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GET STARTED MAKING EXTRA MONEY SELLING FROM HOME WITH THIS BIG LIST OF IDEAS
The current economic climate is tough for so many of us at the moment. One way to help cover costs is to find things you can sell to make extra money.
So I’ve put together a list of 55 ideas for things you can sell without having to learn a new skill or make a huge time investment or financial investment in.
The list includes all the things you might already have around your home, stored in your attic or garage.
Plus ideas for drawing on skills you already have or selling your time to bring in some extra income whilst working from home.
I’ve also come up with a list of ideas for earning money from your home itself.
I’ve broken the list down into sub-sections to focus on the following:
- Making money by selling stuff you have around your home
- Creating stuff to sell
- Using skills you already have or could easily gain to earn extra money
- Using your home to generate extra income
Have a read through all the ideas and see what piques your interest.
19 BEST THINGS TO SELL FROM AROUND YOUR HOME TO MAKE EXTRA MONEY
First, let’s look at all the things you might have around your home that you could sell to make some extra cash.
Realistically, selling stuff you own is the best way to make quick money. You are not having to make anything or find someone to hire you.
However you do want to ensure that you end up making a decent profit from what you sell.
It’s worth reading my guide to selling household items to get some really detailed tips on the best ways to make sure you make the most profit.
1. YOUR OLD CLOTHES, SHOES AND ACCESSORIES
Yes I know this is an obvious one, but selling your old clothes, shoes and handbags is one of the easiest ways to make some extra money fast.
In the current economic climate there is an even greater demand than usual for second hand clothes. It’s also a great way to declutter your closet.
There are a few important things to bear in mind if you want to make good money and not waste your time.
- Clothes need to be in good condition
- Designer brands and highend highstreet brands will earn you the most cash
- The clothes need to be clean
- You need to take great photographs and provide a really good description, including acurate size information
- Make sure to be clear about who is covering shipping costs
- It is worth looking for specialist places to sell items like wedding dresses or designer handbag
- Consider selling non-designer clothing items in bundles
- If you have little time to spare you can use a service like the ThredUp Cleanout Kit, where you send them the items of clothing, they make you an offer and they pay you if you accept the offer.
2. JEWELLRY AND WATCHES
Do you have a jewellery box full of old necklaces, earrings and bracelets you no longer wear? Or do you have an old engagement ring or wedding ring?!!!
There are several ways you can go about selling unwanted jewellery. Make your decision based on your estimated value of the jewellery.
It is a great time to sell gold jewellery because gold is selling at record prices. So if you’ve got a bunch of junk gold jewellery sell it to a site like Cash For Gold USA or Cash For Gold UK
It is worth looking for a jewellery specialist if you have more valuable pieces to jewellery to sell.
If you have really valuable pieces it is well worth finding a trusted expert who can value them for you. Sotherby’s is the go-to place for really highend jewellery valuations and sales. But if that isn’t quite right for you (!) it is worth trying a reputable local jeweller.
You might also have a watch or two that you no longer use – long since replaced by an Apple iWatch or Fitbit!
Chances are that there is someone out there who will want it, especially if it is a desirable watch brand like Rolex, Breitling or TAG Heuer.
Take a look at Chrono24 to see what you could possibly sell your watch for to make some extra cash.
3. SNEAKERS/TRAINERS
If you have a penchant for cool branded sneakers/trainers then there is a good chance you will have a whole stack of them that you no longer wear.
If, like me, you have been hanging onto old trainers from years back you may actually find that you unknowingly have stowed away a highly collectable pair. An old pair of Nike Jordans or Dunks.
Or it could be that a pair you bought earlier in the year are now worth more than you bought them for. Ever though you’ve worn them! Yes, really!
You might even find that you have such a good eye for buying trainers that will sell for more than you bought them for that you can turn it into a business.
Check out the StockX global sneaker/trainer marketplace to see if your old sneakers/trainers will potentially sell well.
You could also try one of the following online sites:
4. YOUR OLD WEDDING DRESS
An increasing number of brides are thinking more laterally about what they wear on their wedding day. With many brides choosing to buy a used wedding dress.
