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Many of us are looking for ways to declutter our homes. Maybe we’ve accumulated too much crochet- and fiber-related stuff that we’ll never use. Maybe we have old books, DVDs, clothes, electronics, and more that we’d also like to give away to a new good home.

Maybe we’re also looking for some new items but we don’t have a lot of disposable income available. Perhaps we need a new digital camera or ereading device, or at least something that’s new to us.

Listia might just be what you’re looking for. Unlike other online auction sites, they don’t charge listing fees and you don’t bid with money. You do everything with site credits. Listia even gives you plenty of ways to earn credits for free on the site.

So what’s the catch, I’m sure you’re thinking. They don’t charge listing fees. You don’t pay with cash, so they’re not earning money by collecting a portion of the money you receive. There don’t seem to be ads for other companies on the site. No site can exist and provide a service for free, even if they have investors. (Which Listia does, to the tune of raising $9 million from investors.) At least they can’t provide everything for free for very long. So just how are they earning money?

The answer is pretty simple. They make money by also selling credits on the site. Many users may find that they can earn enough free credits by listing their own items for auction and by participating in other ways on the site. Perhaps others need a big ticket item but don’t have time to wait to earn free credits. Those people have the option of buying credits.

What Crochet Stuff Can You List?

If you have crochet stuff to destash, Listia has a special crochet category just for you. What can you list? Almost anything. Extra yarn, hooks, crochet tools, and accessories, and hard-copy print versions of books, magazines, and individual patterns. You can even list digital PDF patterns if you are the designer/copyright owner. I think you can even list crocheted items you’ve made, but please check the guidelines on that first.

What can’t you list? Things like:

Printed copies you’ve made of copyrighted patterns (unless you’re the designer/copyright owner)
PDFs of copyrighted patterns (unless you’re the copyright owner)
Crocheted items you’ve made that feature a popular character from movies/books/comics/etc, sports team names/logos, corporate logos, etc. (unless you have licensing arrangements or other permission from the copyright/trademark owner)
Live animals (pets, sheep, alpacas, llama, goats, etc.)

There are other things you can’t list, but they probably won’t be related to crochet and fiber items, so I’m not going to list them here. Just check out Listia’s guidelines.