Spring Cleaning Tips

Spring clean your room and make extra cash

by Kelly Henderson (follow Kelly on Twitter: @kellythekiwi)

The Spring Bank Holiday has just been so now is a great time to clear out those unwanted goods that are collecting dust in your home. Here are some ways to declutter your house – and make some cash in the process!

#1 Donate to those in need

There are charity shops all over London that are in need of your donations. If you are finding it difficult to get to your local shop then you can organise a house collection or try out the ‘big recycling sack’ scheme operated by the Red Cross. Contact them to get a recycling bag delivered to you, fill it up and they will come and pick it up on an arranged collection date. Other charity shops that will be keen to take your good quality goods include the Oxfam Online Shop, Salvation Army, St Christopher’s and Age UK.

Please don’t use this as a place to dump your rubbish – if it is broken, poor quality or unusable then throw it out!

#2 Host a Table Top sale

If you have a fair amount of stuff that you want to get rid of then how about hosting a Table Top or Garage sale. We did this when we first moved into our flat raising about £150 from old pot plants, DVDs and camping gear. Ours was just outside our house but if you weren’t interested in making money for yourself, you could pitch a table at a table hosted by a local charity and donate your proceeds.

Alternatively, if you have a car, you can sell your goods at a car boot sale. There are loads of car boot sales every weekend all over London so chances are you can make a nice little profit if you choose the right one. For more information, take a look at Car Boot Junction or Car Boot Sales – online directories of car boot sales across the UK.

#3 Gumtree 

Selling on Gumtree is easy, and best of all, it is free. There are thousands of items for sale though, so you need to make sure that your ad stands out.

• Be clear about what you are selling. Keep in mind that most people use the Gumtree search engine which searches through the titles of ads when looking for items.
• Include good quality pictures. People are unlikely to buy something (or even look at a post) unless they have seen it. Gumtree lets you insert up to 9 pictures so make sure that you take advantage of this.
• Be descriptive and really make your item stand out. You can write as much as you like so this is your chance to let potential buyers know exactly what you are selling.
• If you have lots of similar items for sale (toys, books, and dinnerware) then consider putting them together and selling as a bulk lot. It makes it more worthwhile for those buyers who are coming to collect your goods. 

#4 eBay

Selling on eBay is a bit more complicated as you have to take into account postage and sellers fees. It is however, a really good way of selling one off items, or things that you might want to sell at a higher value. Here are some tips for getting more cash out of your sale:

• Start buying goods on eBay now – eBay sellers and buyers rely heavily on feedback scores. So the better your reputation is, the more likely it is that you will sell your goods.
• Aim to finish your auction on a Sunday as this is the night when most people are using eBay.
• Lower your starting price. This will not only lower your seller fees but it will entice more people to look at your ad.

Start making money on your unwanted goods now. And, if anybody is after a bean bag, a cream shower curtain or a dinner set then I could have just what you are looking for.

Twitter Accounts to follow:

Car Boot Sales: @carbootsalesuk
London Car Boot Sale: @online_car_boot
Car Boot Junction: @carbootjunction

If you have a nice Tip to share just drop me a line at kelly@brokeinlondon.com.

—

You may also want to check our Second Hand Shopping Tips.