What I learned: selling my junk online

So as part of my preparing for this move, if we ever move. I have been purging everything there is to purge. Everything from outgrown clothes to dishes to board games. I'm talking everything. A while back I took four black garbage bags and two huge boxes of crap to the disabled veterans thrift store. This was when I thought the move was coming up quick, I needed a quick way to get rid of things. Then the moved got pushed back then again, and I started to realize I'd be here well into fall and perhaps even into the dead of winter.

So, recently I started the purge again. Mostly it started as clothes from the kids closets to make room for the new school clothes. It snowballed into a small mountain of item that needed to go. Miss Fay decided she wanted to try and sell some of her old clothes to get some extra cash for new clothes. I have a friend who recently moved and sold a ton of crap online via Facebook. I was kinda shocked that she made so much money from Facebook.


I have listed and bought things on Craigslist in the past but never Facebook. So after I had a small mountain of items I searched for a place to list it. I found numerous "buy sell trade" groups in my area. Here's what I learned from the entire process.

1. Know where to sell your items.

Like I said I have sold things on Craigslist, but never on Facebook. You need to know where to sell different items. Before posting anything I went through groups to see what was generating the most buzz. I quickly noticed clothes sold like crazy on the Facebook groups but the more expensive items sat for a while. I decided to put some of the bigger items on craigslist and the clothes I stuck to the Facebook groups.

2. Join the groups with the most members.

This seems pretty self explanatory right? Right. There were at least 20 of these groups in my general area. I picked the 3 with the most members. More members means more people see the post. BOOM! Easy peasy.

3. Take good pictures.

Another self explanatory idea. However I did learn this the hard way. At first I posted a general picture of "junior clothes" a few pictures with pretty much everything grouped together. OMG did I learn not to do this. Instantly my inbox turned into 50 questions, what size is this can you send me a picture of that. I'm telling you these people were like freakin' crazy aggressive. 

After selling a few items from this post I took it down. I went through everything grouped sizes and like items and posted these pictures with a price and size clearly on every picture. I used the photo editing app Picsart to do this. Let me tell you things went so much smoother. I had people messaging me telling me exactly what they wanted and when they would like to meet. I made over $100 in a hour once I updated the photos.

4. Price your items to sell.

No one is going to pay 30 for some worn out converse, NO ONE! I literally laugh my ass of when I see people trying sell things for outrageous prices. A used bottle of lotion for 2 bucks? I am not lying when I say this. I saw way to much of this. I sold so much and I know it was because I had name brand clothes priced better than any one else. Realistically a used boys t-shirt, name brand or not, should not be $5. You can find new items on clearance for that. I know some people are out there to make money but I'd rather get two bucks for something than end up giving it away.

5. Be clear in your post description.

If your not willing to hold items say it. Say it loud and clear. I don't know how many people on my first post ran me ragged asking to "hold till payday." Really,  A four dollar back pack and you want me to hold it till payday? No, just no. I mark everything with a "First Come First Served" clear as day in the post description. This way if they ask you don't feel bad for totally ignoring the question.

If the item is stained or damaged in some way make it clear. Post a photo of the damage so we're not wasting each others time. Don't act like something is new with out tags just to have someone show up and find an ugly stain on the sleeve, that just so happened to not show up in the picture. 

6. Keep a list of everything your selling.

You thought we'd go through this whole post with out a printable? Wrong. I made one and guess what I'm sharing it with you. I got tired of going into the post to double check the listing price. With this free printable you can keep track of all your items and the asking price, and where it's listed. So nice of me right? 

Download the worksheet HERE

There you have it. Everything I learned from selling my junk online. I only sold for 2 days. I made over $200 from clothes alone. I made $100 between a rug and power wheels truck. $300 in two days, not bad if I do say so myself. Next week I plan on tackling all of our household items followed by a yard sale for everything that's left over. I'll let you know how that goes. 

Until then, xoxo

linking to: NIFTY THRIFTY SUNDAY   DIY SUNDAY SHOWCASE  CELEBRATE IT SUNDAY  A BOUQUET OF TALENT SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT MUCH ADO ABOUT MONDAY THE ULTIMATE PINTEREST PARTY