Hello AT,
Help! My parents, after 24 years, are moving out of this home to
explore the lands in an RV. They're trying to rid themselves of the
majority of their possessions. Any suggestions how to do this? We've
garage saled nearly every year for 24 years, so we know the dedication that takes. And eBay is a thought, but anything else?...
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Living estate sale? Auction of some sort? We're in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, so our choices are somewhat limited, but we try. Any advice would be appreciated. They've never done this before and haven't really met anyone who has, that's why we're turning to you guys. Any thoughts?
Thanks for anything and everything. I've already told them to start
reading the site to get some hints on how to live large in small
spaces.
Thanks, Marissa
Dear Marissa,
First of all, Congratulations to your parents!
1/2 the battle of getting rid of possessions efficiently is mental, the other 1/2 is purely physical.
1. First stop, get your hands on our book and dive into the sections on the Outbox and how to live lightly. This will take care of the mental part.
2. eBay definitely. We've used eBay repeatedly to help us get rid of unwanted baby items and found it fast, efficient and satisfying in that we know our things are going to someone who really wants and will use it.
3. Craigslist is also excellent if you have one in your area.
4. We'd first have one big yard and inside sale where people can come and give you cash before they carry things away. Then we'd go to eBay and Craigslist. Finally, we'd donate the rest to Goodwill or the Salvation Army. And finally we'd take the rest to the dump and put it either in the trash or in your local recycling section.
Anyone else?
leave a candle burning near some drapes.....
seriously, i think maxwell nailed it.
view buzzybee's profile
You said you "garaged yourself" out of that possibility, here's one that you might be willing to entertain: call and estate sales house. They price the items, they advertise the sale, and they do the bulk of the work. Of course, there's a fee involved, but it's work considering! If there is anything that you suspect may have a considerable amount of value, you may want to call in an appraiser beforehand to ensure you get top dollar for it. Good luck!
view jacquilives's profile
Find a tag-sale professional - like this woman: http://tagsalesbymona.com/ in your area? A tag sale would be great because everything stays where it is, and would-be buyers sift through it to find treasures, rather than the 'drag it out on the lawn' garage sale, or even the 'drag it down to the post office' of eBay. And paying someone else to run it can be a mental lifesaver!
view kristin's profile
For a whole house of stuff, go with the tag-sale or estate sale professionals.
Having eBayed my way through substantial portions of my parents' mini-warehouse a couple years back, I can testify to two very important facts in making your decision:
(1) eBaying effectively is a LOT of work. If you don't put the time into product research, checking what sells, pricing strategy, taking excellent photos, writing good descriptions, and shipping fast-but-cheap, you won't be happy with your sales.
(2) Most stuff won't sell on eBay. I was working exclusively with potentially collectible vintage toys, and I'd say for every bankers box of goodies that I was able to sell, five boxes went to Goodwill because research suggested that the money to be made wouldn't leave an adequate profit after paying all the fees, so I wasn't going to waste time on listings.
CL is just as stressful, plus going prices are lower and buyers are flakier.
view wende in the twin cities's profile
Have a professional estate sale person appraise the stuff. Most won't take the job unless they feel they can achieve a certain minimum total of sales. Sadly a lot that you may value or think it in excellent condition, may not be of a currently popular style and simply won't sell. A fact I discovered when I needed to clean out and sell my mother's house.
If you've already tried garage sales I'd suggest donating absolutely everything they will accept and rent a dumpster.
view jimkk's profile
It wasn't clear in your question if you're looking to make money or not. In addition to Goodwill and the Salvation Army freecycle.org is an option if you're more into giving directly to those in need. Best thing about it is the Freecycle people pick things up! I think I'm in the minority but when I'm culling items I don't sell them as I think I've already gotten my money's worth and no longer expect a return on investment. Never let me buy a house :)
view sha's profile
Having cleaned our my grandparents house filled with decades of stuff, I agree with wende and sha--ebay is a pain (unless you have a lot of time and patience) and freecycle is great. Before I had a tag sale, I had antique dealers pick out the good stuff (some on a consignment basis, ie they paid me when stuff was sold). I also took tons of stuff to Goodwill and the local dump (which had a good "free crap" section).
I hired a clean-out guy at the end for the true junk, but that ended up being fairly expensive (although to be fair, he mostly charged me what the dump charged him). Had I known, I would've done more freecycle.
I ended up making like $3000 on the tag sale, so that was worthwhile and over in a weekend.
view marfa's profile
The estate sale option is a good one- but stuff that doesn't sell will still be yours to dispose of (somehow), but if you call an auction house they will take everything. Even if there isn't enough stuff, a lot of houses will combine estates for an auction. Some places do on site auctions- and can also sell the house- and others transport all the items to their auction house. There is of course a fee, but it will get rid of everything, and you won't have to do anything except tell them what ISN'T in the sale. My Dad is an auctioneer and we have also run estate tag sales for years. If you have a house-full of stuff, those are your two best options in my opinion.
view lorijo's profile
Craigslist!
view boomer's profile
In addition to the eBay, Craigslist, Freecycle, tag sale, estate sale, charities advice I would add:
* Cheapcycle (it's like an online garage sale, operates the same as Freecycle, but you can charge for items)
* Companies that sell things on eBay for you (they charge a premium but they handle the hassles so it can be worthwhile for valuables and collectibles) some name are ISold-it and SellPro
* Ask around to find out if someone in your circle has recently suffered a fire and had to start over (I called a local Red Cross chapter and was able to connect with someone that way to direct transfer nearly an entire house full)
* Ask around in your social circle to find out if someone is starting over (post-divorce, for instance) and wants a "starter set"
Good luck!
view Rucy's profile
1-800-Got-Junk
view Kathryn's profile