If Marie Kondo can’t inspire you to get your house sorted, maybe the allure of (hard earned?) cash will.

The first step in Marie’s cleaning process is to minimise the amount of clothes you have sprawled across the house and shoved in your closet. This is done by saying goodbye to any item which doesn’t “spark joy” in you (maybe don’t do this if you’re poor and can’t afford new joggers).

Usually, you would then place all your unwanted clothes into garbage bags and donate them to charity. However, if you’re a cheapskate (i.e. a university student), you’ll want to milk them for all they’re worth.

Let’s explore how to do this. First, you’re going to have to be honest with yourself about the value of your clothes. If you tend to shop at fast fashion stores like Zara, most of your stuff probably isn’t worth much. Styles go ‘out of date’ pretty quickly, which means you’re likely to only make a few dollars off most of your fast fashion pieces.

Your best bet is to sell higher quality garments that you no longer wear – clothes which are well made, comfortable and longer-lasting are more likely to sell than that cheap polyester t-shirt you bought for $15. Natural fabrics like linen, wool and cotton tend to sell quite well, as do quality vintage and designer pieces.

It goes without saying that you should wash your clothes before you sell them. Uploading high-quality photos of your garments (ideally with you wearing them so that people can see how they look) to sites like eBay, Etsy, Facebook and Gumtree is a great way to reach a large audience and sell your clothes quickly. Ensure that you’re upfront in your description regarding the quality of your pieces, letting people know if there are any defects such as missing zippers.

After a few weeks you should have had some decent luck selling your clothes. In the meantime, make sure to organise the clothes you actually want to keep (and fold them nicely).