31 Best Selling Apps to Sell Stuff Online & Locally

Have you got a bunch of stuff you never use just sitting, collecting dust, but you don’t want to sit out in the heat hosting a yard sale for a day? It’s time to get familiar with these selling apps, which can help you declutter your home and turn your unwanted belongings into extra cash.

The average US household has thousands of dollars worth of unused belongings, yet most people never get around to cashing in on this hidden goldmine.

It’s easy to see why. The process to sell old stuff can seem time-consuming and tedious – plus, when you stop using something, you forget you have it, and you forget it has monetary worth. Over the years, the number of forgotten yet valuable belongings in the home increases.

Thanks to the emergence of phone apps dedicated to virtual marketplaces, selling unwanted items has never been easier. All you have to do is download a free selling app, snap a photo with your phone camera and list an item within seconds.

31 Best Selling Apps

Here are the best apps to sell your stuff online and locally in 2024:

Best Apps To Sell Your Stuff Online

1. Decluttr

If you like the idea of selling your stuff, but you’re less excited about the prospect of waiting around for an interested buyer, Decluttr could be the perfect option for you. You’ll receive an instant valuation for your items and be able to ship them straight away. Even better, postage is free.

You’re probably wondering how much money you’ll make. Decluttr claims to have paid out $300 million to over 6 million people. This works out at $50 per person, which isn’t a bad average considering that some people probably earned a lot less.

The main risk is that the price you’re offered is contingent on the quality of what you send; if your item is deemed to be in a worse condition than you originally said, you’ll be paid less. However, you can take comfort in Decluttr’s A rating with the Better Business Bureau.

The app specializes in tech and media items, but you can also sell LEGO and books.

2. Worthy

Worthy is an online jewelry auction site. Anyone can submit to sell jewelry online, including diamond rings, engagement rings, gold, platinum, gemstone earrings, bracelets, necklaces, watches, and other valuable jewelry.

Worthy provides all customers with a GIA-certified diamond report completely free. Once your item is submitted and reviewed, it is sold on auction to a network of professional diamond buyers, so you get the best price possible. The price isn’t based on the diamond grading, but the report helps the buyers understand the value.

The process of selling jewelry in this online auction is straightforward and transparent. You don’t need to worry about shipping and insuring your item. Worthy will take care of that, and you only pay a fee to them once your item is sold.

3. thredUP

Once you’ve sold all your tech, media, and books on Decluttr, you might turn your attention to your clothes. That’s where thredUP comes in – a clothes specialist.

This app feels like any other online clothes retailer – except all the items are second-hand

You’ll get sent thredUP’s ‘free closet cleanout kit,’ which is just a bag for you to put the clothes that you want to sell. Once your order has been processed, you’ll receive the money – you don’t need to wait until your clothes sell.

The downside is that you won’t know how much you can make until you’ve already sent your clothes off, although there is a handy calculator on the site to estimate. With an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau – even higher than Decluttr – thredUP is a site you can trust.

If you would prefer a quick and easy way to earn some cash from the comfort of your own home, without having to sell your things, there are opportunities available as easy as sitting back on your couch and taking surveys.

4. Flyp

Flyp is an AI-based resell platform for brand-name clothes, shoes, and handbags, and it’s pretty unique from the other companies in this roundup. Flyp is an AI-based system that connects you with Pro Sellers who list your stuff negotiate prices, and ship orders to buyers.

All you do is upload pictures of your stuff, let Flyp match you with a potential seller, then review their commissions and estimates for your clothes, shoes, and accessories.

Flyp will provide you with a shipping label so you can send everything to the seller. Once they make a sale, you’ll get paid in the app and can transfer the funds to your bank account.

All this professional help comes at a cost, though. Flyp claims that its users typically make 40-60% of the profit, with Flyp taking a 5% service fee and the Pro taking the commission fee they set.

