Have you ever looked around and just got anxious because of all off the stuff you see lying around your house? What if I told you there was a way to make money decluttering and all you had to do was to look around!
According to a study in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, people with cluttered homes full of unfinished projects were more depressed, fatigued, and even had higher levels of the stress. They were found to have higher levels of the hormone cortisol than those who described their homes as “restful” and “restorative.”
Now I’m not medical expert, but it sounds like clutter can actually be bad for your health.
Getting organized and decluttering is the third most popular New Year’s Resolution second only to exercise and losing weight as the top two. Let’s face it, as Americans we have way too much stuff.
A couple of times a year, Melissa and I get motivated to clean house. We clean out our closets, the garage, even the kids’ rooms to get rid of stuff. Honestly, that’s one occupational hazard of being full-time flippers AND parents of little ones. We accumulate a lot of stuff!
We could just box up all of our items and donate it. But why? We are flippers, right? There is no sense in throwing away items when we can make money selling it and you can too.
Why does decluttering feel so good?
Decluttering your home can not only decrease your stress and improve your health, but you can improve your finances too. There is quite a bit of money to be made by selling your unused clutter instead of putting it in a landfill somewhere.
We recently did some de-cluttering in the beginning of the year and had a weekend garage sale. We made $750 ($250 of that was free stuff that other people threw away!). Making an extra $750 made it totally worth the time we spent putting the sale together.
Make money decluttering these 7 items
Here are 7 household items you can flip and make money decluttering that you can find in your home today!
- Baby Items
- Designer Clothes
- Shoes
- Old Smart Phones
- Electronics
- Small Appliances
- Exercise Equipment
Baby Items
Have you ever realized how fast your babies turn into toddlers and toddlers into preschoolers and preschoolers into grade schoolers? It’s amazing how quickly kids grow up.
It doesn’t take long for your baby items to be of no use to you anymore and they definitely are not cheap! Often times, we will throw them in a closet, donate them, and or dump them in a land fill somewhere. But have you ever thought about reselling them? Let’s make some money de-cluttering those items.
Baby items are one of our top selling items. In fact, selling our outgrown baby items was how Melissa started flipping on eBay.
When we graduated from a single stroller to a double stroller, instead of throwing it out or giving it away, we sold it! Many of the baby items that we sold were still in really great condition. People know it won’t be used long, so they are always looking to buy second-hand.
You can make a lot of money by reselling your baby items so look around in your closets and in your kids’ rooms. Put together some baby items, snap a photo, and put them on Facebook Market place.
It’s a great way to decrease clutter and make some extra cash!
Designer Clothes
Now we prefer to wear shorts and flip flops so we don’t have a ton of designer clothes. However, we know many of you have way better taste then we do and spend more money on expensive clothes.
We Americans also throw out a lot of clothes. In fact, statistics say we will throw away 81 pounds of clothes per year! That’s a lot of clothes. I say why not sell those items instead and make money de-cluttering your closet.
We have so many more clothes than we need. Styles change, the clothes get damaged, or let’s face it, we may have had too many cookies at Christmas and now the clothes don’t fit!
Whatever the reason, our closets can get cluttered with clothes. Our rule is if we haven’t worn it in over a year, it’s time to get rid of it!
Should You Sell To Make Money Or Donate?
More often than not, we will bag up our clothes and donate them. But there are times when we have some really nice designer clothes that we know are worth money. In that case, we will sell them on Poshmark or eBay.
Melissa does more selling clothes than I do, but getting some return on the money we spent on clothes is a great benefit of decluttering!
Like I said, we don’t sell a ton of clothes, however, we sure have some flippers in our coaching group that clean out their own closets (and other people’s closets) and they are making some great money doing it.
Clothes are easy to list and inexpensive to ship and let’s be honest, we are always looking for new styles of clothing to buy. There is definitely money to be made by selling your unused clothing.
Shoes
Have you ever known anyone who doesn’t wear shoes? Shoes are a necessity! Everyone wears them and everyone needs them.
If you go into a thrift store, it won’t take long before you realize people get rid of a lot of shoes. Many times we get shoes that we only wear occasionally or we purchased them and they don’t fit right.
Over the years, I have accumulated a lot of shoes and so has Melissa.
Reselling used shoes can make you some money. In fact, one of our friends, Beau, sells mostly shoes and he makes a killing on eBay! He’s sold some shoes for hundreds of dollars. There is definitely a market out there.
Instead of tossing your old shoes, it’s worth a little research to see if they are worth money. With a little bit of elbow grease, you will be making money de-cluttering those shoes in no time!
This will free up room in your closet and put a little cash in your pocket!
