Best Selling Apps and Websites for 2024

Do you have a lot of clothes that no longer fit or old housewares collecting dust in your home? Do these items take up a lot of space and are you unlikely to use them in the near future? If so, reselling them is an easy way to earn some money and clear out your closet at the same time.

There is now a plethora of different resale and e-commerce platforms that make it easier than ever for people to sell anything they want, from an old couch to a vintage watch to a handmade sweater. While it may take a little bit of work to post your old items on these platforms, they can be a fairly easy way to make some extra cash.

CNBC Select reviewed various resale apps and websites, looking at fees, usability and buyer/seller protections. Our favorites had low fees and an intuitive interface that allows for easy buying and selling (see our methodology). Here are our top five picks if you’re looking to sell your belongings online.

Who’s this for? Facebook Marketplace is available to anyone with a Facebook account. It’s a popular platform for selling items in person, and there’s also a shipping option — but it isn’t free.

Posting an item is simple. You start by inputting some basic information about the item you’re selling, including its category, the item’s condition, the price and a brief description. You can upload up to 10 photos of your item, as well as a video. You’ll then share your location and will have the option of either local pickup, dropoff or shipping — which can be paid by either the seller or buyer. Lastly, you can post the listing to the marketplace and any Facebook groups for buying and selling that you’re in. This can make your post more visible to people you think might be interested in it.

CNBC Select chose Facebook Marketplace as the best platform for selling anything because there are no fees associated with using it (besides a 5% fee or 40 cents minimum for shipping), and you can essentially post any item you want.

Who’s this for? Etsy was first founded in 2005 as a platform for selling vintage items, craft supplies and handmade goods. There are countless types of items listed on the platform, and you can sell anything from art prints to crochet patterns to vintage engagement rings. Etsy is a great option for people who have art designs, handmade or vintage items they want to sell.

However, there are a number of fees that Etsy sellers incur: a listing fee, a payment processing fee and a shipping fee. While the fees do add up, it’s still a more affordable option than many other platforms.

Creating an Etsy Standard account is free but if you want perks like listing credits, shop customization and custom web address discounts, an Etsy Plus account is $10 a month.

In order to start selling on Etsy, you need to create a name for your shop before you make your first listing. You’ll then upload photos of the item and/or a short silent video. After that, you’ll be prompted to enter information about the listing such as who made the item, what type of item it is, when the item was made (if it’s vintage), a short description, the price and tags. You can also set up your listing to renew automatically. You’ll then set up shipping and choose if you want to include the item in an ad campaign (if you’re running any).

Who’s this for? Depop is a resale fashion marketplace founded in 2011. There are approximately 30 million active users on the platform. While it’s most commonly known as a clothing resale platform, you can also find art, home decor and books on the app, too.

If you’re looking to sell trendy clothing items, Depop is a great place to list them — and creating an account is free.

In order to set up a Depop account, you’ll need a Paypal account so you can get paid. After connecting your Paypal to your Depop account you’ll be able to publish listings. You can post up to four photos and a video of an item. You’ll fill out a short description of the item, categorize it, price it and tag it by color and style. Lastly, you’ll decide if you want to charge the buyer for shipping or pay for it yourself. If you choose to provide free shipping, make sure to build that into the cost of your item.

Sellers have to pay a 10% commission fee and a payment processing fee, and they have the option of paying for shipping.

Who’s this for? Mercari is a Japanese e-commerce and resale platform founded in 2013. On Mercari, users can sell anything from clothing to skincare to headphones.

Mercari is unique among many of the resale platforms, as it offers a service known as Mercari Local, where drivers pick up the order and deliver it to the buyer’s address. With Mercari Local, buyers pay the delivery fee.

For the seller, the fees for using Mercari Local are the same as using regular Mercari, and you have the added convenience of not having to physically ship your items and the safety of not having to meet up with a stranger.

In order to start selling on Mercari, you’ll need to write a short description, categorize your item, and provide information about the brand, condition and price of the item. You can upload up to 12 photos. Lastly, you can choose if you want to do Mercari Local for delivery and/or Mercari shipping. With Mercari shipping, sellers have the option of paying for shipping or having buyers cover the cost.

The fees for Mercari are quite reasonable: There’s a 10% commission fee and a 3% payment processing fee for every sale.

