I would have to say this is probably the most overwhelming part of this whole process. You find yourself staring at your pile of stuff, unsure of where to start. While some may be lucky enough to have a room packed full of items that fall into the same product niche, odds are your room of clutter is most likely packed full of clothing, toys, housewares, furniture and more that your family no longer had a use for.

The first step in this process is to go through everything and organize items into like piles. For example, clothing should be grouped together, toys together, well you get the idea. Keep in mind this step is probably not something you will accomplish in a short amount of time. It may be something you need to pencil into your To Do list so as to avoid getting overwhelmed.

Once all has been sorted by category, you will want to choose one pile of stuff to work on until you are comfortable with the entire process of selling on eBay.

When sorting, you will want to go through each and every item in the pile with a fine tooth comb of sorts. We will want to come up with at most a total of 3 piles. Items ready to list, items in need of repair, and items destined for the trash.

Items ready to list:

When placing items in this category, you will want to make sure the are in pristine, ready to sell condition. Items that are NIB (new in box), NWT (new with tags) always fall into this category, as well as any other items that do not require maintenance, such as repair or laundering before listing.

Items in need of repair:

Items that fall into this category are ones that have some sort of defect to them. For clothing, it may be a stain or odor that requires laundering before listing. Items with minor rips or tears that you believe are handy enough to repair should also fall into this category. You need to be honest with yourself at this point. If its something you don't think you can fix, or you don't have the time to fix, then it probably shouldn't fall in this category.

Items destined for the trash:

This is probably the hardest part of the entire sorting process, making the tough decision of when an item is past its prime and will not serve any purpose to a future buyer. I have had items that were originally classified in the previous category end up in this one due more times than not to a stain that would not come out in the wash. I am very picky when it comes to what I sell and if its not something small that i can disclose, (this will be discussed later) then it will end up in the trash. Do not let the amount of money you spent on the item deter you from putting it in this category. Even a $100 suit jacket will serve no purpose if it has a permanent stain on the front.