Naturally Healthy Parenting The parent's guide to a healthy family
Children grow so quickly, sometimes it’s hard to keep up with them. Kitting them out with a new wardrobe can become a stressful and all too frequent occurrence. If you have a whole brood of little ones, then this exercise can become extremely expensive, and they may only wear something a couple of times before it’s too small.
There is, however, a good way to help ease this problem, and that’s to sell unworn or ill-fitting clothing to fund any new purchases. Recycling your unwanted items can earn you a good amount of money, and you can feel good about supporting sustainable and green living.
If you’re looking at selling some items to fund your next shopping spree, there are some tips that can help you to get the very best outcome for you and your clothes:
1. eBay
This auction site is probably the most well known, with customers from around the globe providing a great cross section of people to sell to. The idea is simple; you list your item with a description and photo; customers can bid on your item, and the highest bid is the winner. You can also choose a “Buy it Now” style listing where you can state the price you would like to sell the item for.
Although eBay is a great site for getting a quick sale, it can be difficult to sell items for a higher price as generally everyone is looking for a bargain. It can extremely time consuming listing all of your items individually and working out postage costs, sizing information and uploading photographs. Bear in mind that eBay will take a percentage of your sale as commission, and if your customer pays using Paypal, they will also take a cut; so try to factor this into your asking price.
The main advantage to using eBay is that you’re advertising to a huge number of potential purchasers, and you can list items at any time of the day of night.
2. Cash for clothes
Many high streets have shops that offer to buy clothes for cash. Generally you will get around £5 for a black bin liner that weighs around 10 kilos, although this may differ depending on where you go. You may also find that they don’t accept certain items, so it’s worth checking what they will and won’t take.
The main issue with this option is that you don’t know exactly where your clothes will end up. If you don’t really mind them being sent out to Africa or elsewhere, then this choice is a quick and easy way to get some money, without the hassle of taking photos or having to list anything. If you want to know where your clothes will be sent, then there’s other options which have a more certain outcome.
3. Free ads
There are a range of online free ad sites where you can list clothing for sale. Websites such as Gumtree and Preloved let you list your items for free in your local area. You can also place adverts in your local newspaper, but you usually have to pay a small fee for doing so. This option can be rather hit and miss, and you may have to renew your advert a few times before making a sale. If you’re not in a hurry though, this can be a good option as any money you make won’t have a fee deducted from it, you will, however, need to include any advertising costs in your asking price to make sure all of your costs are covered.
4. Car boot
If you’re looking to de-clutter, and don’t mind selling your items at a reduced price, selling at a car boot sale can be a good way to offload surplus clothing. You will need to make sure that your items are in good condition and displayed on a rail to encourage better sales. This option saves you the hassle of having to photograph your items or write a description, but you will have to endure some serious bartering!
5. Facebook
If you’re an avid user of Facebook already, this avenue could be a great way of selling your unwanted clothing. Start by searching for a selling and buying group in your area, then send them a request to join the group through the usual system. Once you’ve had your request accepted, you should be able to post your items for sale, within the specific rules of the Facebook community.
You may be able to find a group that specifically lists kids clothing in particular. Bear in mind that with this option you have no buyer or seller protection, so be extra careful with all transactions, and make sure to meet up with any buyers in a safe public place.
6. Online marketplace
Choosing to sell your old children’s clothes through an online marketplace is a good option if you have high quality kids clothing is good condition. Branded items will be a lot more desirable than non-branded items, but, you can make more profit selling this way than selling through other avenues. Some marketplaces will take photos of your items and list them on your behalf, simply taking a cut of the final sale price. This option will save you a lot of time and take the hassle out of having to list everything yourself; so you can spend your time looking for new items, rather than worrying about the old.