Who’s this for? eBay was first founded in 1995 as a platform for auctioning items. Since then, eBay has evolved into a multi-billion-dollar company that people use to sell everything from collector baseball cards to used cars. While the auction option on eBay still exists, sellers now have the ability to directly sell their items to buyers.

When you post a listing on eBay, you’ll provide up to 24 photos of the item, add specific details, write a description and choose whether to auction off the item or have buyers purchase it immediately. Lastly, you’ll choose whether you want to ship the item (you can pay for shipping or have the buyer pay for it) or have it available for local pick-up.

One major perk of using eBay is that its fees are low and easy to understand. There are two types of fees: the listing fee and the final value fee. The final value fee on eBay depends on the type of item you’re selling but it’s usually not higher than 15%, making it a good option for anyone looking to sell off any collector, vintage or niche goods.

Who’s this for? Poshmark, a social marketplace for secondhand fashion items, was founded in 2011 and now has over 80 million users. It’s known as a platform for reselling women’s clothing and accessories, especially those in a higher price range.

If you have a pair of Jimmy Choo heels or a Chanel bag to sell, Poshmark can be a great choice. Besides women’s fashion, you’ll also find categories for men, kids, home decor and more. Listing an item is easy and free: add a photo (or several), fill in the information such as size, price and description, and you’re ready to list. You’ll only pay a fee once the item is sold — $2.95 for sales under $15 or 20% of your sale if it’s $15 or more. You also don’t pay shipping fees since they’re the buyer’s responsibility.

Poshmark offers multiple options for paying sellers. Free payment methods include a direct deposit to your bank account or a check. Alternatively, you can get the money through PayPal or Venmo for $0.35 or get an instant transfer for $2.

For the most part, you’ll need to pay a variety of fees to sell on these apps and websites. But the commission rates vary dramatically.

Some of these platforms do all of the work for you — all you have to do is ship the items to the provider, and you’ll collect a commission once they sell them.

If you’re willing to take a smaller cut of the earnings, you can opt for a platform like thredUp or The RealReal. While these platforms take the effort out of reselling, they also take a hefty cut: With thredUp, users earn anywhere from 5% to 80% of the selling price, and with The RealReal, they receive anywhere from 20% to 85% of the selling price.

Other platforms require you to do more of the work. You might have to take photos of the items, make listings, decide the price and ship them to the buyer. But you’ll also pay a smaller commission, between 10 and 20%. Most of the apps we reviewed don’t take more than 15%. If you’re looking to make money from reselling, we recommend you use a platform that requires you to do most of the work.

Reselling can require some effort, but it can be an excellent way to make a bit of extra cash — and a resale app can be a convenient platform to sell your items.

If your item isn’t a collectible or antique, you can look up comparable items using Google or see what other people are listing similar items for on resale apps. However, if you’re selling a valuable and rare item, you might want to work with a professional appraiser.

To resell items online successfully, make sure you provide a full description, including the item’s condition and add as many high-quality photos as you can.

Selling items you no longer use, be it a dress you’ve barely worn or a painting gathering dust in your attic, can be a great way to quickly earn some extra cash. Resale apps allow you to do just that. Before you list your item, compare several marketplaces, what they usually sell and how much they charge in fees, and pick what works best for you.

In total, CNBC Select analyzed 10 reselling platforms. To determine which are the best, we looked at the types of fees sellers pay, usability and buyer/seller protections.

All of the platforms we selected offered some type of buyer protection, so if you receive a faulty item or don’t receive an item at all, buyers can file a complaint with the platform (after contacting the seller) and will typically be refunded for their purchases.

We also looked carefully at the various fees these platforms charge, as commissions vary widely. Some platforms charge a fee for every item that a seller lists on the platform (known as a listing fee) on top of commission it takes once an item sells.

Most of the websites we selected did not charge a listing fee, and for those that did, the fee was less than $0.50 an item.

The commission fee is typically the highest fee. Some platforms charge as much as 95% of the sale price. Most of the platforms we recommended charged a commission fee but none charged more than 15% on items.

Lastly, most platforms charged a payment-processing fee. Payment-processing fees are typically paid to a third-party service for processing payments from customers. A few of the platforms we selected charged a payment processing fee, but it was typically no more than 3% of the item in addition to a few cents.

When it came to shipping, all of the platforms that we selected allowed sellers to choose whether or not to pay for shipping or pass the cost onto customers.

We also looked considered the usability of each platform, looking at how easy it is to upload an item to sell and promote it so you can make sales quickly.

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