16 Best Things to Sell on eBay That are Free <i>(but you usually throw away!)</i>
I recently wrote a post about things to sell around the house for extra cash, but in this post, I want to share items that you can get virtually for free and resell on eBay.
I understand that not all of these things were technically free (you had to buy something in order to get it). However, most of the items on this list are things that people ignore or throw away without thinking about their potential value.
If you have sold any other unique items on eBay that you got for free, we’d love to hear about! Leave a comment below!
Let’s get started!
Things to Sell on eBay That are Free!
Empty boxes. Yep, you read that right… empty boxes! A prime example of this would be iPhone boxes. Some people simply want an original box to sell their used phone in and others just want to prank their kids into thinking they got the newest model for their birthday. Obviously, the new the model on the box the more it’s worth… but always look it up before throwing the box out!
Other examples include:
Lionel Train boxes
Cigar boxes
Designer Purse boxes
Tiffany & Co boxes (and bags)
Designer Watch boxes
Designer Shoe Boxes
Any Vintage Boxes
and more!
Power cords. A lot of power cords are worthless, however, if you have any current electronics with spare cords, you can probably sell them for a decent profit (especially if they are OEM). This would include Apple and Samsung cords for the most recent models, gaming system cords, Alexa, Google Home, etc.
Installation CDs and drivers. A lot of manufacturers allowing you to download the installation and driver programs directly from their website now (since a lot of computers no longer come with CD drives). However, there are some people who buy old printers or older computer accessories that need an installation CD or driver and it can’t be found online. This is why they’re always worth looking up before tossing them!
My Coke Rewards codes. If you’re someone who drinks a lot of Coke or can get your hands on a lot of coke bottle caps, it might be worth your time to collect them! Yes, it does take a lot of caps to make them worthwhile (you really need at least 100 of them). However, you were going to just throw them away anyway so why not make a little money on it! 🙂
Boxtops. Yet another item we all see but throw in the recycle bin, probably on a daily basis. It doesn’t take long to cut off the boxtops and throw them in a baggy. We just have to get in the habit of doing it! Again, you really need about 100 of them to make them worth your while, but for some people, it won’t take long at all to get to 100.
Gift cards. It’s happened to all of us… someone gets you a gift card to a place you would never need to shop at. Or, maybe you would rather have the cash. Sell it on eBay. There are a lot of great sold results showing that people really do buy and sell gift cards on eBay!
Empty toilet paper rolls. Yes, people really do buy empty toilet paper rolls for crafts. Our kids have actually sold two lots of toilet paper rolls in the past. Being a family of eight, it doesn’t take us long to collect a lot of toilet paper rolls (in addition to collecting from family and friends). It’s a fun little experiment and basically free money! You can read more about selling empty toilet paper rolls on our blog post titled, Can I Sell Empty Toilet Paper Rolls?
Large pine cones. This is another item that you can sell as a craft item. If you have pine trees on your property that drop large pinecones, you can get much more FREE than that 😉 You might not be able to sell them as well in the spring and summer, but as soon as fall hits, get those pinecones listed!
Magazines. You will need to sell a large lot of magazines in order to make a profit. However, if you have a pile of vintage magazines, you may have hit a gold mine. Depending on what it is, of course, you could definitely have something worth listing on eBay. Be sure to do your research before tossing them out!
Empty perfume bottles. Believe it or not, some people actually do collect and buy empty perfume bottles. You’ll need to have a perfume bottle that is older to really make some money, but some modern designer brands might do well too.
Empty egg cartons. Here is another example of an item that we often throw away but people will use for craft projects and firestarters. You can sell the cardboard and styrofoam kind. The more valuable ones appear to be the 18 count styrofoam cartons though.
Makeup sample sets. People love to buy these… they’re perfect for travel, a starter kit, and even “just for fun” purchases. If you group together a lot of makeup samples, you can sell them for decent money!
Gift bags. This one kind of surprised me but then I thought it was a pretty smart idea. We collect lots and lots of gift bags over the years and if you have a lot of similar type (birthday, Christmas, baby, etc) you could group them together and sell a bunch of them in one shot. Also, if you shop at a high-end store and have a couple of their branded bags, you could group those together and sell them on eBay!
Wine corks. People love to make things out of wine corks and if you’re a wine drinker, you probably throw them out all the time. You’ll need a large quantity to make it worth your time, but it’s better than just throwing them away 😉
Pop can tabs. A lot of people like to make things out of pop can tabs and if you’re just throwing away your pop cans, you might as a well have a little container nearby where you can break off the tab and collect them. The colored ones (like the blue Miller Lite tabs) are a little more valuable.
Coupons. Believe it or not, people actually do buy coupons. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me (spending money just to save a little money) but the over 23k sold results on eBay (at the time of writing this post) tells me that they sell a lot! Next time you throw those ads away, think twice about saving the coupons!