As the saying goes “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure”, and our homes are the first places where we tend to accumulate all that rubbish that we’ve been meaning to recycle or throw out. With recent research revealing that as a nation we hoard more clutter than any other country in Europe, the need to clear out our homes is becoming something of an epidemic. More and more people may be making an effort to reduce the number of underused and unloved household items within our properties – just ask the many people recycling clothes with us! But for most getting rid of those possessions, even items that haven’t seen the light of day for months or even years, is harder than ever.
According to the same study conducted by comparethemarket, the British public fills 37.6 million square feet of storage space by holding onto things that they should really get rid of. As well as spending money on storage facilities or wasting valuable household space storing goods, accumulating clutter can have an impact of your health and well-being. Clutter has recently been recognised by professionals as a significant source of stress, but you don’t have to pay the mental, physical or financial cost of clutter. Following on from our 8 Days of Spring Cleaning guide, we’ve put together a room-by-room breakdown of how clutter can be cut from your home in the most profitable way possible. Who knows, you could just be sitting on a gold mine!
Make extra money just in time for Christmas from household items that deserve a new home.
Living room
Our living rooms and wider homes are filled with the latest modern conveniences, but if your love of tech is getting a little too much, why not trade them in for cash? Televisions, laptops, computers, tablets, smartphones and smart devices are worth a lot of money, particularly if they’re in good condition. You could earn hundreds of pounds alone from selling on unused mobile phone handsets and there are a number of companies that recycle them in exchange for cash quickly and conveniently. In fact, pretty much any phone can be recycled as long as it’s in good working order (you must be able to switch it on) and has nothing more than mild cosmetic damage. The newest models however will fetch the highest prices. The latest MoneySavingExpert figures for example showed that a 32GB iPhone 7 could be recycled for £330, whilst a Samsung Galaxy S8 could be recycled for a whopping £340.
It’s not just the smartphones cluttering up your living room that you can make extra money from. Top trade-in sites accept anything from old CDs, DVDs and computer games to laptops and games consoles. Most even provide instant quotes so you’ll know exactly how much cash you’ll be getting for the privilege. With CDs and games however, those from certain eras may achieve higher prices when sold individually. CDs and games from the 1990s for example are particularly popular these days making sellers hundreds of pounds on eBay and other auction sites. Even older games and consoles may benefit from specialist valuation or trade-in. Retrogames is a popular specialist trade-in site that gives owners of older games the opportunity to earn cash or trade them in for other games that they have in stock.
You could be sitting on yet more money makers, with the furniture decorating your living area offering a great money spinner when sold second hand. Websites like Preloved and Gumtree offer the perfect platform to sell second hand household furniture, which is great if you’re downsizing or have items that you simply don’t use. Being realistic about the pricing of your second hand furniture however is important. Look for similar pieces that have been sold or are currently for sale online, and price accordingly. When selling your furniture online, take time to create an advert that really showcases what’s for sale, including as many pictures and as much detail as possible. If you’d prefer to sell your furniture offline, garage sales and car boots provide other great ways to find your furnishings new homes.
Got a furniture item that needs a little tender loving care? Don’t throw it on the scrap heap just yet! Individuals who love getting their hands dirty and are no strangers to a paintbrush will enjoy taking on their own upcycling project. Upcycling breathes new life into old things, and transforming that old chair, chest or table often requires little more than a touch of creativity, sandpaper and a good lick of paint. Put your skills to the test by joining the upcycling revolution. No previous skills are required, but you could just spark a new hobby. Be aware however that you may just fall in love with that piece of furniture all over again!
Kitchen
Your kitchen or dining room may also be an Aladdin’s cave of money making household items. Pots, silverware and china in mint condition all garner excellent resale prices when sold online or in person at a local market, car boot or garage sale. In addition to this, kitchen appliances and white goods can be sold online, with buyers looking to stick to a strict budget when upgrading their kitchens willing to pay cash for second hand items in good working order. Again Preloved, Gumtree, eBay and Facebook Marketplace provide an instant audience to put your second hand kitchen goods and equipment in front of. Most buyers are even willing to collect items direct from your home for ultimate convenience.
Bedroom
Your bedroom should be a calming haven that you can retreat to at the end of a long day. Most however are battling wardrobe overspill to climb into their beds every night. It’s so easy to hold onto the clothing, footwear and designer accessories you’ve spent your hard earned cash on, but if you don’t wear it that often or at all, why hold onto it? Recycling your clothes for cash means you can save money or even gather the funds to spend on items you actually want to wear. With our clothes recycling service, trading in your old threads is one of the quickest ways to earn cash in your spare time.
