If, like me, you have a pile of debt that you are looking to get rid of you have no doubt started the hunt for new ways to make money that will allow you to pay off your debt as soon as possible. You want it gone and you need ideas.

So many money making blogs will provide you with an abundance of tips and tricks, from ensuring that you cancel all of your unwanted subscriptions to taking on six more jobs to earn those extra pennies. OK six might be an exaggeration, but you get the idea. Two suggestions that come up every time without fail are try survey sites and sell your unwanted things on Ebay. But can these really make you enough money to pay off your debt?

Can survey sites and Ebay sales really pay off my debt?

The short answer is, yes.

Don’t get me wrong. I understand why people question it. You’ve found a t-shirt you don’t wear much anymore and popped it online for a fiver. After fees and postage you’re left with enough to buy you a sausage roll if you’re lucky. Then you try a new surevy site and after getting chucked out ten times and earning 15p in the process you figure it’s not for you.

Here’s the thing. It’s about more than the odd t-shirt sale. You need to look past the initial frustration and see the bigger picture. Figure out which sites work for you with some trial and error. Once you click with one or two you’ll be off. Have a bit more patience with it and you will begin to see progress, I promise.

OK, what are my options?

When it comes to selling, there are loads! We all know of the old classic Ebay. It’s straighforward to use and has a huge customer base, so you know your listings have a good chance of selling! Girl on a Pension has written a great post filled with tips for new Ebay sellers.

Have you thought about using Facebook or newer apps like Shpock? Each one is definitely worth a bit of research, but from experience a good piece of furniture can be sold within the hour on Facebook marketplace as it is so accessible to so many people, whilst Shpock seems to really suit smaller items like clothing and shoes.

This post by Wotawoman Diary provides a great indepth look at online selling to get you started and the tips are transferable to all selling methods!

Spend some time researching your options and weigh up the fees and ease of use of each. Maybe put an item or two on each and see which you prefer. Once you have one you enjoy using you’ll be far more motivated to make the effort!

The same goes for survey sites. There are so many available now it’s mad and they are a great way to make money.  From experience however, some are far better than others. My personal preference is Prolific Academic. I spoke about it before in this post. It’s easy to use, and once you’ve gone through all of the prescreening questions you’ll only be sent surveys that are relevant. That means you’ll never get kicked out, hallelujah! In the last month I have made just short of £50 with this site alone.

Commitment to the cause.

I apologise if this causes offence, I don’t mean to question the importance you give to your finances…however, having been through the stages of “debt’s normal” and “oh it’ll be fine” I do understand the feeling of not wanting to put in the extra effort for the sake of a couple of pounds. It feels like a lot of work when the payout maybe isn’t the highest.

It’s definitely important to consider just how important being debt free is to you. The harsh reality is that the more priority you give something, the more likely it is to happen. This is particularly true for debt as it is such a challenge to face and an unpleasant one at that. When you really want something, you’ll work for it. You’ll stop seeing frustrations and hurdles and start seeing opportunities.

The compound effect

This is the one simple detail that convinced me that survey sites and ebay can really pay off my debt. Lots of small things can add up to something incredible. This is called the compound effect.

The other day I made £3.27 from selling a top. I consider that a small amount of money. It could just about cover a coffee.

But then we take the more open minded perspective. If I were to make a sale like that every day of the year, that tiny amount becomes £1193.55. Now that’s a significant amount of money! What if I was to add to that £1 worth of survey earnings for each day of the year? Well that’s another £365, so the total is now £1558.55. Would that help you to pay off your debt? It would help me!

With this sort of progress comes motivation, and it is incredible what you can achieve when you’re motivated! Dave Ramsey (author of the Total Money Makeover) has a famous saying, “Sell so much stuff the kids think their next”. Your mindset shifts when you start to see results and you begin to see opportunities to make money everywhere.

Yes, survey sites and Ebay sales really can pay off my debt!

Keep it simple. Find what suits you, work at it, build momentum and then really watch the numbers grow!