Step 17 of The Financial Fitness Bootcamp Course

“One man’s trash is another man’s treasure” really couldn’t be more true.

I go garage selling all of the time, buy off of classifieds, find amazing high-value stuff at thrift stores, buy used ‘Like New’ items on Amazon.com and eBay, and utilize Garage Sale Facebook pages.

On the flip side, I sell things that I no longer find value in and people buy them almost every time I list something. Just this week I sold my unneeded iPhone for $360.00. I am about to list my husband’s old cell phone for about $50.00 that he replaced, and I have a table in the garage I want to get rid of… those three things are just the tip of the iceberg. I’m not a ‘hoarder’ and even I have TOO MUCH stuff lying around my home and in our garage that I could make money on.

On the TV show Storage Wars often people lose their storage units and everything in them because they can’t afford the monthly payments. On the shows, I have seen (and I hate to admit that I’ve probably seen too many) almost every unit has very valuable things in them. The original owners could have sold an item or two to pay for their storage unit for years, but instead, they abandoned them and the auctioneers and storage unit buyers end up both making a profit. There is great value in reselling items we no longer need.

Today’s Challenge is a 2 part Challenge and includes Day 17 & 18.

Challenge #17- Is to list something in your house that you no longer need for sale. Some ideas of where you can sell your item(s) are Amazon.com, eBay, Craigslist, a local Facebook garage sale page, KSL.com (for Utah and Wyoming residents), an online newspaper classified section, your own personal Facebook or Instagram pages, etc. You don’t need to post them in more than one place (although it will increase your odds of it selling), just post it somewhere.

Please use caution and common sense when you are meeting someone to sell the item. Always have someone with you. Meet in public (gas stations have cameras in front facing out for protection). I also recommend always talking to the person over the phone first before agreeing to meet.

My favorite is selling to friends and family over Facebook, I also love our KSL.com local classified section and as long as I talk to the person I’m selling to first, I’ve had great experiences. I’ve been doing this for 10+ years and saying that by buying and selling used items I have made a lot is an understatement.

If you are overly worried about safety (or live in a dangerous area) I highly recommend selling your item to friends/family on Facebook, and/or listing the item to ship on eBay or Amazon.com. I wrote a blog post on tips to know when selling on Amazon here.

Ideas of what you can sell are endless: home furnishings, decor, light fixtures, fans, tools, clothes, shoes, maternity wear, baby supplies, toys, strollers, bikes, sports equipment, electronics, old phones, computers, camera’s, lens’, tripods, books, text books, DVDs, kitchen items, stuff in your garage… Really anything.

So, let’s clear out some ‘trash’, make some money, and sell someone their ‘treasure’.