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Taking more control over your income has always been a good idea, but never more so than recently. My first thoughts about making money from home were, “what can I sell to make money from home”.
Sure, there are things to sell to make quick cash, but there are also more sustainable ways to actually make a living from home.
Let’s go over three real ways to make money from home:
- Easy things to sell locally to make money.
- The best things to sell online to make money.
- Various services to offer to make money.
You’re bound to find at least a few side gigs here that’ll help you to eliminate debt, start saving, or even say goodbye to cubicle life!
Table of Contents
Easy things to sell from home locally to make money
The quickest way to make extra money from home is to sell things you already have. It’s a double win in that you can declutter your space and pay off debt or afford something you’ve got your eye on.
Isn’t it crazy that the average American home has over 300,000 items stuffed in every nook and cranny? It may all be out of sight, but we still mentally manage every bit of it. Why not make some money while the stuff you no longer use still holds some value.
Here are some easy ways to sell things locally to make money from home:
Sports Equipment is in high demand
Sports equipment in good condition holds it’s value well. I recently sold a five-year old treadmill for over $400. It only lost about 20% of it’s value in five years.
Many people beginning a new health program or sport don’t want to invest in expensive equipment. Parents of children involved with sports are always looking for second hand equipment in decent condition.
When I needed to outfit my son for roller hockey, we could have easily spent over $500 if we hadn’t found some good second-hand pieces. Even small equipment like baseball bats can easily cost over $150 in stores. Things like golf clubs, skis, snowboards, kayaks and treadmills are all in high demand.
Listing your equipment on platforms like Facebook Marketplace, LetGo or Craigslist are all great ways to make some extra cash.
Sell your unused clothes to generate extra money fast
Chances are, you’ve got several hundred dollars worth of unused clothing right in your closet.
You can scan your closet and probably find several pieces, but I’ve found that emptying the entire thing every couple years is a great exercise. Seeing a three-foot high pile of clothing on your bed is pretty eye-opening.
It’s easy to keep accumulating things to a point where it’s hard to actually see what we own.
Decluttering your closet is a great idea for three reasons:
- You’ll put money in your pocket
- Keeping only the stuff you wear regularly can help you to focus on moving forward
- Seeing all your unused clothing in one pile may prompt you to reconsider your buying habits
Here are 15 great places to sell your clothes online.
Handbags and shoes are a great thing to sell for cash
I know someone (not naming any names) who encountered a big sale on handbags, and bought nine in one shot. Just like clothing, second-hand shoes and handbags in good condition are in high-demand and can generate quick cash.
It may be hard to justify the high price of a new pair of boots or a hand bag if it’s not used every day. But second-hand items in good condition are big sellers.
Here are the best online platforms to sell handbags and shoes.
Baby Items in good condition always sell well
The first few years of a baby’s life are magical, but they’re also a big financial strain. Things like strollers, pack and plays, bouncy seats, and indoor swings are all in-demand by new parents.
And furniture like cribs, changing tables, dressers and rocking chairs also sell quickly.
A free ad in Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist will put some extra money in your pocket while you help out some new parents.
Children's toys are also a big seller
Bigger kids tend to outgrow toys quickly too, so things like scooters, Lego sets, Barbies, Matchbox cars, Tonka trucks, Thomas the Tank Train and all the accessories can bring quick cash from local buyers.
Gaming sets and accessories like gaming chairs also sell well. And outdoor structures like plastic playhouses are easy things to sell for extra income.
- Some of the most valuable kids toys are
- Older Barbie dolls
- Some Pokemon Cards
- Starwars Action figures
- Vintage video games like Atari.
- Some Disney movies
If you’re not sure what a certain toy is worth, check a site like Ebay to see what similar items are selling for.
Unused gift cards can be redeemed for cash
Do you have unused gift cards for stores you don’t shop at?
Why not redeem them for cash? Sites like Card Cash will pay for your unused gift cards. You won’t get the entire face value, but turning them into extra cash is better than letting them expire in your drawer.
Card Cash will also exchange gift cards. So if you have a card for a store you don’t shop in, why not exchange it for a gift card you can use?
Used books in good condition can bring in extra income
It’s great to revisit an old book sometimes, but chances are, there are lots of books you’ll never touch again. Whether they’re children’s books, how to’s, or text books, there’s a market for all of them.
Check a site like Bookscouter. Just enter in the book’s ISDN number and they’ll make you an offer. You won’t be paid the original cost, but decluttering your space and putting some cash in your pocket is never a bad deal.
Bookscouter makes it easy. Just use their app to scan the books you want to sell. They’ll give you a price, then send you a postage paid label. Pack your books together in one box and send them off for free!
