Decluttering by Selling From Home: eBay Alternatives

For many people, the need for extra money is running ramped. Prices are going up everywhere, from groceries to the gas that goes in the car. Families are having a harder time making ends meet. There are ways to make some extra money on the side without living your home. Following these ideas will not cost you any money to make some money. If things are already tight, then you do not need to spend money to make some extra money. You will not make enough to quit your day job, however you may make enough to purchase school lunches for your children or boost the Christmas fund.

Now it is time to take inventory on things you have available to sell. If you have children then many of those items at some point will be available to sell. Children outgrown, clothes, toys and furniture so quickly that many people will buy these items used. Most of us have cupboards, closets and basements full of items. Most of these items we know longer use. or realize that we have them. The best way to start is to begin in one area of the house. Start making a list of everything you want to sell. If you can make a designated area to store these items, so you will have everything in one place. Being organized will give you a list of items to sell at one time. It will make it less confusing for you and give you a visual to see how much money you are making.

Once the inventory is done and everything is moved to a designated spot, now it is time to clean up the items, research prices, and sell, sell, sell. Clean up all items as best as possible, take a digital picture and begin looking on-line for prices. Realize you will not get your full retail price back, but you can make some money. Ebay is another great resource, to check what others are selling the same item for.

There are many Yahoo Groups that have been formed so people can sell locally. There is no shipping involved so you can ask a bit more. Do a search on www.yahoogroups.com for the following keywords: Sales, Sales and Barter, Trade with your local city attached. For example: Milwaukee Sales & Barter is a group I have used in the past. Post a message to the group describing your item, location and price. Mentioning in the post if interested you have pictures to send. Everyone wants to see a picture and not waste time or gas chasing around town. A buyer will contact you through email to ask questions and arrange for pick up.

Craigslist is also a great web location to sell items. Craigslist is located at www.craigslist.org and offers many cities a local place to sell or trade items. They also have a board for free items. There is no cost to use Craig list and is broken down into categories so people can find what they are looking for quicker. The process for posting is similar to the yahoo groups, except pictures can be posted directly into the ad. Again you describe your item, list your price, pick up location and pictures. All correspondence is kept confidential. An email is sent to you directly from your ad through a blind email address.

Both Yahoo Groups and Craigslist can make you some extra cash while cleaning out clutter in your home. This is great way to make money without spending extra money that you do not. Not only does it offer a convenient for both the buyer and seller, there no waiting for payments or trips to the post office. Remember to follow safety guidelines and not let strangers into your home and only accept cash payments. Soon your home will have less clutter and there will be extra money in your wallet.