Here at Genie Recycling, we accept a vast number of clothing types and give you cold, hard cash in return. Whilst we are unable to accept second hand clothing (from charity shops or jumble sales), uniforms, homemade items, personalised clothing and trade stock, we welcome clothing of all brands, types and designs as long as it’s clean and in good condition. Whether the clothing item or accessory isn’t used as often as it should be, fashion trends have changed or it simply doesn’t fit any more, we pay cash for clothes – 50p per kilo to be exact! Find further information on the items we accept, and the ones we don’t, here.
Don’t forget to check your jewellery box for instant money makers too. Regardless of its size or style you can make money from unwanted or unused jewellery items, we’ve all seen the ‘cash for gold’ adverts! There are a variety of jewellers and postal gold websites who will pay cash for gold. Hatton Garden Metals, Lois Bullion and Gerrards are top rated dealers based on the latest customer feedback. Just remember to do your research first, particularly when it comes to defining your item’s current scrap value. Please note that jewellery with gemstones, branded jewellery or high value pieces may fetch more by selling them whole. If you’re unsure, get your jewellery pieces valued before selling them on. The same theory applies to gold coins and medals, which are likely to be worth much more than their scrap gold value.
Nursery
Toys and baby items aren’t cheap, just ask the parents up and down the country currently shelling out big sums to buy their little ones the latest goods. The fact is children grow very fast, and as a result, quickly outgrow the clothing and age-specific toys that their parents and other family members spent an arm and a leg purchasing. Specialist trade-in sites are springing up online to counter this demand - Kid to Kid, Baby Swap or Shop and Nelly Noo being just a few of them. As specialists in unwanted clothes, we deal with recycling clothes of all types and sizes, offering quick cash for babywear, childrenswear and teenwear.
Selling more than just clothes? Gumtree, eBay, Facebook Marketplace and Preloved provide all you need to sell to fellow parents, meaning you can make money from items that your children have outgrown and other parents can find budget-friendly buys at the touch of a button.
Study
If your household has a dedicated study or office space, clutter can be your worst enemy. Its presence in a study or home office can stop productivity in its track, a fact that makes keeping on top of clutter even more important. As well as recycling any old tech that you’ve been hanging onto, the books decorating the shelves around your study could provide the hidden cash injection you’ve been looking for.
Whether it’s books you’ve already read or old textbooks from your college or university days that are taking up space, you can easily and speedily turn them into cash online. Textbooks in particular are extremely valuable – remember how much you shelled out for them in the first place? Pass them on to someone who needs them more than you, for a price of course. There are dedicated Facebook groups, and Amazon and eBay categories especially for the sale of books and more specifically textbooks. Trade-in websites like WeBuyBooks also provide a quick and easy to use service for selling unwanted books. Better yet, you can enter each title’s ISBN number for an instant valuation.
Selling even outdated textbooks to the current student market can help you earn the extra cash you to need to save for that belated holiday or, more realistically, a rainy day. Trade-in websites like FatBrain and AbeBooks offer smart ways of selling your books back to students. Taking your book collection to your local book store (Blackwell’s specialises in academic books), a local market or car boot sale are great ways to sell to retailers and the public direct.
Shed, loft or garage
Don’t forget to head upstairs or outside in your clutter-busting, cash-boosting mission! Your shed, loft or garage are prime hiding places for underused or unloved household items so leave no stone unturned. As well as items that have been relegated from your home to storage, tools have excellent resale values if sold in the right places, particularly large tools like saw benches and drill presses.
Garden tools and equipment also fetch great prices if you’ve been holding onto some surplus items. With reselling garden tools and equipment however remember timing is everything. You probably won’t get a great price for your garden items if you’re selling in the height of winter so keep sales seasonal. The same theory applies to Christmas decorations, which sell surprisingly well second hand. The purchase of Christmas decorations is after all an expensive business, which means those on a budget will always be looking to buy second hand to bag themselves a seasonal bargain.
Got equipment from a hobby that you just don’t have time to practice anymore? The sports equipment found in sheds, lofts and garages can be passed onto a buyer who’ll use it for great prices. Bikes and scooters can be resold too if you don’t get them out as often as you’d like. Cycling is fast becoming Britain’s favourite hobby, with many avid cyclists leaving their cars at home to pedal to work or school. This rise in popularity means people are spending even more on their bicycles and accessories, which makes the second hand bike resell market particularly lucrative for sellers looking to make money and buyers looking to save.
Want to hold onto even more money in the run up to Christmas? Check out our top ways to save money, and make a pretty penny too!
