20 August 2007 One Comment Print This Post  Email This Post

Moving? How do you plan on getting rid of your stuff? Usually a garage sale comes to mind and hopefully your yard or garage will be filled with curious and motivated bargain hunters. With some luck, you’d be able to sell most of your stuff in one or two days. However, thats not always the case if you live in a condo, or a quiet street, or other reasons. A better way to get top dollar for your once-enjoyed gadgets would be to sell them online. Even if you do need to have a moving sale, use technology to your advantage and increase profits and efficiency at the same time.

During the past few weeks I’ve been working on my move to Sugar land, TX. The first phase of this process involves me moving back in with my parents. This way my condo can be nicely staged and vacant for would-be buyers when I put it on the market this week. When I first began the moving process, I realized I had tons of stuff, quite hard to believe considering I live in a 650sqft condo. I’m almost 90% done getting rid of the excess stuff and I did it the way I know best, selling online.

eBay Stuff

eBay is by far the most popular way of selling online. The advantage here is that people are actually searching for the item that they want. They are bidding on the item and therefore you have a better chance of getting top dollar for your item, as opposed to hopefully running into the right buyer at your moving or garage sale. However, not all items are good candidates for eBay. Here is my criteria:

1. Item must be worth over $15. Its not worth the time and effort if its not. Check the value by comparing other auctions.
2. Must be under 15 lbs. If it’s any heavier than that, shipping would be a pain. Of course if the product is worth a lot of money and the buyer is willing to pay for shipping, go for it.
3. Must be in demand. Theres no point in listing an auction if there are no signs of buyers. Check to see if anyone else is selling similar goods.

Half.com or Amazon Stuff

Here is where you get rid of old media the easy way. I’ve talked about selling back books before. This way is quick and efficient since you only list the ISBN number and your price. You’ll get an email when it sells then you ship. Of course this takes longer time than something like a garage sale, so you’ll have to start planning early. Here’s my criteria:

1. Don’t sell it if its worth less than $2-$3. It’s not even worth the time and effort to ship it after half.com or amazon takes their cut. You can check by comparing other seller’s prices.
2. Don’t sell for the sake of selling. If you like the movie or book, and feel as though you may refer to it again, keep it.

Craigslist and Classifieds Stuff

This is for everything else, or items that don’t quite work on eBay and Amazon. I sold most of my furniture on Craigslist. You’ll be amazed by the resale value some of your old furniture might fetch. To the buyer, what difference does it make to buy a used coffee table?

Tips for Classifieds

1. Take good pictures! I hate it when sellers put small or blurred photos. The picture does most of the selling.
2. Use good sales copy. Write detailed descriptions since the buyer can’t see or feel the product. Make them interested in it.
3. Include a call to action. I usually say “first to email me gets this great deal”. That gives the impression that the product won’t stick around long so they better email.

Moving Sale

If you just have tons of stuff, or you don’t want to sell online, use craigslist to your advantage by posting a full list of items and prices at your moving sale. That way buyers already know what they want and they show up ready to buy. I’m at this phase now since I have some random stuff left over that I can’t quite sell online. It’s been an adventure thus far, but its good to see progress (less clutter) and some cash in my pocket.