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Learn how to make money from old toilet rolls. Toilet rolls are items virtually everybody has in their home, and we usually discard them with little thought once they are used up.
If you are one of the people doing this, you might be missing out on some easy money. The next time you are left with an empty toilet roll during your visit to the bathroom, you might want to cash it in.
How to Make Money Selling Toilet Paper Rolls
You can make money from old toilet paper rolls by listing them on sites such as Amazon and eBay. To be successful, your toilet rolls should be clean and sold in bulk.
How Much Money Can You Make from Selling Old Toilet Rolls?
While you can certainly make money from old toilet rolls, you will unlikely earn enough to turn this side hustle into a full-time job.
That is unless you have a massive supply of used loo rolls! Yet toilet rolls are one of the best household items to sell for cash as you can see from the listings on eBay:
So, how much money exactly can you make from old toilet rolls? We can look at eBay to calculate how much you would earn per roll.
| Seller | Price | Rolls | Price per Roll |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seller 1 | £22 | 200 | £0.11 |
| Seller 2 | £24.99 | 100 | £0.25 |
| Seller 3 | £10.50 | 100 | £0.11 |
| Seller 4 | £15 | 146 | £0.10 |
| Seller 5 | £10 | 116 | £0.09 |
Based on the prices offered by current sellers, you should be able to sell your old toilet rolls for £0.09-£0.25 per roll (plus shipping costs) if you are based in the UK.
The average UK sale price would be £0.13 per roll (plus shipping costs).
If you are based in the US, prices look as follows:
| Seller | Price | Rolls | Price per Roll |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seller 1 | $12.99 | 24 | $0.54 |
| Seller 2 | $7.50 | 25 | $0.30 |
| Seller 3 | $15.97 | 50 | $0.32 |
| Seller 4 | $6.00 | 20 | $0.30 |
| Seller 5 | $15.99 | 68 | $0.24 |
Interestingly, the US prefers smaller quantities than the UK market.
On the US market, used toilet rolls sell for $0.24-$0.54 with the average price being $0.34 per roll plus shipping costs.
How much you can charge per roll depends on the quality of your toilet rolls. If you buy cheap toilet paper, you will probably have to sell them at the lower end of the spectrum.
For high-quality rolls, you can charge more.
It also depends on your sale history on eBay. If you are a new seller, you might have to start with a lower price to make money from old toilet rolls.
Selling at these prices is not going to make you rich. However, if you have a lot of toilet rolls, you can make a handy extra income.
Who Buys Old Toilet Paper Rolls?
It is a legitimate question to ask who on Earth would want empty toilet rolls? The answer is actually quite simple.
There are a lot of things you can do with your old loo rolls when it comes to crafting or gardening.
There are a lot of things that can be crafted using empty toilet rolls. In fact, toilet rolls are a great idea to get children to be creative.
Schools, kindergartens, or other places with groups of children may need a large supply of old loo rolls for crafting.
In gardening, old toilet rolls can be used for seedlings. If someone has a big garden or wants to sell their seedlings, they may need more toilet rolls than they can produce naturally.
That is when they might turn to you for help.
There are many other ways old toilet paper rolls can be used. You may want to try a few of them yourself!
How to Prepare Your Toilet Paper Rolls
Before you can start to make money from old toilet rolls, you need to make sure your loo rolls are in the best shape possible. Do not squeeze or bend them.
Additionally, you should also remove any tissue residues or other marks as well as possible.
Essentially, your old toilet paper rolls should look as good as new (minus the paper) when you sell them.
This way you can be sure that the buyer will be happy with them and perhaps buy again from you.
If you have children, you can ask them to help you with preparing the toilet rolls.
Where to Sell Your Empty Toilet Paper Rolls
There are many places that enable you to make money from old toilet rolls. If you are lucky, you can find a place near you to which you can deliver your toilet rolls directly.
You can look at newspaper adverts or contact schools or kindergartens directly.
