Losing Money When Decluttering?

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ERD50 As far as decluttering, I'm not so bothered about getting decent $, it's stuff I want to get rid of. I'm more bothered by the idea that some of this stuff could be used and maybe even treasured by the right person. But connecting with those people and handing off is problematic. I've subscribed to 'Freecycle', but kinda chicken out at the idea of giving out my number and address to strangers. And I've seen comments about the 'no-shows', so arranging to meet in a parking lot or something could be a big waste of time. -ERD50

Yeah - we actually spent a little effort making sure some of the things we didn't want to sell but weren't "junk" went to a "good home". Probably at least as much effort as selling a few of the more valuable and easily sold items. But these weren't complete strangers really such as through Freecycle - more by reference, calling different clubs and contacts seeing if they had ideas of who or a group that would really use XYZ. We found quite a few interesting organizations that did neat stuff on a volunteer basis and could use some things we had.

[Sunset]

We have gotten rid of about 4 boxes of books.
DW had technical books that were literally new condition and not used.
There is a website where you can look up the value of a book, actually the price they will pay you for the book. Plus of course you can check for it on Amazon etc.
Regardless of the fact that the 4 boxes of books were originally priced in the thousands in total, they all went in the garbage.

Household stuff really has practically no value to other people once you buy it.

[daylatedollarshort]

Lately we just donate items to charity thrift shops or give items away to friends. We usually donate some money to charity every year anyway, so it saves time for us to donate stuff and let the charities worry about the pricing and selling. I think the most expensive single item we gave away this past year was worth around $600. It was put to good use by a nonprofit organization where some friend of ours do volunteer work.

[calmloki]

Was at a yard sale a couple weeks ago and bought an Akha headdress because it was weird and had indigo dyed hand loomed cloth - paid a massive $1 bill. Took a bit to untangle it and even figure out it was a headdress.

Looks pretty identical to this one: Akha Tribe Headdress - Shab Antiques

I don't think it is a $849 gain, but it makes a good story. Now and again I sell stuff or stuff vanishes that was worth a bit. Ehh. Keep on keeping on.

[Amethyst]

+++++

Quote:

Originally Posted by audreyh1 No. life is too short to spend a lot of time trying to get the best price for things you want to get rid of. We've given huge amounts of stuff away and only sold the obvious and straightforward pieces. We had other priorities and wanted to get on with our lives. Money on the table and all that. Gosh, we left oodles behind by deciding to quit earning our nice wages when we were quite young.

[marko]

We're trying to declutter our house. Being a house that has been passed down for generations, no one has ever moved out. We have tons of small antiques, tools etc...each worth about $50 each.

I just cant be bothered with waiting around for people to come by and haggle over a $12 lamp shade. As others have noted life is too short.

What I did do however was put a lot of old books on Amazon Sellers. I did well on it as I was able to look up what other similar old books were selling for.

[HadEnuff]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobbieB I either junk it or give it away. My goal is to fill the trash container each week. Step by step...

My wife would instantly fall in love with you. I tell her she is like an ant. She can lift 1000 times her body weight if she's carrying my stuff to the dumpster.

[Marita40]

I tried to sell an art deco chandelier on Craigslist for $800. No bites. I was contacted by a local antique shop; he offered me $400 and I took it. Now he has it on his website for $1300. Ouch. Oh well, it was something I can't use and otherwise would just be stored.

[Z3Dreamer]

"Losing money when decluttering?" is an issue for us. Another factor is that many of our collections have sentimental value. So we hold waiting for We have the following collections with no solution nor are there any family takers: 1) massive collection of worthless stamps 2) massive collection of coins worth close to face value 3) sea shells 4) bells 5) attraction branded knick-knacks 6) thousands of slides - DW is going to digitize one day (doesn't want to pay someone to do it) 7) athletic and academic medals, pins, trophies and certificates. Yes, I still have the medal for being part of that conference championship relay. 8) inherited linens 9) two cabinets full of plates, mugs, ladles, serving things that we NEVER use. 10) 1920's era children's books.

