11 Online Selling and Buying Apps for Making Extra Money

If you’re looking for a way to make some extra money, I highly recommend checking out how much you can make on selling and buying apps! There are a number of popular selling and buying apps that can help you make extra cash online by selling unwanted items from around your house or even items you can find at thrift stores and yard sales. In this article, we will discuss the best selling and buying apps for making money online and how they can help you make extra money!

Note: This post is sponsored by my favorite reseller tool, Vendoo, and contains affiliate links. Although Vendoo is sponsoring this post, all opinions are mine and I only work with companies I have experience with and/or genuinely recommend.

What are selling and buying apps?

Selling and buying apps are online marketplaces where people can buy and sell used items. The most popular selling and buying app is eBay as they’ve been around the longest and have the biggest userbase, but there are also many other popular selling and buying apps!

On these online selling and buying apps you’re able to not only shop, but also sell your own items so that you can make some extra money online. This can be done as something to just help you get rid of a few things and make an extra $100 or you can make this a side hustle or even full time income. It’s totally up to you and how you want to use selling and buying apps.

Should you use multiple selling and buying apps?

Absolutely! This is called cross listing or cross posting and it’s something I recommend once you’ve gotten used to one app because it can get your items in front of more people.

To do this easily and seamlessly, make sure you check out Vendoo. I use Vendoo to cross post my items on eBay, Poshmark, and Mercari. It allows me to quickly post items to all three online marketplaces and also remove them from the other platforms when I mark the item as sold. There are also a lot of other great features like being able to quickly and easily delist and relist stale items as well as their analytics feature which shows you how much money you’re making and where you’re making the most money (which marketplaces, categories, brands, etc).

If you’ve never heard of Vendoo you can check it out here and get 25% off your first month. There is also a free plan that includes 5 items so you can try it out if you want to before signing up.

Top 12 Selling and Buying Apps

There are a number of selling and buying apps out there, but these are some of the most popular selling and buying apps that I recommend checking out if you’re looking to make extra money online. Below I will go over each app to let you know the pros and cons of using that particular app, focusing mostly on selling rather than buying.

eBay

Probably the most popular, and longest running, selling and buying app has to be eBay. It’s where I usually make most of my sales as a reseller and where I’ve made the most money over the years. eBay is great for selling just about anything, but they do have a few rules that you need to follow such as only selling things that are legal to sell and not selling items that are counterfeit or fake.

Pros to selling on eBay:

Large number of potential buyers so you can get your items in front of a lot of people
Has a good reputation because it’s been around a long time
Has a lot of great features for sellers to take advantage of

Cons to selling on eBay:

There are fees and they can be a bit complicated to figure out
It is a little harder to list on as there are more fields to fill out
Shipping can be a bit tricky until you’ve listed and shipped a few items
More competition

Poshmark

Poshmark is well known as a selling and buying app for clothes, specifically more on trend or designer pieces, but they have expanded and you can now sell a variety of items including home goods and electronics. I’ve personally had a lot of success selling both clothes and shoes on Poshmark, especially more recently when it’s started to catch up to eBay in terms of sales.

Haven’t signed up for Poshmark yet? Sign up and use the referral code AILEENBARKER and we’ll both get a $10 credit!

Pros to selling on Poshmark:

Very easy to list items either from your phone or computer
It’s free to list items, you only pay a fee if something sells
The fees are simple: $2.95 for items under $15 or 20% on items over $15
Shipping is straight forward and when you make a sale, you simply print a shipping label and put it on the package
Great features for making more sales such as sending offers to people who have liked your item and allowing buyers to bundle several items for a discount

Cons to selling on Poshmark:

The fee is a big higher than most at 20% for items $15+
You do have to stay active on the platform by sharing your closet regularly
Shipping is a little expensive for lighter weight items
You have to wait for the item to be delivered and accepted before you can withdraw your funds via either direct deposit or check

Mercari

Mercari is one of the newer selling and buying apps but it’s quickly becoming one of the most popular selling and buying apps in the United States. Similar to eBay, Mercari is known for being able to buy and sell almost anything.

Haven’t signed up for Mercari yet? Use my referral link and get a $10 credit for your first purchase AND another $20 credit when you earn your first $100 selling on Mercari.

Pros to selling on Mercari:

It’s free to list items on Mercari and you only pay a fee if something sells
Their fees are very straightforward at 10% + a 2.9% processing fee for any sales you make
It’s very easy to list on compared to other apps

Cons to selling on Mercari:

Shipping can be a little confusing because there are a several different options
It can be hard to manage large amounts of inventory on Mercari
You do have to wait until the item has been delivered and accepted before you can withdraw your money to your bank account

Facebook Marketplace

Selling on Facebook Marketplace allows you to not just sell locally, but also sell items to be shipped. Since there are already millions of people with a Facebook account, selling on Facebook Marketplace is a great way to reach a large audience with your items.

Pros to selling on Facebook Marketplace:

Low fees at just 5% of the sale
There are already millions of people on Facebook
You can sell locally or ship items
Shipping is relatively easy as long as you can weigh your items and select the correct shipping options

Cons to selling on Facebook Marketplace:

Some items do better than others
If you have a lot of items to sell, it can be a bit difficult to manage many items as there’s no real sorting feature for your own items
There are a lot of people on Facebook Marketplace who ask questions and aren’t necessarily interested

Etsy

Etsy is a selling and buying app that is known for selling handmade or vintage items. It’s not a good place to sell if you’re just going to sell a little bit of everything, however, if you want to specialize in something like Vintage you can definitely sell on Etsy.