Overall, Flyp is a solid option if you have high-quality clothes to sell and prefer to leave the legwork of selling them to the pros for a cost.
Buyback Boss

5. Buyback Boss

Similar to Cashify, Buyback Boss specializes in buying phones. Buyback Boss doesn’t have an app, but you can use the website to sell your iPhone, Google Pixel, Samsung Phone, or tablet.

The site offers free instant quotes on most devices and a 14-day price lock guarantee. You just need to provide your device’s type, model, storage amount, carrier, and overall condition.

If you like the offer, Buyback Boss will send you a free shipping label to mail in your device. Once they receive your device and test it, you get paid by PayPal, check, or a charity donation.

One of Buyback Boss’s best features is its price matching. If you get a better offer from another site, Buyback Boss will match it.

Just note that Buyback Boss does reserve the right to offer you a lower amount than what they quoted after testing your device. If that happens and you’d prefer to keep looking, they’ll ship your device back for free.

6. Shopify

Shopify is designed to help anyone from beginners to pro web developers build online storefronts using customizable themes.

You pay Shopify for your store’s online hosting, payment processing, and marketing tools, with plans ranging from $29-$299 per month.

It also comes with a user-friendly mobile app for managing your products, communicating with customers, and carrying out other tasks to manage your store on the go.

You can use Shopify to sell just about any product, membership. or service you like.

Shopify isn’t the best platform if you’re just looking to offload some old clothes collecting dust in the closet. But if you’re passionate about creating a business around selling stuff, it’s one of the best eCommerce platforms out there.

7. Facebook Marketplace

Facebook Marketplace has come into its own as a place to sell second-hand items. There are obvious reasons why this works.

First, almost everyone has a Facebook account – there are over two billion monthly active users. Even though many of these don’t use the Marketplace feature, that’s still a massive pool of potential buyers.

Second, it’s easy to verify whether a potential buyer is legitimate – if they live in your local area, you’ll probably have some mutual friends, and you’ll at least be able to see if they seem like an active account.

The great thing is that when you list something on Facebook Marketplace, your Facebook friends will be alerted too. The chances are that a good portion of them will live near you, and they’ll also be more likely to buy from you since you’re known to them.

However, if you’re planning on selling a large number of items and you don’t want to spam your friends’ feeds, it’s possible to untick the option to show up on news feeds.

8. Instagram Shopping

Instagram is another great app that you should consider using to sell your items.

Instagram shopping lets users purchase an item straight from the app – if they see a post with an item they like, they can follow the link to buy it.

You need to connect your company’s Facebook page to your Instagram account and create a Facebook product catalog (using the Business Manager on the company page). Alternatively, you can use the product catalog on Shopify or BigCommerce. You can then tag a product in the same way that you’d tag another account, but users will be able to see the item is for sale and its price. You’ll have to change your Instagram account into a business account to do this – but don’t worry, it’s completely free.

It’s easier to sell your items if you have a large number of followers. But you can also increase your reach by adding the right hashtags to your post.

9. eBay

An oldie but a goodie, eBay has been around since 1995 and is the original online retail website. It still has almost 200 million active users, making it extremely easy to find a potential buyer.

There is also an eBay App, available from your phone’s App Store or Google Play. You can sell directly from your phone, and manage the entire selling process through the eBay app.

There are some distinct advantages to using eBay. Almost everyone has heard of it, and it’s the first place many people will think of if they want to buy something online. The process is very streamlined, with reminders, alerts, and notifications to follow up on each step of the sale, right down to printing a shipping label. eBay also has a wider variety of users that span all ages and locations. In contrast, the majority of recently launched selling apps are in major US cities.

However, eBay also has some disadvantages. You’ll need to pay a commission to both eBay and PayPal for every sale you make – this means you end up losing 20% of the price of each good sold. Most competitors have picked up on this weakness and offered cheaper alternatives.

10. Amazon (Seller Marketplace)

Although Amazon is mostly used by established businesses to sell their goods, it can also be used by individuals using the Seller Marketplace. In theory, you can sell anything, but the most popular items are selling electronics and books.

