Things to Sell to Make Money

Looking for things to sell to make money? There are so many things to sell and there are just as many reasons for doing it. Whether you’re trying to save for an emergency fund, pay for car repairs, or vacation, selling things you own will give you a great head start. It’s a great way to make some cash fast, too.

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Our Big Plan To Downsize Our Home

We were planning to downsize our house for a couple of years … but it needed some updating and repairs before it made sense to sell it.

So, it took us a while to get around to it. Like 2 years. Way too long for me, but you know … money and jobs and kids, all that stuff that gets in the way or takes away your spare time.

My husband had a sabbatical coming up, which gave him 10 weeks off. We had planned for years to take a motorhome trip across the country, so crazy like we are, we decided to get our house listed before we left on our trip.

And, of course, that required it to be empty just in case it sold while we were gone.

Decluttering vs. Storing

We realized that we needed to declutter a ton of our belongings. Because we were putting our things in storage before our trip, we didn’t want to pay to store a bunch of stuff that we wouldn’t want when we came back.

Seriously, who wants to pay storage on a bunch of stuff you don’t plan to keep?

I knew decluttering this much of our belongings would take a while so I started decluttering several months ahead.

Below, I’m sharing the process I went through, trying to make the most extra cash from things we already owned.

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How to Sell Things to Make Money

I went through each room and tried to figure out what things had enough value that they were worth the efforts to sell them. My threshold was about $25. If it was sellable but worth less than that I saved it for one big garage sale. Some of the things were worth less than $25 but I could bundle them and try to sell as a group.

Once I had made my decisions, I took at least one picture, sometimes I took several pictures if I thought it was needed.

Then it was time to post it somewhere.

Where to Sell Things You Already Own to Make Extra Cash

These are the places I posted things to sell:

Facebook Buy/Sell Groups – this is where I had the best luck. Put your location + buy/sell group in the group search bar on Facebook to look for groups available for your area. In my area, there were 2 that I used.
Facebook Marketplace – I had good luck here, too.
Craigslist – I listed some things here and even though Craigslist used to be my #1 place to sell things, I didn’t have much luck this time. I’m not sure if it’s that way for everyone or maybe just my area. You’ll have to test for yourself.
You could also use eBay to sell. At the time, I didn’t feel like I knew enough about eBay to start selling there. That’s exactly why I grabbed the guide below. I’m learning how to sell on eBay now for things to sell in the future.

Get the Beginner’s Guide to Selling on eBay Here for FREE.

One problem I did have was when I listed in both of my Facebook Groups plus the Marketplace all at the same time. I started getting so many messages and couldn’t keep track of which ones came first and it was hard to stay on top of.

I learned from that and started posting to one group the first day, then if It didn’t sell, I posted to the other group, then on the third day I added the Marketplace. This made everything much easier to manage.

Remember to be safe – I typically arranged for people to come pick up when my husband was going to be home. I never felt unsafe, but I know that there have been issues for some people. There were times that I met people in parking lots if I ever felt uneasy or my husband couldn’t be home. Use good judgment.

Looking for more ways to save up money? Read Spending Freeze Tips and Spending Freeze Rules.

A Garage Sale is Worth the Effort

Whatever we didn’t sell ahead of time was saved for our garage sale. We had many small items, but also some furniture and appliances left. I continued to post online during the sale and that really helped to sell the larger items. I really didn’t want to have a garage sale because they are a lot of work and can be pretty exhausting. It was totally worth it though because we made $650.00 at the garage sale alone.

Get all the supplies you need for your garage sale right here.

What Things Can I Sell to Make Money?

I had to figure out what to donate and what to sell to make money. I went room by room and just started making quick decisions.

You can make the hard decisions later, but just get started. Here are some questions I asked myself as I went through our rooms.

Have I used this in the last 6 months, or last year?
Is it worth more than $25?
Would someone buy this used?
Can it be easily replaced if I need it later?
Do I have more than one of these?
Can I live without it?
Am I keeping it out of obligation?
Do I have something else I can use instead?
Do I really love it?

I made a list of all the things I wanted to sell and used that as a starting point. You’ll be amazed at all the things you come up with.

Start making extra money right away and use the list below to track what you want to sell.

53 Things to Sell and Make Money

These are the things I sold and I’ve added some additional suggestions. The listed prices are what I sold them at. You may be able to get much higher or lower prices where you live and also depending upon the quality of the items you have.

I didn’t know how to come up with these prices at first, I just kind of asked myself what I would pay if I was buying them used. Sometimes I bargained with people and sometimes I was firm. You get to make your own rules, so do whatever you think is fair.

