It’s often said that clearing out the house could make you a handful of extra cash when you most need it. Empty out your attic, make sure there’s nothing valuable left in a wardrobe, and don’t let the garage sit with a bunch of packed boxes still in it. Especially not when you could unpack them, list the items online, and then watch the money rake in!
But is it really so easy to make the extra cash you need off of a simple house clearout? The answer is both yes and no, but we know that’s a little complicated! So we’re going to break it down below; here’s what to remember when you’re considering selling old possessions for profit.
It Takes a Lot More Time Than You’d Think
Clearing out the house isn’t a two hour job. Even if you take a couple hours across two to three days, you’re not going to make much progress on decluttering your whole house.
And even when you’re done with the ‘finding’ part of the process, then comes the photographing, note taking, and uploading the right details to the internet part! That could double the hours you have to put in.
If you’re committed to trying to make money via this method, this could be worth the effort for you. However, if you’d only like to do a couple of rooms and see what you get, don’t then be tempted to try and take on the whole house at once.
If Something Looks Valuable, Get it Assessed
You can’t just assume that something will be valuable and then pop it on Ebay. You need to be sure it is first. Not only does this give you a proper price point to ask for, but it also opens up the proper auctioning world to you as well. So, anything you’ve dug out of the attic and think could be worth something, take it down to an expert who knows the score!
The art of evaluating old flatware and silver items is in quite the demand these days, so you can be sure you’ll find someone nearby who’ll be able to tell you what you need to know.
Don’t Try to Sell Everything
We’d all like to think that the things we don’t want are worth something to someone, and there is some truth to that. However, the more we try to sell literally every single thing we don’t want to keep anymore, the longer the process takes overall.
And in the end, you’re likely to spend more on trying to ship things to the buyer’s address than you are to make any real profit from the sale.
In the end, don’t sell everything. Sell what actually has a chance of making you some extra cash, and then donate the rest.
Clearing out the house could make you some money, but it’s going to require a lot of time and effort from you! Make sure you’re ready for the task!
