In the holiday aftermath, Americans are typically busy with two widely disparate things: Putting away an array wonderful new gifts, and grappling with the a miserable amount of debt incurred while buying gifts for others. One way to get rid of the holiday debt quickly is to hold your own after-Christmas sale.
Consider this action plan: Instead of simply squishing new things into your already crowded closets, how about taking out several rarely-used items for every new one that you put in? And, while you’re at it, why not go through your garage and other storage space to find other potentially valuable property to sell?
After-Christmas sale
To be sure, you don’t want to sell anything that you regularly use. But, if you’re like many Americans, you’re holding on to clothing, shoes, purses, belts, housewares, games and toys that you’ve long grown tired of. You might even have tables, chairs and other furniture that have outlived its usefulness in your life, but could be well used by others.
By clearing out the closets, you not only create inventory for sale, you free up storage space. You can use that storage for your new things. Or you can rent it out through sites like Neighbor and Stache.
Selling strategy
Once you’ve gathered your pile of goods to let go, your next step is deciding where and how to sell them. Should you sell online, in-person — or, maybe, both.
In-person
One tried and true option is to simply host a garage sale. The allure of a garage sale is a simple one. In one day, you get rid of pretty much everything and end up with a fistful of cash. Additionally, you can advertise your garage sale on free sites, including CraigsList and Nextdoor. So, the only cost is your time.
The downside of garage sales is that they’re limited by geography. So, if you have valuable collector’s items or designer goods — from fashion to furniture — that could sell for more to the right audience, you are doing yourself a disservice by selling these items at a garage sale.
With this type of product, the better option is to find an online sales site that suits your luxury goods.
Designer clothing, handbags, shoes and accessories
For instance, if your closets are filled with designer items, selling these online to other buyers who value the label can get you five- to ten-times more than trying to market these pieces from your driveway.
SideHusl.com’s favorite of these designer resale sites is Poshmark. Poshmark invites sellers to create a “closet” and connect your closet to your social media accounts. You can also collaborate with other sellers who offer similar goods to increase your chance of finding appropriate buyers.
The site gets good reviews from buyers and sellers alike. And it charges a reasonable 20% fee, which includes the cost of shipping.
Big-ticket items
Meanwhile, if you have designer furniture, office equipment or other expensive items to sell, the best place to market these is eBay. The massive online retailer sells everything from clothing to industrial machinery. And with more than 600 million monthly visitors, the chance of finding the right buyer for your expensive goods is great with this site.
But, familiarize yourself with some SEO basics because there are also some 18 million active sellers here too. To get your items found in that scrum, you’ll need to describe them well and accurately.
What about the things that don’t sell?
Give unsold remants from your personal after-Christmas sale to charity and take a tax deduction for the value. Goodwill publishes a handy guide that can help you estimate the value of used goods.
Realize, however, that if you want to take a deduction of more than $500 a year for used goods, you will need to keep detailed records. These records should include photographs and descriptions of what you’ve given away and to whom. Also be sure to keep the charity’s receipts.
Keep these records for at least four years following filing that year’s tax return to make sure you have what you need, if you’re ever audited. (The federal government only requires you to keep records for three years, but some states require four. Thus, it’s best to err on the safe side.)
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