It makes sense, weddings are hugely expensive and you only wear a wedding dress for a day – not even that, it’s literally hours!
I know it may be a wrench to part with your wedding dress, but if you have plenty of pictures and happy memories, do you really need to keep hold of the dress itself?
Try Still White the largest wedding dress marketplace in the UK or if you are in the US you can try the very popular Nearly Newly Wed marketplace.
5. KIDS’ CLOTHES
Finished raiding your wardrobe and drawers? Time to move onto the kids rooms!!
Selling old kids clothes is a great way of bringing in some extra cash.
There are a few things to bear in mind if you want to avoid wasting lots of time selling clothes in return for not much cash.
- As you might expect, popular mid to highend brands will get the best resale price
- It can be worth selling mass market brands in bundles rather than individually
- Everything needs to be in near perfect condition and clean
- Any other clothes that don’t fit into the above list are usually best off given to charity or handed to a friend
6. BABY STUFF
Babies may be small but they sure do need a lot of stuff! In fact you can often end up buying way more than you need.
It can also be quite staggering how little use you get out of some baby stuff.
Other items, like strollers, cotbeds, high chairs and baby carseats can get used solidly for ages and be such great quality that they can still be sold on for a good price.
One thing is for sure, there is an endlessly bouyant second hand market for baby stuff.
The most straightforward way of selling baby stuff is on eBay, Craigslist or on Facebook Marketplace.
Top selling tip: Always check out the sold prices achieved on eBay ahead of listing an item. This can also help you quickly write a description that will ensure you get a good sale price.
7. KIDS’ TOYS
Kids’ toys in good condition can sell really well. Kids grow out of playing with toys really quickly, especially in the early years. So it is likely that you have a quite a few toys that will sell for good prices.
It can be worth putting toys aside to sell in run up to Christmas if you aren’t in a hurry to make extra cash. You will likely get better prices and find that they sell even more quickly than usual.
eBay, Craigslist or on Facebook Marketplace are all great places to try and sell kids’ toys.
I will make a special mention for Lego here though, because Lego has a whole resale market of its own. Of course it depends on the type of Lego as to how you sell it.
You can sell Lego in bundles if you have loads of it that you just want to sell really quickly.
Or you can sell it in sets or even sell individual Lego figurines. There are quite a few places that will either buy Lego from you or where you can sell Lego directly to buyers.
- MusicMagpie/Decluttr – will buy in bulk as well as buy sets and figurines
- BrickBin (UK) – will buy in bulk as well as buy sets and figurines
- WeBuyGames – will buy in bulk or buy sets or figurines
- BrickLink (UK) – particularly good for selling rare and high value Lego
- eBay – sell in bulk as well as sell sets and figurines
- Facebook Marketplace – sell in bulk as well as sell sets and figurines
- Facebook Lego groups – worth looking into if you’ve got high value Lego to sell
8. GYM EQUIPMENT
A part of me thinks I should be encouraging you to dust off neglected gym equipment and start using it!
In fact, if you have a gym membership you rarely use, you could simply look at cancelling that and setting yourself some home fitness challenges instead.
It’s not going to earn you extra cash, but it would certainly help you save some!
However, if there is slim to no chance that you are ever going to use gym equipment. That exercise bike that doubles as a clothes horse. The kettle bell you stub your toe on every time you trip over it. Then sell it!
There is always someone else out there who has just made a deal with themselves that they are going to get fit and you can make good money on second hand gym and fitness equipment.
Do make sure that anything you sell is up to safety standards and ideally give it a good clean too.
Look at selling online locally through Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist first if the equipment you want to sell is heavy.
There are also a number of online gym equipment wholesalers who will buy used equipment, so it is worth doing a quick google search for your area.
Though do bear in mind you won’t get as good a sale price as if you sell privately. This post on Total Shape gives a good overview of the best way to sell gym equipment.
9. BIKES AND SCOOTERS
Increasing numbers of us are taking up cycling, either for exercise or commuting. So there is usually good resale value in bikes.
