Unlocking the Value in your Second Hand Used Junk
It’s something everybody growing up has to go through – your father or your mother has to pester you at one time or another to go up to the attic and clear those boxes out. While no one really likes to do that, this might be the year you could relent. If for no other reason than that it will help your parents make quite a bit of money with all that second hand used stuff. If you are wondering how there could possibly be any substantial amount of money locked up in the junk in your attic, you need to take a closer look. We live in the age of the thrifty consumer today. People like to rent stuff instead of buy nowadays; and when they do buy, they like second hand. Every dollar counts to lots of people now. And secondhand estate sales are where they take their money to spend. Sales turnovers at these places are up to 25% than just one year ago. There are more people coming out looking for stuff today, and they are paying more for what they buy. Occasionally, when they return to bring back something, they have bought,they stick around and buy something else. If selling stuff is all about exploiting the mood that pervades the culture at any given moment, selling second hand used stuff is precisely the right kind of commerce for today.
Still, you remember having seen Antiques Roadshow on PBS; even the best stuff they brought up to show you how to sell cost no more than $500. How much could you possibly expect to make with the kind of junk that lives up in your attic? If you have the right kind of stuff, you may actually make $5000. It might not make you rich; but you surely will make cash that will cause a change to you.
Second hand used clothing and furniture are two of the most lucrative things you can find in your typical attic to sell.
Right about now, furniture from the 60s and thereabouts can turn out to be in pretty good demand. For a dining set or sofa, you could normally expect to make approximately $400. If the couch is leather, you could have somebody take it off your hands really quickly. What you won’t have much success selling are entertainment centers and beds. Entertainment centers, particularly, are really no uses any longer now that everybody has a plasma TV. When it refers clothing, you need to really drive a severe bargain with a person who tries to buy your stuff. If you have vintage designer clothing by famous design houses like Chanel’s stuff from the 40s, and 50s can net you $500 an article. Mass-market stuff from the Gap though, you will probably have to give away when somebody buys your designer clothing.
People somehow love old bicycles; It expected a hundred dollars for one. Silverware and China can get you $1000 if it’s in good condition. If you have iconic toys and other collectibles from 80 years ago or so, or vintage cameras, you can expect to make hundreds of dollars. All you need to do is to go up there and start rummaging.
