Best Buy and Sell Apps for Used Stuff
Convert unwanted items into cash and buy used items.
When you live from paycheck to paycheck, you likely feel overwhelmed and stressed. And when budgets narrow, it may seem that there is no fiscal relief in sight. Even with the best budget intentions, cutting back on daily or monthly expenses may not be enough to ease these financial burdens. In these situations, additional reinforcement may be the only way forward.
Although taking on a second job or a side hustle may seem like the only way to earn some extra money, don’t overlook the opportunity to turn unwanted things into cash. Whether it’s an old gadget, unworn clothes, or a closet full of toys gathering dust, spending time selling items you no longer need or use can help you earn much-needed money. To get you started, here are 16 free apps and websites that make it easy to buy and sell items in person or online.
CardCash
Best for: Unwanted gift cards.
Each year, up to $3 billion in gift cards are not used, according to Mercator Consulting Group, which provides data on the payments industry. Although gift cards are a popular gift, sometimes gift givers don’t get them right, and you may have received one from a store you never shopped at or a restaurant you didn’t like. The good news is that you can convert these gift cards into cash through sites like CardCash.com, which will pay you up to 92% of the card value via check, PayPal, automatic clearinghouse payments, or exchange it for a gift card to another store or restaurant for up to 7% more. The amount you earn depends on the popularity of the gift card, but it’s a great option for anyone stuck with gift cards that they can’t or can’t use. As far as buyer protection is concerned, CardCash offers a 45-day warranty on all gift cards sold through their site from the date of purchase, so just make sure to use them before that period expires.
Chairish
Best for: Upscale home furnishing.
Chairish is an online home decorating and design marketplace where you can sell décor, furniture, home accessories and antique art. As a sender, you can have up to nine active listings as part of your free membership, but Chairish takes a portion of each sale, and charges a flat 30% commission. One of the best advantages of selling through Chairish is that it will organize the shipping details for you, which can be a complicated process when dealing with large, heavy or fragile pieces. Otherwise, it’s easy to set up a local capture format through the app. Once the sale is completed, payments are issued via PayPal after delivery within the company’s 48-hour return period. You can be sure that payment has been processed when you mark an item as delivered on the Sold Items tab of your Chairish dashboard. The site’s new results listing curates the most popular listings in one place, encouraging increased sales.
Decluttr
Best for: Unused technology.
According to a recent survey by Decluttr, Americans own nearly $200 of unused tech items in the home. When it comes to selling those unwanted personal items, you don’t have to deal with the hassle of waiting for the auction to close. Alternatively, sites like Decluttr offer instant payment. Start by entering the item’s barcode – or use the in-app barcode scanner – to get an instant price estimate, guaranteed for 28 days. Once your bid is accepted, you will receive a ‘Welcome Package’ via email containing a free shipping label that you simply affix to your gadget box. When you receive your tech item, the payment will be processed via direct deposit or PayPal, making it a simple and fast transaction. Subscribe to Declutter’s newsletter to earn an extra 10% on your appreciation when you place your first trade.
“Decluttr is also a good place to buy refurbished tech items. You can save an average of $100 on an iPad and $490 on an iPhone X,” says Trae Bodge, smart shopping expert at truetrae.com, a personal finance and money-saving blog. You have to look for periodic sales, during which you can often save $50 on a special promotion.
eBay
Best for: Auction-style sales.
eBay is known for its auction-style sales, and also offers other selling formats where you can sell everything from clothing to electronics to baby gear to cars. If you decide to sell through an auction, simply choose a starting price and watch interested buyers bid. The buyer with the highest bid at the end of the auction window wins the sale. Auctions can run for one, three, five, seven or ten days. You can even select to automatically re-list unsold items.
Another option to sell is to use eBay’s fixed-price format, “Buy Now,” which allows buyers to make a purchase right away. If you’re concerned that your price is too high, choose to let buyers bid to make room for negotiation. Most listings are free, but sales will incur a final value fee which is calculated as a percentage of the final sale price and varies based on the item. For example, final value fees for clothing, shoes, and accessories that sell for less than $100 are charged 10.2% of the item’s selling price, but are free for items selling over $100.
Select your preferred delivery option, from domestic pickup to shipping within the US or internationally. To make shipments easy and affordable, buy and print your own shipping labels through eBay and you’ll get a discount from the shipping companies you work with.
eCampus
Best for: college books.
According to the College Board, the average cost of college textbooks was $1,240 to $1,440 for the 2018-2019 academic year. Although many students are looking to offset some of these costs by selling textbooks back to their college library, there is more money available online. Sites like eCampus.com offer higher payments for textbooks. One option is the buyback service, where you get an instant quote based on the data provided and free shipping with payments made via PayPal, checks, direct deposit or in-store credit. Other than that, you can choose to use the marketplace platform to sell directly to students. For this option, the site collects a 15% commission per sale but offers a shipping credit as an advantage.
