Best websites, methods, and places, (BEFORE Yard Sale) to sell to downsize when moving?

[#1 Cowboys Fan]

Like panina, winniwoman, and others---we plan to make a big move (1000+miles) within a year (?)

We have A LOT of STUFF---I know everyone does, but I'm guessing we are in the 80-90 percentile range---haha!!

I will likely keep adding to this thread for Months, (or start another), but I'll start with this..............

What are the BEST ways to acquire 'some money' for your things----BEFORE having a Yard Sale?

I am thinking of ways such as
: Consignment shops
: 'Estate' Sale /Dealer(s)
: Antique Shops
: Web sites----this will be challenging for us---such as ebay, Facebook, etc.

We started sorting a bit, it is daunting!!!

I suspect I'll get some replies on this question, and I welcome them all,

Thanks,
Pat (male)

 

[Luanne]

I do not like doing garage sales. We did do a couple before we moved but I had the best luck on craigslist.

For things that were too good to throw out, but not good enough to donate I used freecycle.

 

[Panina]

This move I sold nothing. I just kept packing the car and dropped off donations to Goodwill, even the good stuff. I must say it was easy and a relief to give it away.

In the past for the good stuff I used a consignment shop.

 

[Luanne]

This move I sold nothing. I just kept packing the car and dropped off donations to Goodwill, even the good stuff. I must say it was easy and a relief to give it away.

In the past for the good stuff I used a consignment shop.

When we moved we had things like a car, an electric piano, beds, television set, etc., etc., to get rid of. Much too big to just drop off, and things we could get money for. There was a lot of stuff that went to the Goodwill as well.

 

[clifffaith]

Do you have Nextdoor in your neighborhood? In addition to seeing the latest lost dog, newest restaurant opening and today's porch pirate report, it is a good place to list things too big to ship on eBay or potentially worth more than someone will give you at a garage sale. I'vehad great luck with it.

 

[moonstone]

If you are on Facebook you could place an ad in your areas FB Marketplace. DD posted a single bed size futon this morning on her local one and it was sold within 2 hrs and picked up less than an hour after that! She had a friend & her hubby come over when the guy was going to pick it up so she wouldn't be home alone. (DD doesn't have a SO)

~Diane

 

[#1 Cowboys Fan]

When we moved we had things like a car, an electric piano, beds, television set, etc., etc., to get rid of. Much too big to just drop off, and things we could get money for. There was a lot of stuff that went to the Goodwill as well.

Luanne
So, how did you get rid of "....the car, an electric piano, beds, television set, etc. " ?

 

[#1 Cowboys Fan]

If you are on Facebook you could place an ad in your areas FB Marketplace. DD posted a single bed size futon this morning on her local one and it was sold within 2 hrs and picked up less than an hour after that! She had a friend & her hubby come over when the guy was going to pick it up so she wouldn't be home alone. (DD doesn't have a SO)

~Diane

I am not on Facebook yet, and really don't want to go there.

That being said, if that is the #1 answer to my question on this thread----I'll have to consider it.

 

[#1 Cowboys Fan]

Do you have Nextdoor in your neighborhood? In addition to seeing the latest lost dog, newest restaurant opening and today's porch pirate report, it is a good place to list things too big to ship on eBay or potentially worth more than someone will give you at a garage sale. I'vehad great luck with it.

I have not heard of Nextdoor, or at least YET................

 

[WinniWoman]

For the most part- with maybe a couple of exceptions- no one wants to pay a lot of money for your stuff. They want Free. We used to do Craig's list, but that is out now. Facebook Marketplace is the go to. Even sold our car on there. We also did a pawn shop. Be prepared to get a lot less for your stuff then you might want or expect.

The rest you will end up donating or throwing away. Just the way it is.

I am super organized. I also do not like clutter or hoarding stuff. Hubby not so much.

