Easy ways to make money for kids

One of my favorite ways to make extra money is to sell the excess from around my home. With fast growing kids, changing styles, and new life phases, it seems I always have an abundance of items that are no longer being used. The first place I look to sell these items is on Craigslist. In my opinion, unless you have something very valuable (that is shippable) Craigslist is the way to go.

There are no fees with Craigslist, meaning all the money you make is yours. You get to set your price. There is no gambling as to whether you will make any money. You set the price you want and hope it sells. If you list an item for auction on EBay there are a couple of bad scenarios that can happen. The price does not get bid high enough for you to make any money after the fees, or it doesn’t sell at all and you are still out the fees (meaning you just lost money). No worries when selling on Craigslist – if it doesn’t sell you are only out your time.

I have found that some things work better than others. Grouping like items together will help them sell better and more quickly. Do you have an entire wardrobe of boys 4t clothing? Rather than selling it one piece or outfit at a time, group all winter clothing together and all summer clothing together and sell it that way.

Take good pictures of the items you are selling. I believe that Craigslist will allow four photos, but I can never get more than one to load. I just say in the ad that I have more photos and to email me for them if interested. I have never had a problem selling anything by doing this, as long as I have one photo up. People can judge the condition fairly well and decide if it is worth pursuing. I know that I really dislike searching for something and not being able to see a picture of it.

Be very careful when selling on Craigslist. Sometimes strange people respond to my ads. There are a couple of ways I protect myself when selling items from my home. First, if I get even the slightest strange feeling from an initial email I just ignore the email. They do not have any of my contact information unless I reply to their email. Better to be safe than sorry in my book. Second, I will only schedule pickups when my husband is home and I make sure the person that is coming knows that my husband will be home. Third, I have the item waiting by the door, or if it is nice weather I will make an excuse to be outdoors with the item waiting on the buyer. Fourth, I keep the phone with me at all times when I am making a sale. Fifth, I only deal locally.

Unfortunately scams are running rampant on Craigslist. If someone contacts you from far away, even just another state, but especially if they are from another country just ignore them. If someone tries to pay you more than what you are asking for be very wary. I would ignore these offers too. If someone wants to have you ship the item, don’t do it. These are all typically scams. They offer to pay you more for your “time”, mail you a cashiers cheque (fake!) and have you ship the item. Only after you ship the item does the cashiers cheque bounce and you have created a major mess for yourself. Deal locally, in cash only and you will be fine.

If you need extra money, Craigslist is a great place to sell your unwanted items. If you haven’t tried it before, it is super easy and fast. Good luck!