Years and years of consumption can lead to a very unusual side effect besides debt; clutter and junk. It isn’t surprising that a fast growing business segment is the building and renting/letting of self-storage facilities. Not only are we buying more stuff than we have space for but we now need to pay for places to store it when it gets to be too much.

It can be very easy to turn those unwanted or no longer loved items back into cash to use to reduce your debt. While most items will never fetch the original purchase price, some rare and unusual items can return many times the purchase price.

The key here is that by selling your no longer wanted items you can return clutter to cash, use the cash to pay down your debt and remove the items so you don’t have to worry about the care or storage of them anymore. If you have found yourself accumulating items over the years there is a tipping point at which you no longer own your stuff, but it owns you. By ridding yourself of these items many people feel freer and less stressed. There are many benefits to converting unused stuff to cash.

The easiest way to sell your items, that takes the least amount of energy and exposes you to the largest group of potential buyers, is to sell via an online auction. I do and have fun doing it.

Online auctions can be a bit intimidating at first but by following these easy directions you can be ready to begin turning trash to cash immediately.

People of all incomes both buy and sell items via online auctions and if you approach it seriously, there is good money to be made in it, selling of course. I don’t want you buying anything till you clear the clutter and reduce your debt.

As long as you can type, connect to the internet and have a mobile phone that takes pictures, you can sell your items in an online auction. You don’t need to purchase a big kit to do it right, just follow these simple tips:

Steve’s Super Simple Online Auction Tips

1. Always sell an item in a listing that includes a good picture of the item. A picture is worth a thousand words and people are more likely to buy when they see the item.
   
   
2. A good description is priceless. Be sure to invest the time to describe the item in full. If it is a collectable, explain why. If an item has an interesting history, tell people what it is. The longer and more complete the description is, the more interest the item will have.
   
   
3. Always best to start the auction so that it closes on a Sunday night. Sunday night is when more people are online looking so you are more likely to get a bidding war going if the auction ends during prime time, 9 pm to 11 pm.
   
   
4. Offer shipping services. People are willing to have an item packed and sent, just tell them how much it will cost, they’ll pay.
   
   
5. Accept credit cards and safe online payments from your buyers so they can easily pay for the item they purchase from your online auction. If you don’t have a merchant account for accepting credit cards or safe online payments, you can open an online merchant account for free by clicking here and have it setup in minutes.
   
   
6. Don’t try to sell everything at once. Do a good job selling items by listing just enough for sale each week that it does not become overwhelming and you stop doing it. Pace yourself for maximum profits.
   
   
7. Use the weekly cash you make to pay down your debt. Send your weekly profits immediately to your creditors before it gets spent.
   And that’s all it takes to turn trash into cash. It can be just that simple if you let it.