10 Totally Random Things for Sale Online That You Might Have in Your Closet
After state-hopping for six years, I recently moved back into my childhood home.
My closet was brimming with memories while my unpacked suitcases bulged with clothes.
Sure, those trinkets and memories are dandy and all, but I don’t need a velvet-covered edition of “The Secret Garden” (sorry, Nana). Nor do I need the “12 Days of Christmas: Dickens Village Collection” — quite literally a village of boxes occupying my top shelf.
I ventured online and explored the various websites I could use to purge these (now) useless items — and pocket some extra money.
Along my search, I found some real treasures. Let’s just say people get really creative with the items they sell online.
10 Weird Items You Can Actually Sell Online
If you thought your old jewelry box with bunnies printed on it couldn’t sell (yikes, that’s mine), think again.
Chances are, someone online is going to bite and *poof* — cash in your pocket.
In order to get you motivated, let me grace you with some inspiration.
1. Disney Keychains: $10
I found these gems on Poshmark, a platform that lets women trade closets all across America. OK, not literal closets, but you can sell nearly any item of clothing hanging in yours.
My bulging suitcase was full of cold-weather items I’d probably never need in Florida — perfect for purging on Poshmark.
In the accessories category? Among the scarves and headbands, one user was selling Disney keychains — authentically bought from Disney World and “needs a new home.”
So who knows: Maybe that “vintage” bejeweled Mickey Mouse necklace I bought at The Disney Store when I was 6 could actually be worth something.
2. Vintage ’60s Romper Bodysuit: $89
This is another Poshmark find and proof that even your ugly — errr, unique — clothing items hanging in the back of your closet have a place on an online marketplace.
I don’t really think this sucker fits our modern definition of romper — it’s a bit more, well, cheeky. However, this seller is marketing it as a great Halloween get-up or even for rollerblading in Miami. (You can sell a pair of rollerblades on here, too, by the way.)
“…you’re sure to have a million people asking where they can get one of these! And the answer? They can’t!… This isn’t some stiff 60’s polyester that smells like moth balls. This is pure silky polyester heaven that smells like like my detergent.”
I suppose you can sell anything if you’re enthusiastic enough.
3. Psychology Textbook
I actually used this textbook in my AP high school class and clung to it after graduation thinking I’d study psychology. After changing my major three times, I ended up donating it to Goodwill.
Who knows what happened to it, but I could have gotten the best deal by using Bookscouter. This site searches dozens of other sites for the best deals on textbooks.
Basically, all I would’ve had to do was type in the ISBN number and compare other offers from a bunch of buyback vendors to see which one would give me the most money. The site’s pretty nifty and super easy, so you might as well start dusting off those old books.
4. Random Horse Mask: $10
Remember this internet sensation from a few years back? Well, it looks like people are cleaning out their closets and finding remnants of it — in the form of a creepy horse mask.
Yup, you could sell a forgotten trend on letgo, a Craigslist-esque site that allows you to buy and sell by location.
Outside of the forgotten (and questionable) trends you might dig up, people sell tons of stuff on letgo — including cars, furniture and clothes.
Reminder: Dig up and sell your inflatable T-rex costume in a few years.
5. Women’s Monster Energy Tank: $10
All right, Chris W. — I know you’re trying to sell this item on Letgo, but I’m going to guess this might be a freebie you snagged somewhere.
Everyone has some freebies stuffed into drawers, closets and boxes, right? My answer: Try to make a few bucks off them.
If not, you can always donate them. But you never know when the biggest Monster Energy fan ever is going to pop up.
6. Ty Beanie Babies Valentino Bear: $4,000
I’m missing out. I know for a fact I have a huge tub of Ty Beanie Babies in my attic. I also know I cried for this one at some point in my life.
But $4,000? Maybe I predicted the future.
Beanie Babies were hot commodities, and there’s really no reason for me to keep holding onto them — for me at least.
I plan to dig through the Rubbermaid tub of mine and see if I can spot any worth a little something. Even if the tags don’t have typos (apparently worth a lot), people are getting $8 for them on Etsy.
Search Ty Beanie Babies, and you’ll get 250 pages of results. Seems like a stuffed marketplace.
7. Antique Wood Cat Mask With Whiskers: $39 or Best Offer
Don’t get me wrong, I love art — and I love cats even more. But this item freaks meowt a little bit. (Get it?)
My point is this: Decor gets boring. My mom rearranges our house about once a month. Sometimes she donates once-intriguing pieces of art (Home Goods is her jam) to Goodwill.
Other times, these get pushed into the closet, pending a resurgence. Usually, that doesn’t happen. And plenty of people are willing to look at your lost furnishings as art, so why not sell it?
I found this one on classic e-commerce site eBay, but you can sell these types of items on a variety of sites including Etsy, letgo and eBid.
8. Vintage Clarinet: $125
Speaking of eBid, this site has everything.
It’s the “world’s online marketplace” (in 23 countries). It’s free to list items for sale — so people take advantage of it…
…including the user “Pickerman,” who has a vintage clarinet listed for $125. If you were a kid in band or the parent of a kid who was in band, chances are you’ve got an unused instrument around the house. Unless you were super disciplined, unlike me.
Instruments are expensive, and I know my old smelly clarinet sat around the garage for at least five years until we donated it to my old elementary school. However, you can make money from these things and give your baby a nice, loving home.
9. Halloween Decor Candy Bowl: $48.71
Because we all have regretful holiday decorations stacked away somewhere.
In my house, we have a decoration closet, which stresses me out a little. Each holiday, my mom is digging through it, finding the plastic Halloween pumpkins or ceramic Christmas tree decorations.
However, sometimes things get out of date. Or maybe you’re moving and not willing to pack up all those festive trinkets. You can sell these items online.
I found this one on Bonanza, a site I’d actually never heard of until I started research for this article. Its slogan? “Shop for everything but the ordinary.” It claims to host more than 25,000 sellers and features everything (seriously).
Can’t find a place to sell that really odd thing? Try this site.
10. U2 CDs
Yup, I have a stock of these in my closet, too.
It’s on the shelf designated for all those sentimental things from high school I can’t bare to part with. Yikes.
Before you judge, my ex and I went to a concert, and he wanted me to actually know some of the music beforehand. So now I have these CDs.
Decluttr is an awesome site to sell CDs, DVDs, Blu-rays, video games, gaming consoles and books. Basically, you type in or scan the ISBN code and boom — it gives you an estimate.
You can also sell any dusty iPods or phones on there, too. Because for some reason, we can never just let those go.
Your Turn: What’s in your closet that you can sell online?
Carson Kohler (@CarsonKohler) is a junior writer at The Penny Hoarder. After recently completing graduate school, she focuses on saving money — and surviving the move back in with her parents.
