Decluttering and money making tips

elsmandino

Hi there.

I am thinking of undertaking a major declutter at the moment and would be really grateful for any advice on what might be valuable.

I have never sold on Ebay (though I have bought on it before) and I have never used anything like MusicMagpie etc.

Would be helpful, especially at the moment, to make a few extra quid on anything worth selling.

Any general advice on what is worth selling (and where) would be much appreciated.

I have been reading up on Ebay and there are lots of people suggesting that it just is not worth it - however, these people tend to be business users.

One thing I have also read is that, as a general rule, DVDs and bookers are not worth selling on Ebay - the advice is to check Ziffit, MusicMagpie, Zapper and WeBuyBooks and just sell to the highest purchaser.

Any tips would be much appreciated.

IrishRose12

TBH I don't use Ebay anymore as the fees are ridiculous.  It's really not worth the hassle.

I've started my decluttering journey again and selling a few bits on Vinted. The likes of Ziffit, MusicMagipie etc were useless to me, they were only offering from 1p - 20p for brand new books, cd's etc.... or they weren't accepting certain things.   
I donated them to the charity shop instead as they would make more money.

The problem is people literally want things for next to nothing these days, they don't want to pay for items, and they seem to think they shouldn't have to pay for postage. 

For example I've a pair of brand new Marks and Spencer's Wellie boots, cost me £25 in August, too small on me and I missed the return date and can't even get them sold for £10 plus postage Loads of people offering £6 or less, but I'm not budging.


It's gotten to the point where I'm listing less and less online and just putting them into the charity bag as it's quicker and easier now. 

KxMx

I've been selling collectables on eBay since May and have made considerable money- I'm only listing when there are FVF offers though.
And it is a niche, limited product. 

Any old jewellery Silver /Gold is worth taking to a local shop, I got £36 for an unwanted gold necklace a couple of months ago which was astonishing. 

I got a decent price for some new dvd boxsets at my local CEX, and a Cash Converters gave me a tenner for some bluetooth headphones. 

theoretica

You need to decide what 'worth it' means to you - how much time are you prepared to put in to make £10?  And try not to think of items individually - if you list several items and only sell one you need to take into account the time for listing all the items.

I have found local listings - whether facebook, gumtree or other, to be worth considering as it saves the postage and packing, and especially if you list lots of similar things (eg jigsaw puzzles - they seem in demand round here!) people may decide to take several if they are collecting.

-taff

Facebook marketplace is ok if you have the patience to weed out timewasters and the ones who offer you 25% of what you're asking for and gumtree is OK too.

Pollycat

I used to donate my unwanted stuff to charity shops but started selling on eBay a few years ago.
It really depends on what you are selling - and how you price it.

In the last 2 weeks I've made almost £180 less fees.
I already have bids totalling £50.00 when my listings end on Saturday.
I'm happy with that, considering it was mainly stuff that I'd take to a charity shop or just silver that I'd leave in my jewellery box.

I tend to disable the 'best offer' function as it can be a pain rejecting offers below what you'd accept.
If I do allow best offers, I set a minimum amount that I'd accept.

I don't inflate postage costs. If I'm buying and I know the postage would be £1.05 (2nd class large letter, not signed for), postage fees of £5.00 put me off.

ETA:
you might be better posting on this board:

Ebay, auctions, car boot & jumble sales — MoneySavingExpert Forum

Coffeekup

I'm in the same boat as you ... Over the last 2 years I have a room (well half) of stuff I need to sell on eBay or fb marketplace. I need some spare cash and can't/don't want to give it all to charity.

I did start with my DVD/CD collection I put aside all the ones I want rid of and scanned them all laboriously on ziffit, eBay music magpie and one other (can't remember which). Basically at the time ziffit payed the most, so the majority went to ziffit. But there was other companies willing to pay more than that what ziffit was so the went in a music magpie pile for example.

Numerous niche DVD/CD's would/could fetch more on eBay but it means listing them and waiting for them to sell. Although the profit doesn't seem worth it, across 5/10/50 items it all adds up. With Christmas coming and people looking for good cheap deals, it's the time to get rid of some of it.