This goes for kids’ bikes as well as bikes for adults. Kids’ scooters can also get a good resale value, as long as they are in good condition.
If you are a bike enthusiast, you might also have biking accessories that you no longer use. Do you have an old bike helmet or tyres that still have plenty of wear left in them? Sell them!
You can try selling locally on Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist. But it is also worth looking at preowned bike specialists like Cycle Exchange in the UK or BikeExchange in the US.
10. HOME INTERIORS ITEMS
Selling stuff from around your home. Where do I start?! How about kids’ bedrooms? Is there furniture that your kids have grown out of? A small wardrobe or a cotbed? A desk that is no longer used?
Or how about smaller items? It’s amazing how true that saying “one person’s trash is another person’s treasure” really is.
Consider selling anything you no longer like, from vases and random ornaments you might have been given or inheritated to side tables and random bits of furniture that just sit gathering dust.
I’ve had a lot of luck both buying and selling pieces of furniture on eBay and Facebook Marketplace.
I’ve also bought several pieces of furniture on Etsy. So if you have a lot of interiors stuff to sell or want to use a few pieces from around your home as a starting point for building a business, it could be worth setting up an Etsy store.
Or try Chairish (US) or Rehaus (UK) if you have an exceedingly good eye for home interiors items and want to sell some of them to make way for more.
11. ARTWORK
How about art you no longer like looking at? It is definitely worth checking the value of artwork you own by name artists.
You could find that a piece you bought at the start of an artist’s career is now worth significantly more than you paid for it.
Go to an art valuer like My Art Broker or Sotherbys to get a trustworthy valuation.
12. COLLECTIBLES
Of course art isn’t the only collectible item you might have around your home. Do you have a collection you once loved building up that you are done with? Perhaps something from your youth like football cards, sport memorabilia or cult Japanese figurines.
It’s amazing how collectible vintage toys are too. Here’s a list of 60 of the most valuable vintage toys as of 2022.
You will need to do your research to decide on a selling price. Looking at sold item prices on eBay is a good place to start.
13. BOOKS, CDS, DVDS AND VINYL
Have you ever realised that by building up a library of books or stack of CDs, DVDs or vinyl you have inadvertantly created a collection that might be very valuable?
If you’re looking to make some quick cash, check out eBay.com/collectibles. You can list your items for free and start making money immediately.
Old books are an easy way for you to make some quick cash. There is a very well established online marketplace for used books online. Two good options include:
- Bookfinder.com is one of the largest book selling sites out there. They allow you to list up to 10 items per listing and offer free shipping.
- Chegg.com offers similar listings to Bookfinder. However, they don’t charge a fee for each item listed. Instead, they take 5% off the total price of every sale. This makes Chegg a better option for those who plan on selling multiple books.
If you have a book you think is particularly valuable – a signed first issue, a limited edition or a book you know is really rare – it would be a good idea to use Abe Books (Abe Books UK) to find out what it is potentially worth.
eBay and Facebook are two popular ways to sell music online. Facebook Groups are great places to sell CDs and DVDs. They allow you to reach a large audience quickly if you can find the right group.
If you have a large collection of CDs, DVDs or vinyl to sell, you could also consider using Amazon Marketplace.
14. BOARD GAMES
Do you have a cupboard crammed with boardgames you once loved to play? Well, they could be worth digging out and dusting off ready to sell for quick cash.
It turns out that there are whole communities of boardgame addicts who love nothing more than collecting boardgames and playing boardgames. Try Board Game Geek for starters. Check out this video of the boardgame holiday gift guide from Board Game Geek.
15. VIDEO GAMES AND CONSOLES
Of course I can’t mention boardgames without also mentioning video games and gaming consoles.
Do you have a previous generation gaming console that you’ve consigned to the back of a cupboard?
Try selling consoles to MusicMagpie (DeCluttr in the US) or on eBay if you have a particulary desirable vintage console that you think might spark a bidding war and make you big bucks.
16. OLD PHONES
Are you guilty of ditching old phones in a drawer nestled in with old cables and chargers? Well, it’s time to dig those old phones out and sell them. Selling old phones is one of the best ways to make quick cash.
