Welcome back for season 2!
Today we are kicking off 2020 with the first episode of season 2. We are talking about how to make money fast. I did a Facebook post on this late last year and it was quite popular so I thought we could flesh it out in this episode. Let’s face it, who doesn’t enjoy making extra money? We could all do with more information on this topic.
I hope you had a restful break. I can’t quite say mine was restful. My holiday break was epic. I spent December packing and selling our stuff, and the start of January was moving from Victoria to NSW and unpacking. After moving 5 times in the last 6 years, I can confidently say I’m getting pretty good at this now.
This time, for the move, I wanted to do things a little differently and see if we could cover the cost of the move by selling our unwanted items or items that were not practical to move.
As I have mentioned previously we have moved a lot over the last 6 years for my partner’s work. Every time we move I do a big de-clutter to reduce how much we have to move. I usually give most of it away to the op shop and occasionally sell the odd item of value. Late last year I read Canna Campbell’s book The $1000 Project where she outlines a strategy to reach a financial goal by making parcels of $1000 at a time. I won’t go into it now as I did a whole episode on it. You can check out Episode 10 The $1000 Project if you want to learn more or go to the resource section here, where I have a link to her book.
After reading the book I was inspired to see if we could create the money for our move by selling our unwanted items and generating parcels of $1000 at a time.
The approximate cost for the move was $5000
This included the removalist cost, exit clean, agency break lease fees and doubling up of the rent, extra moving materials, flights for me and my girls to fly up and petrol for Louis to drive up with Dasher our dog.
I know right? Moving is expensive and we do it so often! One day when we finally settle down it will be great to have all that moving money for a yearly family holiday. But we have no regrets. Louis has specific career goals, and that requires that we move. So we like our reasons for moving, even if they are expensive ones!
We don’t want to be the kind of family that doesn’t go after our goals just because we have to experience a little discomfort. Financial discomfort and the discomfort of stepping outside of our safe little comfort zone bubble and moving to an unknown place are all part of the pathway to creating the results we want in our life.
So getting back to making money fast this is what we did.
Sell your stuff and here is how:
Step 1 Decide your outcome
What I mean by this is get really clear about the result you want. This is very helpful to keep you on track and connected to the purpose of why you are going to the effort to create the result you want.
I mentioned in a previous episode that I usually give our stuff away because it’s quicker and easier. There is no right or wrong way but something to consider when getting rid of your things is-
what is more important TIME or MONEY?
Selling things takes more time and effort. Taking things to an Op shop is much more time efficient and less effort.
In our case we wanted the money. I had some time up my sleeve and despite knowing it would be more work I wanted to see how much we could create by selling our things and if we really could create enough to cover our moving expenses.
I also decided that despite wanting to make money the ultimate result was also having less to move. So I was more focused on the selling of the item rather than getting the exact value I thought the item was worth.
Our outcome was to reduce what we had to move and make money by selling as much of it as possible.
Step 2 Make a decision to make money
This next example may sound a little counter intuitive but by making the decision to make money, you can focus on that rather than the details. For example I had quite a few instances where I listed an item for a certain amount and then a potential buyer would come back with an amount below what I had listed it for.
I had a $200 dress I had worn once listed for $30. The buyer offered me $25. Now the first place my brain went to was ‘are you serious? That’s a $200 dress that has only been worn once, no way’ but then I remembered, the outcome I wanted was to reduce my stuff to move and make some money.
I can quibble over $5 or I can just say yes and accept the money.
This made selling the items a much faster process as I made quick decisions that I wanted the items gone and the money coming in quickly. I made clear terms that the items had to be picked up promptly and found by being clear and decisive the whole process moved very quickly.
Step 3 Be open to receiving money
This is a bit of an interesting point and well worth mentioning. I listed a bike trailer for only $65. I didn’t think it would be very popular. I was wrong. I had a gazillion messages about it. I had one woman in particular who was very keen but I had already said someone else could take it. The first buyer couldn’t work out how to pick it up and was taking too long so I offered it to the other really keen woman. She offered me more money if I could drop it off, but I said it was fine for her to pick it up the next day.
It turned out she didn’t live far from my work so I messaged her again and said I probably could drop it off. She was so please with this that she offered me more money again. She ended up paying me $90 for the trailer I had posted for $65. Now I’m sure there are many of you and myself included who in the past might have said no to the money and given it to her for the original amount. However, think about why? Would you have done it because you didn’t think you deserved it or didn’t want to feel greedy or that people might not agree? I almost went to say something but I stopped myself because I realised that my intention was to reduce my things to move and make some money.
