Before you buy more this Black Friday and festive season, take a look at what you already have.
Not your bank account. Your cupboards.
That old camera collecting dust in a drawer. The exercise bike that became a clothes horse. The clothes you haven't worn in three years. The baby items your children have outgrown. The kitchen appliance you received as a gift but never use.
You might not think of these things as money. But someone else might.
And selling a few things you no longer need could give you some extra cash for the festive season – without having to find an additional income stream.
In fact, buying and selling items online was the most popular side hustle in JustMoney's 2025 Money & Me survey, with 36% of respondents saying they have a side hustle.
So, before you head out looking for a new source of income, see whether you can make some money from what you already have.
Start with what you don't use
You don't need to empty your entire house. Start with one cupboard, drawer or room and look for things you haven't used in the past year.
Ask yourself:
Do I still use this?
Would I buy it again today?
Could someone else get more use out of it?
You might find a phone you upgraded but kept as a backup. Or a coffee machine that rarely leaves the cupboard. Maybe your children have toys, sports equipment or clothes they've outgrown.
Don't worry about finding something worth thousands. Selling five things for R200 each gives you R1,000. That's R1,000 you didn't have in your pocket before.
Give yourself a reason to sell
One reason selling old stuff feels like a hassle is that the money can seem too little to bother with.
Give yourself a goal.
Perhaps you want to put R1,500 towards presents for your kids over the festive season. Maybe you're trying to cover an upcoming school expense. Or perhaps you simply want some extra spending money for a family day out. Now that pile of things you don't use has a purpose.
For example, imagine you find an old tablet, two jackets and a set of unused camping chairs. You could sell the tablet for R1,000, the jackets for R300 each and the chairs for R400. That's R2,000 from things that were sitting around your home.
You didn't work another shift. You didn't borrow the money. You simply turned things you weren't using into cash.
Price it to sell
One of the biggest mistakes people make is deciding what something is worth based on what they paid for it. Unfortunately, your old phone doesn't care that you paid R8,000 for it five years ago. Today, it might only be worth R1,000.
Look at what similar items sell for today.
Search for the same or similar item on the platform you plan to use. Check its condition, age and brand, then choose a price that gives you room to negotiate without making your listing unrealistic. If you want a quick sale, you may need to price it a little lower.
Remember, cash in your pocket is worth more than an item gathering dust in your cupboard.
Don't forget about safety
Selling items on platforms such as Facebook Marketplace, Gumtree or Yaga can be a simple way to make extra money, but don't let the excitement of a sale make you careless. If the buyer is not paying in cash, check that the money reflects in your banking app before handing anything over.
Be wary of buyers who send suspicious payment confirmations, ask for your banking login details or pressure you to hand over an item before you've confirmed payment.
If you meet someone in person, choose a busy public place with security, such as a shopping centre, or consider meeting at a police station that offers a safe trading area. Where possible, take someone with you and let someone else know where you're going.
A good sale should leave you with money in your pocket, not a story about how you lost it.
Make it easy for someone to buy
You don't need professional photography equipment. Just clean the item, put it somewhere with good light and take a few clear photos showing the front, back and any important details. If there's a scratch, missing part or other damage, show it.
Then write a simple description that tells people what they're actually getting.
Instead of:
“Phone for sale. R2,500.”
Try:
“Samsung Galaxy A54 5G 256GB, good condition, 3 years old, works well and comes with charger. R2,500. Minor scratch on the back.”
Be upfront about the condition and you could save both you and the buyer a lot of time.
Protect your personal information
Before you hand over a phone, tablet or camera, make sure you remove your personal information too.
Back up anything you want to keep, sign out of your accounts and then factory reset the device. For cameras, remember to remove any memory cards.
It only takes a few minutes, but it can help keep your photos, messages, contacts and other personal information out of someone else's hands.
What will you do with the extra money?
Selling your clutter is about more than just clearing space. If payday is still a way off and money feels tight, even a few hundred rand can make a difference.
It’s all about making good money choices. And sometimes the best thing you can do is to plan ahead.
JustMoney's Budget Calculator gives you an easy way to see if you're spending more than you earn. You simply fill in how much you earn and how much you spend on various essentials, and it works out how much money you have to spend after the bills.
And if your monthly numbers don't quite add up, you could use the calculator to work out how much extra you need, then set yourself a target for what to sell.
Maybe you need an extra R500. Maybe it's R1,500.
The important thing is knowing what you're trying to achieve.
So open those cupboards and take a look. You might have more money hiding in your home than you think.
And the best part? You don't need to buy anything to find it.
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