The 8 Best Apps for Selling Your Stuff

Diamonds are forever, so why not turn them into cash? Enter Worthy, a company that specializes in reselling diamond jewelry, as well as luxury watches and designer jewelry. Worthy accepts earrings, rings, necklaces, bracelets, loose diamonds, and watches for listings on the site.

The selling process begins with sending your jewelry or loose diamonds to the company, where they’ll clean and take studio photos of your pieces and then suggest a resale price based on an objective third-party grading. An auction manager will help you to determine your reserve price (the lowest price you’re willing to accept for your jewels), and the item will then be sold at auction to Worthy’s network of 1,000 professional buyers.

Once the auction concludes, Worthy will send you your funds within five business days, though the company does take a portion—between 10 and 18 percent of the final selling price. If you change your mind, you can back out of the process at any time before the auction ends. Worthy will ship your item back to you free of charge if it doesn’t sell at your reserve price.

What if you could turn your junk drawer into cash? Decluttr helps you to do just that. Clear out the cellphone you haven’t used since 2007, the myriad wires that you know you’ll never plug in again, and any electronics that you’ve earmarked for the garbage, and make some money with Decluttr. Your electronics don’t even have to be working—the company will take older items. It also accepts textbooks, video games and consoles, headphones, speakers, computers, CDs, DVDs, and Legos.

To start decluttering, simply download the app or key in your item’s barcode on the company website to tell Decluttr what you want to sell, and you’ll be quoted a price. If you accept it, Decluttr will send you a shipping label and provide payment via direct deposit or PayPal within 24 hours after your items arrive. If for some reason Decluttr does not accept your items after you’ve shipped them, the company will send them back at no cost to you.

For people who have a ton of clothes they want to resell but don’t want to deal with the hassle of listing individual items, ThredUp makes the process a breeze.

First, gather all the items that you want to resell and package them together. Then, request a shipping label from ThredUp and drop it off with FedEx or USPS. ThredUp will inspect your items and those that meet the company’s quality standards will be photographed, listed, and sent to thrifters as they buy them. Note that ThredUp may not accept all of your items, but if that’s the case, it will recycle them. If you would like the items returned to you, make sure to opt into ThredUp’s Return Assurance program, which costs an additional $10.99.

The listing itself will be up for either 60 or 90 days, depending on the brand. And while ThredUp sets a listing price for your item, you can increase it up to 10 percent. Once an item sells, buyers will receive their payment after the purchase has passed the 14-day return window. Buyers will receive a payout ranging from 3 percent to 80 percent, depending on the listing price of an item. For example, something sold for $19.99 will have a payout of 15 percent, but an item sold for $200 will have an 80 percent payout. Any items that are not sold within the listing’s time frame will become ThredUp’s property, but you can request a specific item back for a $5.99 fee.

Specializing in luxury goods, Vestiaire makes selling your pre-loved items a breeze. The company acquired another resale marketplace company, Tradesy, in March 2022, further expanding sellers’ access to over 23 million shoppers worldwide.

Selling at Vestiaire starts with three easy steps: List your item by uploading photos and adding a description; decide if you want to allow potential buyers to “make an offer” or hold firm on the price; ship the item with a prepaid label that Vestiaire provides and then take home up to 85 percent of your sales. Once your item sells, you’ll be paid within 72 hours of the item’s delivery. Frequent sellers will eventually earn badges like “trusted seller” and “expert seller,” which will increase visibility on the site. 

To ensure authenticity, the company uses proprietary software to scan all photos across the site and remove fake items. Users can also keep an eye out for the “authenticated shipping” option, which means that a seller sends the item to the Vestiaire Collective Hub to first check and approve the item. Once it passes inspection, the Hub will pack and ship it to your buyer within two business days.

For a tried and true way to sell just about anything in your home, eBay has you covered. The selling process is relatively simple: Register an account and complete verification, and then start selling by selecting the “Sell” button on ebay.com or the mobile app.

As eBay has exploded in popularity, so have the options and rules for selling. Sellers have two options for selling an item with the default being a fixed price format; sellers can also offer the item at auction. Auction items have additional flexibility; a seller can decide whether or not they want to open it up to offers, add a reserve price (the lowest amount you will accept), schedule a start time, or use a “Buy It Now” option.

In general, eBay charges two types of fees for selling an item: an insertion fee for creating a listing, and a final value fee that’s charged when your item sells. The exact amount depends upon a number of factors, including the type of item you’re selling. For items like collectible card games, books, bags, and jewelry, the first 250 listings have no insertion fee but will require $0.35 per listing thereafter. Once an item is sold, eBay takes anywhere between 2.35 percent and 15 percent of the final value, plus an additional 30 cents per order. The site gives a detailed breakdown of fees and prices that can be found here. When it comes to shipping, eBay lets the seller dictate the type of shipping methods offered, which then also allows them to potentially reach more buyers.

5miles excels in selling heavy and/or bulky items by using your phone’s location setting to connect you to local buyers. You’ll be able to find a range of items, from everyday pieces of furniture to specific antique items, though that may require you to expand your location radius. The app is also free for most single-item sellers, as 5miles makes its money by charging companies that participate in large-scale transactions, like car dealerships.

To use 5miles, simply upload pictures of your item and set a price. Users can message back and forth on the app until they come to an agreed-upon sale. Then, they’re prompted to meet up to finalize everything. 5miles takes safety seriously, as each user’s identity is verified via either phone or Facebook; and everyone has a feedback rating. 5miles also assists with a meetup finder that helps the buyer and seller become more comfortable with the exchange. If you aren’t looking to sell and just looking to get rid of something, the app also has a “Free & Donations” tab.

OfferUp allows you to sell all kinds of unwanted items, from furniture to electronics and even cars. Operating as a mobile-friendly alternative to online classifieds, OfferUp has options for exchanging items both locally and long distance.

To sell an item locally, buyers and sellers can message directly on the app and then agree to a price and place to meet up in person. To address potential safety concerns, the app flags designated “Community Meetup Spots,” which are brightly lit areas that also have video cameras in the vicinity.

For long-distance sales, sellers are provided with a prepaid shipping label for easy shipping. For these transactions, though, the app takes a service fee of the greater of 12.9 percent or $2. Once a sale is completed, the payment is deposited into the seller’s account as soon as the buyer confirms receipt. However, it’s worth noting that OfferUp is not involved in the payment process for local transactions, and users are encouraged to pay with cash.

Seamlessly transfer your unwanted clothes from your actual closet to a virtual closet with Poshmark, and watch your profits soar. With over 80 million members in the United States, Canada, and Australia, Poshmark is the ideal app for a closet cleanout, whether you’re looking to get rid of just one item or many more.

It’s easy; after setting up an account, upload pictures of your items with details about the brand, size, and other pertinent information. For example, if you have an unworn shirt that is brand-new you can mark it as “new with tags.” Interested buyers can inquire about an item through the listing’s comment section and eventually make an offer on it that can be either accepted or countered. Items can also be “liked,” and sellers can offer special discounted rates to those “likers.”

Once an item sells, Poshmark takes roughly a 20 percent cut or a flat rate of $3 for sales under $15. The buyer pays a $7.97 shipping fee for all orders. Once a sale goes through, Poshmark provides the seller with a prepaid shipping label and gives them five days to drop the sold item in the mail. Once a buyer receives the item, payment is released within three days, and the funds can be transferred to a personal account via PayPal, Venmo, direct deposit to a bank account, or a check.