Here was a woman offering me more money because it was of value to her for me to drop it off, and I asked myself why would I say no to the money? Because think about it, so often we say no to money. This is something to be aware of. You actually need to be open to receiving money or you will shoot yourself in the foot and say no to it and wonder why you are not making much. This is the perfect example of a win win situation. It was worth the value to the woman to pay more to get me to deliver it to her.
All I had to do was say yes.
Step 5 Don’t people please at your own expense
I was selling a vintage jacket that a couple of people messaged me about. One guy wanted it but couldn’t come for a few days to pick it up. I explained that someone else was interested and he said not to hold it on his account but would let me know when he was available. In the meantime another person said she would get it but also couldn’t come for a few days.
Then without warning the first guy messaged, said he could be there that day and still wanted it. Now I could have got all concerned about letting the other buyer down. However, I just made the decision to sell and go with the first in first served. The guy came over and ended up buying another jacket I had as well. This happen on another occasion too. A woman said she wanted something I posted but didn’t show and then said she would come at another time. Meanwhile, another buyer was very clear and direct; she said she would come on that day and she too ended up buying other stuff we had for sale. On both occasions I could have gone down a whole thought process of worrying about- 'what will the first buyer think if I turn them down?' etc but the reality is, I can be concern with what people might think or I can sell an item to a buyer who is ready, right here, right now. Which, is what I did. Again, by making quick decisions about selling and not worrying about offending potential buyers that were under no obligation to buy anyway, I was able to move items out quickly and have money come in quickly too. So good.
Step 6 Have an abundant mindset
This is such an important step. We made a lot of money. Far more than I thought we would. We made as much as we did because we did it from a place of abundance. We didn’t get caught up in needing to hold onto every dollar. When you come from a mindset of abundance you are coming from a place of having and creating more. Verses not having, (a scarcity mindset) and trying to make more from nothing.
We gave so much away and were very generous with the prices we did sell things for. What works about this is when you come from a place of having you don’t need to quibble over $5 dollars because you know there is more to come. It’s easy to say have an abundant mindset. In my experience I have created this through being aware of my thoughts and then actually practicing the way I want to think to create an abundant mindset. This takes practice and sometimes I catch myself going to a place of scarcity. The first step to creating from abundance is to record your thoughts so you can become aware of the way you think. Often we try to create money but can’t because we are not even aware of all the negative thoughts we have about money.
This doesn’t mean you just give everything away for nothing. Just be aware and notice why you are saying no, if someone offers a price below what you offered. Is it because you think you need more money for it because it was expensive and you don't want to loose money (scarcity)? Or is it because you are firm on the value you are offering (abundance) and wouldn't even consider selling it for less. Subtle distinctions but relevant nonetheless. There was only one time I flat out said no to someone because I thought their offer was too low.
Step 7 Back yourself and your decisions
There is no right or wrong answer when it comes to selling your things and making money. There is no reason why you can’t have a set price and be firm with that price. Just make sure you like your reasons. For me, I was selling things that I wanted to get rid of and if we didn’t sell them they would have to be given away, so I was willing to take offers that were below what I listed them for because for me I was ahead of the game just by making money off something I would otherwise be giving away.
We sold our stuff on the Facebook market place and ebay. There are pros and cons for both. Facebook market place is great because you can quickly list something and sell it straight away for no fees. The down side is that the buyer is under no obligation to buy and for whatever reason sometimes people just don’t show up. However, you are also not obligated to sell if someone is stuffing you around or can’t come to collect the item.
Ebay is great for reaching a lot of buyers and tends to be much more reliable. There are fees you have to pay that can start to add up. But that is what you pay for the professional service they offer.
I listed our household items on the buy swap sell sites and listed my professional camera gear on ebay.
All up, we made approximately $4300
This was made up of a bit over $1000 from sales on Facebook market place
Louis made about $600 from ebay sales
I made about $2600 from ebay sales and still have a lens listed that will fetch between $200 to $300 when it sells.
Ok so we didn’t quite make the $5000 but we got pretty close!
In conclusion, next time we move I will definitely go to the effort of selling our stuff because it was well worth it. The best thing for me apart from making the actual money was really gaining awareness about my thoughts around making money and selling. It’s so much easier to sell when you are in an abundant mindset. It’s also totally possible to make more money outside of your actual job. You are not defined by the income you earn from a salary. It is not fixed and totally possible to make money in alternative ways.
If you want to make money fast- sell your unwanted items. We sold so many things and yet we still moved 30 cubic metres, 'sigh'. Have a look at your stuff for yourself. You might be pleasantly surprised how much money you can make from selling your unwanted items.
Until next time have a great week bye bye.