A woman packing up an item for shipping. She's using her desk with a laptop and shipping supplies on it to represent selling stuff online.Photo byGround Picture via Shutterstock

Don’t toss that old junk - sell it!

The internet offers numerous options for making money off stuff you no longer need. But it offers far more - you can sell things you create, digital products, books, artwork, and more, all from the comfort of your home.

No matter what you wish to sell, there’s an online platform perfect for you.

Here are the 17 best places to sell stuff online, no matter what you sell.

The Best Site for Selling Stuff Online

No one site is best for selling things online. The best site depends on what you wish to sell.

You wouldn’t want to sell print-on-demand t-shirts on eBay, and you wouldn’t want to sell your old baby stuff on Etsy.

There’s a bit of art in selling stuff online, and a large portion is knowing which website to use.

Discover the best platforms for your specific needs:

• Free Platforms
• Best “Catch All” Sites for Selling
• Best Places to Sell Niche Products
• Where to Sell Digital Products and Printables
• Selling Your Services Online

How Can I Sell Stuff Online for Free?

Many websites charge a fee for you to use them. Sometimes, it’s a listing fee, which is a charge just to put the item online, and sometimes, they take a cut of everything you sell. Very often, it’s both!

However, a few websites still allow you to sell stuff online for free. These are the places where you’d want to sell your old baby stuff, items you don’t need anymore, and other physical items that you might have.

The most significant limitation of these sites is that they are all local pick-ups only.

I couldn’t find any website connecting you with potential buyers and helping you with shipping for free. This makes sense, though, as addresses are sensitive information. Making a transaction without first seeing the product can often lead to disputes, which the third party would be responsible for handling.

But still, if you want to sell stuff online for free, you have three great options.

Craigslist

You can post virtually anything on Craigslist, from your old stuff to an apartment you need to rent.

When you sell an item on Craigslist, you are responsible for coordinating with the buyer to pick it up locally. Please don’t ship any items through Craigslist, as you will likely never see any of the money.

You must use caution when using Craigslist. It is just a platform to connect people and is not responsible for vetting people in any way. Scams are rampant on the platform. I’d also advise you always to meet your potential buyer in a public location. Although rare, there are stories of Craigslist transactions gone wrong. The platform doesn’t ask for any personal information of its users, so it’s nearly impossible to track them down and hold them accountable if there is a problem.

Even with all that, Craigslist is an excellent platform for buying and selling. It’s easy to use, allows you to sell to anyone near any given city, and has a lot of functionality. Thousands of people successfully use the platform daily, so don’t let the potential for misuse scare you off.

Offer Up

Offer Up is trying hard to be the new Craigslist. They recently acquired competitor “Let Go” and are trying to be the top provider for local buying and selling.

The advantage of using Offer Up to sell your old stuff online is that it’s specific to buying and selling. While you can find anything on Craigslist, from apartments to jobs to personal ads, Offer Up is limited to buying and selling items. You can sell baby clothes, lotions, antiques/collectibles, and other used goods on the platform.

The platform also has a more modern look and feel than Craiglist, making it more user-friendly.

Facebook Marketplace

Facebook Marketplace is an excellent option for those who want to sell stuff online for free with a little more security. People who want to buy and sell on the platform need a Facebook account, and the company does try to ensure that people use their real information. This makes situations like “the Craigslist Killer,” which, although rare, has happened, less of a concern on the platform.

People sell all types of things using Facebook Marketplace, including baby clothes, toys, furniture, RVs, and more.

Online Sites Where You Can Sell Anything to Anyone

If you want to sell your stuff online and need a broader marketplace, two websites will help you. Both sites help connect potential sellers to potential buyers and assist with payment processing.

eBay

eBay is the go-to place for selling your stuff online. Anyone can set up an eBay account and list their items for sale. You will find anything and everything on the site – from books to video games, crafts to art, collectibles to high-end antiques.

To sell on eBay, navigate the website and create an account. Next, you must sign up for PayPal (if you don’t already have it) and ensure your PayPal account is connected to your eBay account.

PayPal helps protect buyers and sellers from fraud, and it’s the standard payment method used by eBay. eBay recommends against discussing/accepting any form of payment off the platform, as that is rife with scammers.

