Selling your stuff online is a great way to make a quick $20 to tide you over until your next paycheck. It’s also a low-cost way to start a small business venture that brings in thousands of dollars in passive income.
And everything in between.
No matter your needs, we’ve got the right e-commerce websites for you. But first, you need to do some preparation to make sure your for-sale listing will be successful.
How to Sell Stuff Online
While you can find a website that will allow you to create a for-sale listing for just about anything, that doesn’t mean anyone will actually buy.
Think about it from the perspective of the buyers: What will they need to make the decision to purchase your item?
Here are a few easy steps to make your listing pop.
Take Good Photos
It doesn’t matter what you’re selling: People will want to see it. A well-lit photo (or five) is one of the easiest ways to set yourself apart. Good photos make your listing appear much more legitimate and trustworthy, too.
“It’s all about perception,” Etsy shop owner Lena Gosik-Wolf told The Penny Hoarder. “It’s about how people are seeing you because they can’t have that in-person experience.”
Include Useful Keywords
If you’re trying to sell a Samsung 32-inch flat screen LED TV, you will want to include those details. Don’t just say “TV for sale” and call it a day. Not only is a well written description going to help the buyer make a decision once they find your listing, but item descriptions also help them get to your listing in the first place.
Many e-commerce sites have algorithms that work like Google. So if someone is searching for a “Samsung LED,” your listing will have a much better choice of appearing in the results.
Study Successful Listings
See what top sellers are doing with their listings, especially ones in similar categories to what you plan to sell. And take note.
Each website works a little differently. A good listing on one site may not be a good listing on another, so be sure to tailor your listing to each site if you plan on selling your items in multiple places.
When Coryn Enfinger co-founded her screenprinting business, Dark Cycle Clothing, she leaned on all of these tips to help ensure success. She researched for weeks on how to create the perfect listing to showcase their clothes, which her husband Adam designs and prints. She found that high-quality photos are essential for online sales.
When Dark Cycle Clothing’s online store launched, buyers came flooding in. And what started as a hobby flourished into a $350,000-a-year screen printing business. Since then, Dark Cycle Clothing has ranked as a top-five seller of handmade clothes on Etsy and sells in stores and markets around the country.
“People don’t realize how much work it takes,” Enfinger said. “They just see the product, and they see it selling.”
15 Websites to Sell Stuff Online
After you’ve practiced a bit with how to make a killer for-sale listing, it’s time to find your item a good home.
And depending on what you’re selling, you’ll want to choose the appropriate website. Some giant websites will accept listings for most products, and some niche websites accept only certain categories of items. In most cases, the more specific you get, the better.
Where to Sell Almost Everything Online
Depending on how you use the largest e-commerce websites, they can be a help or a hindrance.
A big website equals more users equals more profit, right? Not quite. In our guide to online marketplaces, Kaitlyn Blount writes that giant e-commerce sites might lead to a “small fish, monstrous pond scenario.”
If you’re a budding business, some sites will handle shipping for you. But if you’re a one-time seller, you may not think the associated fees and hassle of registering are worth just one listing. It’s likely that you’re somewhere in the middle.
Here are a few websites that need no introduction.
1. Amazon
Amazon is a far cry from its book-peddling past. According to an NPR study, 44% of online shoppers now start their search on Amazon.
To cash in on that action and make money as an Amazon seller, you must register for an Individual Seller Plan or a Professional Seller Plan.
- Individual seller accounts are free. They have a selling limit of 40 items per month, and Amazon deducts a 99 cent fee per sale. That means no up-front costs to list your item.
- Professional sellers must pay a $39.99 monthly subscription fee. Professional accounts have no selling limit and are exempt from the 99 cent fee.
Both types of accounts are subject to additional selling fees, which range from 3% to 45% of the sale price depending on the category of the item.
If you don’t feel like packaging, shipping or storing the items, Amazon also offers Fulfillment by Amazon, which handles all of that for you, plus customer service and returns — for additional costs, of course. Fees range by weight: $2.41 for items 10 ounces and lighter up to $137.32 for oversized items.
