Most people don't know it, but their homes are full of cash. If you're stuck for ways to earn money, then a simple look around you might do the trick.
Almost everybody owns things that they're not getting much use out of. Things that other people are willing to pay money for. It's not all about vintage items or rare clothes, either. You can sell items ranging from collectables to things you have destined for the bin, and earn some extra cash toward something you actually want to use.
In this guide, we’ll take a look at the household items you can sell, ranging from rubbish to pre-loved possessions to things that are a little more intangible.
Unless you have some very expensive habits, you're not likely to be sitting on a goldmine. However, selling stuff online is a way to make extra money out of the things you're not using. Even a little bit of extra cash sounds better than a bag of rubbish you have lying around.
You might have hundreds of items you can sell in your house and not even realise it. They’re just waiting to line your pockets. Read on to learn just what you can sell, how easy it will be, and which websites are best for it.
In most cases, you won't need to declare money from reselling items as part of your income tax. Selling your possessions for less than you paid for them doesn't count as income.
If you sell handmade items like crafts or upcycle for profit to make extra money from home, then you will need to declare income of over £1,000 to HMRC.
Selling your pre-loved items
One of the easiest and oldest ways to earn extra money is to sell belongings you don't use anymore.
Almost any possessions you've paid money for, other people will be willing to do the same. There are many popular websites and apps out there with thousands of interested buyers who will treasure your things every bit as much as you did.
With all of these, you won't need to go through the effort of opening your own online store or anything like that. There are plenty of websites that make the process as easy as possible.
1. Selling old clothes
Lots of people have vast swathes of their wardrobe that they don't use anymore. Rather than agonise over these in your wardrobe, you can find them a new owner by selling online.
In recent years, dozens of apps and websites have sprung up to help you shift your pre-loved clothing, shoes, bags, and more. Anything you can wear, there is an online marketplace full of people who will absolutely adore it.
For more information, check out TopCashback's own Money Guide on the best places to sell clothes online.
2. Jewellery
Accessories can also fetch a high price when you resell. Necklaces, earrings, rings, brooches, and many other pieces of jewellery all have enthusiastic online buyers.
There are a couple of ways you can profit from selling your old jewellery. You can make excellent money by selling individual pieces, especially if they're antiques or premium brands, such as Tiffany's. You can also sell your jewellery for scrap prices, which simply requires going directly to a business, but this is often less lucrative.
3. Furniture
Likewise, there's a roaring trade in second-hand furniture in the UK. If you're ready to move on from a piece of furniture, there are absolutely income opportunities from listing it online and selling it.
In general, it's better to sell locally, just due to the logistics of transporting furniture to your buyers. Nonetheless, there are plenty of places online with many potential customers in your local area who would love the sofa, tables, antiques, chairs, and more.
You're more likely to get people who want to pay cash-in-hand buying and selling furniture than with many other second-hand items you sell. Nonetheless, lots of websites will help you with online payment and handling the transaction.
4. Books & university textbooks
The UK is home to millions of readers, most of whom are desperate for more reading material. If you're looking to sell products online and have a large pile of books you've already read, people are looking to spend money on them.
This doesn't just apply to fiction or non-fiction books you read for fun. Many people spend lots on university textbooks that they use for a few years and never open again. Specialist online businesses will gladly buy them off you, and you might find individual online buyers as well. An annotated textbook will still sell, but likely for less.
If you don't know where to start, our TopCashback guide to selling books online will fill in the blanks on how to make extra money with these old texts.
5. Toys and games
For many people, toys have a natural shelf life. Luckily, there are specialist selling sites who will buy your toys. It's also a good way to shift individual items by selling on eBay or Facebook Marketplace.
You're more likely to make better money with particularly rare toys, such as out-of-production action figures, dolls or LEGO sets. That said, there’s a huge market for bulk sales of toys, with many websites dedicated to it. Shifting piles of old games for even a bit of extra money online beats throwing them out.
6. Collectables & hobby items
Most of our tips are ways to sell your stuff and make a small bit of money fast. However, on the list of worthwhile items to resell, collectable hobby products usually fetch a much higher price than other sorts of toys or games.
Rare trading cards, especially for games like Magic: The Gathering, can go up in value a huge amount over time. The same is true for miniatures, figurines, truly vintage toys, iconic comic books, and limited edition versions of popular media. There's a large community of enthusiastic collectors online who will pay top dollar for well-kept items online. It does help to know your target audience, however, or sell to someone who does.