Facebook Marketplace
Best for: Selling locally.
If you don’t want to deal with downloading another app or creating another online account, Facebook Marketplace is the best option for buying and selling used items in your area since it is already linked to your Facebook account. Marketplace is Facebook’s platform for buying, selling, and discovering items. It makes selling items very easy – just upload a picture from your phone and review the suggested interface category and price range based on sales of similar items in your area. You can sell to buyers locally by coordinating in-person transactions or choose to ship to people who live outside driving distance, depending on your preference. The bonus of using the Facebook Marketplace is that you will feel more confident in who you are dealing with as you can view the Facebook profile of the potential buyer.
5miles
Best for: Domestic sales, video-enabled listings.
This peer-to-peer market app uses your phone’s GPS to reach buyers in your area. Shoppers can make you an offer or communicate about menu details through the in-app chat feature. For added security, the site offers user ratings, phone number verification, and Facebook contact so you know you’re dealing with real people, not scammers. When it’s time to make a deal, use the secure exchange area location tool to locate nearby police stations for transactions. Other than that, 5miles also offers the option to pay and ship online. Darcy Segura, a buyer and distributor of antique furniture, home décor and more with The Eclectic Den, a 5-mile virtual storefront, appreciates the app’s video-enabled menu feature. “The video enables me to show off the furniture in a way that the pictures don’t do justice to it,” she says. “It really helps bring my listings to life.” The app also makes it easy to share your lists via Facebook, Twitter, text or email.
Letgo
Best for: Easy communication with buyers.
Whether you want to sell an old smartphone, unwanted toys or a used car, you can do it all through the Letgo app or on the website. Letgo allows consumers to buy and sell just about anything, with categories ranging from electronics to sporting goods to cars. This free marketplace makes it easy to communicate with buyers as all communication can be done through the app, such as discussing item specifications and negotiating prices. To improve security, Letgo verifies users’ profiles with ratings and reviews so you can see who you’re talking to and what others have said about them before they go ahead with any transaction. Although the buying and selling takes place in person, consider meeting in a public place during the day and taking a friend with you to ensure your safety. The app is free to use, so you can keep 100% of the sale price.
OfferUp
Best for: Negotiating and selling items quickly.
Similar to other second-hand markets, OfferUp is free to use and lets you sell just about anything. You can choose to limit the sale to local buyers only and meet in person or post to OfferUp’s nationwide sales page, for which you have to coordinate shipments. When listing your item, let buyers know if your price is set as fixed or if there is room for negotiation, which means buyers can bid so you have bargaining opportunities for a fair deal. At OfferUp, you can increase menu visibility and sell your item faster using its “Promote” feature for an additional fee. When you promote your item, it will appear within the top 50 in search, browsing, and category results. This ensures buyers see your promoted listing when they search for similar items. Although you have to pay for this feature, it is a cost effective for anyone who wants to sell an item faster.
Mercari
Best for: Those who don’t like packing boxes.
On the Mercari app, you can sell just about anything – from sports equipment to cosmetics to baby gear – without worrying about meeting potential buyers in person. “I think of it like Craigslist, but there are no meetups,” says Susan Towers, co-founder of Forerunner PR. All sales are shipped to buyers, so there’s no need for face-to-face interaction. Additionally, Mercari eliminates headaches from shipping goods sold by offering a packing and freight partnership with UPS. If you bring the sold item to a local UPS store, an associate will pack and ship it to you, so you don’t have to worry about finding the right-sized box and creating a shipping label. Listings are free, but Mercari charges a fee once the transaction is complete, including a selling fee of 10% of the sales price and an additional payment processing fee of 2.9% plus 30 cents based on the sale price. You can even earn a $5 bonus during special promotions for your first listing.
Poshmark
Best for: peer-to-peer clothing resale.
When it comes to fashion, Poshmark is the perfect place to sell gently used brand name clothing, shoes and accessories. To list your items, create a profile and add some photos of each item you want to sell with description and price. You can motivate shoppers to buy more from you by offering a discount on multiple purchases. Listings are free, but you have to pay a fee when you make a sale. Poshmark takes a flat fee of $2.95 for orders under $15 and increases that commission to 20% for sales above this price point. Luxury-goods buyers get extra confidence, thanks to free authentication – luxury items are shipped directly to Poshmark headquarters for first inspection.
Earnings are deposited into your account, and you can withdraw funds at any time directly from the app via direct deposit or by requesting a check. Shipping is easy, too, with Poshmark giving you a prepaid, pre-addressed card ready to put on the box and drop at a nearby USPS mailbox or schedule a pickup at home.
Becky Beach, the blog behind finance and lifestyle website MomBeach.com, says she uses the app a lot and suggests taking high-quality photos of each item to attract more buyers. Lay the item on a white poster board to make it stand out, she says.