Many families are finding new twists on yard sales and online auctions to pocket money from items they’d otherwise toss. Read on for the best lessons in loot. When Kathy Lesko’s employer asked her to start taking off one unpaid week each month to help cut costs at the semiconductor company, she panicked—until she saw an opportunity. “When I figured out how much money we weren’t going to have coming in, I got creative,” says the Austin, TX—area mom. She combed the house for garage-sale items like old clothes, books and furniture, then categorized and labeled them. She photographed big-ticket items—like her son’s outgrown electric scooter—to post on craigslist.org. Getting in on the act, her daughter took the family’s old denim and heavy cotton clothes and fashioned them into cloth grocery-shopping totes to sell at local flea markets. “These recycled bags should do well in our eco-conscious community,” says Kathy. A need to narrow the gap between rising costs and flat or decreased earnings is driving many moms like Kathy to find ways to generate more money. They’re selling unwanted items—from old baby clothes and toys to electronics and gold jewelry—proving that one family’s trash is indeed another’s treasure. Here, our readers share their top tips for fast cash while they reuse and recycle—and rejoice over the found money.

Off-Load at Work

Though everyone knows about the online auction site eBay, few people take advantage of online networks that are available through their jobs. Deciding that consignment shops take too much of the profit, Robin Smith of Saxton, PA, helped set up a sales network system at work. “Through email, we advertise what we want to sell and for what price, and sometimes we include a picture,” she says. “Anyone wishing to purchase something can contact the seller and make arrangements.” Out of some 500 employees, about 300 participate in the sale network, says Robin, who has sold holiday decorations, children’s clothing, toys, books and computer programs. “I usually make much more of a profit than at a yard sale,” she says. “Some people have sold cars, furniture and TVs.” Robin admits that it takes time to select what you want to sell, write the descriptions and take the photographs, but she finds the effort pays off: “I’ve sold just about everything I’ve advertised.” When her son got involved writing up the blurbs and taking the pictures, she also discovered a teaching moment. “It didn’t take long for him to realize that you need to make something sound great and look almost new to get the most money,” Robin says. “He realized that if he could do it, the advertisers on TV were probably doing the same thing.”

Reinvent Garage Sales

Laurie Wagner of Arlington Heights, IL, discovered a secret to spurring sales at a garage sale. “Have a reason for the garage sale and post it,” she says. That’s exactly what she did last year when she hosted a sale to help support her daughter Amanda’s wedding fund. She’d planned to donate the items to charity, until a friend pointed out that since Laurie had recently lost her job, maybe she should consider her family the charity. “I thought it sounded selfish,” Laurie says, “but I agreed that my daughter would need every dollar I could scrape up.” So she spread the word around her community. “We live in a neighborhood that has summer picnics and Easter egg hunts,” she says. “We’re a huge extended family.” Though it rained the day of the garage sale, Laurie made $1,400—and is well on her way to helping her daughter have her dream wedding.

Ride The Gold Rush

Helen Raczkowski recently gathered a bagful of gold jewelry that she no longer wore, including 1980s-style earrings and clunky chain necklaces. She took them to a local jeweler in the Dayton, NJ, area and was offered $750. “Pretty good price, right?” she asks. “Not quite. I did the math when I got home, and my gold was actually worth $1,600.” That’s why she advises women interested in selling gold baubles to do their homework before showing up at a jewelry shop. She recommends determining the value of your scrap gold the old-fashioned way, with a calculator and a gram scale. For help using this approach, go to wikihow.com/Calculate-the-Valueof-Scrap-Gold. “If you don’t have a scale, you can try asking your post office to weigh the gold or take it to the science lab at your local high school.”

Sell Used Tech

If you’ve wondered what to do with that computer monitor that’s taking up space in the attic, consider selling it through an online website. Lorraine Duffy Merkl was happy to stumble on gazelle.com, a site that boasts it “wants to change the world—one cell phone, one laptop, one iPod at a time.” This “recommerce” company allows consumers to sell their used electronics, albeit for a fraction of their original price. In addition to purchasing these items and helping you de-clutter your home, the company prevents the devices from ending up in a landfill. “I sold a monitor, a DVD player and an iPod,” says the New York City mom. “Between that and some jewelry and clothing I sold elsewhere, I got about $1,500 total. That’s two months of my son’s grade school tuition!”

Donate To Charity

Jerry Flach knows there are people in greater need than his family, which motivates him to donate things like the bikes his children have outgrown to charity. Some Habitat for Humanity organizations (habitat.org) accept donations from virtual reselling, such as your eBay sales proceeds, he says. “And local nonprofits serving women can always use gently worn clothing such as suits.” If you donate to charities— including Goodwill (goodwill.org) or the Salvation Army (salvationarmyusa.com)—you’re often entitled to take a tax deduction, which can be as good as cash. Another payoff? Says Jerry, “You feel good about helping someone in need.”

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If you donate gently used items that your kids have outgrown to charity, you may get a tax deduction.