7. Phones & working electronics
Many people want to stay up to date on the latest phones, laptops, games consoles, and other tech. However, many others are in the market for something older and a little more affordable. When you upgrade or simply stop using a piece of tech, consider making some quick cash by flogging your old device.
TopCashback doesn't just have a guide on selling your phone; we also have a tool to help you do it, for free, at a great price. It's not just phones. You can sell second-hand tech of all stripes, from tablets and smart watches to last-generation game consoles, and much more.
8. DVDs, Blu-rays, & video games
You might think that nobody watches DVDs anymore, but there are lots of buyers online who would prove you wrong. While each individual title isn't likely to go for much, the entire collection that you don't watch should fetch you at least a few pounds.
If you're looking at your DVD shelf and want to start selling, check out TopCashback's guide on selling DVDs online for examples of the best websites to list them on.
9. Unused gift cards
Gift cards do big business in the UK, but a surprising number go unspent or are left with money on them. If you have old gift cards cluttering up drawers, there are almost certainly people who would be happy to buy them to spend at those brands.
There are many websites that take gift cards if you want to start selling online, or you can sell them directly to buyers. In neither case will you sell them for face value, but you can often get close to 80%-90% of what's left on them.
10. Sports equipment & musical instruments
Many hobbies are a lot of fun, but also incur a lot of expense. Sports equipment and musical instruments are just two examples that carry a high price tag. This includes after you stop using them.
If you haven't touched them in a while and they're just taking up space, you can find a new owner who's willing to pay.
Remember that shipping costs may apply, especially for bulky or fragile pieces of kit. Nonetheless, there are far less lucrative ways to get rid of outgrown sports gear or dormant musical instruments, especially if you spent a lot while getting into the hobby.
Selling bulk or broken items
It's not just your intact pre-loved possessions that people will buy. You'd be surprised what sells online, including things you might write off as broken or destined for the rubbish bin.
Selling these everyday items won't rank among the world's most lucrative side hustles, but it can be a way to boost your income slightly while losing very little of value.
11. Broken tech and electronics
Most people don't have much use for their broken-down tech, from televisions to washing machines to power tools. It often gets thrown out or sits in a drawer somewhere. However, they can be full of valuable parts that others can use in repairs or in building.
Broken tech won't fetch the same price as if it were intact and functional, but it's far from worthless. Apart from potentially getting up to 50% of the value back, you also help to prevent electronic waste.
12. Leftovers for craft supplies
Every week, you’re likely to be going through items that some artistic people like to buy in bulk to use in crafts. Individually, these items don't fetch a high price, but a little bit is better than nothing.
Two prominent examples are loo roll tubes and corks from wine bottles. You might think these are literal rubbish – and you’re right that selling them will never make enough to be your main job. We have to admit, though, making a few pounds from selling them in bulk is better than throwing them away and making nothing.
13. Boxes for items
When you're considering the most valuable bits of a new toy or piece of technology, you might overlook the box. As you might have guessed by now, there's more money in them than you expect!
Lots of people online are willing to buy those boxes, usually so they can sell their own items at a better price. Phones, headphones, and games consoles are especially good choices. You can usually make a few pounds per good-condition box, but more expensive items could fetch you double digits.
More generic boxes are generally less valuable, but there are other marketplaces and sites that specialise in buying good-condition cardboard boxes. Consider them if you want an extra few pennies.
Flexing some skills and selling them on
For the most part, this guide focuses on how to earn money selling unwanted items specifically. If you're the creative sort, you might be able to put a personal touch on things and make some handmade goods to sell online.
If your hobbies can cover selling homemade crafts or similar items, then you have a great way to spend your time and make extra cash as an online seller. It's one of the more enjoyable side hustle ideas, whether you do it small-time or set up your own store eventually.
14. Handmade crafts
Artists also often sell things online. It's not as convenient as having ready-to-sell items to hand, such as old clothes or jewellery, but it can be one of the most satisfying ways to answer the question "What can I sell to make money?"
Selling your products, rather than your possessions, lets you flex your skills without losing anything you might want. When you sell unique crafts, be they paintings, graphic design work, ornaments, knitting patterns, or countless other hobbies, you find a great way to monetise your time. If you've already got a stockpile, then you have a great head start to earn right away.
15. Upcycled furniture
You don't need to settle for your furniture as it is, and neither do buyers and sellers online. If you're willing to put in a bit more effort, you can transform battered or unwanted furniture into a range of products to sell.
