Death Cleaning - Does It Bring You Joy?

[WinniWoman]

What is the best way to sell 24K, 22K gold and other expensive jewelry?

Usually you can find those “ We Buy Gold” shops. I’ve done it several times when I lived in NY.

 

[AnnaS]

I have sold some jewelry pieces to "We Buy Gold" but mostly our local jeweler.

 

[The Colorado Kid]

I am not in full downsizing mode just yet but have disposed of a few things recently by taking them to a consignment auction. During covid a lot of the local auction houses went to online bidding and have continued the the practice since. Most of the time the auctions have a theme like sporting goods, collectibles, or farm and tool. So far it's worked out. I just take stuff over, the auction happens and a month later I get a check in the mail. They will take almost anything and it seems like people will buy almost anything.

@jorcus Would you mind sharing the specifics on a couple of items that sold through this auction process? Do you have any say in how much you want for each item?

 

[Sandi Bo]

Actually many people who do this (newspapers, etc) are doing it b/c mental decline and a loss of executive function.

I think people might hone in on one thing? My aunt (also had dementia) wouldn't stop buying PAM or something silly like that. (This angered my mother, I said Mom, next time you need PAM, take one of her cans). My stepmother recently asked me for more dental picks, I had just bought some for her. So I checked her lists before shopping this last time (she has 6 lists, btw, keeps making new ones and not tossing the old ones - lots of duplicates). She has a box in the bathroom with 5 packages of dental picks plus one in the kitchen that she uses. Also, she doesn't want me to buy her anymore toilet paper. She grabs extra anytime she is at lunch or an activity and has a drawer of her neatly folded contraband. She showed me so when I move her to assisted living (she knows it's coming) I remember to bring her toilet paper.

 

[Sandi Bo]

For my stepmother's house in Nebraska, there was a local auctioneer that came over and took everything. He was a God-send. He took everything - including things like a super outdated long couch - mustard yellow - uggg. Believe it or not, it sold for $5 at the auction. I was more than happy that it was gone. Sadly she went to the auction. He suggested she didn't go, he knew it would upset her. He knew he was doing me a huge favor taking some of her 'treasures'. There was a local auction every Tuesday, I believe. I just googled and it looks defunk now. Some online stuff (and cars) is all I'm seeing. There has always been auto auctions there. I tried to find someone like him in Panama City but wasn't able (the timing was bad with the hurricane, too). If I could have found someone like him in PC, you bet I would have used him.

I think it's more typical to auction all the possessions at the residence, rather than move them. And then maybe even auction off the house.

I think these trucks we see that say they take your junk charge by the load. I do not believe they pay you for your junk.

 

[Sandi Bo]

The difference between extroverts and introverts. Introverts take pictures without them in the pictures. My husband and I take pictures of interests but we are not present in the pictures. Extroverts love seeing themselves in the pictures.

I take it you don't change your facebook profile with a new selfie everyday.

 

[am1]

Don't insult me. I was replying to the OPs comment that it might not be viewable without an account. It wasn't.

Dave

You can open an account.

 

[jorcus]

@jorcus Would you mind sharing the specifics on a couple of items that sold through this auction process? Do you have any say in how much you want for each item?

At one auction I sold some fishing equipment I was not using. Just a fraction of my collection at this point. Lures, some rods and reels. At another auction I sold two motors and pumps that were used in a hot tub I scrapped. Just taking up room in my shed. For these types of auctions there was no reserve price. One place charged a 35% commission which seemed way too high. Another place charged on a sliding scale where most items would go in the 20% range but higher priced items were 15%. Important question to ask if you use an action house. You just have to see what goes on in your area. In the link below you can see past auction prices and the kind of things that were sold by one of the places I used. Now if I can only sneak my wife's ceramic Santa collection out of the house.

Past Auctions - Bontrager Auction

www.bontragerauction.com

 

[VacationForever]

I take it you don't change your facebook profile with a new selfie everyday.

Precisely! The last time I posted anything on FB was more than 5 years and any pictures in FB must have been at least 10 years ago. I don't have Instagram, TikTok and Twitter. I killed off LinkedIn account the moment I retired. I keep FB so that my childhood friends can PM me.

 

[TheHolleys87]

I take it you don't change your facebook profile with a new selfie everyday.

LOL, my FB profile pic is a photo I took in King’s Canyon NP several years ago. No people!

 

[Ralph Sir Edward]

"Yes, I am looking to selling back as scrap gold. But they are pure."