Get paid over and over for your photos
What’s on your camera roll? I’ve got everything from taco’s, to sunsets to vintage cars.
Content creators are always looking for generic photos of things like food, nature, desks, city scenes and dozens of others.
They buy photos from sites like Shutterstock or 123RF and those sites buy their photos from people like you and me.
What if that pizza photo from last week could generate extra income for the next five years?
Someone may pay a lot for your collection of...
Have you accumulated a collection of anything? Stamps, coins, records, watches, jewelry… I have a box of fancy beer mugs in my garage that I haven’t touched in around a decade.
It’s fun to collect something over time, but after a long while, what do you do with it?
Like the old saying, you never see a U-Haul behind a hearse. If you’ve spent years researching and collecting something, there’s probably other people who share your passion about it.
At some point, it could be a good idea to help someone else out while giving your finances a shot in the arm.
Second hand furniture in decent condition is in high demand
If you’ve been in a furniture store recently you’ll know that furnishing a room can easily set you back several thousand dollars. And financing furniture is one of the traps that put many of us on the slippery slope of debt. (yes, guilty here! )
That’s why used furniture in decent condition can be a quick source of extra money.
Things like coffee or end tables, dining sets, chairs, cribs, dressers are your best bet to sell locally on Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist.
Flea Market flipping can turn into a full-time income
There’s a limit to how much of your own possessions you can sell from home. But if you expand your sights a bit, you may be able to generate a full-time income selling second-hand items sourced from other places.
Flea market flipping is a great way to make extra income in your local area. Yard sales, thrift stores, Facebook Marketplace, LetGo, Declutter and Craigslist are all sources of inexpensive (sometimes free) items you could resell at a profit.
Yes, you’ll need to familiarize yourself with the value of certain items so you’ll know what to focus on. One couple, Rob and Melissa have already perfected that process and they offer a free flea market flipping workshop. It’ll show you exactly what to look for at flea markets to resell, and how much you should expect to get paid.
Easy Things to Sell from Home Through Online Marketplaces
Why limit your customer base to the people in your local area?
Online marketplaces like Etsy, Ebay or even Pinterest enable you to sell products from the comfort of home to an audience of millions of people.
Here are some of the best things to sell online from home:
Sell T-Shirts without investing a dime
What if you could sell something without ever having to purchase inventory and never worry about shipping it?
Companies like T-Spring or Printful will take any color t-shirt, imprint it with your own graphic and ship it to customers for you.
All you need to do is market your shirts through places like Etsy, Pinterest, Ebay or any other online marketplace.
When a customer clicks to buy one, it’ll be printed and mailed for you. The t-shirt company will keep a perentage of the sale price, then send the rest to you. How easy is that?
It’ll cost nothing to experiment with various niches like current events, nature, pets, funny slogans or dozens of others and see what resonates.
Handmade items are always in high-demand
If you’ve ever dreamed of making and selling things from home, Etsy is a great place to start. It’s a huge online marketplace specializing in unique, often handmade items.
Handmade items can be anything from earrings, to printable cards or charts, to handmade soaps and other personal care products… there are dozens of things that sell really well on Etsy.
3 reasons why Etsy is a great place to start your first online store:
- It’s about the cheapest online platform to list your new products at only .20 cents per item.
- You can create your own store in a matter of minutes.
- It’s got a built-in audience of millions of people looking for unique items.
I know someone who began making candles in her spare time. They made great gifts, so she eventually began selling them to local gift shops. Now she has a very profitable Etsy store, and she still does everything from home.
What could you do with an Etsy store? Sell crafts, earrings, necklaces, Christmas ornaments, essential oils, duct tape wallets, beauty products, PVC furniture, greeting cards…
Here are 20 of the Most popular items selling on Etsy now.
Digital products are a great way to make extra cash over and over
The great thing about selling digital products is, that you create an item once, then sell it dozens or even hundreds of times over and over.
Think of all the creative ways you can sell digital products… kids chore charts, savings goals, budgets, home record keeping, invitations, coloring designs… the list is endless.
Etsy and Pinterest are both great platforms to sell digital products, or you can create your own website in about 20 minutes
Once the word gets out that you’ve got some useful and attractive printables, don’t be surprised if other websites start linking to your store or website!
Share your knowledge on your own YouTube channel
It’s easy to overlook the skills you’ve developed over time. But whatever yours is, there’s probably an audience who’d love to learn about it. Even if it’s not exactly a skill, but maybe you have a hobby or an interest in something.
I know of one popular channel started by a Mom who tests out various kids toys. And another channel hosted by a Dad who grew up without a Dad, and films short videos on simple things like how to tie a necktie, or how to jumpstart a car.
What can you share with other people? Car repair, hiking, gardening, video gaming, baking, DIY, website design… anything.
