Out with the old, in with the new! Moving can be a headache when you’ve got junk drawers filled to the brim. Transitioning to a new home should be celebrated, not dreaded. Fortunately, technology has allowed selling apps to become far more popular. Selling apps help people downsize and clean their apartments while earning some pocket change.
Whether you're selling clothing or home items, there are numerous selling apps for your needs. From location-specific selling to particular products, our guide can help you be strategic about using these selling apps. Stress less and sell more.
From a sustainability perspective, thrift shopping keeps used clothes out of landfills. This has many people avoiding shopping malls and digging through vintage racks for their next look. Capitalizing on this market is easy with selling apps such as thredUP.
As an online thrift store, thredUP specializes in clothing for women and kids. Users can order a free kit online and send clothing in good condition for review. thredUP will send you cash or credit for the pieces they keep. Cleaning out your closet just got a whole lot easier!
Any clothing items that thredUP doesn’t accept will be recycled. This means that regardless, your unused clothes will be out of the way.
Download thredUP:
An alternative to thredUp, Vinted is a secondhand clothing marketplace for selling or trading used clothing. After you create a profile, you’ll have access to thousands of clothing items. As a user, you’re able to set prices or make items “swappable.” If you don’t need to downsize, swapping a basic dress you never wear for a trendy print can be accomplished through Vinted. In addition to women’s apparel, the app includes clothing for men and kids.
There are many ways you can build up your profile on Vinted. One way is by gaining followers and likes on your images. While this may seem time-consuming, it could lead to more sales in the future.
Download Vinted:
Worried a brick-and-mortar thrift shop won’t honor the quality of your designer items? Try selling your clothes to a designer-focused social commerce marketplace like Poshmark. This app is a hub for fashion lovers with more than 5,000 brands for sale, including Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Michael Kors. With features like protected payments and expedited shipping, Poshmark is a popular selling app in the United States and Canada.
When trying to get the best return for your items, be mindful of your pricing strategy. For sales above $15, Poshmark charges a 20 percent fee so it could be beneficial to use a low price point for certain items.
Download Poshmark:
Driven by the mission “to fix fashion,” Tradesy aims to reduce fashion waste by offering a platform for luxury wardrobe items. Top designers such as Kate Spade, Gucci, Rolex and Prada fill Tradesy’s inventory with superior products. Tradesy also features a wedding category. Instead of having your wedding dress sit in your closet forever, consider selling it for some extra cash.
Like many selling apps, Tradesy charges a sales commission, transfer and shipping fees. This could leave a dent in your potential earnings if you aren’t selling luxury items.
Download Tradesy:
Transitioning from an apartment to your first house often requires selling used furniture. Trove Market makes selling used furniture quick and easy with its mobile app. Narrow down your search by selecting a big city near you like Chicago or Los Angeles. Then, search through living spaces such as bedrooms and kitchens. From vintage to rustic treasures, Trove Market has a unique selection of name-brand products for affordable prices.
Selling large furniture can be tough to move. To make the process easier, have rope or bungee cords and a dolly available (or remind the buyer to bring these items) so that you can properly tie down to furniture to transport it.
Download Trove Market:
If you classify your style as chic or artistic, your items could be sold through Chairish. This app prides itself on being a source of home decor and design items with an emphasis on “high style standards.” Chairish sets itself apart from its competitors by using augmented reality technology, allowing users to see items in their space before purchasing. This means that users can see exactly how the vintage headboard or mid-century modern TV stand you’re trying to sell will look in their space.
Once the person decides to buy your item, it’s handled and insured by Chairish delivery shipping partners. You won’t be liable for damage that occurs after the furniture leaves your home.
Download Chairish:
Brothers Austin and Adam founded bookoo because simply affording clothes for their combined 13 children was challenging. As a result, the two brothers shopped yard sales and bought used clothing for their kids. bookoo provides an easy to use and family-friendly app for neighbors to sell unwanted clothing, furniture or even cars. This selling app is available in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan and more.
Download bookoo:
In a nutshell, VarageSale takes garage and yard sales online. Similarly to bookoo, VarageSale allows users to sell essentially anything you’d find in a garage and reaches many countries across the globe. A differentiating factor for VarageSale is its commitment to security. Through a detailed verification process, VarageSale encourages users to confirm their identities with Facebook and admins review approval requests. If safety is your top priority, VarageSale is a great option.
Use the “bumping” feature to bring your items to the top of the feed on VarageSale. You are allowed to “bump” 10 items every two hours, so do this periodically with different items throughout the day.
Download VarageSale:
Calling all creatives! Depop is a team of creatives like writers, producers, photographers and artists. Inspired by a shared sense of community and entrepreneurship, Depop allows users to buy and sell unique fashion, which contributes to the greater creative community. Art is at the core of Depop’s mission. If you describe yourself as a “free thinker,” this international brand is the perfect selling app for your quirky, disruptive fashion.
When selling clothes, recruit a friend or family member to model them. Often times clothes look better on a person than they do laying flat on a surface. When taking photos, don’t include faces so that their identity is protected.
Download Depop:
Etsy is a marketplace for creatives to not only sell custom clothing but also trinkets, food and beauty products. If you have a small business or side hustle, creating an Etsy account connects you to a community with big imaginations. In addition, Etsy prides itself on being the first online shopping platform that offsets “100% of carbon emissions from shipping.” Selling large quantities of inventory can be effortless on Etsy, making downsizing speedy and secure.