The sooner you sell them the better as older generation models decrease in value every time a new generation model is launched.
My top three recommendations for selling old phones are MusicMagpie (DeCluttr in the US), Envirofone and Mozillion.
MusicMagpie and Envirofone will give you a price and buy the phone from you if you are happy with the price. Mozillion allows you to sell direct with full support from the platform.
Don’t forget about old chargers too. There is always someone out there that needs an extra charger or a charger for a now obsolete model.
17. KITCHEN ELECTRONICS AND GADGETS
How many times have you been seduced by clever marketing for a kitchen gadget you thought you couldn’t live without? Only to find that you could actually live without it?!
If you have a selection of kitchen electronics and gadgets that serve no purpose other than to take up valuable kitchen cupboard space… you know what to do!
Say goodbye to that Kitchen Aid stand mixer, say a fond farewell to the rice cooker you’ve never taken out of its packaging. Send them on their way to somewhere they will be used and loved.
Facebook Marketplace and eBay are the best places to try selling.
18. DIY TOOLS
Another great thing to do is to raid your DIY tools cupboard to see if there is anything that you no longer need or use.
Power handtools such as screwdrivers and drills, electric saws and sanders all sell well. Big name brands garner particularly good resale values.
Try selling DIY tools on Facebook Marketplace or eBay.
19. GARDEN AND GARDENING KIT
Finished looking around your home for stuff to sell? Now it’s time to head into the garden and the garden shed.
Is there a no longer used kids’ trampoline blighting the view? Got a chimenea you never get round to lighting a fire in? What about an old garden table and chairs?
Then there’s gardening tools. Spades, forks, lawnmowers.
Try selling on eBay, Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist.
So that is the list of household items that you can sell. I just wanted to mention that if you don’t have a huge amount of spare time and just want to get rid of a big bunch of stuff quickly, you can look at doing a carboot sale / trunk sale or garage sale.
I will also add that if you find you are actually really good at selling stuff to make extra money you could graduate to finding stuff in thrift stores that you can flip. I’ve put together a guide on how to make money thrifting.
Now let’s move on to the things you can make money selling that don’t involve selling stuff you own.
The brilliant thing about the lists of ideas that I have put together is that all of the ideas could in the short-term earn you some extra cash quickly. In the longterm you could find yourself a proud business owner.
12 THINGS YOU CAN MAKE OR CRAFT TO SELL AND EARN EXTRA CASH
There are other options to selling your stuff to make extra money. How about starting a side hustle at home?
Do you love baking, sewing or crafting? Then maybe this is the year you turn hobby into a way to earn extra cash.
There are plenty of ways to sell handmade items, both online and IRL.
Etsy is the queen of digital craft selling platforms, but it isn’t the only one. Amazon Handmade is another option growing in popularity. Notonthehighstreet is also an option once you are more established.
In the real world there are craft fairs, Christmas fairs, farmers markets and school fairs (you don’t have to stick to your own child’s school).
The lovely thing about starting to make and sell crafts is that it is something you can start small in your spare time and then scale into a fully fledged business once you’ve found the perfect business model.
It is essential to be very clear from the start about your profit margin. So you will need to bear in mind the cost of producing crafts or food to sell. This cost is a combination of the materials you need to buy and your time.
You might be struggling for ideas of what you could make to sell, so here is a list of stuff that you could craft at home to sell.
- Jewellery
- Design and sell your own printed T-shirts or tote bags – try getting started with TeeMill for T-shirts and Printful for tote bags
- Upcycle furniture – buy in thift shops, upcycle and sell on Etsy or eBay
- Party decorations – paper decorations
- Christmas decorations – Etsy is brilliant for selling decorations
- Candles – soy wax candles are especially desirable
- Soap and beauty products, including popular items like face masks and lip balm
- Food – everything from homemade fudge, to macarons, to cake, to hot meals. Farmers markets are a good place to start
- Sauces and condiments – ok, still food of sorts, but this is stuff you can make and package up to send, as well as selling at local markets
- Flipping thrift shop finds – furniture, clothes, antiques, vintage finds – if you have an eye for fashion or an eye for interiors, this could be a great way to start a new business
- Create paintings or artwork – sell at art fairs or through Etsy
- Personalised gifts – everything from toy boxes to pyjamas
- Printables – from quotes in frames to stationery or colouring in printables for kids
11 IDEAS FOR USING YOUR SKILLS TO EARN EXTRA INCOME
Not all of us are blessed with the crafting gene! But many of us have other very useful skills that we can monetise.