With upcycling, you can strip and clean old or damaged furniture, make repairs, paint it, varnish it, and otherwise alter it until you have something new that looks in near-mint condition. It's substantially easier (and cheaper) than making your own furniture from scratch, while still creating something new for shoppers who like custom products.
16. Plant cuttings
While buying and growing plants to sell them is a potential side hustle, it's a lot of effort that has a high margin for error. Something substantially easier, and that uses the plants you already have, is to take cuttings of what you have in your garden and sell them.
You still get to keep the plants yourself and grow them for your own benefit, but get to make some extra money on the side. This works best if you have particularly in-demand plants, such as kitchen herbs or aloe vera, but it's a much easier way to try your luck with almost anything you grow.
Selling things that aren’t strictly things
Sometimes, the best things for online selling aren't even physical products. They're not things you immediately think of as things you have, but they're every bit as good for making extra money in your free time as your old possessions or craft supplies.
17. A parking space
Whether you own or rent your home, it may well come with one or more guaranteed parking spaces. If you don't drive or if you have more parking than you have cars, this is a chance to make money almost literally from thin air.
Several websites online will arrange for you to rent out your parking space, either long-term to one person or on an ad-hoc basis for people to use. You only need to be cheaper or more convenient than other parking spaces around, particularly in high-demand areas like cities, and money will come rolling in.
The average home parking space in a city, one that’s not especially close to the centre or a train station, might fetch £30 a week. On the more lucrative side, an incredibly convenient parking space in the middle of an expensive city, right next to important transport links, airports, or entertainment venues, might fetch you £10 or more a day!
18. Advertising space
If you want to grow your online presence and your bank account at once, then a website you already own and run is a great way to do that. If you own something noticeable online, be it a website or even a high-engagement social media account, you might have some digital real estate that brands want.
Whether you go through an agency, a network, or simply use sponsored promotion on your website, there is some real money to be made there. Starting a website or blog just to make money is beyond the scope of this article, but advertising services are a very real way to get passive income in this day and age.
19. Storage
An empty garage, or one with a lot of space, is another case of money from thin air. People need a lot of storage, whether temporary or long-term, and that's something you can provide them with. Once you get set up, it's very little effort to just have somebody's possessions sitting in your property while they pay for the pleasure.
Like with your parking space, there are websites online that will help you get set up and put you in touch with customers. The earning potential is somewhat limited, usually in the double digits per month, but it's still a great way to literally make extra cash from empty space.
The best items to sell to make money
Every single thing listed in this article is something great to sell if you want a bit of extra cash. With that said, they're not all made equal. There's significantly more money in some, while others come with utmost convenience.
For money: selling clothes, collectables, or tech
There is substantially more money in some of the items in this article than in others, but they rely on you having the right stuff. If you have a full and well-maintained wardrobe, an enthusiastic hobby collection, or good old phones or consoles, people will pay substantially more for these than other things.
A good phone, even a second-hand one that's a generation or two behind, can fetch more than £100 online. A clear-out of clothes and jewellery you don't wear, especially if they're vintage or designer, can fetch high double digits per item if they're in good condition and you put in the effort to find the right buyers.
A collection of nerd memorabilia or rare collectables can go for even more, depending on the particular hobby and the market at the time.
The downside is that you usually need to shift these items one by one. In addition, these items are usually dearer to the seller's heart and more expensive to replace. Make sure you're genuinely okay parting with them before you sell.
For convenience: storage space, parking space, and bulk selling
You don't need to spend hours poring over online marketplaces to make a few extra quid. If you're not too fussed about maximising individual profit every time, you can still have money trickle in without having to devote much of your spare time.
If you go through a website like StashBee or YourParkingSpace, it's low hassle to rent out your car parking space or garage to people who need it short-term. It's not zero effort, but the website handles a lot of the logistics.
Alternatively, bulk-selling books, games, DVDs, or even loo rolls doesn't require much extra effort compared to just throwing them away. It won't be a huge money-spinner, but it's a chance to make some money instead of none, all for boxing up some things you're not using.
If you want to top up your cash from bulk selling, consider using musicMagpie through TopCashback. It adds no extra inconvenience while making it slightly more lucrative to dispose of your bulk items this way.
The best apps and websites for selling
Look out for our TopCashback hummingbird which we've added next to brands eligible for cashback. This means you can earn a percentage of your purchase through a referral link. It's completely free to join and earn.