Whatever you’re interested in, if you have the spare time to share it you can earn extra income – maybe eventually full-time – by posting your own YouTube videos.
Here’s a short video on how to create your own YouTube channel in a matter of minutes.
Selling Your Services to Make Money from Home
Selling items from your home is a great way to earn extra money – but selling services is a great alternative because you’ll never need to find things to sell. And if the demand increases beyond what you can deliver, you can always hire help.
Here are several in-demand services you can offer from home on your own schedule:
Make money on your terms as a Virtual Assistant
If you’ve ever worked in a traditional office job, then you’ve got the skills to earn extra income as a virtual assistant.
There’s a high demand for remote workers skilled in anything from email processing, typing, editing, website management, scheduling, social media management… really any job done electronically in the office.
Even if you try it in your spare time, you can gradually transition to a full-time income.
Imagine doing the same tasks you’d do in an office, but without the time and expense of commuting, and without a boss looking over your shoulder.
One of the best virtual assistant courses to help you get started is on Udemy. It’s called Work From Home as a Virtual Assistant. The course helps you to setup your business, and develop processes to run your business efficiently.
The course includes:
- 1 Hour of audio
- 3 Hours of video
- 18 downloadable tutorial documents
- Lifetime access
Udemy’s course is $49 and if you’re on a budget, it’s worth checking out since many of the other popular VA courses sell for 10x this price.
Babysitting can pay you a full-time income
Lots of parents are looking for reliable babysitters, and there isn’t always a reliable 13-year old neighbor down the street. There’s enough of a market that Care.com was launched to connect reliable, vetted babysitters with customers in any neighborhood.
They’ll do a background check, but once approved, you’ll be able to accept or reject any job you’re offered.
By the way, Care also hires people to sit with pets, elders, and even to do tutoring.
Freelance writing can easily grow from a side gig to full-time income
You don’t need a degree in English or journalism to make money freelance writing. Thousands of businesses, insurance companies, website owners, universities and other places are all potential customers looking for people to write content.
The demand for freelance writers has increased because many companies would rather hire freelancers than pay a permanent employee.
You can begin gradually by supplying articles to websites while building your portfolio and the rates you charge.
The best way to learn a skill is through someone who’s already successful at it. Holly Johnson has done exactly that. She began writing as a side hustle alongside her 9 to 5 job. Then she gradually transitioned to a full-time freelance writer and now makes well over $200,000 a year.
Her course, Earn More Writing, is one of the better courses I’ve taken. It’s a self-paced combination of text and audio, and she lays out every step she took in plain language as if you were sitting across the kitchen table from her.
Her course is definitely not one of those bare bones courses that leaves you with lots of questions. She interacts with students in her Facebook group every day.
I felt ready to start pitching samples before I even finished the course
Earn $50 an hour for general house cleaning
My wife and her friend started a house cleaning business in order to work their own schedule while we had small children.
They started it on shoestring, just by assembling some cleaning supplies, posting their service in a couple of local Facebook groups, and left a stack of business cards at a local real estate office.
Within a week they were averaging $50 an hour to work whenever they wanted. This can be especially profitable if you live in an area with lots of seasonal rentals, where one person leaves and another is expected on the same day.
Data Entry from home is more profitable than the office
If you commute to an office, data entry isn’t one of the more profitable jobs. But if you need to be home, data entry can be a great way to earn extra money.
Most remote data entry gigs let you work whenever you want as long as you turn in projects by an agreed upon date.
When you eliminate the cost of gas, tolls, lunches, clothing, and childcare, then add in the flexibility and the idea of working in the comfort of your home, data entry becomes a great side hustle to generate extra income.
Here’s how you can get paid to do data entry from home.
Sell your own transcription services for over 50k a year
There’s a huge demand for transcription services from places like universities, municipal offices, businesses of all kinds, video creators, website owners and others.
Transcription just involves listening to an audio recording and typing out the content. You’d use a device that enables you to pause the recording whenever you want.
Learning transcription can ensure you’ll never need to settle for run-of-the-mill customer service jobs.
Yes, you’d want to do some training so you can hit the ground running, but transcription pays a lot better than simple data entry.
Here are four steps you can take to become a transcriptionist.
Sewing or alterations are a great way to earn extra cash
I noticed this opportunity when we brought my daughter’s dress into a shop for an alteration. One woman had her own side gig in the shop.
She was doing so much business, her backlog was about a week, and she accepted cash only.
If you’re handy with a sewing machine, this is a great way to generate extra money for a service that’s usually in high demand.
You can start by spreading the word around family and friends. And when you’re ready, offer your services to your local dress shop, cleaners or even through Facebook Marketplace.
