You haven’t committed to installing hidden cameras yet, but you’re 99.3 percent certain that your kids’ stuff secretly multiplies every time you close their bedroom door. Or maybe your mother is crawling through the window, sprinkling L.O.L. dolls and those overpriced squishy toys shaped like food all over the floor while you’re at work. Bless her generosity, or whatever witchcraft is at play, but you don’t have the square footage to contain all this stuff. And, quite frankly, your kids never touch half of it. We hear you. Thankfully, it turns out that a lot of it has a pretty solid resale value—if you know where and how to promote it. Here are the top things to look for the next time you’re clearing things out.
How to Make Up to $200 a Month Selling Your Kids’ Old Stuff
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Published Mar 10, 2020
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1. Scooters
Here’s an expert tip, straight from the vice president of Facebook Marketplace, the social network’s buying-and-reselling platform: Buy big-ticket items secondhand, then resell them later to recoup the cost. “I bought two used Razor scooters on Marketplace, and after the kids outgrew them, I sold them back on Marketplace,” Deb Liu says. Total money spent: $0.
2. LEGO SETS
The blocks have become your mortal enemy after stepping on them one too many times. Now you can stake your revenge! Sift through the Lego sets your child isn’t using anymore. If, by some magic, you have a complete set—ideally with the box not even opened—you could fetch some major money on eBay. A $500 Millennium Falcon can bring in $5,000 to $7,000 on the auctioning site, and a $200 Statue of Liberty kit from 1998 could bring you $1,600 or more. Advanced building kits and pop culture–themed ones tend to have the highest resale value.
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3. Bouncers, Baby Swings & Bumbos (oh My!)
“Tons of baby items are specific to such a small period of time in an infant’s life,” says Sarah Lemp, the blogger behind All Things with Purpose. “These items sell really well on Marketplace because they are rarely used, yet people need them.” The mom of five earns between $100 and $200 a month selling her kids’ outgrown clothes and toys on Facebook, and she has found that items like bassinets, bouncy seats, Bumbo chairs, baby swings and floor play mats tend to move quickly.
4. GAMING CHAIRS
Ah, the Black Friday deal every tween parent succumbed to at some point. If you have gaming chairs sitting around collecting dust, try posting them on Facebook Marketplace or reselling app Letgo. Both help people buy things locally, so you don’t have to deal with shipping such a bulky item (and in today’s era of free shipping, you’d probably be hard-pressed to find someone willing to pay that cost for something like this). A basic model might only bring you $10 to $20, but the fancy ones with built-in speakers are often listed for $50 or more.
5. TODDLER FURNITURE
Toddler beds and changing tables are among the top-selling baby and kids’ items available on Facebook Marketplace, the social network told us. They can also be good to list on Letgo. In the New York City area, toddler beds are typically sold for $60 to $80, and changing tables are listed anywhere from $25 to $80. You may not make big bucks off these sales, but you will clear out a ton of space in your home.
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6. That Entire Bin Of Barbies
“From my experience, selling one Barbie alone isn’t a big draw, but selling ten Barbies for example, will sell quicker and make you more money,” Lemp says. Ditto for children’s books and other toys kids like to collect but aren’t necessarily collectibles.
7. HAND-ME-DOWN GAMING SYSTEMS
So your spouse couldn’t part with the old Nintendo GameCube, so it was handed down to your kids, who…never touch it, because what are those graphics? And where’s the touch screen? This may convince your S.O. to give it a new home: You could snag $50 to $80 for it on eBay, provided it still works.
Got an old Sega Dreamcast? That could bring you $50 to $100. Even the Wii U that your kid recently wrote off after getting a Switch for Christmas can bring you $60 to $100—or up to $200 if you bundle it with a bunch of games and accessories.
Melissa & Doug
Quick! Check those wooden kids’ toys! If they’re made by Melissa & Doug, call it out in the title of your post on eBay. Blender sets that sell for $30 on Target and Amazon are fetching $26 on the auction site, and many other items by the brand retain their value as well.
In fact, if you bought the items at a discount at HomeGoods (which often stocks Melissa & Doug products in their toy section), you may net a profit reselling them online. Who says flipping is just for baseball card collectors and sneakerheads?
9. OLD TABLETS
If you don’t want to deal with garage sales or online reselling—or any human interaction, really—take your old tech to Amazon. Search for any device you have, and just above the “Add to Cart” button you will see “Upgrade and save.” You have to be willing to buy a new device (Ah, a new Kindle for you? Life is hard!), but when you do, you can trade in an old device and get an Amazon gift card in return. When you click the button, a search bar will pop up, where you can look up any tech you own and find out the maximum amount the site will give you for it, depending on its condition. Obviously, this only saves you money if you were planning to buy something new anyway, but it’s worth investigating. (A Fire tablet that retails for $50 new will bring you a $10 gift card, while an old iPad can net up to $100.)
