What to sell?...

Before you buy things to sell, clean out your house! This can be hard but very satisfying in the end. Look around and assess the situation. If you are done having kids, sell your baby items. I know it is hard to part with that cute (insert item here), but you can take a photo and keep it forever digitally without taking up room in your house.

*Baby items that are modern sell well if you price them reasonably.

It is not only about baby items but all those things you have laying around. Are your hall closets full? Why? Are you using those things? I have sold items that I never thought would sell. If you are just really not sure of the item, look it up online and see what people are selling it at on craigslist, amazon and ebay.

Think outside the box with your listings. I sold a circular baby gate (super yard) to a single lady with no children. Why did she buy it? Because I wrote "great for a baby of any kind" - she just bought a new puppy and he was her baby. I bought it for $90 back 6 1/2 years ago and would have sold it for $5 if I didn't know from research that this item is still in high demand. I sold it to her for $30 and she thanked me over and over.

Little by little you will earn dollars that you had just laying around your house. Your house will be decluttered and you are on the road to interjecting more income to your budget and organizing your home.

After you have tackled clearing out your house now it is time to come up with a strategy to keep the ball rolling. Lots of people buy items to re-sell. Stalking hot clearance items, coupon shopping and just general deal hunting is a great way to get your stock to sell.

Keep your receipts and watch your profit margin. It does not make sense to sell things under the 30% profit margin. You will interject too much time and effort and possibly gas money if you do so. The only way I would suggest selling under a 30% profit margin is if you are selling in mass quantities.

There are many ways to sell other than craigslist and ebay. If you have a local flea market that draws a good sized crowd, it may be worth your time to check into it. Last year, I sold HBA items at the local flea market. I bought the items using coupons and paying pennies on the dollar for them. Each time I rented a space at the local flea market I made between $800 - $1,200 for that day. Now you have to imagine, I had a massive amount of stock and put in lots of time to acquire it so it will not be the same for everyone but it can be profitable.

Yard Sales can also provide a nice amount of money if you advertise it well. Make simple, yet clear signs. It really annoys me when I see signs that I can not read. Fancy writing is not effective at all on a 3 x 3 sign. Write a simple catchy phrase and your address and post the signs up where they are easily seen while driving. I strongly suggest listing your sale on craigslist with photos as well. Take photos of your hottest item. Give a few prices to lure them in. If you are selling stockpile, list out some examples with prices. One thing for sure, kids items and furniture sell fast if priced reasonably.

Here in our city we have a new chain of stores that don't exactly have a title. The concept it brilliant. They rent out floor space and sell the items in the rented spaces for the vendors. This is a booming business since people can't quit their jobs to venture into selling to earn extra income. It is much like a Goodwill or Salvation Army inside since you will see the most random assortment of items. The sellers (vendors) price their items as the wish and pay rent whether it sells or not. The brilliant part of this is that the vendors who move quantity can make some serious cash and the store owners make money off the rent of the spaces plus a small commission. I did this for 3 months selling furniture I bought off craigslist. I would search daily for a deal, buy it and deliver it to the re-sale store. I did quite well and made just over $2,700 a month moving quanitity. I had to pull back on this type of work since we have harsh winters here in Michigan and I just don't have the help to keep going. I do plan to get back into it when the weather breaks.