How to make a quick $5300

CASH-STRAPPED Australians looking to bring in some extra cash ahead of Christmas have thousands of dollars in unwanted items lying around their home that can bring in easy money.

Many households are bracing for the most expensive time of year as Christmas looms and many are feeling the pinch in a struggling economy.

New research compiled for online marketplace Gumtree found Australians have on average 23 unwanted items around the home worth about $5300.

And most sellers (85 per cent) said they have had to sell items in the past to bring in extra money because of the increasing cots of living or to service debt.

Millions of consumers are also waiting to snap up bargains in the upcoming Black Friday and Cyber Monday discounted shopping bonanza days which start this week.

Consumer finance expert Lisa Montgomery said many people would have unwanted things taking up space around their homes “that are worth money that we probably haven’t even thought about”.

“It’s a really tough time for families going into Christmas, we can see retail sales are down and people are buying less right now, people are really tightening their belts,” she said.

“To offload items on online sites like Gumtree and eBay can help you make money to fund Christmas.

“We are a society that consume a lot more and sell a lot less.”

Soaring cost of living, steady unemployment and non-existent wage growth is likely to result in households watching their expenditure more closely this year.

Already some retailers have begun rolling out Black Friday secret discounts to loyalty customers, ahead of the major discounting kicking off later this week.

Many sales will run across the weekend – both in store and online – until Cyber Monday and will be the last major chance for shoppers to snap up discounted goods ahead of Christmas.

Latest retail spending slowed in September with turnover climbing by just 0.2 per cent compared to 0.4 per in August.