I saw on someone's status the other day that we seniors have six months until graduation. A series of statements ran through my head, including "I'm not ready," "How will I provide for myself," "What if I cannot pass my classes," and "How the heck did I get here?" One of the biggest questions that popped into my head, however, was "What am I going to do with all the junk in my room?"
Selling old stuff is a great, fast way to make cash, but yard sales are time-consuming and often do not draw a big profit. Especially living in Farmville, students can find it difficult to access a high traffic area in order to reach customers. While a traditional yard sale can be a great way to rid yourself of excessive possessions, utilizing technology to host a modern day yard sale can bring you a bigger profit.
There are many options online to sell products. One of the premier ways to sell is Amazon.com. On the Amazon user home page, there is a button on the right side that says "Your Account." Click on it, and again on the right there is a button that says "Your Seller Account." Click on that and sign in. Link a bank account to receive payments and let the cash start rolling in.
Amazon is the best option if you are looking to sell old textbooks, novels, CDs, movies or anything else with an ISBN code. They make it very easy to look up these products and post them online. Out of all three options I list, Amazon is the safest way to sell.
To sell a product, click on the list single item button. Search the product by the title, a keyword or the ISBN, UPC or ASIN. Amazon has an inventory of products, and only items in that inventory can be sold by an individual seller. If the item pops up, go for it. Find the product that matches and click on "Sell Yours Here" to proceed. Choose the condition and add a condition note to better explain the condition of the product. Enter a price for the product. One the right there is a box with some information on what that product is selling for on Amazon, so price accordingly. The key is to sell the item cheaper than other sellers but at a high enough price to actually draw a profit.
Submit the listing and open it to the world to start buying. Amazon will confirm that the product is posted and also send an email alert when the product sells. Ship it to the customer; confirm the shipment and the payment will go straight to the bank account linked to the site. Merchandise is free to post and can sit on the site for as long as it takes to sell.
There are other options if the product cannot be sold by Amazon. eBay is a great alternative, but it has some limitations. It costs money to post (usually less than a dollar, but still money) and is an auction style that gets taken down when the auction finishes. eBay is a great option to clear out old clothes, shoes, household items and other knickknacks.
Set up an eBay account and a PayPal account to receive the payment. At the top, highlight the sell drop down menu and click to sell an item. Do a quick search to see what it is worth, and base the price off of that. Click "Start Selling."
Find a matching category to post the item under. Choose the category and click continue. It will direct users to the description page. Answer all the categories to best describe the product. Save the listing, check to see if everything is right and then post it. Follow the auction and consider lowering the prices when the auction is close to over to nudge people to start bidding if they have not already.
eBay is a safe option to sell, although not as secure as Amazon. Those who buy from eBay have more of a chance of getting scammed. If you are a seller, wait for the money to be transferred from the customer to your account to ensure that you get paid before shipping, and you should be in the clear to ship the merchandise.
A third option is Craigslist, and the site is good for heavy or large items. Use this to sell your old mini fridge, an extra television, video games and other significant items. With Amazon and eBay the items have to be shipped. With Craigslist, items are hand delivered or picked up, which is ideal for things that would be heavy to ship, like video game systems.
Posting items is free on Craigslist, and you can even get an anonymous Craigslist email so potential buyers do not have access to your own email account. Craigslist can be more dangerous than the other options, but it can also bring in a big profit.
You put yourself in a vulnerable position by agreeing to meet strangers to exchange merchandise and money. It's best to meet in a neutral location, rather than asking them to come to your house or going to theirs. It's also a good idea to take a second person with you when you go to meet the customer, just to ensure everything is as safe as can be.
It used to be that one would have to choose a Saturday morning to cover their yard with their possessions, hoping someone in the neighborhood might stop by and choose something. Now with the options of auction-style selling with eBay, store-like selling with Amazon or face to face transactions with Craigslist, it's easier than ever to make money off of stuff lying around the house.
