The alternative to letting the antiques keep gathering dust is selling them to someone who will appreciate them. Not only is this great for the buyer, but it’s great for you – who doesn’t love a little more cash in their pocket?
But selling antiques can be a time-consuming and laborious process if you don’t know where to sell them for cash. The great news is that the Internet offers multiple venues for selling antiques for cash, and many of these websites use secure funds transfer systems to make things as regulated as possible. There are also real-world selling avenues, like flea markets.
Ultimately, you should consider a few things when selling your antiques:
- How large or heavy are the antiques you want to sell? This may affect your shipping options or whether you’ll want to take them to a physical storefront
- What’s your budget? Some websites charge fees for you to list your items to sell
- How rare is the antique? Sometimes you need large potential buyer audiences to sell antique, while other items may be easier to unload on more niche markets
Let’s break down some of the best places where you can sell antiques for cash.
Etsy
Etsy is a great first stop if you want to sell your antiques for cash. That’s because it’s not only a marketplace for antiques, but it’s arguably the biggest digital shopping center for handcrafted or custom-made items and brands. Because antiques usually fit under a “vintage” description, selling such items, be they furniture, clothing or anything else is completely acceptable.
In fact, you can sell tons of things on Etsy thanks to the vintage qualifier. This includes toys and games, accessories, home decor items, and even entertainment products like books or movies.
However, keep in mind that Etsy has a 20 year age rule – that is, anything you want to sell under the vintage qualifier must be at least 20 years old. You technically can’t sell vintage items below that age on Etsy. They also charge fees: a $.20 listing fee and a 5% transaction fee after your item sells.
Still, Etsy is quite a good choice if you want to quickly connect with other antique shoppers or enthusiasts. The site is easy to navigate, setting up an account is relatively quick, and you’ll be able to find a marketplace for your antique goods without too much difficulty.
OfferUp
OfferUp is pretty similar to Craigslist (more on that site below), as it’s intended to be used for local buyers and sellers of various goods. It’s an attractive option because they don’t charge any listing or selling fees for its users. Even better, OfferUp offers a specific section of the site dedicated to selling vintage or antique items.
As a result, buyers will have an easier time finding your antiques and you’ll have an easier time selling your antiques for cash. You can even haggle over cash transactions without too much difficulty since OfferUp can let you filter for different buyers in your local area, making meet-ups a breeze.
OfferUp doesn’t quite have the same network as Craigslist, in part because it isn’t as well known as the latter. However, this also means that the site isn’t as inundated with trolls or fake accounts that will spam your inbox. This could be beneficial if you live in a dense or metropolitan area and don’t need Craigslist’s overall popularity to connect with antique purchasers nearby. Consider them if you’ve already tried Craigslist and have found the experience wanting.
Bonanza
Bonanza is a relatively unique digital shopping site in that you don’t have to pay any set up for listing fees. This includes if you want to sell antique items or vintage goods. However, they do charge a fee of 3.5% whenever you sell your listed items. Furthermore, they charge an additional 5.5% fee when you sell your items if you have the antiques advertised on Google Ads. Combined, this can crank up to 9% of your total profits!
Still, it may be a good site if you can stomach these relatively high fees. In fact, because of the lack of set up for listing fees, you might still end up taking home more cash than if you used another digital marketplace.
Most importantly, Bonanza offers special advertising rates that will allow you to sell your antiques to more buyers via greater exposure. Thus, they could be a great digital marketplace if you want to reach buyers more frequently or make a solid business out of selling the antiques from your home or family’s estate.
ArtFire
At ArtFire, you can use the site’s platform to sell any handmade goods or craft supplies, plus any vintage or antique items. You do have to open up a digital shopfront to sell on the site, and this comes with a few fees:
- If you start a standard shop, fees include a $4.95 per month fee, a $.23 fee for listing each item individually, and a 12.75% final valuation fee
- A popular shop includes fees of $20 per month and a 4.5% final valuation fee, but no listing fees
- Lastly, the featured shop account comes with a $40 per month fee and the same final valuation fee with no listing fees
As you can see, the last two shop types are better if you plan to sell lots of antique items and want to take home as much of your profits as possible. This is doubly true since the latter two shops allow you to list up to 1000 and 2500 items for sale each, respectively, while the first shop only lets you list up to 250 items.
Ultimately, ArtFire is a great choice if you want to make a real business out of selling antiques for cash and have plenty of vintage items to fill up your digital storefront.
Ruby Lane
Ruby Lane is a website specifically designed to help people sell their antique or vintage items. It’s also designed explicitly for those who want to sell antiques frequently, not someone looking to get rid of the junk in their grandmother’s attic over a one-time garage sale.
This is indicated by the site’s rules, which stipulate that you have to have at least 10 items for sale at all times. However, you don’t have to deal with any listing fees when you open a shop on this website. There is a $69 per month fee, plus a $100 fee for one-time setup. Still, the lack of other fees means this could be quite a profitable site to set up a digital storefront if you have plenty of antiques to sell over the long-term.