However, most likely, you will have to turn to the internet to sell your empty toilet rolls. There are a few options for you as well regarding places to sell.
You can either choose a specific site or try multiple until you have found the site that works best for you. In particular, you can try:
- eBay
- Amazon
- Etsy
- Facebook Marketplace
- Gumtree
eBay is probably the main platform for sellers of old toilet rolls. This is because it is quite well-established and one of the best places to sell cheap goods.
Sell Toilet Paper Rolls on Amazon
If your toilet rolls are quite high quality, you can sell them on Amazon. On Amazon, you can charge a little bit more but you may also incur higher fees.
Also, note that it is not worth buying more expensive but higher-quality toilet rolls just so that you can sell them on Amazon.
Tips for Selling Old Toilet Paper Rolls
1. Try to Get Free Packaging
Saving money on the packaging means you can sell for cheaper or make more profit from a sale.
Therefore, to make money from old toilet rolls, it is worth reducing packaging costs as much as possible.
One easy way to save money on the packaging is to find free cardboard boxes to use for shipping.
You can often get these for free from supermarkets or from neighbours or friends who are looking to get rid of theirs.
If you have to buy tapes or other packaging materials, it is worth spending a bit of time finding the cheapest source. You can also bulk buy to further decrease the costs.
2. Ask Friends and Neighbours
Most people just throw their empty toilet rolls away. If you ask them to give their loo rolls to you, they probably will not mind. At worst, it is less trash for them.
Thus, it is always worth asking. Be sure to mention to them that you are only after toilet rolls that are in great condition.
By using toilet rolls from other households, you can get more toilet rolls easily which means you can sell more.
There is a little additional effort in having to collect the empty loo rolls but if you do it in batches, the additional money should be worth it.
3. Take Great Pictures
Pictures are the first thing people see when they look at your listing of empty toilet rolls. If you have great pictures, you will have a higher click-through rate which means you will also sell more.
Plus, if you have better pictures than your competitors, you can dominate the used-toilet-roll market.
Your picture should clearly show your items in good lighting and with a professional background to make money from old toilet rolls.
You can also get creative and arrange your toilet rolls or pose with them. Anything goes to attract attention.
Though you also have to be careful not to make your toilet rolls look better than they are. If there are any marks on them, these should be clearly shown.
Transparency is key; otherwise, your ratings will drop.
4. Sell in Bulk
As you can see from the examples listed below, nobody sells single used toilet rolls. To make money from old toilet rolls, you should wait until you have a decent amount.
This will reduce the shipping cost and also means you can charge more.
There is no given amount of how many toilet rolls you should sell in a batch. Most sellers sell around 100 to 200 toilet rolls together.
However, you could also target people who may need more or less. I recommend a minimum of at least 50 toilet rolls and a maximum of 500.
5. Include Shipping Cost in Your Price
Because the profit margin for toilet paper rolls is quite low, you should include postage fees in the selling price. If you decide to pay for shipping yourself, you may end up making a loss.
On the other hand, if you list shipping fees separately, buyers may be discouraged from buying. Toilet rolls are already cheap so the shipping cost can look quite high in comparison.
Thus, the best practice is to offer free shipping and add the shipping cost to the item price.
How to Make Money from Selling Toilet Paper Rolls Summary
Although it may seem weird, you can really make money from old toilet rolls. Although you will unlikely earn enough to turn this side hustle into a full-time business, it is a great way to earn some money on the side.
Per toilet roll, you can expect to make between £0.09-£0.25.
Buyers of empty toilet rolls most commonly wish to use them for crafting, and sometimes for gardening. Thus, it is important that your old toilet rolls are in great condition.
You can then list them on online platforms such as eBay, eBay alternatives, Etsy, and Amazon.
To be efficient and make money from old toilet paper rolls, you can:
- Try to get free packaging
- Ask friends and neighbours
- Take great pictures
- Sell in bulk
- Include shipping costs in your price
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