That being said I haven't found the mojo to get round to doing it yet, for me one of the biggest hurdles for me is the price for postage I can never figure out the costs, I'm worried I'll get it wrong and loose any money I've made.
Also I'm put off as I've only ever listed 2 things on eBay 10+ years ago one of them I got shaf*ed on, with the buyer saying it was broken when they received it despite it being immaculate and in perfect working order and wrapping it in so much bubble wrap it was probably beeded wasteful.

Pollycat

Coffeekup said:

I'm in the same boat as you ... Over the last 2 years I have a room (well half) of stuff I need to sell on eBay or fb marketplace. I need some spare cash and can't/don't want to give it all to charity.

I did start with my DVD/CD collection I put aside all the ones I want rid of and scanned them all laboriously on ziffit, eBay music magpie and one other (can't remember which). Basically at the time ziffit payed the most, so the majority went to ziffit. But there was other companies willing to pay more than that what ziffit was so the went in a music magpie pile for example.

Numerous niche DVD/CD's would/could fetch more on eBay but it means listing them and waiting for them to sell. Although the profit doesn't seem worth it, across 5/10/50 items it all adds up. With Christmas coming and people looking for good cheap deals, it's the time to get rid of some of it.

That being said I haven't found the mojo to get round to doing it yet, for me one of the biggest hurdles for me is the price for postage I can never figure out the costs, I'm worried I'll get it wrong and loose any money I've made.
Also I'm put off as I've only ever listed 2 things on eBay 10+ years ago one of them I got shaf*ed on, with the buyer saying it was broken when they received it despite it being immaculate and in perfect working order and wrapping it in so much bubble wrap it was probably beeded wasteful.

I use Royal Mail as I have 2 Post Offices that are convenient.

It's really simple, I use this:
Get a price | Royal Mail Group Ltd
although I can now assess the postage costs accurately.

For example, a pair of shoes - with or without box - will go RM small parcel 2nd class for £3.35.
A pair of earrings will go RM large letter under 100gm 2nd class for £1.05.

A more expensive item of jewellery will be sent RM large letter 2nd class signed for £2.45.

2 things I do in addition to what I've posted above is overwrite eBay's suggested starting price. I'll decide how much I want the starting bid to be.
I always check eBay's suggested posting cost/courier. If it's not what I want, I change it.

CheeseScone

On eBay, my 90 day selling total is around £1000. This is just selling stuff from my loft (toys and household stuff) and some things I've bought at boot sales to sell on.

I find eBay really easy to use (get the app). So long as you know the size of the parcel your item will be sent it and its weight, you can't really go wrong with the postage. Or you can sell with free postage, just add a £5 or whatever to your starting bid.

Yes there are fees, but eBay gives me peace of mind. 

Top tip. Always send your parcels with tracking to avoid people trying to rip you off.

I normally do the auction rather than buy it now, and always set the starting bid at a price I would be happy to get.

CheeseScone

Also, checking what your item has previously sold for and what others are currently listing it for.....

bit_by_bit

I am in agreement with a lot of what has been said. I am lucky to have some free stamps from doing the royal mail postal survey which helps.

I often list BuyitNows on Ebay but only on items I am going to make a profit on. I also have been switching off the Best offers as it is automatically added. Remeber that ebay take a percentage os what people pay postage too.

I have a sheet with prices and measurments on. I always get proof of posting but sometimes the PO person will try to charge for a small parccel rather than a large letter etc. Know what you should be paying and get by weight and size and always get proof of posting. I have only had one thing not arrive in the last year  although some have been late due to postal strikes and general delays.

I always also sell on gumtree and offer free local delivery. I charge 50p a mile further afield.

My rules re selling are that if I can't make £2.00 profit its not woth my time.

Large items are sometimes better by courier.
Some things you may as well give away if theyhaven't sold for a few months.
There are always people who want you to jusmmp though hoops then don't buy anyway e.g. my stephen king books. They wanted them all together then trid to reduce th price massively then wanted to reduce postage too. NO sale and blocked.
I use recycled packaging where possible. DH and DD had a lot of deliveries over lockdown plus people give me theirs because they know I sell stuff.

I have boxed up everything I am selling in 'lots' to keep things tidy. I am up to about 40 so have a way to go.

Finally. Sometimes the relief of stuff going out the house for free is as good as the feeling of selling.

Also try this general decluttering thread 
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6322097/2022-decluttering-campaign-mrssd#latest

They are very helpful and supportive on there.