Schuyler Richardson took his online selling to the next level by creating an Amazon private label business, which includes buying generic products for cheap, rebranding and packaging them, then selling them on Amazon for a profit.
With this technique, Richardson is able to bring in between $1,000 and $2,000 of passive income each month.
“It’s important to understand this isn’t a get-rich-quick strategy,” Richardson writes in our step-by-step guide to creating a private label business. “It takes diligence, patience and a willingness to see an idea through from start to finish.”
2. EBay
Since 1995, eBay has earned a reputation as a one-stop shop for curated goods, collectibles, unique flea-market finds and more.
“You can seriously sell anything on eBay if you know the market,” Michelle Henry told The Penny Hoarder.
Henry is an eBay shopkeeper who flips items she finds at her local thrift shop and makes a few hundred dollars a week on the site. And she isn’t the only one.
Rob Stephenson, who calls himself the Flea Market Flipper, makes upwards of $80,000 a year selling his flea-market finds online, usually on eBay. And it only takes him around 15 to 20 hours a week.
To join their ranks, sign up for an eBay Stores account. These accounts are for more serious sellers who foresee making in excess of 50 sales a month.
There are several tiers available — starter, basic, premium, anchor and enterprise ― with subscription fees that range from as little as $4.95 a month all the way up to $2,999.95. Each tier comes with a slew of benefits and discounts, which are listed under eBay’s subscription and fees section.
If you would just like to pawn off items from your attic, you can create a free account and list up to 50 items a month.
What’s unique about eBay is the option to create an auction listing, where buyers bid on your item, or a fixed-price listing, where the seller specifies the exact price. Whenever the item sells, eBay charges the seller a final-value fee, which is a percentage of the selling price. This percentage varies between 2% and 12% depending on the category of the item.
Shipping is on you, though.
3. Etsy
Etsy has carved out a niche for handmade and artistic goods. While the site accepts listings from a wide range of product categories, the items should cater to its craft-loving and thrifty user base.
For sellers, it’s not just about the listing, either. It takes a little love to cultivate an Etsy shop that will resonate with buyers.
“People pick up on that kind of thing,” Gosik-Wolfe told The Penny Hoarder. “They can tell if you don’t care about your shop.”
She said it’s all about your brand, backstory and making a connection with customers.
“If people are really interested in your story, they’ll be more likely to look at all your items.” Gosik-Wolfe said. “Even if they’re not a buyer right away, they’re going to look through things and say ‘I connect to this,’ and they might just [come back] later when they do need something.”
Creating an online Etsy shop may take five minutes, but you’ll want to spend much more time customizing your page. (Or, if you don’t want to do all the page designing yourself, Etsy offers a customization tool called Pattern. This tool is an additional $15 a month.)
Once your shop is set up, your sales are subject to several types of fees:
- Listing fee: For each listing on Etsy’s website or the mobile app, you’ll be charged 20 cents. For multiple quantities of the same item, a 20 cent fee will be charged per sale.
- Transaction fee: Etsy charges 5% of the listing price per sale, plus any additional costs for shipping or gift wrapping.
- Subscription fee: A basic Etsy shop membership is free. Shops in good standing can choose to upgrade to Etsy Plus, a subscription for sellers that includes bonus promotional features, for $10 a month.
Where to Sell Your Stuff Online Locally
If you’d rather not ship your item across the nation, you can opt to sell it locally. There are several sites where you can create a listing to advertise your product and then conduct the sale in person once you’ve found a buyer.
It’s important to stay safe when selling in person. Trust your gut, always meet in a well-lit public place and never give strangers your address.
Other than your neighborhood Starbucks, several police departments have designated trading spaces that are always available and have 24/7 surveillance. Find the closest one to you on SafeTrade.
4. Craigslist
Want to feel old? Of course not. But here it is anyway: Craigslist has been around for more than 20 years.
