How to Make Money During a Recession

Sell unwanted or unused items online., Sell to second-hand shops., Rent out a room., Rent out your parking space.

4 Steps 4 min read Medium

Step-by-Step Guide

  1. Step 1: Sell unwanted or unused items online.

    A straight-forward way to make some money during a recession is selling old or unwanted things you have around the house.

    This could be anything from expensive electronics and jewellery, to old furniture or clothes.

    In a recession, people may be more inclined to buy second-hand so it’s a good time to sell.

    You can sell things online via internet auction sites like Ebay, or more specialist websites if you have something rare or collectable.Consider listing your items on multiple sites, but remember to remove duplicate listings when the items sell.

    Do some research on how much similar things are being listed and sold for before you price your items.

    Look for similar items both on the website you are posting on and on others, including eBay and Amazon.

    Be accurate and truthful in descriptions of the goods you are selling.

    A good picture can really help your items sell more quickly.
  2. Step 2: Sell to second-hand shops.

    An alternative or supplementary way to make money selling your stuff is to visit some local second-hand stores to see if the store owner is interested in buying any of it.

    Second-hand stores normally buy and sell items, and if you go there in person, you can talk face-to-face and find what kind of items the owner is interested in.

    This requires more leg-work, but saves you the hassle of listing items online.

    With these stores you can generally opt for consignment or selling outright.

    With consignment you’ll receive an agreed percentage of the resale price.

    If you sell out-right you get the money up front.

    Consigning is generally a higher risk, because if it doesn’t sell you mightn’t get anything.

    If it sells well, however, you may get more than you would from selling out-right.Vintage clothing or furniture can fetch a good price in specialist stores.

    Visit a few shops first to investigate the prices they are charging for items that are similar to what you want to sell.

    Sports stores may buy second-hand sports equipment if it is in good condition.Specialist second-hand book stores will generally be quite selective about what they buy., If you own your own home, it will probably be your biggest asset and something you can certainly make some money from in a recession.

    The easiest way to do this is to rent out a spare room to someone.

    This can make a serious dent in your mortgage repayments as well as reducing the amount you have to spend on utility bills and taxes.

    You can rent a room through an estate agent, or do it independently.

    Operating with an estate agent should give you more protection, but the agency will take a significant cut from the rental income.

    Whatever you decide, be sure to thoroughly vet potential housemates and ask for references from previous landlords.

    Alternately, you can rent out a room through a website like AirBnB or HomeAway.

    These websites will also take a small cut from your rental income, but allow you to easily post your residence, get to know potential renters, and accept payment.

    If you want the house to yourself at weekends, you may be able to find someone who only needs a room Monday to Friday., If you live in a big and busy city, parking spaces may be very valuable.

    If you have a parking space outside your apartment, renting this out can be an easy and recession-proof way to make some extra money.

    Your ability to do this will depend on where you live and what the local parking situation is like.

    Some factors, such as being near a train station, or a place where a lot of people work like a commercial or business centre, can help.Be sure that you’re not violating the terms and conditions of your parking permit or residency before you go ahead with it.

    Once you are sure you are free to do it, you can advertise your parking spot online.
  3. Step 3: Rent out a room.

  4. Step 4: Rent out your parking space.

Detailed Guide

A straight-forward way to make some money during a recession is selling old or unwanted things you have around the house.

This could be anything from expensive electronics and jewellery, to old furniture or clothes.

In a recession, people may be more inclined to buy second-hand so it’s a good time to sell.

You can sell things online via internet auction sites like Ebay, or more specialist websites if you have something rare or collectable.Consider listing your items on multiple sites, but remember to remove duplicate listings when the items sell.

Do some research on how much similar things are being listed and sold for before you price your items.

Look for similar items both on the website you are posting on and on others, including eBay and Amazon.

Be accurate and truthful in descriptions of the goods you are selling.

A good picture can really help your items sell more quickly.

An alternative or supplementary way to make money selling your stuff is to visit some local second-hand stores to see if the store owner is interested in buying any of it.

Second-hand stores normally buy and sell items, and if you go there in person, you can talk face-to-face and find what kind of items the owner is interested in.

This requires more leg-work, but saves you the hassle of listing items online.

With these stores you can generally opt for consignment or selling outright.

With consignment you’ll receive an agreed percentage of the resale price.

If you sell out-right you get the money up front.

Consigning is generally a higher risk, because if it doesn’t sell you mightn’t get anything.

If it sells well, however, you may get more than you would from selling out-right.Vintage clothing or furniture can fetch a good price in specialist stores.

Visit a few shops first to investigate the prices they are charging for items that are similar to what you want to sell.

Sports stores may buy second-hand sports equipment if it is in good condition.Specialist second-hand book stores will generally be quite selective about what they buy., If you own your own home, it will probably be your biggest asset and something you can certainly make some money from in a recession.

The easiest way to do this is to rent out a spare room to someone.

This can make a serious dent in your mortgage repayments as well as reducing the amount you have to spend on utility bills and taxes.

You can rent a room through an estate agent, or do it independently.

Operating with an estate agent should give you more protection, but the agency will take a significant cut from the rental income.

Whatever you decide, be sure to thoroughly vet potential housemates and ask for references from previous landlords.

Alternately, you can rent out a room through a website like AirBnB or HomeAway.

These websites will also take a small cut from your rental income, but allow you to easily post your residence, get to know potential renters, and accept payment.

If you want the house to yourself at weekends, you may be able to find someone who only needs a room Monday to Friday., If you live in a big and busy city, parking spaces may be very valuable.

If you have a parking space outside your apartment, renting this out can be an easy and recession-proof way to make some extra money.

Your ability to do this will depend on where you live and what the local parking situation is like.

Some factors, such as being near a train station, or a place where a lot of people work like a commercial or business centre, can help.Be sure that you’re not violating the terms and conditions of your parking permit or residency before you go ahead with it.

Once you are sure you are free to do it, you can advertise your parking spot online.

About the Author

L

Larry Chapman

Brings years of experience writing about crafts and related subjects.

52 articles
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