It's not enough to have something that you can sell online. To maximise how much you can make with the least effort, you need to pick the best marketplace possible. The most popular websites for these types of shopping have gotten there for a reason, and they're ripe for you to benefit from.
As such, if you find yourself with a lot of things you want to sell online, check out some of the following selling sites for profit, convenience, and customer base.
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eBay
Best for: clothes, collectables, books, tech, broken tech, leftovers for craft supplies
Almost everybody alive has heard of eBay. It's the internet's best-known second-hand shop, where people can sell almost anything to almost anyone. Many shoppers know to look for deals on tech, clothes, and almost any other second-hand good possible.
For UK sellers, eBay is both easy and almost completely free. People on personal accounts can avoid selling fees, listing fees, and transaction fees on sales to other UK shoppers, as long as they sell fewer than 300 items a month.
Individual items on eBay will also usually fetch a better price than websites that buy them in bulk. If you have rare or valuable books, DVDs, and video games, you'll usually make more money selling them individually on eBay, albeit for more of your time and effort.
Vinted
Best for: Clothes, jewellery, accessories, furniture, books, small electronics
Vinted is best-known as a place to get second-hand clothes, especially in vintage or designer styles, but it's much more than that.
It has tens of thousands of potential buyers for all sorts of pre-loved items, including furniture, tech, and jewellery.
Vinted offer support services to sellers and some limited seller protection, but you do need to handle large parts of the transaction yourself, including negotiating a sale price.
If you want to become a veteran seller on Vinted, make sure to read our guide on the site.
Facebook Marketplace
Best for: Locally selling furniture, musical instruments, sports equipment, toys, upcycling, electronics
Facebook Marketplace specialises in selling in your local area. You may well meet buyers in person when you sell through Facebook Marketplace, and you can often arrange for them to pick up your pre-loved items.
This makes it especially suitable for large, bulky, or more expensive items that might be inconvenient to post. If you want to shift furniture, musical instruments, or tech of all flavours, it's worth seeing what price you can get locally before you turn to the internet.
Etsy
Best for: Your own products, handmade crafts, vintage items
Etsy is unlike many other selling sites. Other than vintage items such as clothes and jewellery (defined as being more than 20 years old), you don't usually use it to list items you already own. Instead, it's more of a site for craftspeople to sell their wares.
You can either make art in bulk and sell it through Etsy, or sell print-on-demand products as and when you get orders.
Alternatively, if you find yourself with lots of vintage items to shift, it might be at least as convenient as any other second-hand site.
World of Books
Best for: Bulk books, DVDs, Blu-rays, and video games
World of Books are one of several sites that will pay for books, DVDs, Blu-rays, and video games, usually sold in bulk and with low prices for each one.
Fill a box with your second-hand entertainment, either ship it to them or have it collected, and wait for your money.
They're not a place to curate what you sell and hope to make big money on individual items. However, they can effectively pay you for having a clear-out.
If you're shifting lots of books, DVDs or other discs, and they're in good condition, send them over and see how much you can make.
World of Books are also on TopCashback, meaning you can bulk up the payment they offer at no additional cost.
musicMagpie
Best for: Electronics, DVDs, Blu-rays, video games, books, and broken tech
musicMagpie are another site that make their business buying your unused possessions, either individually or in bulk. You can either send them single high-value pieces, such as tablets, games consoles, or laptops, or fill a box with books and DVDs.
musicMagpie will also pay decent money for broken tech, as long as it fulfils criteria like having all of its components. In short, they're a reliable port of call for almost any gadgets or old entertainment you want to sell, blending convenience with decent rewards.
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Collect cash, not dust
As this article shows, you can make a bit of extra money shifting a surprising number of things you're not using, including things you might have never considered. It's unlikely to make you rich, but having some money and less unused stuff beats having less money and a lot of unused stuff.
You may need to make trade-offs between profit and convenience depending on how much time you have and how quickly you want your money. Nonetheless, the way to make the most is always to tailor what you're selling to the best possible website for it, with the right buyers for your product category.
If you want to put in real effort to maximise the money you make, you'll likely need to sell across multiple websites depending on what you're shifting at any given time. Nonetheless, any effort at all is enough to make you a bit of extra money.
What are some unusual items you’ve sold online? What have you made the most money selling? Let us know in the comments and help other second-hand traders.