What is in this guide
Most of what a household outgrows is not worth listing, and understanding that first is what makes this work rather than becoming a second job that earns four dollars an hour.
A bag of mixed clothing might return twenty dollars for two hours of photographing, listing, messaging and meeting. A single good quality item might return eighty for twenty minutes. The difference is entirely in what you choose to list.
What is actually worth listing
Anything large and expensive that was barely used. Prams, cots, high chairs, carriers, bassinets. The market for these is strong because they are expensive new and are genuinely outgrown rather than worn out.
Branded items in good condition, where a buyer is searching for that specific thing rather than browsing.
Complete sets. A complete puzzle, a full Lego set with the instructions, a boxed game with all the pieces. Completeness is what separates a sale from a donation.
Sporting equipment. Bikes, scooters, skateboards, sports gear. Seasonal demand is real: list in the weeks before that sport’s season starts.
Anything still in its packaging, including duplicate gifts.
Bulk lots of clothing by size and season, which is how clothing actually sells. A single shirt is not worth listing. A box of size 4 winter clothing is.
Books in series, which sell better than single books.
What is not worth listing
Say it plainly, because this is where the hours disappear.
Individual items of clothing unless they are high value or in demand.
Anything stained, worn or missing pieces. It will not sell, and it takes the same amount of effort not to sell as to sell.
Cheap plastic toys. The market is saturated and the postage costs more than the item.
Anything you would need to post cheaply. Postage on bulky low-value items usually kills the transaction.
Anything you have been meaning to list for over three months. Be honest with yourself. Donate it and reclaim the space, as covered in what to actually throw out, and what to keep.
What you must not sell
This is the part that matters most and it is almost never covered.
Check Product Safety Australia for recalls before listing anything. Recalled children’s products are widely still in circulation and reselling one is both a genuine safety issue and a legal exposure.
Do not sell an item that does not meet current mandatory safety standards. The ACCC administers mandatory standards for a range of children’s products, and suppliers of second-hand goods have obligations under the Australian Consumer Law too. The ACCC publishes guidance on selling second-hand goods and is the authority.
Items where the history matters and cannot be verified should not be sold at all:
Helmets, including bike and sporting helmets, which may have been in an impact that is invisible.
Child car restraints where the history is unknown. These have expiry considerations and impact history matters, and Australian standards apply. If you do pass one on, the honest position is that you can only do so responsibly if you know its full history, and even then the buyer needs to check it against current requirements.
Cots and portable cots that do not meet the current mandatory standard.
Anything with a damaged or missing battery compartment, particularly anything containing a button battery.
Anything you would not put your own child in. The simplest test there is.
Getting a better price
Clean it properly. The single largest factor in both price and speed of sale.
Photograph in daylight, against a plain background, from several angles including any flaws.
Show the flaws. It prevents disputes and it builds the trust that gets the sale.
Write what it actually is: brand, model, size, age, condition, what is included, what is missing.
Include the measurements for anything where size matters.
Price by looking at what comparable items have actually sold for, not what they are listed for. Listed and sold are different numbers.
List at the right time. Winter clothing in autumn, not in spring. Sports gear before the season. Buying kids gear at the right time of year is the same calendar viewed from the other side, and it works as well for selling as for buying.
Where to sell
Local marketplaces and community groups for anything bulky, because collection avoids postage entirely and postage is what kills most of these transactions.
Auction and listing sites for items with a specific searching audience.
Specialist children’s resale groups, which exist in most areas and have buyers who already want what you have.
Consignment stores and children’s markets, which take a cut and do the work.
Safety when meeting a buyer: a public place or your driveway rather than inside the house, daylight, and someone else at home. This is ordinary sensible practice and worth stating.
The tax question
Selling your own used household items is generally different from running a business, and where the line sits is a question for the ATO.
Broadly, the things that matter are whether you are selling personal items you owned and used, or buying and reselling for profit; whether it is occasional or regular; whether it is organised in a businesslike way; and the scale of it.
If you move from clearing your own children’s outgrown things to sourcing stock and reselling it, that is a different activity with different obligations, potentially including income reporting and an ABN.
The ATO publishes guidance on the difference between a hobby and a business and on the sharing and gig economy, and it is the authority. This article gives no tax advice and a household approaching that line should check the ATO’s current guidance or speak to an accountant.
Being realistic about what it earns
No figure is given here, because it depends entirely on what you have.
What can be said structurally: this is a one-off recovery of value from items you already own, not a recurring income. It works best as a twice-yearly clear-out rather than an ongoing activity, and the return per hour is good on a handful of items and poor on everything else.
The alternative uses are legitimate too. Passing items to another family, donating in good condition, or keeping them for a younger sibling all have value that a listing does not.
Next: buying kids gear at the right time of year covers the buying side of the same calendar, what to actually throw out, and what to keep covers the rest of the clear-out, and decluttering kids' toys without the tears covers doing it with the children.
Buying rather than selling has its own short list of exceptions, which is in what to buy secondhand for kids, and what not to.
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