The aptly named advertising website was founded by Craig Newmark in 1996, and it started as his email list of interesting events in the San Francisco area. Over the years, it has grown to be synonymous with classified ads (sorry, newspapers) and boasts more than a billion monthly online visitors.
You can list anything from a used toaster to a high-end job to a 10-bedroom mansion.
For job, retail and service listings, there’s a fee. But if you have items you want to sell, it’s free. So list away.
While the site operates in more than 70 countries, it’s best used locally. In fact, to avoid scams, the site recommends people list locally and meet face to face. To encourage this, the website actually reads your IP address and automatically funnels you to the local version of the site.
So let’s say you want to sell an antique armoire.
To create a listing, no registration is required. The site will prompt you to answer a few questions about what type of item you’re selling and will ask you to specify your county. After that, describe the armoire in detail (condition, price, dimensions, color, etc.), post a few photos and leave your contact information if you don’t want to correspond through anonymous emails.
Then the replies will start rolling in. Be prepared to haggle.
5. Facebook Marketplace
What doesn’t Facebook do these days?
In 2016, the social media giant launched an on-site feature called Marketplace. It works a lot like other local-listing websites, except there’s the added benefit of looking through the profile of the buyer or seller — a relief for online shoppers, surely.
Anyone can browse the marketplace anonymously, but to bid on or create a listing, you will need to sign in to your Facebook profile, which of course, is free. (You’re probably already logged in if you’re reading this.)
Sellers can create a free listing for homes, vehicles or items. The only stipulation is that all listings must comply with Facebook’s commerce policies and any local laws.
Facebook forbids creating listings about:
- Animals.
- Weapons or ammunition.
- Irrelevant content, i.e. posting news, memes or humor that “has no intention to buy or sell products or services.”
The marketplace also aggregates relevant buying and selling groups in your area. Posting in these groups is a good way to advertise your item to a specific audience.
Pro tip: Big-town universities usually have very active marketplace groups due to the constant flux of students.
Facebook has a direct-payment system built into Messenger, which is also free to use. But payment does not have to be completed using this feature.
6. Nextdoor
Nextdoor is a relatively new, private social media platform with an interesting twist. It’s not for individuals, but neighborhoods.
To join Nextdoor, you’ll need to verify your street address and use your real, full name. This is one exception to the “never give strangers your address” rule. Because they shouldn’t be strangers. They’re your neighbors.
After your account is verified (either by phone call or postcard), you can join your neighbors on a private board not indexed by search engines and not available to people who have an address outside your area.
During registration, you’ll be prompted to join groups based on popular trending topics in your area, such as local sports teams, schools and much more.
Once your profile is complete, you can post free listings in the “For Sale & Free” section and filter items by more than a dozen categories.
All items that are shown on the website are by other Nextdoor users in your designated “neighborhood.”
The reason neighborhood is in quotation marks is because the areas are not geographically accurate neighborhoods per se. They are formed by founding members — people who first signed up in your community. Founding members define the limits of your online neighborhood and must recruit at least 10 addresses within that area to sign up on Nextdoor to establish the neighborhood.
Nextdoor staff can, at any time, change the neighborhood parameters, say, if someone combined two full cities into one neighborhood or intentionally left out certain areas based on income or race.
And while these members may indeed be your neighbors, it’s still a good idea to adhere to the safety best practices mentioned above when selling in person.
7. OfferUp
OfferUp is a mobile-based secondhand marketplace that launched in 2011. It’s focused on local sales, but there is a feature to search for items nationwide, too.
It’s one of the only online marketplaces that requires sellers to upload photos of the item via its mobile app. The app has built-in messaging and payment systems, though they aren’t mandatory for buyers. For sellers, the app is required because of the mandatory photo feature.
Creating an account is as fast as downloading the app or logging in with Facebook or Gmail if you don’t intend to sell.
OfferUp has an extensive list of prohibited items, including alcohol, guns, animals and vitamins. The site also has in-depth guides on the best practices for posting and marketing your item, which include using multiple photos, categorizing your item correctly and writing a good product description.