The benefits of selling on Amazon are obvious: it’s the go-to place for many people when they want to buy something – there are almost 200 million active users. And there are a TON of different ways to make money on Amazon)

As you might expect from such a popular site, accessing their market doesn’t come free of charge. If you’re an individual seller, you’ll have to pay listing and selling fees for each item you sell, of around 99 cents per item. There’s also an option to pay a set monthly fee ($39.99 a month), but this is unlikely to be worth it unless you expect to sell a huge number of items.

11. Etsy

A hub for arts and crafts, Etsy is a great platform if you have the right products for it. There’s not any other site that focuses on unique items from independent sellers.

You can choose between selling locally – there’s a ‘local seller search’ feature to connect you with community buyers – or shipping further afield.

Unlike other sites like eBay, you have to pay to list an item regardless of whether it sells – but, at 20 cents, the amount you need to pay is relatively low. You’ll also have to pay a transaction fee of 3.5%.

12. Poshmark

Poshmark is an app for selling clothes. Its primary advantage is that it encourages buyers to browse your entire ‘wardrobe,’ which maximizes your chances of making a sale.

It’s free to list items, and you’ll be sent a prepaid postage label when you make a sale.

13. Tradesy

While Tradesy is similar to Poshmark, it is our runner-up for the best app to sell clothing on. It is an easy-to-use app that allows you to upload photos of the clothing that you no longer want in your closet, so other women can see if they want to add it to theirs!

Tradesy provides you as the seller with pre-paid shipping labels and charges a flat fee, so you know what to expect with every sale.

14. The RealReal

The RealReal is a luxury consignment site. It’s known primarily for clothing and accessories, but The RealReal deals in everything from art to furniture as well. The customer reviews are stellar, and it’s easy to set up a seller profile.

Best Apps To Sell Your Stuff Locally

If you would prefer to sell to a local buyer, here are the best apps for selling locally:

15. Craigslist App

Craigslist is an excellent internet site that launched in 1995 and functions as a classified ad website for everything from jobs to gigs to discussions, with sections for various localities.

After 2 decades of operation as a website only, there is finally a Craigslist App available for Apple (IOS) and Android cell phones. It’s a perfect app to manage selling your items while on the go while using the Craigslist platform.

The Craigslist app has an excellent user interface, which makes selling your old stuff very simple. Just upload a few photos and fill out the description details, and your ad will be posted instantly. Again, when you sell an item, you must arrange payment outside of the app, so the same precautions apply.

The main advantage of using Craigslist is that it’s been around so long – 25 years is a long time to build up a solid following, so it has a massive built-in user base.

16. Flea Market Flipper

One of the best resources to start learning how to flip furniture and other items is a free 45-minute flipping workshop hosted by Rob and Melissa Stephenson from Flea Market Flipper.

The course, known also as Flipper University, will teach you the finer points of “picking”—how to identify which secondhand items are worth the commitment of reselling for a profit. From there, you can handle any polishing up or repairs before selecting the ideal local platform to flip your flea market pick for a nice return on the investment.

17. OfferUp

OfferUp is fast becoming one of the most popular selling apps. In 2020, OfferUp purchased LetGo and has since combined its virtual marketplaces. The OfferUp app allows you to sell anything – from potted plants to cars.

You’ll also be selling locally and directly to a customer. It also claims to be the ‘largest mobile marketplace for local buyers and sellers.

Each user has a profile complete with photos, ratings, and transaction history – this gives the app a very ‘social media’ feel but helps to instill more confidence. A novel feature is that sellers with repeat buyers get rewards.

18. 5miles

5miles was set up to solve the problems of fraud, spamming, expensive listing fees, and confusing browsing options that the founders encountered on other online marketplaces.

They combat these problems by verifying the identity of all users and having a beautiful app interface.   5miles is another app with a social feel – there’s even the option to ‘like’ items for sale and follow other sellers.

A significant differentiating factor is that the website’s support team actively reviews items posted instead of leaving them.

The most significant disadvantage is that, although it’s technically a global app, it’s only useful in a few big US cities. The main ones are Miami, Dallas, New York, and Tampa.

