At some point in your unemployment “career” you will probably consider selling some of your possessions. As I write this my broadband has been disconnected, my cars parked outside untaxed and uninsured and the inside of my fridge resembles a looted Tesco. (Except somebody left the margarine and a bit of milk behind!).
I start looking around at my things: iPod, smartphone, Xbox360, PC, etc. It seems quite silly having luxuries like this around when I’m unable to pay bills and struggling to afford food.
BUT…if I sell them, I will get a fraction of the price I paid, spend it on food, etc and before too long I will be back in the same position – only without any entertainment for the many hours between looking for work.
Having the internet makes job hunting a lot easier, so a computer is essential in my opinion. As for the others, I know I will want to buy them again as soon as I am in work so it makes no sense to sell them at a loss before re-buying them.
I would advise only selling things that you aren’t going to miss too much. Dvds, cds, books, Xbox/Playstation games. But bear in mind you will probably only get a few pounds for each one, sometimes barely anything. Old clothes sell surprisingly well on Ebay in my experience, especially designer or brand names. If you have children they will quickly grow out of or get bored of toys so if you have a clear out together there will probably be some toys/games to sell somewhere in that room!
It doesn’t just have to be your possessions – if you are at all creative you could make things to sell. Jewellery, paintings, keyrings maybe?
Remember that Ebay charges you to list items for sale and you pay a charge once they’re sold so it puts a bit of a dent in your profit. They do seem to regularly have ‘free listing’ weekends though so unless you are desperate for money it is probably best to wait for one of those.
Obviously there are other places to sell online, I have found Ebay to be the best for me but there are plenty of others.
I wouldn’t recommend car boot sales at all though. In my experience they are full of people looking for bargains and unwilling to pay fair prices. I remember trying to sell a pair of unworn safety shoes that I’d bought for £15. I think I asked for £2 for them and one potential buyer offered something like 50p and wouldn’t budge on the price! I obviously said no and ended up selling them on Ebay for about £5-6. The difference with Ebay is you have people from all over the world that are searching for specific items; whereas at a car boot sale you have a few hundred people just browsing.
You will lose money on the Ebay fees but will sell your items for more money overall, and you don’t have to go and stand in a cold, wet, car park or field on a Sunday morning!
You probably won’t make a fortune but a bit of selling (and doing online surveys!) will give you a bit of extra money to pay some bills, buy food or even treat yourself to something, it’s probably been a while!
I have borrowed some money to pay my broadband bill so I am hoping to be back online to post this article soon. (And as you’ve just read it, it means I am!)