That is only important in the sense that will cost less to refine. Perhaps I should use the term "melt". At big coin shows there is usually a dealer that has a melt tray for damaged bullion coins. They are then sent to the refiner for the standard discount and the dealer makes a tiny profit. (Say the dealer buys at 90% of spot and gets 92% from the refiner. 2% profit on a few ounces (or a number of ounces, adds up as a business sideline.

Seriously, have you used the link and read the site information? I used that refiners as a sample because they had a nice long discussion about what they do. There is no bullion buy/sell market for jewelry in the US unlike, say, India.

 

[klpca]

No one really uses china anymore. We have a service for 12, but can't remember when the last time we used it. We usually buy the upscale plastic plates for Holidays, just toss them out to clean up.

We do! Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, Mother's Day, Valentines; any time I am preparing a meal for a special occasion. It is a dying trend though, that is for sure.

 

[Talent312]

(1) Shall I toss our old paper towel holder or save it for our heirs to sell?
(2) What about the 6 or so pool noodles we don't use anymore?
-- cut 'em up and toss, or save for grandkids we don't have?
.

 

[rickandcindy23]

The only gold I own is the chain my MIL left me, and I bought a gold cross for it to wear it daily, and my wedding ring set. I don't care much for jewelry, never have. I would rather buy another OF Center Westin on Maui. That reminds me that I need to make a note for our safe that I have no jewelry that isn't on my body when I die. The rest is "paste."

 

[pittle]

What is the best way to sell 24K, 22K gold and other expensive jewelry?

Some of the nice jewelry stores will buy it and the resell it. I sold some 14k jewelry that I no longer wore for a pretty good price several years ago. Most of it I had purchased at the fine jewelry area of the Atlanta Gift Mart when buying for the store I was managing. Once I retired, I did not need so many bracelets and earrings. I just kept my favorites.

 

[linsj]

Some of the nice jewelry stores will buy it and the resell it. I sold some 14k jewelry that I no longer wore for a pretty good price several years ago. Most of it I had purchased at the fine jewelry area of the Atlanta Gift Mart when buying for the store I was managing. Once I retired, I did not need so many bracelets and earrings. I just kept my favorites.

From what people have told me, jewelry stores offer the most for gold and even some pawn shops that buy gold pay more than the companies that advertise "We buy gold."

 

[stmartinfan]

(1) Shall I toss our old paper towel holder or save it for our heirs to sell?
(2) What about the 6 or so pool noodles we don't use anymore?
-- cut 'em up and toss, or save for grandkids we don't have?
.

If you've got a Buy Nothing group or something similar in your area, these are the kind of items that easily find a new home where they will be put to good use. I find passing along things I no longer use to someone who needs them is really gratifying. As one of those Boomers who grew up with parents who didn't have much, I hate throwing away things that are still usable— but I also want to clean out my clutter.

 

[clifffaith]

From what people have told me, jewelry stores offer the most for gold and even some pawn shops that buy gold pay more than the companies that advertise "We buy gold."

I never compared, but I always felt like I walked out with way more money than I expected by taking gold into the neighborhood watch shop. Funny thing was he declined a bunch of watches my deceased brother had picked up at thrift shops (brother had worked in a watch shop in Florida decades ago), and I sold those individually on eBay for probably $1500 all totaled.

 

[1Melanie]

Modern technology helps you to de-clutter in advance, if such is your preference. (Collectors need not apply, but your duty is to catalog your collection in advance, with hints on how to sell and not get "robbed" in the process.)

Consider. I have 700+ audio CDs, all ripped down to a chip. I have multiple back-ups, including one in a Safe Deposit box. I like to read, but 95% of my library is now converted to e-books, with removable chips, and once again, the same back-ups. There are other ways to shrink your "stuff". Photos? scan and save the scans. My brother occasionally gets "fancy" and makes "Ken Burns" style flows of photos with music from my music library. I scan all my paper tax related papers. and keep them on chip. Easy to add another year, every year. (And I have the tax booklets all the way back from 1981 - courtesy of the IRS!)

Brilliant! I have boxes and boxes of photos stuffed in a closet and hadn’t even thought of scanning them before even tho all my “new” pics are stored electronically. That should keep me busy on several rainy days!

 

[stmartinfan]

On of our cousins scanned a large quantity of old family photos showing several generations of relatives. He then made CDs of all of the images and shared copies with the different branches of the family. So much fun to see all the old shots. Of course those need to be downloaded and stored in the cloud or on a memory stick now before we can no longer access them…one of the challenges of changing technology.

 

[rapmarks]

I take it you don't change your facebook profile with a new selfie everyday.

Probably will not post her daily wordle result either.

 

[VacationForever]

Probably will not post her daily wordle result either.

But I post my daily Wordle here on TUG, does that count?