by Rex Trulove

Created on: September 10, 2008

Who doesn't have a bunch of items in the garage or attic that are just sitting there, taking up space, and not being used? Many of us think about just chucking the whole works and taking it to the dump. Sometimes we hold back, thinking that the worthless item may come in handy someday.

Then comes the day we decide we simply have too much clutter. We are going to get rid of it. What do we do with it though? That dress that will never be worn again but that is still in great shape, that tool that we'll never use but someone else could; these don't deserve a fate in the garbage dump. If someone can get some use out of them, why not? But you paid for those things and should get at least something back.

This gives us a few choices. We can give the things away, which doesn't help us get back any that we gave for them. We can advertise in a newspaper. We can have a yard sale. We can sell through eBay.

Let's discount the first, because it doesn't help us a bit. That leaves ads, which are usually pretty expensive, yard sales and eBay.

At a typical yard sale, you may have a couple dozen people stop by. Chances are that they aren't going to be interested unless you sell things for next to nothing. Remember the saying, "One man's junk is another man's treasure"? It's true. But if you only have a few dozen people looking at your 'junk', and they know that they are the only people interested, do you think they are going to make you a good offer?

Let's say you have a 'clock in the belly' type lamp. You don't want it. In a yard sale, someone offers you $2 for it. This is a great deal, right? But the clock keeps time, and the lamp works, so is it really that great a deal? You get rid of it, sure, but you get only a tiny portion of what the lamp is really worth, since everything works.

How about selling the same thing on eBay? You have an advantage right away. Instead of a few dozen people who may be interested and most of them won't be, you may have millions of people looking at the item. Sure, you might lose a few bucks on the posting if the item doesn't sell, but you stand to get a lot more, and it is likely, because of the number of people looking at the item. It is definitely cheaper than taking out an ad.

So someone has been searching for the same thing and thinking of dropping $100 for a similar object. They see your ad, and bid $20 for it. They are saving money, and at the same time, you just made a huge profit over what the person at the yard sale would have offered. That is sweet!

There is always a risk. At the yard sale, you may not get any buyers, but you aren't out any money. On eBay, you may spend a few bucks and still not get any buyers, or may get someone who pays low for an item. But the potential to earn money is far greater on eBay than in a garage sale. Best of all, you don't have to be there every moment it is running and the object is for sale.

It is in the numbers. On eBay, far more people are looking at the items, and that increases the chances of selling it. Imagine if you could get a few million people to come to your yard sale. Yet, it amounts to the same thing, really.

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