Looking around our homes there are always items that are no longer needed.  Children might have outgrown their toys, or you had presents off people that weren’t suitable.  Perhaps you have even made impulse purchases you wonder why you ever bought!  There are lots of reasons to start to declutter and sell your unwanted belongings.  The second hand economy is thriving as more people feel comfortable buying and selling unwanted items.

Some countries it has become the norm, take Finland for example.  Here second hand comes first.  I think when I was a child there was a lot of stigma with buying second hand.  But fortunately, that seems to have gone now.  Instead its considered savvy to bag yourself a bargain.  We are all feeling the pinch economically, so naturally feel satisfied with ourselves when we can stretch our money further.

It’s great that the second hand economy has been repackaged.  There is a mall in Sweden that ReTuna that looks so stylish and beautiful but is filled with second hand stores.  The mall is positioned next to the recycling centre and shopkeepers can look through this to see what treasure they can find amongst the trash.  We are all starting to rethink how we do things.

Here are my five reasons you should sell your unwanted belongings:

Making Money

According to a Gumtree article about the second hand economy there is a lot of money to be made by selling your unwanted belongings.  Apparently, there are an average of 25 items in each home which could be sold.  I used to donate to charity shops but lately I have realised that my clutter can be someone else’s treasure.  So why not try and make some money selling it? We have lots of children’s DVD’s but never seem to re-watch them.  They could be the first to go!

Environmental Benefits

It’s more environmentally sustainable if items are reused.  Yes, your children might be fed up of their train track but don’t bin it!  Find someone else that would make use of it.  You will hopefully make a bit of cash and the purchaser will feel they got a bit of a bargain over buying new.  It’s a good feeling knowing you stopped them going out and buying a new track.  Some toys are so well made they can be passed on for generations.  Let’s not add to landfill instead reuse belongings as much as possible.  The second hand economy is so eco-friendly!

Helping Others

Not everyone can afford to buy brand new.  The second hand economy gives some people the opportunity to own things they couldn’t otherwise.  Children have the chance to have toys they could never dream of owning normally.  Crazy retail prizes are beyond the reach of many parents.  It feels good knowing a toy your child tired with will be treasured all over again!  Preloved toys are ideal for younger children who never notice things like the fact there is no packaging they just see the toy and love it for what it is.

Teaching Your Children

I think there are lots of valuable lessons for your children when you sell your unwanted belongings.  I certainly encourage mine to have a good relationship with money.  Teach them about the second hand economy and making sensible purchase decisions.  They can research the best price to list their unwanted belongings.  I do feel its good to help children be money wise, my eldest said last year he wanted to earn 17 million a year!  So, he better get a good handle on making money if he wants to aim that high.

Less Clutter

Living in a house full of unwanted belongings isn’t particularly healthy.  It’s better for us if our home is organised.  If everything has a place its easier to keep clean.  Living in a cluttered home can be quite a stressful experience.  You can feel overwhelmed.  More belongings if not stored correctly can make a house look messy.  We all want a tidy comfortable home and one filled with items we no longer use or need makes it harder to achieve.  Plus, you can soon lose track of everything you own, then you can make costly mistakes like buying duplicates!  I did this one Christmas, I got suckered into the whole commercial thing and ended up buying two of the same Playmobil sets!  Nowadays I am much stricter about what I buy.  I always try and sell what we no longer use, and the house looks a lot better for it.

Hopefully this article will inspire you to dig out your unwanted clothes, toys and games and put them to better use.  Then you can look forward to enjoying more of the benefits listed above.  The money we have made from selling unwanted belongings has brought us closer to our aim to be debt free in the next few years (aside from the mortgage, I am not that much of a miracle worker sadly!).