19. Trove

Selling used furniture online can be tricky – it’s big, bulky, and costly to transport. That’s why Trove stepped in with an app dedicated to this problem.

It’s free to list an item, and there are no hidden costs involved.

Currently, the app only works in a handful of major US cities: Atlanta; Austin; Boston; Charlotte; Chicago; Dallas; Detroit; Houston; Los Angeles; Miami; New York; Philadelphia; Phoenix; San Francisco; Seattle, and Washington D.C.

20. Chairish

Chairish is another furniture specialist, but they sell more than just chairs.

Unlike Trove, Chairish isn’t free: there’s a 20% commission. This fee is steep, so it may seem like a no-brainer to opt for a no-fees site, but there are some benefits to using Chairish.

Chairish specializes in high-quality items rather than any old pieces of furniture, which attracts buyers who are willing to pay more rather than those who want the cheapest thing they can find. They could be worth considering if you know you have a good piece or item to sell.

21. Carousell

Carousell is in Singapore and currently only operates in the Australasia region: Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, and Taiwan. However, it recently opened in Canada and may expand to the USA soon.

It’s notable for the vast number of items available to buy and sell – not only the obvious items, like fashion or electronics but also jobs and cars.

22. Vinted

Vinted is another option to consider for anyone looking to declutter their wardrobe. The site is strictly limited to selling jewelry and second-hand clothes.

Boasting 22 million members, Vinted is a popular app to sell your stuff. It’s free to join, and there are no listing fees. Payment is through PayPal.

23. Depop

Depop is for selling clothes, but they’ve positioned themselves as a community for handmade, creative, and vintage items.

The mission of the platform is to become a global conduit of connection, not only in m-commerce, but culture, design, and creative communities around the world.’

Your network on the app can see the items you buy, sell, and like due to the aim to foster this community. Depop is also app-only. It currently operates exclusively in the UK, USA, and Italy.

24. Wallapop

If you have a wide variety of items you want to sell, Wallapop may be ideal – it advertises itself as a virtual flea market. Users will see a list of items on their app, and the items closest to them will appear first.

There are over 30 million users.

25. VarageSell

As you might be able to tell from the name, this app takes inspiration from an old-fashioned garage sale. It’s another one that’s suitable to sell just about anything.

VarageSell was started after its founder decided to sell her clutter on other platforms but found the process to be tedious and frustrating – it was originally created for her home community but has since expanded much further.

It’s available in all USA states and Canadian provinces.

26. Shpock

Similarly, Shpock markets itself as a boot sale app. With over ten million users, it must be doing something right.

It’s free to list and sell your items, but you can choose to pay more to promote your items further – this is a great option if you’re in a rush to sell.

27. Blinker

Blinker is for selling cars. It’s an item many people might be hesitant to sell in such an unconventional way, but Blinker claims that it’s possible to make much more money by using their app. It’s also attractive to buyers as they receive guidance from Blinker’s experts.

Impressively, Blinker has its own patented and award-winning technology to recognize car types through photos. Once you list your car, it will also be available on partner networks.

Even better, it’s completely free to use.

Blinker is currently only available in Florida, Texas, California, and Colorado – however, the company promises it will soon be more widely available.

If you’re outside of their areas of operation, there are plenty of other ways to sell your used car.

28. Nearme

Nearme allows you to sell all kinds of items, from cars to clothes and everything in between.

There’s also an option to rent, so even if you’re not sure whether you want to let go of something entirely, you can still make some money.

29. Cashify

Cashify is a website and app that allows you to buy and sell used phones. They also offer smartphone repair, smartphone accessories, and refurbishment, making them an attractive one-stop shop for buyers.

Unfortunately, it’s currently only available in major Indian cities.

30. Gumtree

Gumtree is another site that was around for a long time online before the app was created. Gumtree is most popular in Australia and the UK.

The process is simple: list an item and wait for nearby sellers to make you an offer. It’s completely free to list and sell, but finding a buyer can be a slow process.

