Start the year off right: Sort, Sell and Save this January!

January is here, which means it's a brand-new year of possibilities!

After all the Christmas and New Year's Eve festivities, your bank balance might be feeling a bit sad, so how does making some money during the upcoming winter weeks sound?

Wipe the slate clean this January by decluttering and organising your home- it's free, therapeutic and best of all, you could be sitting on a gold mine!

Let's take a look at some helpful tips on how you can begin to declutter your home, sell your unwanted items and pocket some extra cash!

Which spaces are the main culprits for clutter?

1) Garage/shed

The garage is typically filled with big and bulky items that don't see the light of day. Mountain bikes, toolkits and car parts are everyday items found in the garden that can be sold for a bit of cash on popular shopping platforms like eBay!

Bikes are typically heavy and awkward in shape, so sending a bike via courier is the easiest and cheapest way to ship. Luckily, our trusted courier services like Tuffnells Economy and Evri Light & Large can handle the shipping safely for you.

However, some items may not be suitable to send, so best to check our prohibited and restricted items list if you are thinking of selling any large or bulky items.

2) Spare room

Is your spare bedroom looking more like a dumping ground than a relaxing haven for guests?

Whilst you may not go into the spare room every day, it is not the place to store your unwanted Christmas or birthday presents or for random bits and bobs you have accumulated over the year's shopping sales. Instead, sell your unwanted gifts on shopping platforms and buy the things you really want.

Spare rooms can also harbour mountains of old clothes. Have a wardrobe clear out this January and package and ship your clothes with us. You can sell your clothes online, send them at a great price with our range of shipping options, and make a profit!

3) Loft

The dreaded loft I hear you cry! The perfect place to store all the items you think you want but don't see for another five years- or more commonly, a place to store a lot of things you forgot you even owned!

Christmas decorations, seasonal sports gear, camping equipment, and suitcases are some of the most popular items stored in the loft, but do you still need to keep your 8 Man tent from a festival you went to 10 years ago?

Either way, out of sight is not out of mind, especially when you can be making some extra cash!

How do I begin sorting my rooms?

Start on the room you'll find the most accessible first to help get you into the swing of it. For some, this might be the room with the least amount to declutter, or for others, it might be the messiest. Naturally, some people find tidying and decluttering easier than others.

1. Clear out and recycle rubbish

The first thing to do is immediately clear out or recycle any rubbish or items that are not worth anything. Old product packaging that you know you will not need to use again are examples of this. Equally, if you have lots of cardboard to use, you can check out our fun tips on reusing and recycling packaging.

2. Create a Keep, Donate and Sell pile

The next stage is to create three piles: Keep, Donate, Sell.

Go through your items and analyse precisely why you have kept them. If you are unsure, or it doesn't have any sentimental value, get rid of it.

If your item is in good condition but not something you can see yourself selling, then it is perfect for a charity shop donation. However, for those items you think are potentially worth some money, it is worth trying to sell them on an online platform first. You can always decide to donate it later if it doesn't sell.

If being more creative is one of your New Year resolutions, you could make a start on that Etsy Shop you have been talking about and use your stack of crafting materials to make some unique gifts to sell online. You could even look into creating a Not On The High Street store or an eBay account too!

3. Give your room a spring clean!

Whilst all your items are out of cupboards or off of the shelves; it's the perfect time for a spring clean- especially those areas that have been crammed with dusty knick-knacks for months!

A general rule of thumb: If you haven't used it in the past year or it doesn't have any sentimental value, get rid!

What do I do with all my stuff?

Take action straight away! It can be tempting to leave your newly organised items to sort on a rainy day but you are at risk of forgetting about it or changing your mind.

Try selling your unwanted items or gifts on popular marketplaces like eBay. It is quick to set up and you can send to buyers all across the globe. It might seem more straightforward to only list your items locally for the 'buyer to collect' but if you're willing to ship your items, you'll have a much bigger market to advertise to, so more chance of a sale.

If you don't have an eBay account, there are other options to sell your unwanted gifts. For example, if you have a Facebook account, you can sell on their marketplace. It won't be just your friends and family that see the listing and you can even hide the listing from them just in case the unwanted gift is from one of your connections.

When your listings have sold and you've received payment, it's time to ship! It's tempting just to package them up and take them to the Post Office, but this is the most expensive option and you'll likely lose some of your profits by shipping that way. Instead, use our parcel comparison service for a quick and easy quote. Our shipping calculator compares all the best couriers so you can book online in minutes, either drop off the parcel or wait for a courier to pick it up depending on what service you choose.

Even for those big and bulky items, our courier partner Tuffnells will collect and carry parcels up to 6m (600cm) in length to any UK address, so you can't use the excuse that your item is too big to sell and send to a new home! Plus, with 30% savings exclusive to Interparcel, you can send it at an even lower price.

Getting a quote couldn't be simpler. Pop your measurements in our Quick Quote tool to generate an instant list of cheap shipping prices.

Integrate with our Shipping Manager for super easy shipping

If you regularly sell products on shopping platforms such as eBay, Etsy, or Shopify, did you know you can integrate with our Advanced Shipping Manager?

Shipping Manager is the simple eCommerce parcel shipping solution. It has a range of helpful features such as the ability to pull in all of your eCommerce orders, tweak delivery addresses, access the best courier services, add transit cover and so much more, in one place - best of all, it's completely free for Interparcel account holders to use!

Sending with Interparcel means you have access to a range of reliable couriers and affordable prices usually reserved for the big guys!

Ready to start decluttering?

All in all, it's well worth marking a declutter day in your calendar every six months so that inevitably it will be a quicker and easier process each time. Plus, if you held on to an item from the last declutter that you still haven't used, you know it's time to let go.

As the saying goes, one man's trash is another man's treasure, so every time you have something to sell or donate, you know that Interparcel is here to offer you some of the best prices and couriers around.

When you use Interparcel to calculate the shipping costs, you can be sure to pocket more of the earnings.

So, what are you waiting for? Clear out your home today and send packages with Interparcel!