1) Choose what you're going to sell.
Start by looking around your house for items you don't want anymore. Besides your own items, you can ask friends or family if they have any items they want you to sell (you can keep some of the profit or see if they want to donate the items to you).
After selling your own items, you can try getting stock from other places. Start by looking at vintage shops and garage sales. You can also order wholesale which is a little more complicated, but is basically buying items in bulk for cheap and selling them for a higher price. I won't go in to detail about wholesale here, but you can find more info on wholesale if you research it.
2) Choose where you want to sell your item.
EBay - EBay is a good to sell general misc items you have because almost anything can sell there. There is a large audience on EBay so it makes it one of the best places to sell items. The fees can add up so I wouldn't recommend selling cheap items. I sold coupons on EBay for a while (they sell pretty well), but I ended up spending more on listing fees than the coupons.
Half - Half is run by EBay, but you sell media items for a set price - textbooks, books, music, movies and games.
Amazon - Amazon is another good websites to sell on. You sell items at a set price like Half. I find that books sell really well here. They also have a Trade-In section where you can sell items and get an Amazon.com gift card in return.
ePier - ePier is an auction website similar to EBay, but the fees are lower. The downside to sites similar to EBay is they get less traffic.
WeBidz - On WeBidz, you pay a one time fee of $5 and all listings are free.
3) Organize items in categories and write descriptions of items.
Once you have your items, organize them in to categories if you have a lot of items. Write descriptions and determine the price value of your items. In your descriptions, be detailed and honest. Write about any flaws with the item if it's used. Also, include basic information about the item (you can usually just Google your item and get a description of it). At the end if your description, you can say something like, "Contact me with any questions" so viewers know they can contact you for more information.
The find the price value, see what the retail value of your item is. I think half of the retail value is usually a good place to start an item listing or sell it for. Also search for the item on EBay or wherever you're selling to see what other people are selling it for. You can see what the lowest price is and set your item for about the same or a little bit lower to help it sell.
4) Take good photos
Photos are important to help an item sell. They let the buyer know details about the item. It helps to have more than one photo (some with details/close up, from different angles, etc.) of an item, especially if the item is expensive or large. For some items, like books, you can just use a stock photo. If it's heavily used though, I'd recommend having your own photo so buyers know the exact condition.
5) List item, sell it and ship it
Once an item sells, you'll have to ship it. Try to ship using the most inexpensive shipping method. First class is good for small, light items. Media mail is the best option for books, DVDs, and CDs. If you have a heavy item, I'd recommend one of USPS's flat rate shipping options. The seller should have to pay for shipping so make sure to choose the right shipping option when you list it.
When you actually ship the item, make sure it's packaged well so it doesn't get damaged. I use the USPS Schedule a Pickup service because it's the easiest way to ship a bunch of packages out without having to leave your house. This option is good if you make a lot of sales or have really heavy/large packages.
Once you sell a few items, you'll get to know what sells well and what doesn't. If something sells really well, you might want to consider opening a small shop or continuing to sell the item/buy wholesale, etc.
Do you sell anything online (besides on Etsy)?
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