Answering the age old question of, “Should I fix up my stuff before I sell it online?”

Ah, the age old question: “I have an item and I want to sell it online, but should I fix it up before I sell it?”  And the age old answer is, “It depends.”  Sometimes it is worth the effort to give your merchandise a little TLC before selling it online, and sometimes it is not even worth thinking about twice.

When selling something like an inexpensive car you will want to put as little money into it as possible.  Older cars may need a lot of work.  When you spend a lot of money “fixing up” these older cars, the buyer will most likely not give you much more money than the car is worth, not to mention all of the time and effort you put into it.  If the car is in poor shape, and you are asking a low price, then someone might even be looking to buy your car for its parts, and it wouldn’t matter if you fixed it up or not.  If it is an easy repair that will drastically change your asking price, then it will be worth it for you to make the repair. 

With furniture, it might be a good idea to fix up.  In fact it’s a great idea.  If you have an old piece of furniture you are willing to sell, you might be surprised that with a little elbow grease you might be able to make some serious cash when you sell your item.  Not only that, but if your item is more visually attractive you can also sell it quicker.

A friend of mine found an old vanity on the side of the road one day.  She picked it up, borrowed a sander and sanded the old retro paint off, painted it black, and replaced the hardware.  All of that cost her about $15-$20 and it was a great piece of furniture.  It looked so good that no one would have guessed would have guessed it’s humble beginnings.  When she moved she no longer needed it and sold it online for triple the amount she put into it.  It was a great investment of her time.

Take some time to decide how much you will have to spend on parts and add that to the asking price of your item.  Then take the time to calculate how much the labor will cost (especially if you are doing it yourself!).  Also consider about if there will be someone who will actually buy your item.  People are always looking for car parts, but are less likely to be looking for broken furniture.  You will want to fix up an item that you know will sell quickly.  And when it does sell, make sure it was worth it.

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