Are you selling your Etsy items in person? Etsy has recently partnered with the Square app. Integrate your Square account with your Etsy store so that you can accept payments in person.
Download Etsy:
Decluttr is a trustworthy service for selling used DVDs, games and mobile devices. Today, many people watch movies on streaming services, so getting rid of old DVDs can be easy. Decluttr also allows you to sell old tech devices such as smartphones and computers. Selling involves a free valuation, packing your items, shipping your box for free and receiving payment the day after delivery.
Download Decluttr:
Unless you live a tech-free life, odds are you’re familiar with Amazon. One of its features is the Amazon Seller Marketplace. This allows users to sell their products in over 20 categories. Amazon notes “more than 50% of [its] total unit sales come from third-party selection.” Purchasing a professional selling plan on Amazon provides benefits like customizable shipping rates and top placement on product pages.
When selling items, be aware of Amazon’s very strict photo policy. When photographing the items, use a white background and leave out any image borders, watermarks or text.
Download Amazon Seller Marketplace:
Sometimes the easiest way to get rid of random stuff is to sell locally with an app like OfferUp. Instead of specializing in distinct products, OfferUp’s inventory includes antiques, boats, jewelry, software and motorcycles. This makes OfferUp a one-stop-shop when moving and makes “sell unwanted stuff” a bullet on some people’s moving checklist.
OfferUp rewards users with badges to prove they are trusted. Users can receive badges for connecting a Facebook account or their excellent reply rates. These analytics help users decide the trustworthiness of a seller. They also have premium features like a “bump” which promotes your products to the top of browsing search results.
Download OfferUp:
5miles, as the name implies, connects users to buyers within five miles of their selling location. The founders developed the app because of their struggles navigating a similar website online and the expensive listing fees within similar apps. By incorporating a social “like” feature, 5miles allows their users to compile wishlists that they can return to when they’re ready to buy. This, combined with a text messaging feature, makes 5miles one of the simplest apps to sell locally, especially if you aren’t a tech whiz.
Have a unique product? Use the 5miles Dash feature to watch buyers outbid each other for your product. Sometimes this increases your listing price.
Download 5miles:
Instagram can be utilized as a selling tool, especially if your target audience includes friends and family members. Simply snap a picture of your items and post them to your story or feed. Include a price, condition and other important details. While this isn’t a traditional selling app, Instagram can help you sell clothes, electronics and other miscellaneous items within your personal network.
One unique trait of Instagram is that you can search the platform with hashtags. Consider including appropriate hashtags such as “#ForSale” to expand your reach on a public profile.
Download Instagram:
A more structured way of selling personal items on social media is Facebook Marketplace. Simply select “Marketplace” in the menu. Then, choose “Sell” and fill out the appropriate information.
A benefit of listing an item on Facebook is people use the app on a daily basis. This can lead to a speedy turnover rate, especially if your products are of high value. Plus, if you already have a Facebook account, you avoid registering and downloading a new app.
Download Facebook Marketplace:
eBay, one of the original selling platforms, still proves its value as a mobile app today. Because eBay has been around for years, it’s advantageous for brand awareness and its list of active buyers. In fact, eBay reports over 180 million active buyers and over a billion live listings.
Turning your unwanted items into cash can be immediate with an audience this large, especially for products in high demand. However, eBay puts strict selling limits on new sellers. Establish a positive selling history and then request higher selling limits on the platform.
Download eBay:
CPlus is the Craigslist app for iPhone, Android and Windows phones. Although it’s operated by a third party, CPlus is easy to navigate for regular Craigslist users. Some features that make this selling app attractive are saved searches and in-app posting. Saved searches allow you to save products on the Start screen, which avoids repeated searches and forgotten items.
In-app postings allow users to sell, buy and even rent products. From auto parts to baby products, the countless number of categories makes this app ideal for miscellaneous selling.
Download CPlus:
Carousell is a secondhand goods selling company based in Singapore, but available in countries around the world. Similarly to other miscellaneous apps for selling stuff, Carousel encourages users to sell products from all rooms of an apartment.
A unique feature of Carousell is the “discover group” page. Join different club and collector pages and connect with buyers actively looking for items like prints, Marvel toys or denim products.
Download Carousell:
letgo is one of the largest secondhand selling apps on the market. In addition to the app being free, letgo possesses a “Free Stuff” category. Yes, you read that right. Free stuff! Browse used nightstands, couches and chairs all for the price of $0. The “Free Stuff” category shouldn’t discourage you from placing a price tag on your items, though. Sometimes adding a price makes users perceive your product as being in “good” or “great” condition. It’s time to let go of stuff you don’t use.
Download letgo:
Your old is someone’s new. Don’t feed landfills with gently used clothing, kitchen tools and other apartment items. Download a selling app to make someone happy while earning some extra cash.
We know packing up an entire apartment can be stressful. Creating a packing plan early can minimize stress and allow you to focus on the excitement of decorating your new home.
Alex Heinz is a writer with experience in a variety of industries from tech to lifestyle. Her work has appeared in Business Insider, TechCo and PopSugar. She's lived in a handful of large cities including New York and San Diego, giving her first-hand knowledge of the ins and outs of renting. In her spare time, you can find her exploring new hikes with her dog.