made the winning bid. You'll then receive your payment through PayPal. With the standard fee and plan,eBay takes 10% of the value of the item, but you can list 50 items for free.Plus,eBay provides youwith a ton of information— selling guides, tips to get more money for your items, and shipping tips, and a breakdown of fees if you want to open an eBay store.Find all the information you need to get started.
Vintage Furniture
Ready to get rid of that groovy couch or eclecticset of chairs you inherited from your grandma,but you don't want to trash them? Sell them on Chairish, a site that specializes in stylish used and vintage furniture and decor from all decades. You can list items for free (the minimum listing price must be $10)and you'll receive up to 80%of the selling price. Chairish requires you to set a reserve price, or the lowest amount you're willing to accept, in order to move the selling process along. Buyers can't see this price,but if they make an offer at or above this price, the offer will automatically be accepted. It's the perfect way to givegrandma's favorite piecea new home. For higher-end items,
Books and Textbooks
We all have a ton of books lying around our homes that we'll probably never readagain, so free up your shelves and use one of the manyselling outlets that will pay you for them. You can turn in your old books, textbooks, electronics, music,and movies to Amazon's Trade-In program and receive an Amazon gift card for your items. You can also try selling your used books through eBay's Half.com, which deposits your earnings every monthinto your bank account. In addition to those options, you cansell your child'susedtextbooks lying around the housethrough BookScouter.com.
Jewelry
Maybe you have oldjewelry you're tired of wearingor you're looking to sell your wedding ring after a divorce—if so, you can make bankselling your itemsto thousands of buyersthrough Worthy.com. The website sells almost everything—rings, bracelets, necklaces, and earrings made from gold or platinum, with or without diamonds. Worthy will evaluate your item based on the description and images you provide them. Thenyou'll mail them the piece with a pre-paid shipping label, and they'll do most of the work for you, including cleaning and photographing the piece. Next, they'llset a price and alert their buyers when it's ready to be sold. Once the auction ends, and you're happy with the highest bid,the funds will be transferred to you.If the bidding doesn't reach the price you had in mind, then you can request your item back. Items must be worth more than a $1,000 to be sold through Worthy, andseller fees arebased on the transaction value. You can see the full breakdown here.
Designer Handbags
Don't know what to do with your old Coach or Ralph Laurenhandbags? Sell them through TheRealReal, a website that specializes in the consignment and reselling ofmore high-end fashion pieces. You can mail them your items for free through FedEx,and you'll receive 60%of the sale price for most items.
Cellphones, Laptops, and Other Electronics
Use Best Buy's Trade-in program to swapyour used electronics for a Best Buy gift card, or you can sell your items for gift cards orcash to Gazelle. Through Best Buy you can earn around $16 for an old iPhone 4andaround $111 for an Apple iPad 4 from AT&T. If you choose to use Gazelle, you can get around $75 for an iPhone 5sand around $5 for an old Blackberry. Are you going to make a boatload of cash selling your old tech pieces? Probably not, butit'sbetter than nothing.
Old Magazines
Recycling datedpublicationsis one option, but if you have really old, vintage magazines —think Good Housekeeping, Cosmopolitan, Time, National Geographic, or, of course, House Beautiful—lying around your house, you can sell them on eBay like these folks. (Keep this in mind when helping your parents clean their home, too!).
From:
Jessica Leigh Mattern
Web Editor
Jessica Leigh Mattern is a web editor and writer who covers home, holiday, DIY, crafts, travel, and more lifestyle topics. Prior to working for Country Living, she wrote for several lifestyle and women’s magazines including Woman’s Day, Cosmopolitan, and Redbook
