Find Money in Every Room of Your Home - Sell on eBay!

Have you been thinking about giving your home a Spring cleaning?  Have you also been thinking of ways to earn extra cash?  You can kill two birds with one stone by taking the "eBay Eyes" approach.  Use eBay Eyes to assess items in your home for potential sale on eBay.  I'll guide you through a room-by-room process of finding money in every room of your home,

Look around your home.  More than likely, there are items, new or not-so-new, that you no longer need, use or want.  Maybe you're a newlywed, and received duplicate wedding gifts, but don't want to go through the hassle or running from store to store, dealing with different return policies, only to receive a store credit from a store you don't shop at in the first place.  Or maybe you received a gift you know you won't use (it doesn't go with your decor, it's not your taste, it doesn't fit, etc.) and you don't know where to return it.

Before now, you may have thought you might use them in the future, or you didn't know what to do with them.  Now look around your home at those same items and consider selling them on eBay, or, look at them with eBay Eyes. 

The following is a room-by-room guide to Spring cleaning with eBay Eyes.  To make it easier and less overwhelming, it's easy to break it up into small steps.  Just take a room at a time.  Not only will you feel the sense of accomplishment that comes with finally tackling a daunting task, but you'll make money as a result!

Before you start, you should designate a space in your home as your eBay space.  It might be in a home office, in your living room or near your computer.  This is where you will temporarily store all the items you collect from your Spring cleaning.  It makes sense to store them near your computer, so you can easily list them all on eBay when the time comes.

The second thing you need is an open mind.  Don't think, "No one will want this."  Instead, think, "Someone might be searching for this very thing."  You'd be surprised to learn the obscure items that sell on eBay.  Do you have a collection of antique garden tools? How about a variety of action figures from a long-ago television show?  Consider selling it on eBay.  Almost nothing is too unusual or outlandish.

Let's get started making money on eBay!

Living Room:  Do you have a stack of videos you no longer watch?  Do you have a pile of fitness DVDs that are collecting dust?  Or a stack of Disney videos your child, who is now a teenager, used to watch?  How about an album collection that you now have on MP3 or CD?  Put them in your eBay space!  Does your living room look like a PartyLite candle showroom?  Or do you have a closet full of tese items that have never been used?  As companies launch new products, the older ones become more valuable to collectors, Do you love the item(s), or did you just feel obligated to purchase something at the party, and could do without it?  (The same question can be asked of products from any home-based party show:  Pampered Chef, Southern Living, Longaberger, etc.)

                                                        Do you have stacks of albums?

Kitchen:  Do a quick sweep of your cabinets and countertops.  Do you have a blender on your counter, and a matching one, still in the box, hidden away in the back of your pantry?  Has it been there so long, you doubt any store will take it back if you tried to return it?  Put it in your eBay space!  How about that set of salt and pepper shakers, which you'll never use, that you received from your aunt?  Collectors on eBay (and there are tons!) might be looking for this very item.  Did you get a set of baking tools as a gift, and only use one or two items in the set?  Put the rest aside for eBay!  You can always go through your eBay space later and decide to keep items, but for now, just putting them in your designated area may be enough to help you decide that you won't miss them.

                                                     Do you have fun kitchen items to sell?

Dining Room:  Do you have a set of dishes you never use, that you've relegated to displaying in your china cabinet?  Put them in your space!  Or is your hutch taken up with a variety of collectibles (plates with Elvis on them, shot glasses from around the world, Precious Moment figurines, etc.)?  You never know who might be looking for the item you have!  Did you buy that crystal decanter set at a garage sale, thinking it would look great in your dining room, but once you got it home, you realized it didn't?  Put it in your space!

                                                        Do you have a plate collection to sell?

Bedroom:  Have you noticed that you have a closet full of clothes with tags on them?  They were great bargains, so you had to have them?  Nothing is a great bargain if you don't use it!  Are these clothes going to be worn?  Are they now too small or too big (Hope it's the latter!)?  Don't keep them in your closet, thinking you'll wear them someday.  If you haven't worn an item in a year, put it in your space! (Remember, you can always take it out later.)  Concert shirts are a big hit with eBay collectors.  Do you still have that t-shirt from a concert you went to in 1986? It could be worth more than you think!  Maternity clothes too!  These are usually in pretty good condition, since they're only worn for a relatively short time.  Don't overlook shoes and vintage clothing! 

                                                  Do you have new or worn clothes to sell?

Do you like to shop for fragrances and makeup?  Do you have a stack of unused "gift with purchase" bags in your closet?  The items are good, but they're just not right for you?  Or the perfume that was a gift, that you no longer wear? You know where to put them!  Many cosmetic manufacturers discontinue items that consumers love.  Consumers then go to great lengths to find these products.  You might have in-demand items!  That "too dark" lipstick you never wore might be the perfect shade for another eBayer!

                                                                Do you have gifts you won't use?

Kid's Room:  Start in the closet.  We all know kids grow like weeds.  What fits one month is too small the next.  And these clothes and shoes are in great shape, as they haven't gotten a chance to be worn often.  If you're not handing them down to the next child, but them in the space!  Some lucky parents still have clothing with tags on them, thanks to generous family and friends.  Some baby clothes never get worn at all.

                                                                     Do you have new baby items?

Move on to the room.  Does your child have any hobby or sports equipment he/she no longer uses?  Those ice skates that your child used for a month that are still in perfect condition could net a few dollars on eBay.  How about the clarinet from the lessons your child no longer takes?

                                                  No longer fit?                         No more lessons?

Office/Den:  Take a look at all your books.  Are there any you no longer want or need?  People will pay big bucks for books!  Do you have office equipment that you don't want or use?  How about that software you never got around to installing?  Or the extra telephone that's still in the box?  Put them in your space!

                                                                     Have old books to sell?              How about software?

Basement/Garage:  You might hit the jackpot here!  Some of the things here may have been in storage so long, you forgot you still had them.  You might find the remnants of many a long-forgotten hobby.  Do you have your stamp collection stored here?  How about your scrapbooking materials?  Or your old sporting goods?  If you'd forgotten you even had them, you can sell them!  You won't even know they're gone.  Do you store old televisions, computers or radios, in hopes they'll someday come back to life?  Vintage electronics are popular on eBay.  You might be sitting on a treasure!

Ok, so by now you have a towering pile of eBay items.  Your next step is to get them listed.  If you're new to eBay, don't be intimidated.  After you list one item, you'll get the hang of it, and find out how easy it is to make money on eBay.  There are wonderful resources on eBay to help you through every step of the way.  Here's a link to get you started:  Start Selling!

The opportunities are endless!  People may be looking for the exact items you have.  You can make a tidy profit without even leaving home.  Who knew cleaning could be so rewarding?