Creating listings and selling items in person are free.
However, there are a few paid features on OfferUp.
- National listings: Most items are automatically listed for sale in your local area. For a fee (9.9% of the selling price), you can have the item listed nationally and shipped to the buyer.
- Promoted listings: a feature that keeps your post within the top 50 search results for a specific category. Promotion fees run between $3.99 and $19.99 for three days to 14 days of promotion, respectively.
- Bumping: This feature refreshes your item as if it were a new post, listing it higher in search results. Bumps cost between $1.99 and $3.99 per item.
- Paying through OfferUp: Transactions are typically cash-based, but for national sales or situations where you don’t want to use cash, the website offers transactions through Stripe, which charges separate processing fees.
All paid features are optional. So to keep costs down, keep it local and use cash.
8. Letgo
Capitalizing on the minimalist movement, Letgo wants you to find a home for your gently used tchotchkes or space-takers that don’t spark joy. A quick listing could turn your old wooden-trunk-turned-coffee-table into someone else’s new wooden-trunk-turned-coffee-table.
Now your living room looks larger and you have $30 you can invest on a little self-care. Or your third round of Uber Eats this week. Whichever.
Letgo is free to buy and sell, and the only fees are for sellers who want to promote their listings. (Promotions start at $1.99, and a “Super Boost” subscription is available to Android users for $29.99 a month.)
The app-based marketplace caters to both one-time sellers and veteran peddlers alike. It takes less than a minute to create a listing, which is possible on both the Letgo website and the app. Your selling radius is automatically picked up by your phone’s location information or your IP address.
Upload a few photos, write a good description, list your price and post it for people in your area to see.
After you’ve made a few sales, like several other marketplace sites, your profile will accrue ratings from buyers. High ratings are a good way to set yourself apart if you plan to use the app frequently.
While listings are aggregated based on your ZIP code, it is possible to tap into other areas by entering a different ZIP code. However, there is no option to filter items nationally.
Letgo is a locals-only club.
Where to Sell Games and Electronics Online
While every website or app above accepts listings for electronics, it’s a good idea to list them on marketplaces that specialize in these types of products.
For example, someone on Facebook may indeed want a laptop, but your gaming laptop has 16GB of RAM, a terabyte of disk space and you just upgraded the graphics card. The Facebook buyer may only be looking for a computer that can run word processing programs. And a (lowball) offer is probably going to reflect that.
To get what it’s worth, you’ll want to list it on a marketplace where buyers will appreciate the specs of your gaming rig.
9. Decluttr
You know that collection of DVDs that you try to push to the furthest corners of your mind (and the farthest crannies of your closet) but inevitably rears its head every time you have to move? Yeah, that one.
Well, there’s a way to get paid for all those dusty discs, fast. And the best part is that you don’t have to find individual buyers. Decluttr will buy them from you and do the reselling for you.
Decluttr accepts much more than those DVDs that you’d rather forget about, too. It also buys:
- Video games, Blu-ray Discs and music.
- Cell phones, tablets and consoles.
- Smart watches and laptops.
- Even textbooks and Legos.
At this point, you’ve probably written more product descriptions than you’ve bargained for. Thankfully, no photos or listings are required to sell on Decluttr.
To get a cash quote for tech such as phones, devices and consoles, enter the model of the item you want to sell into the website or app search field and select what condition it’s in (good, poor or faulty). A cash quote will appear immediately.
For CDs, Blu-rays or other discs, scan the barcode with your smartphone for an instant quote.
In The Penny Hoarder guide to selling on Decluttr, Matt Wiley scored more than 50 bucks for some old movies and a few PS3 games. He got paid the day after his order was accepted via direct deposit, meaning no dealing with cash or checks or multiple buyers who want only two DVDs in the bundle.
Compared to other marketplaces, Decluttr’s shipping policy also stands out. The company handles shipping costs and sends you the shipping labels via email. All you have to do is pack the items in a box, tack on the label and mail it off. (For free boxes, Wiley recommends asking your local supermarket. Cost-saving and environmentally friendly!)