I was amazed that I was able to sell so many different things and make so much money. It really blew my husband’s mind when I showed him how much cash I had stashed away. It was a great way to start off on our big trip.

Find out How to Start a Frugal Living Lifestyle, here, to start saving money every single day.

1. Legos – $7 to $15

For all the random pieces, I made up gallon bags and sold them for $7. Other sets were sold for $15.

2. Playmobil – $75

I had one big plastic tub that had lots of different Playmobil sets in it.

3. Snap Circuits – $5 to $15

4. Pressure Cooker – $25

5. Canning Jars – $5 per dozen

6. Canning Supplies – $15

A box of lids, rings, pectin, and canning tools

7. Decor Items – $5 to $75

There were a lot of random decor things around my house and I had a couple of decorative iron gates, too.

8. Exercise Equipment – $10 to $25

Weights, kettlebells, boxing equipment, mini trampoline, exercise bike, resistance bands, treadmill

9. Sports Equipment – $5

Basketballs, trampoline, baseball bats, footballs,

10. Clothing – $1 to $5

11. School Curriculum – $1 to $20

12. School Calculators – $5

13. Cookbooks – $1

14. Kids books – $1 to $5

15. Kitchen Appliances – $20

Bread Machine, Rice Maker, Quesadilla Maker, Air Fryer, Crock-Pot, mixer

16. Yard Tools – $5 to $100

Rakes, shovels, hoes, leaf blower, pressure washer

17. Lawn Mower – $100

18. Bikes – $100

Adult and Kids’ bikes

19. Winter Gear – $5

Gloves, hats, snow gear, skis, snowboard

20. Furniture – $50 to $150

Dressers, beds, nightstands, desks, coffee tables, sofas, chairs, dining table

21. Artwork – $10

22. Craft Supplies – $3 to $30

Scrapbooking, sewing, knitting, craft kits

23. Holiday Decor – $5 to $25

Snow globes, Christmas Lights, Christmas lawn displays

24. Camping Equipment – $10 to $85

Tents, lawn chairs, camping stove, lanterns,

25. Fishing Gear – $15 to $30

Poles, reels, tackle box

26. Hiking Gear – $40

Hiking backpack

27. Coolers – $10-25

28. Power Tools – $15 to $100

Drills, table saw, circular saw, router, Dremel

29. Tools – $1 to $15

Hammers, screwdrivers, level, wrenches, saw horses, saws,

30. Luggage – $20

31. Office Chairs – $10

32. Patio Furniture – $100

33. Lamps – $10

34. Bookshelves – $20 to $40

35. Dishes – $1 to $5

Plates, bowls, glassware, serving bowls, platters, punchbowl

36. Video Games – $5

We had the best luck selling these to Game Stop. There are probably plenty of other 2nd Hand Video Game Stores to try.

37. Video Game Players – $50 to $150

We sold XBox 360, Wii, and Wii U

38. Electronics – $15

Tablets, radios, CD players, DVD players, printer, alarm clock

39. Camera and Supplies – $10 to $30

Digital Cameras, tripod, camera bag, lenses

40. DVDs – $2 to $5

We had a ton of DVDs to sell and found that it was pretty hard to get them sold. After trying Facebook, we sold some at the garage sale, the video game store, and we sold the rest at a pawn shop.

41. CDs – $1 to $5

42. Baby Equipment – $20 to $100

Crib, infant seat, car seat, stroller,

43. Baby Clothes – $1

44. Board Games – $2 to $5

Any board games that take up space and weren’t being played (3 boxes worth)

45. Pet Supplies – $5

Dishes, leashes, bedding, clothes, cages,

46. Kids Toys – $1 to $10

Nerf guns, stuffed animals, RC cars, dolls,

47. Kids Yard Equipment – $85

Trampoline, swing sets, Playskool toys

48. Unused Gifts – $10

I know … not a popular topic, but seriously — I didn’t need it and didn’t want to store it.

Bath sets, soap sets, candle set, toys,

49. Picture Frames – $1 to $5

50. Candles – $5

51. Purses/Bags – $10 to $35

Purses, backpacks, tote bags

52. Office Supplies

Desk, file cabinets, computers, calculators, chairs, printers, staplers

53. Extra Refrigerator/Freezer – $100 to $150

Upright freezer, refrigerator/freezer, chest freezers

As you can see, there are all kinds of things you can sell to make money. Most things sold pretty fast, too. We’re working on paying down some debt and will continue selling things that we really don’t need in order to help with that.

Can you think of some things around the house to sell that will help you declutter at the same time? It’s a great way to make some extra cash fast so don’t wait any longer.