31. Recycler

Recycler connects local buyers and sellers via its online website. The main categories are pets, cars, and housing – but you can sell other things too.

How Do Selling Apps Work?

There are two main types of retail apps: those aimed at selling to people who live nearby and those aimed at selling items to a broader market online through deliveries. Both have their pros and cons.

Online Selling Apps

Apps that let you sell your goods online connect you to a larger number of people, which can increase your chances of being able to sell your items – this is especially important if you’re trying to sell more niche goods.

You also won’t have to worry about fickle buyers as much, because users have to pay before their items get sent.

Apps For Selling Locally

Apps focused on connecting you with the local community have the advantage of lower fees – these apps are often entirely free of charge since cash in hand is used instead of online payment.

However, arranging meetups with customers can be a hassle. You may find that people express interest in your items but stop replying to your messages; they might even fail to turn up when you agree to meet them.

The app you choose depends on your priorities and the kinds of items you want to sell. With such a variety available to download, you’re bound to find something that suits your needs.

What Can I Sell To Make Quick Money?

You’d probably be surprised at the number of unwanted items you have that you can resale for extra money. Some are more popular and valuable than others.

  • Tech: All technology, video games, and electronic items tend to be a good bet, even if the technology is reasonably outdated.
  • Name Brands: Designer clothing, shoes, and handbags from recognizable brands are also a good option – less recognizable brands of clothes and vintage clothing sell too, but less quickly.
  • Kids Items: Another great option is stuff for kids. Parents are always looking for new toys, shoes, clothes, and everything else for their children – and they relish the chance to fork out less than necessary as potential customers.

You can sell all kinds of home items, but they aren’t as popular as the items I just mentioned. Home decor will sell, but you typically have to price it pretty low to get it to move. Furniture will generally get sold eventually, but it can take a while because it isn’t as easy for people just to come and pick up the item, they might have to arrange to borrow a trailer or truck to fit the furniture. And shipping costs make the alternative prohibitively expensive.

Selling used DVDs and physical books are the toughest items to sell because they are a dying medium, and everyone is trying to sell them!

If you’re actually trying to turn “selling stuff” into a side hustle rather than a decluttering project, check out our post on retail arbitrage.

Can I Sell Stuff Faster with a Selling App?

There’s no trick to selling something fast, but there are a few obvious suggestions that are always helpful.

The cheaper you price your items, the more likely the item sells. Of course, you want to make a decent profit – but don’t be greedy. Here are some tips to help you maximize your selling potential on the apps:

Quality Photos

An often-overlooked trick to selling items is making sure your photos are high-quality. The big pull of marketplace apps is that you can snap a photo of your item and list it within seconds, but it pays – literally – to put a bit more thought into what you’re doing. Ensure the lighting is good, the background is plain (white is best), and your item looks presentable. Nobody is going to fork out the big bucks for a crinkled shirt or a dusty ornament.

Keywords

Depending on the mobile app you’re using, keywords can also be important. A lot of the platforms are search bar-based, so you need to make sure that your item name covers all bases.

For example, you might be selling a maroon A-line dress – but is that what a potential buyer is going to be searching for? You might want to try calling it a ‘red maroon burgundy A-line cocktail evening dress’ instead, for example.

List on Multiple Selling Apps

You also might want to consider selling your items on multiple platforms to maximize your chance of being able to sell them.

Finding The Best Selling Apps For You

With so many apps so readily available, there’s no excuse not to sell your unwanted items. You might surprise yourself with how much you can make!

The number of apps available can seem overwhelming, but it’s quick and easy to whittle down the ones of interest to you. Some selling apps only work in certain cities or item categories.

However, don’t overthink things – the best way to make money fast is to just choose an app and get started. So don’t worry if it’s the best app, just get selling!

Read Comments

  • Comment Author image blank
    Wow, awesome and well written/prepared article, especially for old folks like me who are new to selling online. It was a great help to me, not too much to read, concise and well organized. Appreciate your time and effort.