If the holidays left you with bulging closets and empty pockets, you may want to flip that equation by unloading some of your excess stuff. Sites that help you sell everything from furniture to electronics have proliferated in recent years. But with the variety comes some confusion. Does the site where you sell matter?
“Absolutely,” say the editors of SideHusl.com.
Selling through the right platform often has a big impact on how quick, easy and profitable the transactions end up. Unfortunately, there’s no one-size-suits-all solution. Instead, the best sites to sell your stuff are often those that specialize — or that charge the least to reach the most potential buyers.
These are the X best sites to sell your stuff, based on what you’ve got to sell.
Best sites to sell art
If you’ve got paintings, sculptures or other art works that you want to part with, the best place to sell them will depend on who made them. Specifically, was this art created by someone else or you?
If it was created by someone else, is what you’re selling fine art created by a famous artist, or is it inexpensive art created by a relatively unknown artist? To sell fine art, you should enlist an auction house, such as Christies to get the best price. Inexpensive art can be sold through local sites like Facebook Marketplace.
What if it’s art that you created? Then you have dozens of choices. TurningArt allows you to lease out, sell and license your original art to corporations that want to decorate their offices. SaatchiArt allows you to sell to collectors. And a variety of sites, including FineArtAmerica and Spoonflower will help you use your art to decorate everything from puzzles to fabrics, paying you a royalty on each sale.
Best sites to sell bulky (but not expensive) items
Bulky used goods, ranging from sofas and beds to dining tables and chests are difficult and expensive to ship. Thus, unless they’re valuable designer items, the best way to sell them is to use a free local sales site, such as Nextdoor, Facebook Marketplace or OfferUp.
All three sites let you list for free. But you’ll have to meet and collect payment from the buyer personally.
Best place to sell expensive bulky items
But what if the bulky item you have to sell is really valuable? Then it’s worth finding the right buyer, even if you have to spend money on shipping. In cases like these, professional reseller Rob Stephenson turns to eBay.
What makes eBay uniquely attractive for selling valuable items? Reach. The site reaches 134 million active buyers worldwide. That vastly increases the chance that someone who truly understands your valuable item’s worth will see it and be willing to pay a reasonable price for it. The site gives you the option of including shipping in your price, or charging the buyer to ship. Stephenson suggests you research the rough cost of shipping in advance and price your item to include the shipping costs.
Best site to sell clothing
Is your closet full of beautiful clothing that you never wear — or lightly-used things you or your children have grown out of? Check out Poshmark.
This vibrant retail marketplace allows sellers to create closets that they can market through their own — and friends’ — social media channels. Customers who like your style can bookmark your closet, so they can easily return to see what’s new. Moreover, the site encourages cooperation between similar sellers, to increase the chance that people who like certain looks will see them all.
Best site to sell electronics
Whether you’ve got aging iPhones, tablets, game consoles or computers, the best place to sell them is a site called Swappa. Why Swappa? Most electronics buyers are resellers. In other words, they buy from one consumer and sell to another, taking a portion — sometimes a large portion — of the proceeds in the process.
Swappa simply provides a marketplace where consumers can sell to one another, effectively taking out the middle-man. That means you keep more of the final sales price. Buyers often get a bargain too.
Best site to sell gold & silver
If you have gold or silver rings, chains, bars or coins, this might be an ideal time to sell them. Gold prices hit an all-time high in December, peaking at roughly $4,500 an ounce. Silver prices soared over $80 per ounce — highs not seen since 2011. The prices have settled a bit since then, but they are still near all-time highs.
There are dozens of sites to sell gold, but the one SideHusl.com likes the best is called Alloy. What makes Alloy special? It’s convenient. They send you a postage-paid test kit to test and send in your items. And it’s highly transparent about pricing, giving you a great idea of what your items are worth before you send them in. Specifically, Alloy pays up to 99% of the spot price for the metal content.
But, since much gold and silver jewelry is not pure, you need to multiply the gold content by the weight. So if you have a two-ounce chain that’s 18-carat gold, it’s only 75% gold. Thus you multiply .75 x 2 to get 1.50. Now multiply that by the current spot price and you have a rough idea of how much you’d receive for your gold (or silver, platinum or palladium).
Gems
Notably, where Alloy is a great place to sell precious metals, it’s not the best place to sell jewelry that contains gems. If you want to sell expensive gemmed jewelry in tact, consider listing on Amazon. Amazon, one of the world’s largest retailers, charges just a 5% fee for jewelry sales of over $250.
Other options: Worthy (for diamonds) and Circa Jewels, for other jewelry containing precious gems.
Sporting goods
While you can list used sporting goods for sale almost anywhere, Sideline Swap specializes in quality, used sporting goods, which may help you find a better buyer. The site lets you list items for sale for free. But you’ll pay a 12% to 15% commission on anything you sell.
Wedding dresses
If you’re not overly sentimental about your used wedding dress, you can resell it and recover somewhere between 20% and 50% of the original cost. Several sites list lightly used wedding dresses for sale. The best of them charge a relatively small fee and will keep your dress listed until it sells. Our top recommendations: StillWhite and PreOwned Wedding Dresses.
