So this past year I made money flipping baby items on Craigslist for some side income. I bought things cheaply, and sold them for more. I also got rid of baby stuff in our house that was in good condition and sold it for equal to or more than we paid. That way, it felt like we used it for free and got rid of some baby clutter.
Sometimes it’s just easier to send a trunk to Goodwill, but if you want to make some extra cash getting rid of baby items, here is what I did! While this post is geared towards flipping baby items on Craigslist, you could do it with any items if you can figure out what they are worth to people used.
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How to make money flipping baby items on Craigslist
Download a Craigslist App
An app makes it easy to upload pics, sell, and search for items. It is also easy to renew the items every few days, sending them back to the top of the list on Craigslist. That way your items are the first ones people see in a category.
Keep items for sale out of sight to keep your sanity
We had a closet in the kid room and also our small shed that I would put all my items in to sell. This was SUPER important for my sanity, as I didn’t want to look at anything we were getting rid of. The exception here was if it was something my kids played with that I was getting rid of, I’d let them play with it till it sold.
The downside to flipping baby items is that you have more “stuff” somewhere. Even if it’s just in a shed. The upside is that it becomes cash! Hopefully within the month you list it. And if something isn’t becoming cash, then the price is too high.
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Charge more money by cleaning it and taking good photos.
I know I know, you want it out of your life and don’t want to waste time cleaning it. I knew I could charge more and feel good about selling something (especially to another mom for her kids) if it looked nice. If it looks good and clean people will feel like paying more for it than the cheaper one next to it on craigslist!
Also, I took about 10 pics of every item using my phone. Close-ups. Every angle. Details. In my experience as a shopper, I prefer buying baby items when I know what I’m getting…aka…posts with lots of pics. For example, I want to see the stains if they are listed in the description.
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How I got cheap baby items to flip:
Thrift stores and garage sales. We also lived near a Goodwill Outlet, which is a super cheap place that Goodwill sends their items to after they leave the store but before stuff goes to the dump. Things sell by the pound, or for heavy items are a cheap flat rate. Check if you have a Goodwill outlet near you!
I looked for bigger baby gear like bouncers, strollers, doll strollers, high chairs, or name brand shoes I thought I could double my money on.
Whatever profit I intended to make had to be worth my time. If people offered me free baby stuff they were giving to a thrift store, I could sell it and make 100% profit. My kids just got used to stuff being around for a short while so they didn’t whine too much when a cool toy would sell.
The key to making money flipping is knowing what things are worth on Craigslist. A quick check as if you were trying to buy your item will tell you numbers.
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How to price baby items to sell on Craigslist
I usually set my price just under the cheapest similar item on CL.
If it was something I didn’t mind holding onto a tad longer or wanted to get more money for, I marked it up about 25% higher so that I had room to “bargain” and still get the profit I actually wanted. About half bargained with me, and the other half just paid me straight up my asking price because it was still an awesome deal to them.
Examples of things I flipped:
Kid table and chairs set: Bought for $20 at a consignment store, sold for $40
This kid’s tool set with workbench: bought for $5 at a garage sale and sold for $40.
Umbrella stroller: Bought for .25 cents at our kid’s consignment sale (had a broken umbrella), sold for $10.
Classic toys. (Lincoln Logs, Legos, Duplos). Around Christmas, say November, you can get huge profits listing toys. They are SO expensive new and rarely on CL! I bought a random piece pack of Lincoln Logs at Goodwill for $7, and sold it for $25…new about 100 pieces like mine were going for $40 used on Ebay even!
Thomas the Train anything. OMG people pay SO much for trains! If I find them or train tracks used I buy them all because they WILL sell. I recently bought a huge lot on Ebay for our kids, and sold about 10 of the generic wooden train cars I didn’t want in there for $20. (They prefer the engines with names and faces). This helped “fund” our train collection big time!
Northface or name brand kid clothes. I looked into when our Value Village has their half off clothes sale days. I bought a boys Northface jacket for $15 and sold it for $40 within two days of listing. Baby Gap is another easy brand to resell. If you are into selling kid’s clothes by the item, Ebay can be better as people are looking for one thing and willing to pay a bit more for it.
High Chairs. We look for these and bigger type baby gear at garage sales and look up what they are selling for on Craigslist. If I can make at least $20 or more I’ll buy it to sell.
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Important lessons I’ve learned doing this:
I never rearrange my day to meet someone unless its a big expensive sale item like a dresser or exercise bike. People are FLAKEY. No shows happen all the time. Arrange on your terms only, they can make it work if they really want it. That’s why I’ll only agree to meet at a place I’m already doing errands at, like a grocery store.
When flipping baby items on Craigslist, it’s WAY smarter to find one thing you can make a bigger profit on rather than post 10 things and make the same amount. Less emails, less time posting, less meeting up.
I meet at a public location close to my house. Thankfully baby and toddler items are usually not too heavy or large. With kids, it’s even harder to get out (hence why this has slowed with our 3rd baby) so I’ll try and meet at a grocery store and double dip doing some shopping after.
I tell them I have somewhere to be about 15 minutes after the time set to meet, so they know not to be late. If I get stood up, at least I still get my grocery shopping done 😉
If I do give my address for something I make sure my husband is home. I don’t give buyers a 2 hour pickup window. Because hanging around for a no show sucks. And no shows happen more than I’d like. Just use the “I have somewhere to be at this time” phrase so they try and be prompt.
Mention other postings you have in your listing that are similar. More about that on this Craigslist selling article!
I never agree to meet somewhere that makes it farther for me than the place I suggest. People always ask to meet me somewhere easier for them, sorry, not happening. I’ll sell it to someone else.
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Try making money on Craigslist and get rid of old baby items!
You can make $100-$200/month extra doing this or more! Summer is the easiest I think because you can get stuff at garage sales for SO cheap. I prefer selling on Craiglist over Ebay as you keep the profit, don’t have to deal with fees, the post office, and don’t have to deal with ratings or returns. Hope this helps you make money and get rid of your junk! Leave a comment if you have any tips or stories from Craigslist-ing 🙂