Pros to selling on Etsy:

They have low fees at just .20 per listing and then 6.5% transaction fees
For certain items, you can get more on Etsy than some other marketplaces

Cons to selling on Etsy:

You’re limited in what you can sell on Etsy (handmade, vintage, supplies, digital products)
They don’t get quite as much traffic for used items as some of the other more popular platforms
There is a .20 listing fee for each listing you create even if it doesn’t sell

Depop

Depop is a selling and buying app that is popular for selling vintage or trendy items. It’s popular with a younger crowd and, depending on what you’re selling, you can often sell certain types of items for a higher price on Depop than other platforms.

Pros to selling on Depop:

Lower fees at 10% + 2.9% + .30/transaction
Some items will sell for more on Depop than other platforms

Cons to selling on Depop:

It’s not quite as popular as other platforms so there aren’t as many buyers
There’s a certain vibe that does well on Depop and other items may not do as well
Buyers can’t make offers, they have to DM you directly
Not as many seller features as other platforms

Tradesy

Tradesy is a bit different from other online marketplaces because it’s more focused on luxury items. Not everyone has access to these types of items, but if you do then your ideal buyer may be on Tradesy and it may be worth it to list your items on there.

Pros to selling on Tradesy

No fees for listing items
Focuses on luxury items so you’re getting your items in front of buyers who are already looking for those types of items
Automatically cleans up your photos so they look professional

Cons to selling on Tradesy

Higher fees than many other platforms: $7.50 for items sold for less than $50 and 19.8% on items sold for $50 or more
Only for higher end, luxury items so if you don’t have those types of items it may not work for you

Kidizen

Do you have a lot of kid items to sell? You may want to look into the Kidizen app! Kidizen is a selling and buying app that specializes in selling kid’s clothes, toys, and other items.

Pros to selling on Kidizen:

Focused on kid’s items so you already know that any buyer on the app is looking for that type of item
Straightforward fees at 12% + .50 per transaction
Shipping is pretty straightforward with a few different weight classes or you can ship on your own and just enter the tracking
Quick and easy to list on the app
You can get paid as soon as the item starts tracking rather than waiting for the item to be delivered and accepted like with some other apps

Cons to selling on Kidizen:

Only for kid’s items so if you don’t have a lot of those it may not work well for you
Smaller platform so not as many buyers

Grailed

Selling on Grailed is a bit different than other selling and buying apps as it’s more focused on men’s clothing. If you have a lot of men’s clothes to sell then Grailed may be the perfect app for you!

Pros to selling on Grailed:

Focuses on Men’s clothing so anyone on the app is already looking for that type of clothing
Fees are straight forward with a 9% fee from Grailed plus Paypal fees which ar 3.49% plus $0.49 per transaction for a total of 12.49% + .49 per transaction
All sales are final so you don’t have to worry about returns
Straightforward shipping

Cons to selling on Grailed

Since Grailed is geared towards men’s clothing, it may not work for those who don’t have a lot of men’s items to sell
It is a smaller platform so you may not get as many sales as compared to other marketplaces

WhatNot

One of the newer selling and buying apps is WhatNot which is a live auction style app. It’s growing very quickly among resellers and can be a great way to quickly move inventory.

Haven’t signed up for WhatNot yet? Use my referral link to get a $10 credit on your first purchase. If you want to apply to sell you can do so by clicking this link.

Pros to selling on WhatNot

Sell items live so people can see you talking about the item and showing it in real time
Low fees at 8% WhatNot fee + 2.9% + .30 transaction fee for a total of 10.9% + .30 per transaction
Newer platform so those who join now can get in at the beginning
Move items quickly all during one sale

Cons to selling on WhatNot

It is a newer platform so there aren’t a lot of buyers or sellers on it yet
Some items go for less because there are fewer people attending live than would see it if it was listed on an online marketplace waiting for the right buyer

OfferUp

Although OfferUp started as a local selling and buying app, you can now also list items for sale with shipping. So if you’re looking to reach local buyers with the option to sell to someone who isn’t local this could be a good option.

Pros to selling on OfferUp

Simple to calculate 12.9% service fee ($1.99 minimum) only on items that are purchased to be shipped
If you sell an item locally, there is no fee
You can sell one car per month with no fee
Buyer pays for shipping, you just print and attach the label to your package
You can pay to promote your item

Cons to selling on OfferUp

It’s not as widely known as an online marketplace since most people know about it for local sales so sales might be slower

All of these selling and buying apps have their own pros and cons, so it’s important to decide which one will work best for you. Some of the things you may want to consider are what type of items you plan on selling, how many sales you hope to make, and what kind of fees each app charges. With a little research, you can find the best apps for you.

Don’t forget that you can also get your items in front of more buyers and increase your sales by cross posting your items. I recommend using Vendoo for this as it saves you a ton of time and keeps things organized, but it can also be done manually. If you want to try out Vendoo use this link to get 25% off your first month.

11 Online Selling and Buying Apps for Making Extra Money

What are selling and buying apps?

Should you use multiple selling and buying apps?

Top 12 Selling and Buying Apps