We get it. Inflation is real and money gets tight. If you want to make extra cash selling online, NerdWallet is here to help you with the where and the how.
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Major online marketplaces
With sites like these, you can sell just about anything to anyone, anywhere, but there are fees and shipping logistics to account for.
EBay
EBay is the OG for online sales by regular folks and small businesses alike. The site lets you auction and sell a wide range of goods, from collectibles and electronics to household items and even cars, and charges the following fees:
- Insertion fees: It’s free to post up to 250 listings per month. After that, there’s typically a 35-cent “insertion fee” per listing.
- Final value fees: Once you sell, there's another fee based on the final price, which includes shipping and sales tax. This fee varies based on product category, but for most it's 13.6%.
- Per order fee. EBay also tacks on a fee per each order, which it defines as “any number of items purchased by the same buyer at checkout with the same shipping method.” For orders $10 or less, this fee is 30 cents. For orders over $10, it’s 40 cents.
Since this is kind of confusing, here's a breakdown:
Say you list a book on eBay and sell it for $20. Unless you already posted 250 items this month, you won’t pay an insertion fee.
Selling the book, however, will incur a 15.3% final value fee — the fee for books is higher than most other categories — which amounts to $3.06. To round out eBay's cut, you'll also owe a 40 cent "per-order" fee. You make $16.54 in the end.
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Mercari
Mercari is like eBay’s mini-me. It’s a list, sell and ship type of site, but may be easier to use for quick, one-off sales due to its mobile-first listing method.
Since you’re shipping items yourself, you’ll probably want to keep the weight down. Small gadgets, toys, beauty products, clothes and handbags make for great inventory on Mercari, for example.
Make a sale and a 10% selling fee applies to the purchase price + buyer-paid shipping cost.
Amazon
Amazon is another option for selling, but is more typical for small business owners with inventory to move. That said, you can sell pretty much anything on Amazon, although selling certain products, such as watches and jewelry or health and personal care items, requires Amazon approval and an upgraded selling plan.
There are two kinds of selling plans, which differ in how Amazon charges fees on items sold:
Individual selling plan: With this plan, you’ll pay Amazon 99 cents per item sold, plus a referral fee. The referral fee is a percentage of the item’s total sale price, including shipping costs, but not taxes, and generally ranges from 8% to 20%. If you’re selling media items, including books, movies and video games, you pay a $1.80 closing fee as well.
Sticking with the book example, let's say you sell one for $20. Subtract 99 cents for the per-item fee, an additional $3 for a 15% referral fee and $1.80 for the closing fee. You’ll pocket $14.21.
Professional selling plan: This upgrade requires a $39.99 monthly subscription fee, but you don't have to pay 99 cents per item as you do with the Individual plan. It's the way to go if you plan to sell more than 40 items per month.
» Read our guide on how to make money on Amazon
Local sales platforms
Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, Nextdoor
These websites and apps are like modern versions of the classifieds. Each platform allows you to easily list items (maybe something around the house you don’t need anymore) for local sales. There are no fees (when you sell locally), but you’re responsible for connecting with your buyer, arranging payment and making the exchange.
Dealing with local customers directly makes for a different experience than the all-online transaction style of a site like eBay. If you're not comfortable communicating directly with buyers and perhaps meeting up with a stranger, you might want to stick with shipping-only sites.
Depending on what you're selling, you can arrange to meet your buyer in a public place (many local police stations offer a "safe haven" for such sales) or have a friend hang around while you make the sale.
The simplicity is key, though: no packing, shipping or fees. But unlike many online-only sales sites, these marketplaces don't have any guarantees or protections if your buyer flakes.
Niche markets for clothes, vintage items and artisan goods
For specialty items — such as antiques and vintage clothes — you might want to sell to a more intentional audience. These sites are good for that.
Poshmark
Poshmark is an online sales and social network hybrid for clothing and other goods.
Its fee structure is simple: For all sales under $15, you're charged a $2.95 fee; for anything $15 or more, the fee is 20%. Poshmark charges your buyer $6.49 for shipping, so you just print out a prepaid shipping label, box up your clothing and send it off.
» Learn more about where to sell clothes online
ThredUp
If you like thrifting and shopping on consignment, ThredUp brings that experience online. The platform uses algorithms to price your items and attempt to maximize the chance of a sale.
For products that cost less than $20, you’ll earn somewhere between 3% and 15% of the sale. The higher your selling price, the greater your earning percentage. A $200 item, for instance, will net you an 80% earning. Selling categories are focused predominately on women’s and children’s fashion.
Etsy
Etsy has become a household name for selling your own handmade arts and crafts or vintage collectibles. You pay 20 cents to list an item and then a 6.5% transaction fee on the total sale price, which includes shipping.
Using Etsy Payments tacks on an additional fee of 3% of the total sales price, plus a 25-cent flat fee.
Ruby Lane
Ruby Lane is a marketplace for antiques and vintage items. To post items for sale — or “open a shop” — on Ruby Lane, you’ll have to pay a $45 monthly maintenance fee. Ruby Lane also charges a service fee of 9.9% of the total purchase up to $2,500.
Consider whether you can recoup these maintenance and service fees before choosing Ruby Lane.
Electronics resale sites
Swappa, Gazelle
Swappa is a marketplace for used cell phones and other tech, and Gazelle functions as a reseller. With Swappa, you set your own price based on similar listings and ship your device directly to the buyer.
Gazelle gives you a quote on your smartphone, laptop or tablet, and then you send it to the company.
You can compare pricing details from these sites to find the better option. While these sites work in slightly different ways, both make it easy to get quick bucks for your phone when it's time to upgrade.
Said in the (Reddit) threads
We used AI to sift through Reddit threads for a pulse check on how users feel about online selling platforms. This insight rose to the top. People post anonymously, so we cannot confirm their individual experiences or circumstances.
EBay and Amazon are the GOATs for small-business sellers, users say.
- Users like eBay for volume sales in many product categories, from collectibles to vintage electronics and sporting goods.
- Redditors like Amazon for buying new items low and reselling online at a markup, and specific categories such as refurbished electronics.
Mercari, Poshmark (and Depop and Vinted), Etsy and WhatNot come highly recommended for niche areas.
- Users like Mercari for listing smaller electronics, gadgets and household items, and its lack of Facebook Marketplace “drama,” as one post suggests.
- Poshmark, Depop and Vinted are the go-to trio for clothing and accessory sales.
- Etsy gets mentions for vintage, craft supplies and collectibles, bucking the rep that the site is for handmade only.
- Whatnot is a funkier option for live-stream auctions of sports cards, sneakers and collectible toys, in particular.
When it’s too big (or expensive) to ship, Facebook Marketplace is becoming the primary option.
- Facebook Marketplace is the most active platform for local sales, according to Reddit, even despite lots of complaints by users about “lowballers, “ghosters,” and scam artists. Key tip: users recommend cross-posting in private groups for more serious interest.
- OfferUp and Craigslist are still kicking, but users generally see these as second fiddle to Facebook.
» Learn more about how to make money
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