It’s also a good pick for long-term antique selling businesses since you’ll be able to curate a more dedicated customer base. Only those looking for antiques frequently are likely to visit Ruby Lane and similar sites. If you have a good sense that business will be consistent, Ruby Lane might just be a great choice for your wares.
Craigslist
This is arguably one of the biggest digital bazaars on the Internet, and it’s a little closer to the wild west than any other site open at the time. You can sell antiques and just about anything else on this site, which makes it attractive for many. This free-for-all feel is amplified by the lack of listing or selling fees, and by the ease of which the website connects local buyers and sellers to one another.
As a result, Craigslist could make for very cheap business as you sell your antiques for cash. You won’t likely have to ship your antiques and can meet buyers in person for a cash handoff. But the focus on local markets means that you may not be able to find very many buyers for your antiques if you live in a rural or lowly populated area.
Metropolitan areas are a little better for doing consistent business. But keep in mind that Craigslist’s popularity means that it’s frequently flooded with low effort posts, trolls, and even some dangerous buyers looking to take advantage of new sellers.
eBay
eBay is the classic buying and selling platform that’s almost as old as the modern Internet itself. You can sell antiques and just about anything else on this platform, making it somewhat similar to Craigslist. But eBay has an even further reach than the latter, working with over 177 million shoppers as of last count.
This could result in fantastic exposure for the antiques you want to sell for cash. You aren’t limited to local buyers as you are with Craigslist either, so this could be a better choice if you don’t live in a metropolitan area.
You don’t have to pay any listing fees if you sell as an individual (i.e. you only have a few antiques you want to get rid of), but you do have to pay a 10% final valuation fee. If you choose to set up an eBay business, you do have to choose one of the many shop plans that eBay offers – you can check the website for additional information.
Ultimately, eBay is a good choice if you want to prioritize reach over personalization and specific shoppers. They’re possibly the best pick if you have a few antiques you think you can get good cash deals for, but don’t have an interest in starting a business or if you don’t know if there’s a good antique market in your local area.
Facebook is far more than just a social media platform to connect with your old high school classmates. Now it’s the home of Facebook Marketplace: a free additional platform on the website that allows you to sell antiques and other stuff completely free.
You can initially try to sell your item by posting about it on your Facebook wall, which will automatically be shared with any followers or friends. This could be a good pick if you want to sell the antique in question to people you know personally to avoid any shady deals.
Or you can use the aforementioned Marketplace. This is a dedicated section within Facebook that allows you to post items for sale to a much wider audience. Anyone who uses Facebook will be able to see the listings for your antique items, so it’s closer to eBay than anything else.
There is a little bit of security involved since anyone who buys the antiques has to have a Facebook account. You can also start a secure conversation with them. We’d mostly recommend using Facebook to sell your antiques for cash if you want to give them to someone in your friend network or if you want to sell your antiques without paying any fees.
eBid
eBid is closer to eBay in more ways than just the name. But most importantly, eBid has an upper fee cap of 3%, meaning you’ll never pay more than that amount in fees to sell antiques or other items on its platform.
The site has been around since 1999 and currently lists over 3 million items for sale. This is a pretty decent audience, especially for items as widely looked for online as antiques. Starting an account on eBid is quick and simple, and you’ll be able to categorize your antiques appropriately so that your target buying audience sees your listings quickly.
It’s one of the better choices if you want to sell your antiques with as little costs as possible, but it’s slightly better than the totally free option Facebook offers if you want to reach a wider audience. This is partly due to exposure – most people still don’t use Facebook for shopping and may not even know that the Marketplace exists.
Flea Markets
This last option isn’t a website at all. Instead, you can hit the road and visit flea markets in the real world, as flea markets are one of the big congregations for antique shoppers and enthusiasts everywhere around the world.
Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to have a big dedicated antique business to rent space at any stationary flea market. Many cities, even midsized ones rather than big metropolitan centers, have stationary flea markets that crop up every few weeks or months. You can rent out space at these places for a small fee, then sell your antiques to people who come to look at them in person.
Traveling flea markets are the same deal. But keep in mind that you will have to put in a lot more effort to sell your antiques at any kind of flea market since you won’t have any assistance in setting up your booth, tent, or buying area. You’ll either need to do all the hard work yourself or get some friends and family members to help you out, especially if your antiques are heavy furniture.
Still, it’s a good option for those who like selling their antiques face-to-face and securing a deal with a handshake instead of a digital signature.
Summary
All in all, there are tons of ways in which you can sell antiques for cash, both online and in the real world. Some of the best methods involve a mixture of the two realms, such as Craigslist. But you should heavily consider which method will work best for the antiques you have to sell, your overall budget, and the level of profit you hope to make from the sale.
You can also look into testing out many of these platforms or starting an account to see their sites or interfaces before settling on a final decision. Whatever you choose, we wish you luck selling your antiques and hope you make a good bundle when all is said and done!
