Start with a walk through your place
Grab your phone and go room by room. You’re looking for anything you haven’t touched in six months that someone else would pay real money for.
Stuff that usually sells: game consoles and controllers, phones, tablets and laptops you replaced, power tools, bikes, TVs and speakers, a decent couch or dresser, baby gear, camping gear, designer bags and sneakers. One or two big items can do most of the work, and that’s way faster than twenty small ones.
Before you price anything, search it on eBay and filter to sold listings. That shows what people actually paid. Price a little under that for a local sale and it’ll move.
Where to sell it (and what each one takes)
Bulky stuff goes local. Small, valuable stuff can go national. Here’s how the three big ones stack up.
Facebook Marketplace
Best for: furniture, bikes, anything too big to ship
- What it is
- Facebook’s buy-and-sell marketplace, mostly used for local pickup.
- What you do
- Post photos and a price, answer messages, meet the buyer and get paid at pickup.
- How much it pays
- You set the price. Sell locally for cash and the money is yours on the spot. If you ship an order through Marketplace instead, Meta takes 10% of the sale, with an $0.80 minimum.
- The catch
- Lowballers and no-shows. Plenty of them. Meet in a busy public spot and never take a check.
Worth it? Yes for anything big. It is the quickest way to turn a couch into cash today.
Mercari
Best for: shipping smaller items without a lot of setup
- What it is
- An app for selling used stuff to buyers nationwide.
- What you do
- List it (listing is free), ship it when it sells, get paid once the order is done.
- How much it pays
- Mercari keeps 10% of the item price plus buyer-paid shipping. Direct deposit is free and usually takes up to 5 business days. Instant Pay lands in about 30 minutes for $3, once a day.
- The catch
- Instant Pay tops out at $600 a month, so a $700 goal can’t all come out instantly in one month. You also wait for the buyer to get the item.
Worth it? Only for stuff that sells better to the whole country than to your town.
eBay
Best for: electronics, collectibles and parts
- What it is
- The biggest online marketplace for used and collectible stuff.
- What you do
- List it as an auction or a fixed price, ship it when it sells.
- How much it pays
- In most categories eBay takes 13.6% of the sale (up to $7,500), plus $0.30 per order of $10 or less or $0.40 on bigger orders. Your first 250 listings a month are free to post, then $0.35 each.
- The catch
- The cut is the biggest of the three, and you’re waiting on shipping. Not a same-day option.
Worth it? Only if the item is worth more online than locally. Check those sold listings first.
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| Where | What they take on a $140 sale | You keep |
|---|---|---|
| Local cash sale | $0 | $140 |
| Mercari | $14 (10%) | $126 |
| Facebook Marketplace (shipped) | $14 (10%) | $126 |
| eBay | $19.44 ($19.04 at 13.6%, plus $0.40) | $120.56 |
That’s before shipping costs and assuming the buyer pays no shipping. The point: five local sales get you $700, but five eBay sales get you about $603. Sell local whenever you can.
Do not get scammed while selling
Sellers get hit with one scam more than any other. A buyer sends a check for more than your price and asks you to send back the difference, or to pay their “mover” with a gift card. The check looks fine. Your bank even shows the money.
Then it bounces. The FTC says fake checks can take weeks to be discovered, and by then you owe your bank the full amount. So the rule is simple. Cash or an instant payment app at pickup, no checks, and never send money back to a buyer.
Nothing left to sell? Sell a weekend instead
If the closet’s already empty, odd jobs and moving help are the next fastest way to $700. You set the price on TaskRabbit. GoShare posts its own pay averages, which is rare.
TaskRabbit
Best for: furniture assembly, mounting, moving help
- What it is
- A marketplace for local odd jobs. You work as an independent contractor called a Tasker.
- What you do
- List the jobs you can do, set your hours and work area, then accept tasks.
- How much it pays
- You set your own hourly rate and minimum (at least one hour). The client’s service charges don’t come out of your pay, and you keep 100% of tips. Clients are charged within 24 hours of your invoice, paid out by Stripe to a checking account.
- The catch
- There’s a one-time, non-refundable $25 registration charge, and paying it doesn’t guarantee you get approved. Background and ID checks first.
Worth it? Only if you’re handy and can wait for approval. Not a this-weekend thing if you’ve never signed up.
Best for: anyone with a pickup truck or van
- What it is
- A delivery and moving app for drivers with trucks, vans or cars, plus labor-only helpers.
- What you do
- Pick up and deliver furniture, appliances and other big loads, or take labor-only jobs.
- How much it pays
- GoShare lists average earnings of up to $60 an hour for pickup trucks and up to $84 an hour for labor-only jobs. Earnings are deposited in 4 business days.
- The catch
- Those are “up to” averages and GoShare doesn’t say how it gets them. Your vehicle has to be a 2004 or newer and pass inspection, and you need to clear background and driving checks.
Worth it? Only if you have a truck or van. Then it could be the fastest $700 on this page outside of selling.
More gigs like these are in our big list of side gigs and the best weekend jobs.
Still short? Borrow small and borrow cheap
If you can’t sell or work your way there in time, cover only the gap. If your paycheck already goes to Current, its paycheck advance offers eligible customers up to $1,000 before payday, free if you can wait up to 3 business days. A credit union payday alternative loan is the other decent option, capped at 28% APR.
A payday loan is not. The CFPB says they charge $10 to $30 for every $100 you borrow, usually due in two to four weeks. The $1,000 page compares those costs side by side.
FAQ
What sells fastest for cash?
Big, useful stuff priced a little under what similar items sold for: furniture, bikes, game consoles, power tools and TVs. List it with clear photos on Facebook Marketplace and say cash at pickup.
Can I make $700 in a day?
Selling, yes, if you have the right item or two. Working, not really, unless you have a truck and a busy day on a moving app.
Is it better to sell on eBay or locally?
Locally, almost always, because you keep everything. Use eBay or Mercari only when the item is worth noticeably more to buyers in other places.
Closer to $600? Here is how $600 adds up. Want the next step up? See how to make $800 fast with local side jobs. More side hustles live here, plus what’s paying right now. Want a little app money on the side while you sell? Here are the apps that pay you real money.
Next step
Walk through your place, pick the five best things, and post them tonight. Then check what’s paying right now.
Sources (8)
- Meta. Merchant terms (Marketplace selling fee). facebook.com. Accessed Oct 22, 2026.
- Mercari. Selling fees and payouts. mercari.com. Accessed Oct 22, 2026.
- eBay. Selling fees. ebay.com. Accessed Oct 22, 2026.
- Federal Trade Commission. How to spot, avoid, and report fake check scams. consumer.ftc.gov. Accessed Oct 22, 2026.
- Current. Paycheck Advance. current.com. Accessed Oct 22, 2026.
- Current. Paycheck Advance Terms and Conditions. current.com. Accessed Oct 22, 2026.
- National Credit Union Administration. Permissible Loan Interest Rate Ceiling Extended (Letter 26-FCU-02). ncua.gov. Accessed Oct 22, 2026.
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. What are the costs and fees for a payday loan?. consumerfinance.gov. Accessed Oct 22, 2026.
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