Decluttr Review: My First-Hand Experience
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Do you have DVDs, electronics and other items lying around the house? If you have items you no longer use, Decluttr might just buy them from you.
Decluttr buys used items such as textbooks, DVDs and tech items such as smartphones. The company buys Legos as well.
In this post, I’ll take Decluttr for a test drive and review it. Decluttr makes it really easy to get cash for your unwanted items. But it is really worth the effort?
I’ll talk about the process, potential benefits, and downfalls so you can decide for yourself.
Overall Rating
Summary
Decluttr’s selling process is convenient and fast. You can ship a box of items and get paid quickly with little hassle. The biggest negative is that you will likely get less money than if you sold the items individually on your own.
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Easy to Use
4.5
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Free Shipping
5
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Payout
3.5
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Bulk selling
4.5
Pros
- Easy to use
- Free shipping
- Great for selling bulk items
Cons
- Lower payout for most items
Read on if you’re ready to learn whether you can make money with Decluttr.
What is Decluttr?
Decluttr has a website and an app that can help you get on-the-spot prices for your used stuff.
It can be a fast and easy way to make money and rid your house of items you no longer use.
But you’re probably wondering just how easy it is to use. And if it’s really worth the effort.
Let’s find out.
How Does Decluttr Work?
At the outset, the Decluttr selling process seems pretty simple and easy. But is it really? I tried it personally in order to find out.
And truth be told, the process is pretty easy. You can start by entering the information about the product you want to sell using your PC and visiting the Decluttr website.
Or you can download the app and enter products from there. Once you’ve entered a product description, you’ll get an offer price for the product.
Easy Process For Getting Price Quotes
Decluttr makes it easy to find out how much you can get for the items you want to sell.
If you’re selling a CD or DVD, book or game, just enter the barcode on the back of the item. Decluttr will then give you a basic price.
Selling Legos works differently. For those, you simply enter the weight of the Legos.
The process is also different if you’re selling an electronic item, such as an iPhone. In that case, you enter the product description and check what condition it’s in.
Your choices are:
- Good
- Poor
- Faulty
You would choose “Faulty” if the product is not in working order.
The price quotes you receive for your items will vary. For games, books, CDs and DVDs, your offer price will depend on the current demand for the item.
On some items, you’ll either get an immediate price quote. On others, you’ll get a message telling you they won’t accept the item.
It will say something like “We can’t accept that item right now. Please enter another barcode.”
The same process occurs with gadgets. You’ll either get an immediate quote or a message that they’re not accepting the item.
All Legos are accepted because they’re sold by the pound. Decluttr was paying approximately $1 per pound of Legos as of this writing.
However, you may be quoted a different price when you check. This is because prices can vary each day.
Accept and Complete Your Order
Now you’ve finished entering information for all of the items you wish to sell. What’s next? You’ll hit the button that confirms you wish to complete your order.
Only hit “complete” if you’re sure you want to sell.
At this point, Decluttr will ask you how you want to be paid. You’ve got three choices for payment:
- PayPal
- Direct Deposit
- Donate your earnings to charity
PayPal and Direct Deposit will ensure you receive your money faster. If you choose to have a check mailed, you’ll have to wait for processing and mail time.
If you choose Direct Deposit, you’ll have to enter your bank’s routing number and account number.
After you complete payment instructions, you’ll move on to the next step: receiving your Welcome Pack.
Complete Packing Instructions
Once you’ve accepted your offer, Decluttr will email you your Welcome Pack.
Your welcome pack will show you exactly how to ship your items to Decluttr. The Welcome Pack is a simple four or five page email.
The more items you have to ship, the more pages your Welcome Pack will contain.
When I sold my items, my emailed Welcome Pack arrived in my inbox within two minutes.
The Welcome Pack I was sent consisted of four pages:
- Page 1 contains basic instructions
- The second page told me where to drop my box off. You can drop it off at a UPS shipping location or have UPS come get the package at your work or home.
- Page 3 contains your free shipping label. You need to attach this to the box you’re shipping your items in.
- The fourth page will be a list of the items you should include in your order.
The easy-to-understand Welcome Pack will tell you everything you need to know about using Decluttr.
After you get your Welcome Pack, it’ll be time to ship your sold items. We’ll talk about the rest of the process later.
But first, how much can you make with Decluttr?
How Much Can You Make With Decluttr?
