Have you sold your stuff for your snowball?

[kite2281]

I've been budgeting and trimming expenses to build our snowball, and now I'm taking a look at our basement. Usually I just donate this kind of thing. Can we really sell some of this? I know I'd like to get rid of it, but it's hard to imagine anyone paying us for it. We seem to have: a number of working but old kitchen appliances, dishes, baby items, toys, blankets, clothes, some furniture, old computers, really old iPods, a cheap DVD player, a large plastic mailbox, scrap lumber, an old 2-stroke outboard motor and lots and lots and lots of books. A very few items are new and in their boxes, but most of it is used.

Have you sold your stuff? Where/how did you sell things? How much time did it take you to handle the details of selling your items? Any advice?

[mateosbaby]

Have a yard sale! As soon as the weather in your area is nice enough, anyway. Anything that doesn't sell at the sale, post on Craigslist or something like that, and then if it still doesn't sell, then just donate it. But people will buy a lot of the stuff you've mentioned, if not all of it.

It does take a lot of planning for a yard sale. First, get all the stuff together that you want to sell. Price it (cheap enough that someone will want it or at least bargain with you, but not too cheap that you're not making anything off of it - check Craigslist or other yard sales for pricing comparisons). Then you need to figure out when you'll have your sale, what you'll use for tables or to hang clothing on, and you'll need something for holding the cash (cash box or fanny pack or something like that - but be careful about leaving those open or unattended!). You probably want at least one more person helping you, so you can take bathroom breaks, someone can make lunch, etc.

There's a website I used to go to for yard sale tips, but I can't remember what it was. I'm sure if you Google "yard sale tips" or something you'll get tons of sites.

Hope this helps, and good luck!

[AmyBoz]

Sell! Sell!

eBay, Craigslist, have a yard sale. Heck, right now I'd be selling everything we owned if it belonged only to me. But, dh isn't quite ready to let go of some things yet. When he is, watch out! I'll sell it and put it all toward mortgage or his car payment.

[QM]

You can sell stuff on kijiji for free. Check out www.kijiji.com

[frugalfriend]

Definitely sell it all! Sounds like you could make a significant amount to put towards your snowball. Dave says to sell so much stuff the kids will think they are next!

[SixxOfDiamonds]

We sell some nicer things. Like barstools that we had from Ikea. We moved into this house and it didn't have a bar. Tables, decorations, clothes, computers, you name it. We have this awesome site called www.lejeuneyardsales.com and you can post photos of whatever you'd like on there. It's like Craigslist but WAY better because you have a profile and people can buy multiple things from you.

[Starlight9803]

I agree with the yard sale! We don't do well with yard sales here (too far out in the county), but we have had a lot of luck selling things at the flea market in town. It is open air and they only charge $3/table. We usually go there to walk around anyway, so we set up a table at least once a month and usually make $50-$100 each time. You would be surprised at what people will buy!

[BlessedMomof2]

Every year I have a yard sale. This year I plan on having atleast 1-2 yard sales and hoping to sell everything I already have set aside for my sale and whatever else I don't need or want anymore. I have always made pretty good money doing a sale. This year I have already planned that every penny I get from these sales will go towards paying down debt.

[thehughughes]

I would have a yard sale if possible. If you are in a bad area involve a friend or family and combind at their home. It does take sometime time to get ready for a yard sale pricing, seting up, making sure the items are clean and everything is organized.

With that thought Flea markets are great also if avaible.You don't have to worry about advertising and you get a lot of people. One started here last summer I made 300.00 then they had to close down due to insurance.

I am excited I just listed items on E-bay. My husbands work was cleaning house and they had some items that they didn't want to inventory. They told him he could throw them away or take them home. I didn't want to list due to fees, packaging, and time but he talked me into it. Guess what I got an offer this morning for 1600.00.

So if you are trying to pay off debt don't pass up the oppertunity to sell your stuff one way or another. If it doesn't sell then donate it tyo your favorite charity.

[MandiDawn]

In my local newspaper, there is a section called $105 and under. In it people post all kinds of things, but thsi would be perfect for putting your applipances and baby stuff in. It's free, and you can place 3 items per week. I've always got a great! response from posting stuff there.
Check if your paper has something like that!

[thehughughes]

I should add about e-bay if you make more than $500.00 you can only pull out $500.00 a month. This is through pay pal.

[kite2281]

Thank you all! So many hints and ideas. I'm glad to hear that you have had success selling things. You've given me the courage to plunge in and sell! Hughughes, $1600? Wow!

kijiji is very cool. I may try listing some stuff there before resorting to ebay. Didn't know about that one. Thanks!

I also just took the plunge and posted an item on craigslist, and it didn't take much time after all! The rest of our larger, nicer stuff will get posted there. Many thanks for the IKEA mention - I dug deeper in the piles of junk and found a stash of unopened IKEA items (I have a terrible weakness for IKEA) that we don't have a place for. Then I need to dust off my ebay login and post our littler good stuff.

I think we will go ahead and try a yard sale with what's left. The weather doesn't get nice enough here until April or so, but it will be a good place for everything that doesn't sell through eBay or craigslist in the next few months. I did find a place to borrow some cardtables. It's still kind of an intimidating thought, especially since I'll have to ride herd on my 2 and 4 year old during the sale. But hopefully it will get rid of our junk and bring us snowflakes.

I don't know of a local flea market, but I will poke around. Getting one table sounds much easier than holding a whole yard sale, and I do worry that we live a bit far from town for lots of traffic.

I wish we had something like the Lejeune site locally; that would be a lot better than a million individual items on craigslist. Really a neat site.

[tervsforme]

I just started selling again on E-bay and was reading some of the message boards there. Old iPods and even broken iPods sell really well. Those are small and easy to ship. If you are going to sell on E-bay research and see if the item syou wish to list are selling or have sold in the past. It will give you an idea on how much you can charge, etc. I sold some games this past weekend and made $50. Every little bit helps!

[kite2281]

I just sold my craigslist item, 2 hours after listing it. Woo-hoo! $20 for my snowball. I think I'm becoming a true believer in this selling thing.

Tervsforme, thanks so much for the tip that old iPods sell on eBay. Broken ones, wow (which our old ones might be after sitting in storage for so long). I'd never have thought they would. Thanks!

[gardening momma]

Heck, right now I'd be selling everything we owned if it belonged only to me. But, dh isn't quite ready to let go of some things yet. When he is, watch out! I'll sell it and put it all toward mortgage or his car payment.

There's a lot of dh's stuff I'd love to sell!