Get paid by local businesses to manage Facebook Ads
There’s probably dozens of businesses in your area that would benefit from Facebook ads targeted to the right demographic in their local area.
There’s a huge market for managing Facebook ads because most businesses achieve success by focusing on what they’re good at. They pay people to do the things they don’t have time to learn.
It’s not hard to learn how to create and manage Facebook ads. And since there’s a high demand for that expertise, you should be able to earn an extra $1000 a month pretty quickly.
Here’s a free Facebook ads course on HubSpot you can check out.
Create multiple streams of income with your own website
Ever consider launching your own website? It’s not as hard or intimidating as you might think. I knew nothing about launching a website when I started this one. A few YouTube videos, and about 20 minutes later I had the first version of this one up and running.You don’t need to be an expert. You just need to start.
Here are two options to generate extra income with your own website:
Create a blog which is just a website where you share helpful information about a particular topic. Anything from being a new Mom, to recipes, travel experiences, budgeting, home organization…
Blogs are great online platforms because once you start sharing useful blog posts consistently, you’ll begin to develop an audience. Now you’ll have several income opportunities:
- You can partner with an ad agency who’ll place ads strategically on your site and pay you monthly.
- You can create your own niche related digital products to sell on your site.
- You can recommend products related to your niche and earn a commission when someone makes a purchase. It’s called affiliate marketing.
- You can offer free printables available for download in exchange for a reader’s email address. An email list is one of the most valuable assets you can build for your blog.
These are just a few of the ways you earn extra income with a blog.
My tutorial on starting your own blog shows how simple it is to get started.
Create a niche site. Another way to make money with your own website is to launch your own niche site.
You’d create a niche site the same way you’d create a blog. The difference between these two types of websites is the type of content you’ll post on it.
A niche site is narrowly focused on one particular topic – for instance, growing succulents or coffee drinking.
You’d focus on two types of content for your niche site:
- Informative posts where you’ll provide useful tips about your topic.
- Product related posts – These posts compare or review products related to your niche. If someone clicks on one of your product links, you’ll earn a commission on the sale.
For instance, if your site fouses on growing succulents, you might write an informative post on how to care for a particular cactus. Then you might write a product related post on the 10 best cactus soils, with links to purchase each one.
Niche sites can be extremely profitable. The best tutorial I’ve seen is Mike Futia’s course, Niche Site Academy.
I’ve taken Mike’s course and it’s laid out in a very clear, easy to follow method. He walks you through everything from getting your site up and running, to how to create your content, and then how to grow your site.
Niche Site Acadamy isn’t open all the time, but you can get on the waitlist and Mike will give you a heads up before it opens.
Make money renting your car out while you're not using it
You can sell your own services, but what about putting your car to work and getting paid for it?
Cars are a big monthly expense, especially if you’re still paying it off. Not to mention gas, tolls, insurance and maintenance. But what if you could eliminate your monthly car expenses?
The idea for Turo came about because cars are such an expensive asset, yet the average car sits unused an average of 95% of the time!
You can rent your car through Turo when you’re not using it, and you can actually set things up so you have almost no contact with renters.
Check out my post on how to rent your car through Turo. It details exactly how to get started and how much you’ll make depending on your make and model.
3 ways selling things from home can improve your life:
1. Pay off Debt
Reducing or eliminating your debt helps in several ways:
- You’ll create breathing room in your monthly budget.
- You’ll see an increase in your credit rating as your debt to income ratio gets better.
- Attacking debt with a systematic approach means you’ll pay a lot less money in interest.
2. Build an Emergency Fund
With extra breathing room in your budget, why not setup an automated emergency fund that’ll help you to avoid debt.
Having the cash for emergencies can end your reliance on credit cards and finally make your budget predictable. That alone is a huge stress reducer.
Here’s how we set our automated emergency fund so it’s simple and painless.
3. Invest in Yourself
Are you satisfied with wherever you are in your career? Is there something else you’d rather do, or is there training that’ll help you to advance in your current position?
Having extra cash in your pocket creates a perfect opportunity to enhance your skills without going into debt. And increasing your income now boosts the trajectory of your finances for decades.
Selling things from home can help you to take control of your life
Living frugally may be a good habit, but you can only cut back so much. Increasing your income enables you to shift gears and increase the quality of your life and your future.
Most part-time jobs pay close to minimum wage. And when you consider the cost of commuting, other work expenses, and time away from home, you’re better off focusing on real ways to make money from home.
The best part of making money from home in my experience, has been developing the confidence that you no longer need to depend on someone else for an income.
There are over thirty different ways here, that’ll help you to start taking more control of you income. Hopefully a few of them can work for you!
MORE WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR HOME AND YOUR BUDGET