I’ll be honest here and tell you that you won’t get top dollar when selling your items on Decluttr. After all, Decluttr’s goal is to resell your items for a profit.
That means they have to buy your stuff at a price that allows them to recover the cost and make a profit.
Here is a sample of the prices that I got for my DVD and textbook items:
- Ant-Man and Wasp DVD: 38 cents
- Hobbs and Shaw DVD: 19 cents
- Toy Story 3 DVD: 22 cents
- Various elementary math teacher manuals: between 40 cents and $1.11 each
The pay is minimal, as you can see. You’ll find the same thing with tech items.
I did some random item entries to get some examples of what you’d get paid for electronic items in good condition.
Examples of quotes I got for electronic items in good condition:
- An iPhone 12 in good condition with 64GB of storage — offer price of $446
- An Amazon Kindle Fire 8.9-inch 3rd gen 16GB — offer price of $9.50
- An Xbox Series X (1TB) — offer price of $355
The prices on most of the items I tested out were pretty low, as you can see.
But you might find it worth it depending on how you view the low offers vs. the ease of the process.
Even though the prices are low, the process is quick and convenient and helps you avoid dealing with multiple sales and strangers as you would when selling items on Craigslist or similar sites.
Now let’s talk about the key features of Decluttr and what happens after you ship your sold items.
Key Features Of Decluttr
Here are some of the more popular features of Decluttr:
Free Shipping Labels
So, you’ve received and read your Welcome Pack instructions. Next, you need to find an appropriately sized box to fit the items you’re shipping.
The items should fit securely and comfortably in the box you choose. Use packaging material if needed in order to avoid having the items slide around in the box.
Don’t forget to include all cases and original items with your shipment. Decluttr won’t accept them otherwise.
Your Welcome Pack will include a free shipping label.
Before you tape your new shipping label to the box, remove all other labels from your box. This will help ensure there’s no confusion during the shipping process.
When your items are properly boxed, and the box is taped shut and labeled, you’ll have to bring them to a UPS shipping location.
Your options are:
- Any UPS branch store.
- UPS-authorized retail outlets.
- UPS customer centers.
- Any UPS drop box (25 items per box max).
- Give your box to a UPS driver that comes to your home.
Okay, the hard work is done. Now it’s time to wait.
7-10 Day Waiting Period
Once you send your items to Decluttr via UPS, there will be a short waiting period.
Generally, it takes seven to 10 days for your package to reach Decluttr. When I shipped my package it reached Decluttr in seven days.
Decluttr will notify you when they have received your shipment.
If 10 days have passed and you haven’t received notification that your shipment was received, you may want to call UPS or check their tracking site.
Assessment of Your Items
After your package arrives at the Decluttr warehouse, each item you shipped will be assessed.
It’s important to know that Decluttr really wants quality items that can be resold.
This means that if you’re sending CDs or DVDs, the cases and jackets need to be present. They also need to be in decent shape. Don’t send cases that are cracked or broken.
If you’re sending books, make sure the books aren’t marked up. The inside and outside of the books need to be free of markings and in decent shape.
If you are selling tech items such as smartphones or gaming systems, there are qualifications, too.
The items need to match the description you gave, including the condition you stated they were in.
If there is any doubt about the type of item or the condition it’s in, you could lose your expected payment.
Expect up to a 72-hour wait for final verification after your shipment is received at the Decluttr warehouse.
Free Returns On Modified Offers
There are a couple of things that can happen if the items you sent in don’t match their descriptions.
If Decluttr deems the item unsellable, they’ll simply recycle the item and not pay you. They won’t return the item to you.
This is a risk you’ll take if you sell on Decluttr. So, if you’re unsure about the condition of the item, you may want to keep it or sell it directly.
If you’re okay with it being recycled and not getting paid, go ahead and send it in.
In some cases, people send in items that aren’t in as good of shape as described. For instance, you say your smartphone is in good shape but it’s really in poor shape.
It may not be in “recycle” shape, but it may not be sellable for as much as Decluttr expected. In cases like this, Decluttr will contact you with a revised offer price.
If you still want to sell the item at the revised offer price, Decluttr will pay you. However, if you choose to reject the revised offer price, Decluttr will send the item back to you.
They won’t charge you to ship the item back if you reject their offer. Instead, they’ll send it to you for free as a courtesy.
