You’ve spent years stocking up on school supplies, and now the remnants are scattered all over your house. Luckily, you can make some extra cash if you decide to sell them. The tricky part is timing the sale of these things just right to maximize your potential earnings. Back-to-school season is one such opportunity if you have the goods students and parents are looking for. These items are a good place to start.
1. Supply bundles
If you have a treasure trove of pen, pencils, notebooks, markers, rulers, and all those other small, but critical day-to-day school supplies, bundle them up and sell as a package deal.
Reselling apps like Letgo are perfect for this kind of thing, but you can also try the Facebook Marketplace, which helps connect local buyers and sellers. I use both services to get rid of large and small items, alike. Buyers will come to you, too, saving you delivery time and effort. You want to be safe, of course, so make sure you’re not alone if you’re inviting a stranger to your home, or set up a public location nearby to trade your items for cash.
2. Music and sports equipment
Musical instruments and sports equipment are expensive, which is why there are so many stores that resell these items at affordable prices. For sports gear, PlayItAgainSports is an online retailer that buys and sells used equipment. For musical instruments, Reverb is a site where you can list your items to sell for free, and only pay their 3.5 percent selling fee if the item sells. You can also try eBay, Letgo, and Facebook Marketplace where both these commodities sell well.
3. Fancy calculators
Texas Instruments graphing calculators, which started becoming popular for students when I was in high school back in the late 1990s, retail for between $85 and around $100 new, but they also have a solid resale value. TI-83s and -84s start at around $63 on Amazon and eBay, and the pricing ticks up a bit for more advanced models (like the TI-84 Plus), and if the calculator comes with a case or its original packaging. If you happen to have a “Teacher Pack,” which usually includes 10 calculators for student use, you can cash those in for around $50 to $60 per calculator or upward of $1,000 for the full set.
4. Devices and accessories
There’s a huge market for used computers and tablets — especially Apple products — and if you have one that you’d like to part with, now’s the time to do it. Device accessories are game, too. If you have extra device accessories lying around, which also can include tablet chargers, USB outlet covers, flash drives, memory sticks and more, sell ’em off to the highest bidders.
5. Clothing
There are several great resources for selling on-trend clothing and accessories online, like Tradesy, the largest peer-to-peer marketplace for luxury designer and contemporary women’s fashion. Tradesy makes it super easy to sell items from your closet for extra cash. Men have a bit more of a challenge in online clothing consignment, but I’ve personally had success on Swap.com. I send them a box of my used, unwanted clothing about once a month, and I’ve sold over a $200 worth since mid-February.
6. Backpacks
If you’re a parent with children’s characters on backpacks or a teen with a more practical, device-designed bag, try selling your in-shape, cleaned and sanitized backpacks on Facebook Marketplace or a reselling app like Offerup. There are families out there who may not be able to afford the brand-new backpack their child wants, and you could have just what they’re looking for. Photograph both the inside and outside when posting your listing, so the potential buyer knows exactly what they’re getting.