One exception to this rule is local pick-up. If you are selling a large item, you can set it up for local pickup only. If you are meeting with someone in person to complete the transaction, you may accept cash at the time of purchase. Please don’t accept checks, though, as the potential for them to bounce is too high, and since you received the payment offline, eBay has no obligation to assist you.

The great thing about eBay is that its fees are reasonable. You can list 250 items each month without a listing fee and only have to pay a 35-cent insertion fee for each additional listing. eBay charges a final value fee for all sales, typically 10-15% of the sale price.

My biggest gripe with eBay is that they also charge final value fees on shipping. Unfortunately, they had to do this because far too many people listed items for low prices and added exorbitant shipping charges to avoid paying fees. Be sure to charge extra in the price to pay for shipping even with the fee.

Amazon

The other megalith website where you can sell basically anything is Amazon. However, new items do much better on Amazon than used items, barring a few categories. You can easily sell used books and games on Amazon, but eBay is probably a better choice if you’re looking to sell collectibles or baby items.

Amazon has two seller planners, individual and professional. The individual plan charges 99 cents per item, while the professional plan charges a flat rate of $39.99 monthly for unlimited listings. The individual plan is best for people who only wish to sell a few items, while the professional plan works for those running small businesses and side hustles.

If you sell a few used items, it’s probably best to use eBay. However, Amazon might be a better option if you are starting a company to sell stuff online, especially new products or in-demand electronics. It’s best to determine where your potential customers will shop before deciding.

Where Can I Sell Niche Items Online?

You can sell niche items on any of the above marketplaces, but depending on what you are selling, you might have better luck elsewhere.

These websites are well suited for selling specific types of products online.

Etsy

Etsy is the best place to sell niche creative items. It’s marketed as a way for artists and craftspeople to sell their art and crafts, and it delivers. On the platform, you can find handmade jewelry, clothing, stuffed animals, and artwork of all kinds.

If you like to create things and want to find a way to sell your creations, Etsy is the perfect place to look.

Like Amazon, Etsy charges a one-dollar listing fee for any item that you post for sale. A cool thing about Etsy is that you can create your own store. Your Etsy shop can showcase the variety of available products, driving sales to your shop rather than a specific product. This helps you build lasting relationships with customers.

A significant disadvantage of Etsy is all the fake stuff. Though the platform originated as a way to sell handcrafted goods, money talks, and the platform now allows a wide variety of manufactured junk, making it harder to get noticed.

ArtPal

If you’re a traditional artist, you can try selling your paintings online with Artpal. It is a very similar system to Etsy, focusing on paint and canvas paintings. All types of artists have stores on Artpal, from abstract expressionists to landscape painters to traditional still-life painters. Artpal also hosts other traditional artists, such as sculptures, potters, and even jewelers.

The biggest advantage to using Artpal over Etsy is that it’s free. You can create your store and list your pieces without paying anything. Artpal doesn’t even take a commission if an original piece is sold!

They make their money with Print on Demand services. You can sell prints of a particular piece, and they will handle the printing, shipping, and processing, but they will also receive a portion of the proceeds for those services. It’s a great way to sell your artwork.

Print on Demand

If you’re a graphic designer who wishes to sell artwork on commercial products, consider print-on-demand.

Numerous print-on-demand platforms allow you to sell your graphic designs on items without overhead. These websites will enable you to design shirts, mugs, planners, pillows, and other goods and sell them directly to customers.

Some of the best print-on-demand platforms include Redbubble, Teepublic, and Amazon Merch, but quite a few players are in the niche. Each has its advantages and disadvantages, so they are worth exploring.

Most platforms allow you to upload designs and list products for free, but you must pay a commission on sales. They handle the payment processing, printing, and shipping, which makes it a low-cost way to start selling things online.

The most important thing you need to do to get started is to create the designs.

Poshmark

If you have a lot of old clothing to sell, consider listing it on Poshmark. Poshmark is the eBay of designer clothes and the best way to sell your old clothing and accessories for extra cash. If you just cleaned out your closet and have many gently used clothes to offload, Poshmark is the platform for you.

Poshmark’s fees are fairly simple. They don’t charge a listing fee, making their money on commission. Poshmark charges a $2.95 flat-rate commission for all sales under $15 and a 20% commission on all sales over $15. Poshmark also offers flat-rate shipping, paid by the buyer, for all shipments under 5 lbs. It’s an easy way to make some money while offloading your closet of old clothes.

