Even the Whitehouse is Doing it…Sell Your Extra Stuff for Cash

You know times are tough when Michelle Obama is tacking a couple “Garage Sale” signs out along Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington D.C., but that is pretty much what the White House is doing according to recent reports. Whereas you probably won’t see the First Lady out on the front lawn welcoming patrons to peruse the Obama’s wares, the White House recently made headlines by selling off excess property in effort to help pay the bills, as well as set the example for the rest of Americans to follow.

Old as Time

Politics aside, the yard sale/garage sale business has been booming across our great nation so long as one person had something to sell, and another had a need to buy it. It used to be called the barter system, and for a couple cows and a jug of Granddaddy’s finest, you could get an entire field plowed over the course of a weekend. Of course, you’d want to hold off on handing over the booze until you saw the job was done well. As currency became more prevalent, the idea of the barter system remained the same, however; America simply opted to barter with money for products and services than an even exchange.

Throughout depressions and prosperity, the theory behind people making some extra cash on the side has not changed. The industry continues to boom today, taking the selling of one’s stuff from the garages and front lawns of America, to the World Wide Web with online sites helping people buy and sell products around the world.

We All Have Extra Stuff

Most Americans, even with mere change in their pockets, can count themselves among the world’s wealthiest individuals. It is because of this prosperity that most of us have stuff laying around our homes we never use, but could make us a small mint by pitching it to others. Those individuals who have kids and rooms full of unused toys and clothes that no longer fit benefit most. Kid’s stuff is like Garage Sale Crack. I’m not sure if it emits an aroma, or if as soon as one person sees there is kids’ stuff for sale a secret all-points-bulletin goes out, but it is one of the most sure fire ways to increase the bottom line when selling your stuff to make some extra cash. Pull out the kids’ stuff and watch it turn into cash.

Take What You Can Get

The beauty of it is, like most people, we go out and buy this stuff brand new, because “our kid deserves the very best” even though they’ll either drool on it, spit up on it, or soil it in some fashion, and that’s assuming you can get them in it at least once before they outgrow it. Throw any kid’s stuff that’s in halfway decent condition in a sale, and kick back to the sounds of “Ka-CHING” as buyers come out of the woodwork to get it. The biggest mystery of all though is that you freak out when someone is willing to pay you $5 for a dress you spent $25 on just a few months earlier. That being said, getting $5 back on a $25 purchase is a horrible ROI, it still beats the nothing you might receive by not selling it at all.

Furniture

And kid’s stuff is just the beginning when looking to make money by selling things you no longer want or need. Kids or parents with kids on the way to college are always looking for cheap, used dorm furniture to haul up to the university for what may be many a Friday night beer bath. Remember, everything is for sale, and if you don’t care enough about the furniture to keep it, don’t let the idea of your recliner being drenched in Busch Light stop you from putting some money in your pocket to get rid of it.

Exercise Equipment

Not only is furniture another big-ticket item in these sales, but exercise equipment is as well. Sure, you bought the treadmill on impulse, planning to run every day, and after a week of realizing running sucks, you started letting it dry your delicates on a regular basis. Just remember, America is built on the backs of impulse buyer’s, and just as you got suckered into purchasing it in the first place, when someone else hears how you thought you would us it and didn’t, they’ll immediately think they can do better and buy it for themselves. Soon enough, you will have their money in your pocket and your old treadmill will be busy drying their delicates.

Ultimately, everything is for sale, and in a pinch, selling unused or unwanted items you have sitting around your house is a great way to make some quick money to help make ends meet, or even just have a nice pot of fun money for when you want to head out of the town. Either way, the best way to look at it is, if it’s good enough for the President of the United States, it’s good enough for me.

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Tags: Doing, Doing Itsell   Posted in Debt Consolidation