When we remodeled our former home these past few years I again got rid of a lot of stuff. Then when we knew we were going to move into this small retirement home, I quickly moved to get rid of a large chunk of our things- many that I loved but knew we could not fit into this house.

As we have been unpacking these past few days it is working out great as for the most part as everything has a place. So much so that as of tomorrow I should have almost all boxes unpacked and stuff put away, with the exception of paintings that have to be hung up and will stay boxed for a while until we get to it.

Hubby does need some cabinets and shelves in the basement- he still has way too much stuff as far as I am concerned.. For example- our son gave him a Keurig one cup coffee maker a few years ago. He didn't like it as the coffee is not hot enough and he didn't like using the cups and the expense of it. So he went back to using our coffee peculator, which recently broke and now bought a stove top peculator which he loves. So- what does he bring here? The Keurig machine. It's in the basement in a box. I told him to throw it out or donate it, but not- he says- "It's a Keurig!" What the? This is what I deal with with him.

This is what you should not do. Try to sell it for $5.00 or bring it to Good Will or another non profit group that has garage sales for donations.

Good luck. No matter how you do it, it is a lot of work.

PS I would not do a garage sale. Too much work for too little reward. You need to be on a mission and gather momentum to get rid of stuff and garage sales don't fit that bill.

 

[WinniWoman]

I have not heard of Nextdoor, or at least YET................

Yes. I have heard of that. I did not use it. I am not sure it is as popular as Facebook.

 

[Luanne]

Luanne
So, how did you get rid of "....the car, an electric piano, beds, television set, etc. " ?

Craigslist. Thought I said that in my first post.

 

[clifffaith]

Nice thing about Nextdoor is you are marketing to your neighbors and somewhat wider area -- not as many no shows as Craigslist, and those that are no shows tend to come back with "OMG, I forgot! I still want it!"

 

[MULTIZ321]

Take your car to Carmax or. AutoNation - you can receive s check the same day. Their quotes are good for. 7 days.


Richard

 

[PamMo]

When we downsized, I hired an estate sale company to sell what we didn't need/want in our new home. We moved our things out and they took over. They organized, staged, and priced everything. And I mean EVERYTHING - I was stunned by the amount of our "junk" people bought. The sale lasted three days and what little didn't sell was packed up and hauled away. The estate sale people even cleaned the house afterwards. They kept a percentage of sales, and we donated the proceeds to our local food bank. It was a win, win, win all around.

 

[WinniWoman]

When we downsized, I hired an estate sale company to sell what we didn't need/want in our new home. We moved our things out and they took over. They organized, staged, and priced everything. And I mean EVERYTHING - I was stunned by the amount of our "junk" people bought. The sale lasted three days and what little didn't sell was packed up and hauled away. The estate sale people even cleaned the house afterwards. They kept a percentage of sales, and we donated the proceeds to our local food bank. It was a win, win, win all around.

We had the opposite experience with an estate sale for my parents house. Eeven had a hard time finding a compnay to do it. Of course, because the fact that it was the weekend Hurricane Irene was to hit didn't help things, even though the day of the sale was beautiful.

Hardly anything went and what did go went for peanuts- even the antique furniture. We ended up having to PAY THE Estate Company a few thousand bucks to haul eveything out in a tractor trailor where they would bring it to their Long Island store and sell what they could for 100% of the profits! I remember calling 1800JUNK before trying this and it was very expensive also.

 

[bnoble]

It might be worth asking yourself if you are trying to make a few bucks, or trying to get rid of your stuff. Both might happen but the steps you take will be different.

 

[#1 Cowboys Fan]

It might be worth asking yourself if you are trying to make a few bucks, or trying to get rid of your stuff. Both might happen but the steps you take will be different.

The 'stuff' is certainly of value; albeit IF there is a BUYER..........

At the end, we will donate, and throw away, we are in the initial stages, so getting some money seems a possibility.

 

[Brett]

The 'stuff' is certainly of value; albeit IF there is a BUYER..........

