Five top tips to turn your household junk into cash – you could be sitting on a gold mine
STORAGE Hunters star Jesse McClure has revealed five easy ways to earn fast cash from items gathering dust in every household.
Whether it is old DVDs, vintage clothes or defunct electronics, the Reality TV star claimed the average joe could be sitting on a goldmine.
McClure co-authored a book with Lee Boyce called Never Go Broke in 2021, which lays out the following steps to earn easy money.
Selling items in your home
Look at any items in your home that you no longer use and separate the items into money-maker potentials.
Create an inventory and using a smartphone you can get instant prices for old books, CDs and DVDs.
Download three scanning apps: Music Magpie, WeBuyBooks and Ziffit.
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Each app works similarly, you take a picture of the item with your phone camera and the app will relay a price.
You simply box up the items and send them to the address given by the app.
The company will pay postage and packaging, and payment should land in your bank account in short order.
With CDs and DVDs, it’s collectors’ items that fetch the most.
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With vinyl, look for hit artists or if it is an obscure pressing.
If it is in good condition it has the potential to fetch £80.
The website Discogs is a good place to get an idea of the value.
When it comes to clothes high street brands usually do well.
Use eBay or a specialist resale website such as Depop or use Facebook Marketplace, which is free of fees for items sold locally.
In the electronics realm there is a huge market for second-hand TVs.
Same goes for phones — they may gather dust in drawers but their parts still hold value.
There has also been a revival in retro gaming.
Old Nintendo and Sega games and consoles have grown hugely in value.
Some games have become rare and sought-after, especially if in good condition and with the box and manual.
For example, Pokemon Blue and Red Game Boy cartridges usually sell for up to £35.
But if in mint condition, they can fetch up to £1,000.
Old furniture is also a decent earner, with raw materials such as wood, which can collect a handsome fee.
Even the price of MDF has rocketed in the past few years.
Old coins can also be worth a pretty penny.
These include Peter Rabbit and Paddington 50p coins, the A-Z collection of 10p coins and the Commonwealth Games Northern Ireland £2 coin.
Cash for trash finds
Often people leave packing to move out of their home to the last minute so it is recommended to keep an eye out on what ends up on your neighbours' verges.
Things like furniture and bicycles can be cleaned up and resold.
Tutorials on YouTube will help you salvage old furniture finds into something marketable.
Jam jars, wine bottles and cork all sell on eBay for small amounts.
Empty ink cartridges can earn up to £1.50 via specialist websites.
Open a special bank account
Opening a second bank account dedicated to the sale of old items is recommended so profits can be monitored.
One trick to give you an instant head start is to switch an old current account you opened years ago but don’t use much to a new one offering a bonus.
Other simple wins that can be put into this secondary account are cash-makers such as renting out driveway spaces.
Play the post-it note game
Enter a room in your home and select six items and write down on the post-it note a rough price you would accept for each one.
Once finished, research each item online and write down the market value.
It is a perfect exercise in realising how much money you could make on items you no longer use.
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Cash in on your talents
McClure claimed if you have any hidden DIY talents, marketing them is an easy way to earn money.
List your skills on Fiverr and Upwork, or post on social media and then charge an hourly rate.
