Rent or Sell What You Don’t Use

DISCLOSURE: THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS, MEANING I GET A COMMISSION IF YOU DECIDE TO MAKE A PURCHASE THROUGH MY LINKS, AT NO COST TO YOU.

Turo

So remember when I said we had three cars? It’s a two-person household so it was completely ridiculous but whatever. So I suggested my husband rent out his second car on Turo. Turo is like the Uber of car rentals.

Pros

• Income on a car that is otherwise not being used and collecting dust. It helps offset the cost of insurance and car payments. This is also useful if you only need your car on the weekends. You can rent it out during the week.
• Car is insured through the Turo app while being rented so any cleaning needed or damage done by the renter is covered by them.

Cons

• People don’t treat your things like you would treat them. So you can get the car back damaged, dirty, or smelling like smoke.
• Just dealing with people.
• Learning how to handle the taxes on this was no fun.

Ebay

I use Ebay to sell items that are simply taking up space in my home. My family knows I have gadgets galore, especially in my kitchen. But since I have so many, I sell the gadgets I am looking to replace before buying the new thing I want. It helps offset the cost of buying my new gadget and I decrease the amount of junk in my house.

Tech is the easiest sell but I also used it to sell nursing books I no longer had any use for. Remember half.com?

Pros

• Easy to set up a seller account and connect with your Paypal account for the payment.
• Easy to post items within minutes via their website or app.
• There are built-in consumer and seller protections on both ends of the transaction. So it’s a little less risky than selling on Craigslist or Facebook.
• Usually, you can list your items for free and only pay a percentage when you successfully sold an item.
• Unless you decide you want to cover it, the buyer pays for shipping.

Cons

• Sometimes people take longer than you have the patience for to pay. That doesn’t happen often though. In my experience, they pay within 24 hours.
• Ebay and Paypal fees. If you’re selling inexpensive things like books or small kitchen gadgets, then these fees can make you feel like it isn’t worth it. No matter what though, it’s more money than you would have had with the item sitting in your house not being used.

Others

There are tons of ways to sell or rent out items you have little to no use for.

Facebook Marketplace is free to post but the transaction happens off the site. So you meet with the buyer and they agree to pay you cash or whatever method works for you. It feels safer to me because there’s a face attached to both ends of the transaction.

Craigslist is free to list your item as well but has a more anonymous feel. You don’t know what the person looks like prior to your agreeing to meet. Similarly to Facebook Marketplace, the transaction happens in person.

LetGo is an app that makes listing easy. You can communicate easily with the buyer. The transaction also occurs in person.

These are just a few examples that I’ve used in the past to buy or sell. The benefit of in-person transactions is that you avoid the fees related to selling online. Also, when you’re selling something large, you can avoid shipping costs by having the buyer come to you. Or you can go to them. Or you can meet in a neutral, safe area. You can easily look up the precautions to take to stay safe.

Pricing the items well increases the chance of having a successful sale under your belt. Look to see what other people have priced your item for rather than how much you feel the item means to you. eBay has a filter that shows you completed sales of an item so you can see how much the item has been bought for in the past. You can use that to determine how much you should price yours for.

To-Do List

• Look around your home and see what you haven’t made use of for the last 6 months and are unlikely to use in the next six months.
• If you have an account with any of the sites we mentioned, post the item you plan to sell there. Better to use a site you’re familiar with.
• Take good pictures. If the item is electronic, show pictures of it on and displaying any features you want to showcase. Taking a picture of the model number is a great idea as well. If there’s any damage to the item, take those pictures too so people know exactly what they’re getting into.

It doesn’t hurt to sell what you don’t need. This isn’t meant as a way to get you rich. It is just a way to create some room in your home. You can also use it to offset the cost of upgrading something you have. What do you have in your possession that you can sell or rent? Let us know in the comments.