Over time, we tend to accumulate stuff – lots of stuff. We have drawers full of stuff, gifts that we have never used (and never will), furniture we don’t really need but keep “just in case” and items that we’ve had for years may be difficult to part with due to nothing more than familiarity while serving no functional purpose. Now is the time to get rid of excess baggage (literally!) and pare down to the essentials. BUT, do you give away or sell, and if you sell, how?

There are many channels on selling your things, and I am here to explain which ones may work for you depending on the items and your situation. I am NOT a fan of yard sales. I just don’t have time to price every item and most of what you price is lower than you might want to sell. I also don’t have the eneregy to sit at my house for hours as people peruse through my things. Theer are some cut out for retail, and I am just not one of them. 😉 Let’s be honest, the buyers at yard sales are looking for screaming deals, which may be lower than you want to price.

1. CRAIGSLIST – My first option for selling items from baby furniture to bikes to cars is CraigsList. I prefer CraigsList for the above mentioned – dreaded post office. As far as safety, the leads need to come to your generic email with contact being via your phone. When they come, he can lead the sell but you are right behind him. Use wisdom on leads too. Some I can smell are fishy. I have sold over $100K on CraigsList, so I have seen success but also seen bad leads and spammy people. Now the art of using Craigslist is knowing how to price, title your item and showcase it, so someone will email you inquiring for more information. Easiest way to do this is to search on Google what the manufacturer calls your item. Use this name in the title. I like to price items at least 60% below retail price. If you do not want to price it that low, then move on to #2 or #3. A successful CraigsList sell is where you, the seller, feel like you got a reasonable amount of money for an item that you don’t really use, and the buyer feels like they got a bargain versus shopping at a store.

2. HALF.COM, AMAZON.com GAMESTOP or HALF-PRICE BOOKS – If you are a bibliophile like my family, you have bookshelves full, nightstands stacked and bags stuffed with books. It might be time to let them go for others to enjoy. The greatest success that I have had is half.com, a partner of Ebay. You enter your ISBN, and you determine the condition and price what you’d like to sell. They take a commission of the sell, but it is small compared to how much money I have gained from selling books. This is especially beneficial for those expensive textbooks. If the average price of the book is less than $4, I suggest you go to Half Price Books or another bookstore that will buyback books. It is not worth your time or money to ship the book via half.com. Along with book lovers, my house is filled with gamers, and we have thoroughly enjoyed GameStop’s promotion of buying back video games. If you become a “PowerUp” member with them, you can extra savings and enjoy promotions where you can get up to 30% more from your buyback. This makes buying those high-priced video games more bearable. 😉

3. EBAY or CONVENTIONS – is a good venue for selling collectible items such as old albums, comic books and figurines. Make sure to take good quality photos of the items and offer good descriptions. Remember that you are a salesperson. Sell those products! By the way, if you collectible is in a certain niche, consider buying a ticket to a local convention to where other collectors may be. My husband had a GREAT success at the Dallas Comic-con selling his Star Wars collectibles from people he met as he waited in line to hear speakers. Oh, and if you sell more than the cost of the ticket, that is what I call a win-win. 😉

4. CONSIGNMENTS OR POSHMARK – If you have clothes and fashion accessories, there are stores that will buyback those items. Used designer clothing can be resold in consignment shops. These stores can be found in your local business directory. Be sure to shop around. Some stores offer better rates than others. You don’t get as much, but sometimes those are the easiest. Also, if you consider yourself high-tech, you may want to check out the PoshMark app in the iTunes or Google Play store.