You might have administrative skills or marketing skills. You might be a great organiser or planner. Perhaps you are a brilliant writer.
You might even have what it takes to create your own digital brand on YouTube or as a podcast or blog – or all three.
Here is a list of skills-based ways you could earn extra cash when you need it most.
Some of these ideas will require you to invest in a little training or accreditation. But none of these suggestions involve huge time or financial investment to get started.
1. VIRTUAL ASSISTANT
Businesses of all sizes, from solo entrepreneurs through to large corporations hire virtual assistants. The whole point of being a virtual assistant is that you work remotely. So it’s a great way to find a job that interests you without having to commute or move to a big city.
2. PROFESSIONAL ORGANISER
The job of being a professional organiser has risen in popularity in line with the rise of The Home Edit ladies, who now have their own Netflix series.
You can choose to specialise in organising people’s wardrobes/closets/dressing rooms or you can offer services for organising every aspect of people’s homes.
3. TUTOR
Online tutoring has gained in popularity since lockdown and I can’t see it’s popularity ever waning.
There is a wide range of opportunities for tutoring online, from mainstream education subjects to teaching people to learn musical instruments and teaching people a skill that you are qualified in.
Have you ever thought about teaching English online to foreign students? The TEFL site has plenty of information about getting started.
4. CREATE ONLINE COURSES
If you don’t fancy tutoring, then you might like the idea of creating online courses to sell. Or it may well be that creating an online course sits nicely alongside tutoring.
I’m going to be super honest here, there is no magic way to create a multimillion dollar selling course. It takes a lot of hardwork and likely a lot of trial and error.
You will need to be able to promote your course, either by paid advertising or, as is more usual, by creating a blog or social media presence to promote it.
People buy people, so the more you can get yourself out there, the more likely you are to make online courses that people trip over themselves to buy.
5. SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCER
Speaking of promoting yourself, one of the newer ways to build a side hustle business is to become a social media influencer. There are even agencies that help you grow your career once you have established yourself.
The competition to be a top social media influencer is fierce, but there is still plenty of room for micro-influencers to create a strong niche for themselves and bring in a decent amount of extra income each month.
The main routes to being a social media influencer are TikTok, YouTube and Instagram. It takes a huge amount of dedication to make it as an influencer, but the benfits of being able to fit the work around your life are immense.
6. SOCIAL MEDIA CONSULTANT
If you don’t fancy making yourself into a social media star, you might find you have the skills to turn other people or brands into social media stars.
Agencies like Digital Mums in the UK help get people started by training them up as social media managers and then matching them with brands, businesses and indivuals looking for social media support.
7. TIKTOK CONSULTANT
TikTok has blown up over the last couple of years and is pretty much the ultimate social media platform.
If you know your way around TikTok, what works and what doesn’t, you could sell your skills as a TikTok consultant.
As a TikTok consultant you would come up with video treatments, develop and produce video content.
You will need to have a knack for making video that stands a chance of going viral. If you do, the sky is the limit with opportunities.
8. FREELANCE WRITER
There are all sorts of ways to make money as a freelance writer. If you are used to writing for marketing purposes you can create content for websites, write for email marketing campaigns, do copywriting.
If you have worked in PR you could write press releases or advertorial content for magazines. If you have niche business knowledge you could write for business publications or produce written content for annual reports.
You could also write a book, but it’s a rare author who makes a good living from writing books these days. So this would be as much about writing because you love it as writing to earn money.
Try looking on Fiverr.com to get an idea of how you could get started. Or try reaching out to contacts from past jobs.
