Have a used item you don’t think will sell on eBay? A new program could still fill your pockets with half the proceeds. Recently launched on a test basis, “Sell it Forward” lets you send your used items to eBay in a free, postage-paid bag. From there, the auction site hands them over to the San Francisco Bay Area branch of Goodwill Industries. If Goodwill can unload the items within 14 days, you score a 50 percent cut of the sales price, which is sent to your PayPal account. If not, you get a receipt for a donation that you can use for tax purposes. The program has a few caveats, according to the Sell it Forward FAQ page. eBay seems most interested in “fashion items,” such as clothes, shoes, and handbags. Brand-name products are most likely to sell, at long as they’re in new, like-new, or good condition. Items that are unusuable and can’t be resold are instead donated directly. But other types of items qualify as well.
About Shelly Palmer
Shelly Palmer is the Professor of Advanced Media in Residence at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and CEO of The Palmer Group, a consulting practice that helps Fortune 500 companies with AI strategy, implementation and governance, as well as technology, media and marketing. Named one of LinkedIn’s Top Voices in Technology, he is a bestselling author, covers tech and business for Fox 5’s Good Day New York, is a regular commentator on CNN, and writes the popular daily business blog Think About This. Follow @shellypalmer or visit shellypalmer.com.