No Time for a Yardsale? Try Craigslist, eBay or Half.com!

When Sean and I planned to merge our households last year, we knew we both needed to get rid of a lot of household items.  Selling some of the items we no longer used would also be a great way to raise some money to put towards our wedding expenses.  We were lucky enough to find a volunteer firehouse near Sean's house that was hosting a flea market.  So, we spent time sorting through items and organizing piles to sell.  We got up early, set up and things went really well -- Sean was able to make two additional trips to his place to get more items to sell, as the flea market was well attended AND people were buying!  The best part of it is that we didn't bring anything home with us!  At the end of the day, we were able to donate our unsold items to the firehouse stand -- they would store those items until their next flea market and sell them from their own booth, all proceeds contributing to their fund.  A win-win for everyone!

This time around, Sean and I don't have the time to plan a yard sale or search for a flea market - we're moving in 2 1/2 weeks!  So, I've been busy advertising items on a number of online sites.  Craigslist has been invaluable, as we've been able to sell our left over wedding items AND make a little money!  Pretty soon the Whole Foods around the corner is going to start charging me a fee, as I've been using their parking lot to meet people buying our wedding items!  However, since this is a form of recycling, I don't think they would mind too much!  :)

Before working for my current company, I was in outside sales for a commercial publisher, so I invested a lot of money in my wardrobe.  Well, I've not worn any of my suits in a few years and they are all high end brands of great quality - why not try to sell them and make a little cash?  Hello eBay!  This week I was able to sell a lot of that clothing!  And lastly, what to do about all of my multimedia items?  That's where half.com comes in.

Half.com is a division of eBay with a couple of differences -- you can only sell multimedia items and there is no auction, the items stay listed there in a quasi-store.  Having two degrees in literature, I amassed several hundred books over the course of my studies.  I've been able to whittle my collection down over the past few years by selling off those titles through the site.  The downside is that you have to be willing to store them in the interim -- I typically sell the majority of my books at the start of each semester.  I also used to be a music enthusiast, so I had hundreds of cds (that I no longer listen to).  Thanks to half.com, I've been able to pare down my book and music collection, while recouping some money in the process. 

So, there is hope if you need to simplify your life and get rid of some of your material things.  Be prepared, however, because online selling does take a bit of work.  Lastly, anything I don't have time to sell through any of my online routes I drop off at Goodwill -- there are always options!  Hello feng shui and qi!