The bottom line is that you’ll be happier with the Decluttr process if you’re selling items that are in good shape.
Three Payment Options
Now comes the fun part: getting paid. Once all of your items are assessed and deemed acceptable, Decluttr pays you.
If you’ve chosen PayPal as your payment method, you’ll generally get paid on the next business day. However, the other payment methods are typically slower.
If you’ve chosen Direct Deposit, it can take up to three business days to receive your payment.
Charitable donations are delivered in Decluttr’s time period.
Fast, Almost Guaranteed Cash
A powerful pro of using Decluttr is that they pay you fast once they get your items. And your cash is nearly guaranteed.
The only time you won’t get what you were quoted is if your items weren’t in the specified condition.
This means you’ll get money and get it quickly, all while purging your home of unwanted items.
If you’re looking for a fast way to declutter your house and make money in the process, this could be your answer.
Decluttr Reviews
Trustpilot rates Decluttr a 4.3 out of 5 stars as of this writing. 82% of the reviews are rated “excellent.”
Of the small percentage (6%) of bad reviews, most concerned perceived bait-and-switch tactics once the item arrived at the Decluttr warehouse.
I was a little hesitant to sell electronics online with so many places out there and with a fear of getting scammed. Decluttr took my worries away making clear what the steps were and how legitimately they carried out transactions to get paid what your item is worth. I sold a IPad Pro through here and will be the only place I will be trusting to sell all my electronics.
Jose Salguero
Decluttr has an A- rating with the Better Business Bureau. Most BBB complaints centered around poor customer service experiences.
My Personal Decluttr Experience
I’ve mentioned a few tidbits about my Decluttr experience, but I thought I’d summarize for you:
- I entered 15 items to be sold for a total of $11.03.
- My items reached Decluttr in seven days.
- One item was rejected — a CD with a cracked case. I lost 60 cents.
- I received my PayPal payment of $10.43 the next day.
If I had items that I think would be cumbersome to sell, I’d definitely use Decluttr again.
However, if I had tech items that were in high demand, I’d likely sell them myself in other places instead.
Positives and Negatives
Here are the pros and cons of using Decluttr.
Pros
- Quick and easy to use. Just type in the ISBN number for the item or (for phones) click on the correct model number and get your offer price.
- Payment through PayPal or Direct Deposit. PayPal payments are often received within 24 hours of when your shipment was assessed.
- Free shipping labels and instructions come right to your email inbox after you’ve accepted your offers.
Cons
- The offer price you receive is often much lower than what you’d receive if you sold your items outright. If earning money is a top goal, you may want to sell your items outright.
Decluttr FAQs
Yes, in the event that you are searching for a quick and easy way to make money.
Definitely. If you sell your stuff on your own using a site such as OfferUp or eBay, you’ll likely make more money.
No. Decluttr doesn’t take every DVD, CD, textbook, or electronic item. I entered in information for several items that were denied.
No. According to the Decluttr website, they treat all items as used/secondhand.
Summary
Only you can decide whether the ease and convenience of the Decluttr selling process is worth getting a lower price than you might get elsewhere.
Depending on your situation, you might decide that you’d rather sell your items outright. There are plenty of people on Facebook, Craigslist or eBay willing to buy used items.
If you’re okay with spending the time to price, sell and ship/deliver your stuff, Decluttr may not be for you. You might want to sell it elsewhere and get more money instead.
After my personal experience, I think I’ve got a solid plan going forward. When it comes to smaller items such as DVDs, CDs and books, I’ll probably sell on Decluttr.
However, with larger tech items such as phones and gaming systems, I’ll likely sell them myself. There’s just too much money to be lost on the larger items.
I recently used Decluttr after reading a book on a no spend challenge that mentioned them. Then, I did a search online and came across ways to make money. Decluttr was on the list of ten places. A few other websites were also raving about how great Decluttr is for selling your stuff. Each site made it seem like they bought anything media. Anyway, I had three boxes filled with books and three DVD’s. Out of over 100 books, they would buy only 10, and three DVD’s for a total of $7.20. I spent over 4 hours going through my stuff, printing the label, finding a box to use, packing the box, sealing it, and then taking it to the UPS store, which had a long line. For $7.20 it is not worth it.
I’m sorry you had a negative experience trying to sell your stuff with Decluttr. Thank you for sharing it with us and I hope things work out better the next time you declutter.