Just remember guys: useful for small footprint, high value line items that are mass-produced. (Conversely, not so useful for old items with low resale like clothes, or craft one-off items, or big things like furniture.)
When your object of question hits a low-enough dollar value that your opportunity cost for making a buck off it exceeds your time value, why not donate it to a Goodwill instead. :)
Yeah, at one point I did a modest eBay selling campaign of stuff I owned that wasn't exactly high value but was easy to photograph and describe and had some value. I doubt I made minimum wage. I keep selling on eBay as an option for the odd item here and there but it's hard for me to see it being worth my effort for the general case. I suppose I could investigate a local eBay packager (or whatever the term is) but, as you say, for most stuff I just give it to a local charity and take a few bucks off my taxes.
I typically use craigslist for that sort of thing. Compared to the cut eBay takes, I can get the same money while offering a smoking price, which motivates the buyer to do all the legwork. I get a phonecall Thursday afternoon, they show up at my door twenty minutes later, and they are gone in five minutes.
Try using their mobile app - it is significantly easier than sitting with your laptop and messing around with uploading photos. I found the Android app easier - photograph items with your mobile/tablet and upload from there. You might want a bluetooth keyboard though because I found writing my lengthy descriptions tedious on a mobile. (Or you could just do whatever everyone else does, and write practically nothing, kissing sales goodbye)
Donating it is often a great idea. Don't forget the tax writeoff, which depending on your bracket is kind of like gaining 25% of the "retail value" of the item!
The interest payments in the first half of most mortgages get you close to the standard deduction. Only works for owners, but it's still a relatively common one.
Yes, if you pay a mortgage and property tax, you should probably itemize. And/or if you have a lot of medical expenses.
Or, if one has a corporation (for freelancing, a SAAS, whatever), maybe the corporation could donate the stuff instead? I'm not sure how charitable donations work for corps, but might be worth exploring.
I've recently started testing something along those lines in order to fund patients on watsi.org. It's like Goodwill and Gazelle.com having a baby - you send us your used electronics and get a tax write off, we sell them and give the money to the nonprofit of your choosing.
If anyone is interested, http://blog.give3.org has a few of the items I've sold so far.
When your object of question hits a low-enough dollar value that your opportunity cost for making a buck off it exceeds your time value, why not donate it to a Goodwill instead. :)