As the coronavirus pandemic is causing great economic uncertainty across the globe, it's understandable that many may be looking to make some extra cash. Click or scroll through to see what you have lying in your house that you could sell right now.
As people are trying to avoid the confined spaces of public transport, they’re turning to other means of getting around and bike sales have skyrocketed as a result. The UK’s biggest bike retailer Halfords has seen a 500% increase in cycle-related sales, and twice as many bicycles have sold in the last month compared to this time last year. And it’s not just in the UK that people are getting on their bikes – governments across the globe are rushing to improve cycle lanes and bike facilities as they encourage their nations to avoid cramming into buses and trains where possible. If you have a bike lying around that you no longer use, now is the perfect time to put it up for sale.
Fitness studios were quickly closed across the world as the close proximity of weights rooms and cardio suites were identified as hot spots for virus transmission. Stuck indoors with limited daily exercise allowances, fitness fanatics and even non-gym goers wanted to get their exercise in from home, which has led to many trying to buy home gym equipment online. As demand is high and online stock dwindling, if New Year’s resolutions of Januarys past have left you with an unwanted treadmill or weights that are gathering dust, there’s definitely a market of people looking to take them off your hands.
Getting active isn’t just limited to home workouts, and people are looking to get their fix of all kinds of sports at home. Any sports equipment from tennis rackets and basketballs to volleyball nets can turn a dull day at home into a garden tournament, and in Hungary they’ve seen a 289% rise in sales of sports equipment.
Keeping active is a whole lot easier if you’re wearing the right kit, and activewear sales have seen a big boom during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the US there was a 40% increase in stock sell outs when it came to fitness attire, according to Edited, meaning that if you have unwanted, unused, good quality activewear lingering in your wardrobe, you may be able to sell it on.
Not everybody is running their way through the crisis, with many turning to more sedentary pursuits. In fact, US jigsaw sales were up by 300% in March compared to last year according to game manufacturer Ceaco. If you’ve given up on yours or just can’t face that box of 3,000 pieces sat unopened in the garage, there are plenty of keen puzzlers looking for their next challenge.
Similarly, families cooped up indoors have been dusting off their holiday board game selection, and realistically there are only so many times you can lose at Monopoly before you’re eyeing up new game options. Board games tend to be pricey when bought brand new, so any unwanted boxes of Cluedo or Uno are likely to go down a treat if you put them up for sale.
Lockdown has given gamers more reason to while away the hours on their consoles, and many have sought escapism through animated online worlds. France saw digital game downloads spike by 180% when the country was suddenly stuck at home, and Nintendo Switch game Animal Crossing: New Horizons had more downloads in its first week than the rest of the franchise ever had. If you have any video games, consoles, or headsets that you’ve been thinking about ditching, now is the prime time to find a buyer.
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Distraction for at-home children is more important than ever, and unsurprisingly the pandemic has prompted an increase in toy sales across the globe according to market research company The NPD Group. Those briefly-loved Christmas presents from years back might get a new lease of life in a different home while netting you an extra bit of cash in the process.
Perhaps the most popular pandemic hobby, everybody seems to have become a home baker (if you can get your hands on any flour) as a means of passing the time in lockdown. Google has seen a surge in recipe searches, and many have been dusting off old cake tins and electric mixers. If you’ve got a cupboard full of baking equipment but haven’t felt the urge to whip up a banana bread, it could be worth trying to sell some of your bakeware to budding cooks.
As the days get longer people are also cooking up a storm outside of the kitchen. BBQs can be expensive to buy new, so if you’ve got a barely-touched grill that’s not seen a sausage for years, why not put it up for sale. Throwing in extras like a cover, charcoal lights or even a couple of recipe books to help people get grilling will also set your BBQ apart from the rest.
Seed sales have also gone through the roof as people have had time to clear out their gardens ready for vegetable and flower patches. People with little or no outside space have also been getting green and plant pots have been in high demand over the last couple of weeks. So if you have any left over, why not see if you can make some money from your empty pots?
Working from home suddenly became the new norm across the globe because of the COVID-19 outbreak, and many people were forced to throw together makeshift office spaces from whatever they had around. With home working likely to be on the cards for the foreseeable future, people are looking to improve up their DIY office with new pieces. If you’re looking to sell a desk, office chair, or even lamp, you could be in the money.
Many of us have turned to our televisions as a main source of entertainment during the pandemic, and differing tastes across households mean that more people are likely to want a screen of their own. Across the world viewing hours have shot up, and TV purchases are rising too. If you can spare one of your TVs, it’ll likely be snapped up quickly.
Reorganising belongings has also inspired many people to revamp their homes in a more permanent way, and Google saw a clear spike in people searching for all things home décor once they were trapped in their houses. Anything from unused paint brushes to canvases you’ve changed your mind about, your unwanted home improvement items could be exactly what these home decorators are looking for.
Not everybody who is looking to get crafty is throwing paint at their walls, and the sales of smaller arts and crafts-based activities have also gone up. Adult colouring books have never been more on trend and paint-by-numbers projects have come back into fashion as a popular lockdown hobby. If you’ve accumulated a bunch of creative pastimes and don’t have much use for them, why not sell them to somebody who will.
A pastime almost as old as time itself, there’s no escapism quite like dipping into the pages of a different world to while away the hours. Libraries have seen a surge in e-book loans, but 65% of us still prefer to have the real thing according to Pew Research Center. Why not cash in on everybody having a little more time for reading at the moment and flog any books you no longer want? Amazon will let you trade in used books or you can create your own selling page on the site, or through similar online marketplaces such as eBay.
Often a solitary activity or something done with close friends and family, fishing is the perfect sport for those wanting to keep their distance. Many more people might be turning to the sport while they wait for other activities to become available and so there could be quite a few takers for any lines, reels, rods or nets you might have lying around.
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