9. START A BLOG
Back in the day it was fairly easy to start a blog and build an audience. However it was only a few superstars who were making big money from their blogs.
For a good many years it was actually taboo to be seen to be monetising a blog.
But these days the masses have finally realised that it is totally legitimate to monetise a blog. Why on earth would you create endless useful content simply for the love of it?! I might be biased!! 😉
In fact, many freelance writers and journalists are realising that they can earn far better money by creating their own online platform or digital product than by writing for magazines or brands.
However, it takes a huge amount of hardwork and dedication to build a successful blog. Don’t believe the myth that it is an easy way to create a passive income.
The big ad networks, like Mediavine and AdThrive won’t even look at welcoming you into the fold until you have a well formed blog and brand that has consistently high levels of traffic per month.
Affiliate marketing is another main way to monetise a blog. Affiliate marketing is where you recommend products and you make a commission if a site visitor clicks on an affiliate link to buy something you recommend.
Affiliate marketing is not easy. It’s fairly easy to get started, it’s a simple as starting a blog, but there is a lot more to making sales that writing some content and hoping people click on the links.
I can atest to starting a blog being a great way to build a business but it will take a lot of hard work to start earning decent money.
10. SELL PHOTOGRAPHY
There are hundreds and thousands of businesses of all sizes who need to buy stock photography on a regular basis.
From bloggers through to major brands, if they are producing content regularly, they will have a need for plenty of good quality photography.
Shutterstock and Deposit Photos are good places to start selling your photography.
11. PROOF READER
Do you have an eye for detail? Do you have a great knowledge of grammar and punctuation? Can you spot an error at a 100 paces?
Perhaps you would make a brilliant proof reader.
You may have to take a course if you haven’t got proofreading experience, however it isn’t a major investment and could lead to a lucrative income stream.
13 WAYS TO USE YOUR TIME OR SPACE TO EARN EXTRA MONEY
I’m going to wrap up this list of what you can make money selling by focusing on ways you can directly monetise your time or your space to earn some extra income.
- AirBnB a spare room or your whole home – earn money from your home whilst you’re on holiday, what’s not to love?!
- Rent out space on your property for parking – this is a particularly great way to earn extra cash if you live in a City or close to an airport
- Dog walk other people’s dogs – many pet owners don’t have the time to walk their dog every day
- Pet sit – either get paid to do daily visits whilst people are on holiday or move in whilst people are on holiday to look after the house and the pets
- Babysitting and childminding
- Take in a lodger
- Host foreign language students
- Offer your home as a photographic or film location
- Rent out secure outbuidings for storage space
- Rent out a garage for someone to keep their car in
- Host supper clubs – cook delicious food for small numbers of invited guests who pay to eat at your house
- Start a market garden if you have enough garden space and love gardening
- Become a registered childminder and use your home for childminding
I hope that I’ve given you some useful ideas for things you can sell to make some extra money.
Don’t forget I have a post on how to make the most money from selling household items if you would like some more in-depth tips.
WHAT CAN YOU SELL TO MAKE MONEY FAST?
Sometimes you really do need to make money fast. Maybe you have an extra large bill you need to pay, or you work freelance and haven’t got as much money coming in as usual.
The good news is that if you think on your feet, there are things you can sell to make money fast.
The fastest way to make money is to go through the stuff you already own that you no longer need. Think clothes, electronics, and furniture and list it straight away on eBay, Facebook Marketplace or another online auction site or platform.
Selling your skills or time is another great way to make extra money quickly. How about babysitting or dog-walking if you have spare time?
There are lots of online gig work opportunities. Perhaps you could sign up on Fiverr. Fiverr is a freelance marketplace where businesses go to source people with great skills looking for virtual and online freelance work.
Luci is the founder of Mums Make Lists (Est. 2011). Over the last decade or so, she has used her experience as a mum to create useful guides to organising family life. During that time, she has found the most joy in creating lists of ideas and inspiration to make it easier for busy parents to plan and host kids’ parties and find great gifts. Read more.