Casual reCommerce Series: Introduction to Selling Your Stuff Online

Welcome to Casual reCommerce, a series of posts on selling your stuff online.   Below is an overview of my favorite five methods of selling used and previously purchased items online. Each day this week, I'll cover each method in a little more detail.

Used to be that when you had extra stuff and wanted to sell it you'd buy an ad in your newspaper classifieds or hold a yard sale on a sunny Saturday.  These were, and still can be, effective methods of turning your "clutter to cash" but the internet continues to provide more ways to sell your stuff and to more people.  What the internet does best is connect people, and this is highly useful when you want to sell something.  Connecting more buyers and sellers, facilitating payment and shipping, and establishing trust outside of local communities are what these services deliver above the familiar "offline" methods.

There are a lot of choices out there and I've chosen to focus on my top five favorites.  Each one has pros and cons and solves specific needs.  Below is a brief summary of each of my five favorites and a table comparing them.  This week I'll post a more detailed review each day explaining my ratings.  "How To" posts are also in the works, so stay tuned to the series!

eBay.com is usually the number one site that comes to mind when you think of selling your things online.  Primarily known for online auctions, eBay also offers fixed price and "Best Offer" pricing formats.  You create a listing for each item you want to sell and choose a format. With auctions, you set a an opening bid and bidders compete and at the end of the auction the highest bidder wins.  With "Buy it Now" you set a fixed price for your item and you can add a "Best Offer" option which allows you to accept offers lower than your set price.

Alexa ranks Amazon.com as the #1 Top Shopping Site, and #5 Top Site in the US (#16 worldwide).  This may be the number one site you think of when buying online, but many people do not know how easy it is to sell using Amazon's seller services.  All sellers appear on the same product page so it's very easy to add an entry (you only need a more detailed description of *your* item and your price) and to research and set your price.

AbundaTrade.com evolved out of a music retailer's CD trade-in program and is now a reCommerce pioneer.  Their site says "Get the most cash for your CDs, DVDs, Video Games & Books".  Unlike other trading sites, which facilitate individual direct or indirect trades of items on have & want lists, or Amazon's trade-in program which pays you in Amazon Gift Cards, AbundaTrade will buy your stuff for cash.  You can also choose to receive 25% more value by choosing store credit and buying from the Abunda Store where they sell inventory.  They also offer payment by gift cards.  If you want to skip cash altogether, they also offer an option to "Trade for it!" and request an item in trade such as an iPod (or an air conditioner!).  You can also use it as a fundraiser.  Lots of options for turning your "clutter to cash".

Craigslist.org has a traffic rank of #10 in the US according to Alexa.  It's free and easy to use to buy and sell (and rent, trade, advertise & hire....) and has become so popular I've heard it used as a verb (as in "I'm going to craigslist that old bookcase sometime next week").  While hugely popular, especially in Los Angeles/San Francisco/New York/Seattle, its actual traffic and usefulness is mostly tied to your local community for selling.  Its humble beginnings as a community service still show through as the business model is focused on covering costs, not generating increasing profits. So you'll see a few fees, but they won't apply if you're just selling your stuff.  There is a very "hands-off" approach so you won't have help if you need it (even if you encounter a problem or a software glitch) and this can feel a little chaotic or Wild West for some folks.  Did I mention it's free?

"Virtual Yard Sale"

Not really a service per se, a "virtual" or "online" yard sale is the concept of using free online tools and technology to promote and facilitate selling your stuff out of your house like an old school yard or garage sale.   People still come to your house either by appointment or during a scheduled time like a regular yard sale and (hopefully) give you cash for your stuff.  You use web-publishing tools (such as Blogger, Wordpress, Tumblr, etc) to have your "inventory" visible online.  You also promote your sale using flyers on bulletin boards, craigslist posts, and by letting your social network know (via Twitter, Facebook, etc).  No yard necessary.

	Cost	Complexity	Reliability	Shipping	Best for...
eBay	High	High	Medium	Easy	Niche selling. Taking the time to sell anything collectible of reasonable value.  If you have the time and need the cash it's also great for selling electronics that no longer work or parts (ex. iPods and computers).
Amazon	Medium	Low	High	Medium	Casual selling with little investment of time or effort.  Newer and "Like New" items, especially electronics, tend to sell easily.  Recently released, or in demand, CDs/DVDs/Videogames.
AbundaTrade	None to Low	Low	High	Medium	Quickly turning a larger amount of CDs, DVDs & Videogames into cash.
Craigslist	None	Medium	Low	N/A	Retaining all profit.  Selling larger or heavier items, like furniture, locally.  Larger cities, college towns or smaller cities with a lot of Craigslist activity.
Virtual Yard Sale	None	High	Medium	N/A	Folks comfortable with technology & blogging tools.  Community-based selling of clothing, household items, furniture & books (etc).  Turning a large household de-cluttering project into cash over time without fees or shipping hassles.  College towns.

The ratings above are based on my opinion of how each of these stack up relative to the others.  The categories are:

Fees/Cost

Fees or costs associated with using a service.  Shipping costs not included here as that's usually passed on to the buyer.

Complexity

"Hassle Factor".  How difficult or how much time it takes to sell with this method.  This could be a technical complexity or interpersonal-complexity...it all counts.  

Reliability

Can you rely on buyers to pay you?  The likelihood that you will be paid for your item once someone indicates they want it.  Ranges from Amazon with the highest reliability, to Craigslist with the lowest due to no-shows etc.

Shipping

How complex and/or costly is shipping items?  Part of what you pay for with the paid services is some nice automated shipping features such as estimated shipping costs, printing shipping labels and paying online.

Best for...

Each method has value, and I don't think I have a "favorite" or could rate one of these "best overall".  This category is my opinion on what each method does best so you can decide what's important to you and give it a try.

Questions for you: Which are your favorite methods and why?  Any other sites that you'd recommend in a Top 10?