There are two basic ways to have more money: you either save more or you earn more. While we talk a lot about the former on this site, I want to look at one way you can earn more by making some quick cash over the weekend.

Selling your stuff

This may seem like a no-brainer but it’s amazing how often you wish you had a little extra money and not realise that there is cash waiting to be released right inside your home.

It used to be that you would have to sell things via newspapers or the Trading Post, but now with the internet, sites like eBay and Gumtree allow you to sell your stuff easily and quickly.

So, where to start?

Follow the 3 steps below and before you know it you will have some extra cash this weekend.

Step 1 – Find stuff to sell

The first thing you should do is have a good look through you closets and spare rooms for stuff you can sell.

And this is no time to get sentimental! You need to be strong and tell yourself you no longer need this stuff.

I know it can be difficult, but his is a simple rule to follow:

if you haven’t used the item in over 12 months, then you should sell it.

If you follow this rule, without exception, you are sure to have plenty of things to sell and a less cluttered home!

Step 2 – Research

Once you have a pile of stuff you want to sell you need to see if it is worth selling. You can do this a number of ways, like using your common sense, but you can also use the very sites you are going to use to sell stuff.

I will use eBay as an example, but you can use this same idea on any site.

Jump onto eBay.com.au and search for the item you want to sell. Say you had an old Nintendo 64 unit, two controllers and 5 games that you last played in 2002 and wanted to get rid of.

Type in Nintendo 64 and see what comes up. No doubt a lot of entries come back, but you can narrow these down a little using the check boxes to the left.

Click on ‘Used’, ‘Australia Only’ and ‘Completed Listings’ (this last one will give you the final selling price for Nintendo 64s).

Now have a look through the list.

You can easily start to get an idea of prices and whether you should sell the items you have in one complete pack (the easiest option) or perhaps split it up (takes more effort but you may receive more money that way).

Do this with all your items and you will quickly see what is worth selling and what isn’t. Remember with eBay, they also charge you a small fee for listing and selling an item, so include this in your final estimates.

This leads us onto the next stage.

Stage 3 – Listing the items

Once you know what you want to sell and have done your homework, it’s time to list them. No matter what site you use you will need to include (good) pictures of your items and a short description.

Remember to clean up your items before taking pictures (presentation is everything!), and take a few shots from various angles, highlighting any positive features. You could also include a picture of any damage if your item is in less-than-perfect condition.

Write out a clear and short description of your item, including the condition of it, and then use your website of choice to list the item.

Depending on the website you choose and how long you chose to list your item, the money may not come straight away, but if your listing is good and you have listed your item at a reasonable price then you should get some buyers pretty quickly.

And if you don’t, then you may want to tweak your description and/or photos, and/or have another look at your pricing.

What’s next

After this, it’s just a matter of collecting your money and giving the buyer the goods, whether that is in person or via post or courier.

Over to you – have you made money through selling things online?