10. Gameflip
Selling video games and related content is one of the best ways to make money as a gamer.
At Gameflip, you can sell video games, gift cards, rare in-game items and movies all in one place.
Lifelong gamer and video game content creator Frederick Aldeco, aka DaddyGamer Fred, used Gameflip to sell almost all of his games (except the handheld Switch and PS Vita) to help fund his move from the U.S. to Switzerland.
But Gameflip is not just a marketplace for items and products. Gamers and designers can also sell services on the website, such as tutoring sessions; or graphic designs, such as logos and artwork.
To become a Gameflip seller, you must either register a credit or debit card (no prepaid cards allowed) or submit your ID for verification. You can choose to sign up using an email address, Facebook or Gmail account.
For each item sold, Gameflip charges a processing fee of 8% of the sale price, plus an additional 2% digital-item fee (if applicable). Frequent sellers can join the Gameflip Club to reduce or eliminate selling fees. Memberships cost between $1 a month and $15 a month.
All income from your sales is stored on your Gameflip profile and can be withdrawn through PayPal.
But perhaps the biggest payment of all is being able to say, “See, Mom, it does pay to play video games.”
11. Gazelle
Are you one to buy the latest model iPhone or Samsung as soon as it hits the market? Then get paid for your old model by selling it to Gazelle. No sifting through bids or haggling with buyers.
Gazelle will buy your used tech, primarily smartphones but also:
- Tablets.
- MP3 players.
- Laptops and desktops.
- Various Apple products.
To see if your product is eligible, find the make and model on the website, then answer a couple of questions about the specs and condition to get a quote.
Make sure your exact model is listed, otherwise the company won’t purchase it.
After you accept a quote, Gazelle will send you packing and shipping labels for free (for orders over $30). Load up your tech and ship it back for confirmation. Gazelle will pay only after it has received your shipment and checked the item.
For example, if you listed an item in “flawless” condition and the company finds scratches or dings, it will adjust the offer. You’ll have five days to accept the new offer before Gazelle will return it to you.
You can choose one of several payment options. Gazelle pays via Amazon gift cards, Paypal transfers or checks.
If you need cash fast, you can also deposit your tech at the nearest EcoATM kiosk and get paid immediately. The website notes that kiosk payments are typically lower than quotes made on the website.
Where to Sell Your Clothes Online
Of all the things we have too much of, it’s probably clothes. And we probably don’t realize it. We’ll tuck a bag or two in the hallway closet, put our unused sweaters under the bed and line our doors with hanging shoe racks.
But if we were to gather that garb into one pile, it would be enormous. Seeing it all in one place puts things into perspective.
Donating is a great start to chipping away at that fabric mountain on your living room floor. But if you want a little cash for your clothes, you have plenty of sites to choose from.
12. Poshmark
Dubbing itself a “social marketplace for fashion,” Poshmark is a platform for stylish men, women and kids’ clothes that is a little more involved that most buy-and-sell websites.
It’s not a list-it-and-leave-it kind of place, but the extra work that goes into creating a pleasing profile really pays off.
When fashion blogger Alison Gary decided to rent out her house and travel the country in an RV with her husband, she realized her wardrobe was weighing her down.
So she took a bunch of high-quality photos of her outfits, made them into a collage and posted them on Poshmark. Within a few months, her excess clothes earned her more than $1,000.
Gary laid out her best practices in The Penny Hoarder’s guide to selling on Poshmark. To name a few:
- List multiple pictures.
- Haggle for the best price, but know when to say no.
- Give fashion advice along with your clothing. (Hello, upsell!)
To become a seller, you first must download the Poshmark app. Then you can create your own listing using Gary’s advice. For each sale, Poshmark takes a commission.
For sales $15 and under, there’s a flat $2.95 fee. For everything over $15, the commission jumps to 20% of the sale price.
The good news is Poshmark handles shipping for free. It will send you a pre-labeled package for you to load your clothes into and send to the buyer.