Old Smart Phones
Every few months, there is a new iPhone coming out or a new Android style that is the next big deal. Americans are often looking for the next best smart phone.
But that’s not true for everyone! We hate paying full price for phones and we don’t jump at the next best phone out there. As long as they are taking good pictures, and we can text and call, it’s a good phone for us.
But that’s not the case for everyone. And that’s ok. It’s a preference.
Many people upgrade their phones often and their old phone will still be working perfectly. It will get thrown to the side or in a drawer somewhere just taking up space. Why not sell them and make some money de-cluttering those drawers?
But are they worth any money?
Old smart phones can be worth some money! We sell all of our used phones on eBay and we have made some great money doing that.
Take a look in a few drawers or in your desk and find all of your old smart phones. Be sure to do a factory reset before you sell it to get rid of all of the information on the phone.
There are lot of people out there that can’t afford to pay full price for the next best phone available, but they will be willing to pay great money for your old phone.
I’ve even sold phones that have broken screens or are no longer working. A big market exists for broken phones. Even some older phones are sold as parts.
De-clutter the areas in your house that you store your old phones and decide to sell them. Get some money out of your old phone clutter and you can put the money towards your next new phone!
Electronics
Did you know that old and newer electronics sell great on eBay? Just think of all of the speakers, TVs, receivers, DVD players, and old video games that you have. We personally have a ton of them!
One of our Flipper U students sold an old Stereo receiver that she found at a yard sale. It sparked one of our other students to look at some of the clutter she had accumulated in her basement. She had the same one sitting in her basement and she decided to sell it! She made some money de-cluttering and can now use that money towards something she needed.
If you ever look at thrift stores, you will see rows and rows of old and newer electronics. What I’ve found is good brand names like Bose, Pioneer, and Klipsch hold their value even when they are old.
If you have a basement or closet full of your old electronics, instead of letting it take up space or dropping them off for donation, it might be worth looking to see what you have.
You can turn your clutter into a gold mine!
Small Appliances
How many times have you paid for the most popular small appliances? These can be a really great addition to your kitchen. But sometimes, they can be used very little and use up more space then you may like.
There are hundreds of bread makers, instapots, toasters, mixers, and any other number of small appliances. Many times in life, we get hyped up about the new appliances, but when we finally get them we don’t use them.
Take a look in your closets and in your kitchen cabinets and see what small appliances are taking up space. You may be surprised how many people will not pay full price for one, but they’d pay you for a used one.
We had one of our Flipper U members who found a Ronco Rotisserie in a box at someone’s yard sale. Remember set it and forget it? The buyer was truly excited about getting this item at one time in her life and paid big bucks for it! But the owner never took it out of the box!
She grabbed it for a few bucks and sold it for $200 on eBay!
Scan your kitchen for small appliances and gadgets you haven’t used in a while. Many of these specialty items have a big retail price tag, but used they still hold their value.
Take a photo and throw them on Facebook Marketplace or eBay to see what kind of money you can make decluttering your kitchen appliances!
Exercise Equipment
In January there are thousands of Americans making New Year’s resolution to get in shape. In fact, the top New Year’s resolution is always to lose weight and get in shape.
You may have paid retail for an expensive commercial exercise machine, only to find out taking a walk instead of using the stair stepper is much more effective.
Have you ever bought an expensive exercise machine (or maybe even more than one) and they are now used more as place to hang your clothes on than getting on it! It’s time to sell these items and are a great way to make extra money decluttering.
I buy and sell so many pieces of exercise equipment. Every year I make thousands by selling other people’s exercise equipment regrets! I know I’m not thrilled about paying retail for anything and there are others of the same mindset who don’t want to pay full price.
These are the people who are looking for a used piece of equipment, especially in our current situation with so many gyms closed due to Covid-19. Americans still want to be in shape and are willing to pay several hundred dollars for your used equipment that is taking up space.
There is a huge market for commercial exercise equipment. You can de-clutter and open up some space in your home – and make some great money doing it!
What is my next step to start making money by decluttering?
If you are home due to Covid-19, start your 2020 de-clutter today. You can decrease your stress and actually improve your health – And your finances.
Just think what you could do with a few hundred dollars extra, especially during these uncertain financial times in our economy.
Your house will have less stuff and on top of that, you can have a little extra money for groceries, electric, or to pay off credit cards, etc.
Selling your own clutter is a great way to not only improve your mental health, but can provide extra income during these uncertain times.
Ready to make money decluttering your house?
Do you want to learn how to make money when in this uncertain economy? Check out our free intro webinar today!
Further Resources
FREE Workshop How To Turn Your Passion of Flipping Items Into A Profitable Reselling Business
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