At the end, we will donate, and throw away, we are in the initial stages, so getting some money seems a possibility.

Unfortunately millennials don't appreciate antique furniture so I'm finding it's a problem to even give away good furniture. Craigslist free does help for hauling away some stuff

 

[geekette]

Nice thing about Nextdoor is you are marketing to your neighbors and somewhat wider area -- not as many no shows as Craigslist, and those that are no shows tend to come back with "OMG, I forgot! I still want it!"

Yep, with NextDoor, you can leave it outside and they'll come get it (no shipping!)

We also communicate about lost dogs, crime, etc. Sometimes there are posts about what people are looking for, and you might just have what is wanted. Since it is local, it's so easy.

 

[#1 Cowboys Fan]

Just curious.

If any of you had enough Deductions to ITEMIZE on your taxes----did you include any of your things that you gave to Goodwill, Churches, etc ?

 

[geekette]

Just curious.

If any of you had enough Deductions to ITEMIZE on your taxes----did you include any of your things that you gave to Goodwill, Churches, etc ?

Yes. I keep good lists of what I am giving away, then use the built-in Turbo Tax thing to value them at thrift store value.

 

[PamMo]

When downsizing or moving, I think it depends on what your primary goals are. Get rid of stuff easily, or put in the extra effort to make a little extra money? It's kind of like getting rid of unwanted timeshares. You might have spent a fortune on that furniture, art, crystal, piano, pool table, etc, but finding buyers to pay a good price is hard work.

For big ticket items, place ads (Craigslist, Nextdoor, eBay) including several GOOD photos highlighting details, and price things well. Sell one at a time and tell a (short) story about the item. Humor has worked for me, according to some buyers of my stuff. "My husband thinks I'm the worst motorcycle driver in the world, so please help restore the peace in my family, and buy my rarely-driven-because-I-go-too-slow Honda!"

As for having an estate sale, it was a painless way for us to clear out the house. We had a large country home with a 5-car garage. I was just happy to see my things go to new owners to use/enjoy them. Of course, as Mary Ann noted above, experiences can differ.

 

[presley]

I started with Ebay and decided the costs of shipping materials + Ebay's cut + Paypals cut weren't worth my time.

Next, I went with Craigslist and did very well with Craigslist, but you have to be available to meet with people at times that they can meet with you. That wasn't always the easiest way to handle things. It is what I'd recommend, though, if you want money for your stuff.

Did some yard sales and YUCK. Now, I just leave stuff at the curb with a sign that says FREE rather than deal with the people negotiating and stealing at my yard sales.

Now, I pretty much just put out large items for free. I happen to live on a busy street, so my stuff doesn't stay on the curb for very long. I do always have boxes and bags that I add to and I'll either have the Veteran's thrift shop pick it up or I'll drop off at Goodwill.

If you decide to go with yard sales, make sure you have lots of helpers with you and don't have anything out that you don't want sold. If you have a lot of little items, people will steal them, so you may want one person to man those and never leave that area. Mark up everything for more than what you want to sell for because people will want to bargain with you. You'll also have people asking to go into your house to use your restroom. Make sure you are able to watch for that or do what I did once and kept the house locked.

 

[SmithOp]

We had garage sales every month for a year before moving, I made it the first weekend of the month so I knew all the bargain hunters has cash. It made it easier because I didn’t have to unpack and price everything at once, I slowly cleared out 25 years worth of “stuff” from the attic, closets, and garage.

We had a neighbor that bought storage lockers so she had her sales every month also, our street was popular.

I enjoyed haggling with people, and had regulars come every month, even though I would only clear a couple hundred dollars every sale it was still fun. Selling the house was a lot harder than getting rid of the stuff in it.

A next door neighbor used an estate company and they actually brought in stuff from other customers, they filled the house and yard with it. I didn’t want everyone parading through my house, we were remodeling to sell.


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