13. Swap.com
Admit it. There’s a bag of clothes in the back of your car that you’ve been meaning to take to one of the many used clothes stores, but you never got around to it. If that’s the case, Swap.com was meant for you.
It works similarly to clothing-exchange stores, where your clothes are appraised and you’re given an offer based on in-vogue fashion or seasonal trends. Except with Swap.com, it’s all done online and through the mail.
To start selling to Swap.com, it will take a little work. First, you will need to register an account and complete a “premier seller application.” You’ll provide:
- How much you want to charge for each item.
- What brands you plan to sell.
- How frequently you plan to sell to Swap.com this year.
- Your phone number.
If your application is accepted, you’ll be prompted to send in a test box, which must meet certain acceptance criteria for men, women and children’s clothing. After your box passes, then you’ll be invited to sell to Swap.com whenever you like.
For items with a list price of $8 and under, you will earn 15% in cash, plus 20% in Swap.com credit. All items over $8 will earn you 70% of the list price, plus 20% in Swap.com credit.
If some of your items are rejected, Swap.com charges $11.90 to ship the items back to you. Oversized boxes incur extra fees.
So make sure to follow the acceptance criteria to a T. Don’t include dirty, damaged or faded clothes because you might end up with more fees than earnings.
14. ThredUP
For the clothes that might have gone in the donation pile, ThredUP may be just as good a home, partly because the company will take those donations off your hands. For free.
This women-and-children-centric secondhand retailer makes closet cleaning easy. Select a “clean out kit;” there’s one for donations and or one for items you want to sell. If you select standard shipping, the kits are free. Expedited shipping costs $16.
If you’re donating, stuff your kit full, mail it out and call it a day.
If you want your items to sell, you may need to be a little more choosy. Be sure to include brands that sell well, such as Athleta, Kate Spade, Lululemon and Patagonia.
Accepted clothes will earn you between 5% and 80% of the listing price.
| Listing Price | Percentage of Earnings |
|---|---|
| Less than $15 | 5% |
| $15 to $19.99 | 10% |
| $20 to $34.99 | 15% |
| $35 to $49.99 | 25% |
| $50 to $74.99 | 50% |
| $100 to $199.99 | 60% |
| $200 to $299.99 | 70% |
| $300+ | 80% |
When loading up your kit, make sure you’re ready to part ways with whatever you send in. You will get a modest payout for the items that ThredUP accepts. The rejected clothes will be recycled.
15. Tradesy
Tradesy runs like most other marketplaces on this list, except it’s tailored toward high-end women’s fashion from designer brands like Balmain, Chanel, Gucci and Louis Vuitton.
Besides clothes, Tradesy also accepts accessories, purses, shoes and all things wedding-related (invitations, veils, decorations and more).
To create a listing, you know the drill: photos, description, price. If you need a little help setting it up, Tradesy will pitch in with automatic photo editing and pricing suggestions.
Where Tradesy distinguishes itself is in its shipping policy. Before you publish your listing on the site, you can choose from three shipping methods:
- Tradesy-supplied shipping. Choose from an assortment of bags and packages that best fit your item. Prepaid labels included.
- Printed, prepaid shipping label. A flat $10.50 shipping price, which the buyer pays at checkout.
- Ship it yourself. The best option to keep your listing price down, but more work for you.
All shipping costs are added to your listing price. Your selection will increase the price for the buyer (and ultimately for you too, because seller fees are based on the total item cost, including shipping.)
Earnings accrue on your Tradesy account. For each sale, Tradesy takes a commision based on the listed price of the item. For all sales under $50, the fee is a flat $7.50. Listings above $50 incur a 19.8% fee.
Your earnings will be stored on your account for 21 days. You can use those funds to shop on Tradesy or withdraw them into a checking account, a debit card or a PayPal account.
Each withdrawal incurs a 2.9% cash transfer fee.
Adam Hardy is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. He specializes in unique ways to make money and work-from-home jobs. Read his full bio here, or say hi on Twitter @hardyjournalism.
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.