Sell Digital Products Online

What if you have a digital product to sell rather than a physical one? Where can you sell digital stuff online?

The good news is that many options exist for selling your digital products online.

GumRoad

Gumroad is a marketplace for all things digital. You can create printables, templates, E-Books, how-to videos, and any other digital product you can think of and list it for sale on Gumroad.

The platform is creator-centric, providing its creators with much freedom to create and market their products. It also allows you to set up other individuals as affiliates for your product to create an army of salespeople marketing your items.

A downside to Gumroad is that some folks create products that promise things and don’t exactly deliver since there is no oversite. If you sell an item on this platform, be sure that you are providing the value you are advertising.

Draft-2-Digital

If you have an E-book to sell, consider using Draft-2-Digital. This platform helps you transform your e-book into the proper format and gets it listed among the big sellers, like Barnes & Noble.

There’s no fee to get the book listed on most websites (though Amazon does charge a listing fee), but Draft-2-Digital will take a portion of all proceeds.

Teachable

If you wish to create and market a course, consider using Teachable. The platforms allow you to have lesson plans, upload videos, and upload course materials like worksheets and quizzes.

I’ve not built a course through this platform, but I have taken the Launch Your Side Hustle course through it, and it’s very well done. If you have a skill that you want to teach via coursework, Teachable is the place to do it.

Skillshare

If you don’t want to create an entire course to sell, you can make a video with Skillshare. This platform allows experts to create videos showcasing their craft, and users pay to watch the videos explaining things they want to learn about.

When you teach a course with Skillshare, you earn royalties for every minute students watch. The platform uses a royalty-sharing model, paying their teachers a percentage of the total royalties earned based on how many minutes of video subscribers watched. Skillshare also provides a small reward for teachers who engage the most with their students.

Shutterstock

Do you have photos that you want to sell online? Shutterstock allows you to make them available to media companies and individuals looking for that perfect photo.

Shutterstock is an online repository of stock photos. As a creator, you upload your images or video to Shutterstock and get paid whenever someone downloads your content for use. However, remember that doing so will give Shutterstock and its clients legal rights to use your content, so be sure that’s what you want before joining.

Etsy

We already discussed Etsy's pros and cons, but it’s worth noting that it also excels as a platform for digital products. We host a printables store on the platform and make a few monthly sales with minimal effort.

Sell Services Online

A final thing you might want to consider selling online is a service. Perhaps you’re a graphic designer, a website builder, or a podcast editor looking to sell your services. Where can you go to find new clients?

There are two great online platforms dedicated to selling services.

Fiverr

Fiverr is a fantastic option for selling digital design services, such as creating custom Twitch emotes, website logos, website designs, and other similar services.

Millions of people head to Fiverr when looking for a design for their special project.

However, any type of freelance gig, from resume writing to programming, is welcome on Fiverr.

Upwork

Although similar to Fiverr, Upwork is better for selling your writing services. If you are a freelance writer or editor looking to sell your services, Upwork is a great place to start.

Much like Fiverr, the platform welcomes all services. You can decide which one to use for the service you are selling.

A Bonus Place to Sell Stuff Online:

Make Your Own Website!

One final way to sell stuff online is with your own website. You probably don’t want to use this method if you are selling your old junk, but it’s an excellent option for those looking to sell products and services.

Many build websites to sell products via drop-shipping, drive traffic to their creations, or market their services.

One massive advantage of having your own website is that you can completely control the content and advertising. Nobody can tell you what meets their terms, and you have complete control over marketing your wares.

On the downside, driving traffic to a new website takes a lot of work. It takes time and effort to build your SEO traffic and attract clients. Most of the big platforms have already done most of that work for you.

Another downside is that you will be responsible for all the transactions, so you must ensure a secure site with checkouts enabled. Big platforms handle that for you as well. Ultimately, whether you create your own website to sell stuff online is a personal decision. It’s another way to get your products out there, but it's also a lot of work.

Get Selling!

Now that you know where you can sell basically anything online, what are you waiting for?

Pick the right platform for you and start making money today.

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This article was produced and syndicated by Partners in Fire.