[EastWest Gal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marita40 I tried to sell an art deco chandelier on Craigslist for $800. No bites. I was contacted by a local antique shop; he offered me $400 and I took it. Now he has it on his website for $1300. Ouch. Oh well, it was something I can't use and otherwise would just be stored.

Someone will come along and haggle him down to $800. You made the same $400 he will make but you didn't have the bother of showing it to customers. Time>money. Don't forget that.

[MichaelB]

Another view siding with Audreyh1

Losing money happens when you sell something for less than what you paid. When you declutter and manage to sell something, that's making money. If you sell it for less than it's fair market value, that's not losing, it's just not making as much.

Decluttering by selling is like getting two things for the price of one. A great deal any way you look at it.

[ivinsfan]

So not a decluttering comment, last night we watched "Minimalism" on Netflix...interesting take on the subject...and pretty much everybody here would consider themselves slackers in the decluttering department compared to the people in the documentary...

[jabbahop]

Have any Picasso's you are trying to declutter?

[neihn]

I once gave entire of collections of Laser Discs (> 30 discs, most of them Disney) and perfectly function Pioneer LaserDisc Player to Goodwill. Years later, I found out they could be collector items. Oh well.

[brucethebroker]

At the risk of sounding like the lone voice in the wilderness....

Have a friend or loved one who is savvy in ebay show you how to browse sold items on the website (or perhaps find a How To video online). (It is simple, just too difficult for me to explain here-easier to show kind of thing). Look at the sold prices, and scroll down about 20% to find an "average" fair price-be sure to include the shipping (sometimes paid by buyer and easier to add in). With this technique, you can determine a reasonable price for hundreds of thousands of items.

Then, if you want to sell the item, ask the friend how much they would charge you to sell it on a split commission basis. Or, google ebay valet to find an expert on line. Or, check with the FedEx stores-many offer the service.

If you have dozens of things, with true value (over $50 each??), consider setting up an ebay account. It's free to set up and free to list things on the auction format-ebay only charges when the item sells, about 15-20% including the fees for processing the payment/credit card info from PayPal.

You will most likely find that many of the things you think have value, are not worth the time to mess with. However, this process will give you the peace of mind that you aren't giving away thousands of dollars of antiques when you make your next donation run to the charity thrift store.

[Danmar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobbieB I just toss the stuff inna trash, why bother? Easy when you've been frugal all your life. I've never even bought a hard cover book (except when I was in school over 40 years ago) and who wants text books from back then? Have a nice dinner out and forgetaboutit!

Agree. We were doing a reno at one of our places several years ago that resulted in a half full dumpster. It was great to take advantage of it to get rid of "stuff". We still talk about how great that was.

[Golden sunsets]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Danmar Agree. We were doing a reno at one of our places several years ago that resulted in a half full dumpster. It was great to take advantage of it to get rid of "stuff". We still talk about how great that was.

+1. A few years ago we used thedumpman.com to empty out our basement. I was giddy with excitement at clearing out so much space and not have to be the one to schlep the stuff. On four or five occasions we have listed larger items on Craigslist and had great success in selling items for cash.


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[Marita40]

I live in a neighborhood with alleys and boy are they great for getting rid of stuff! No need to cart things to Goodwill--just put out in the alley and whatever it is, it will be gone within 24 hours.

[Throwdownmyaceinthehole]

Just helped my daughter move from a 2300 sq ft house to a 700 sq ft condo in a different city. She had spent 8 years filling and decorating that big house. She got a new job and had to move quickly, had a quick yard sale, but then gave away a yard full of furniture, clothes, tools. Probably gave away 5k but she didn't have the time to eBay or resell. She doesn't miss the stuff a bit.

[Philliefan33]

If you itemize deductions on your taxes, you can come out a little ahead even when you give things away to the thrift store. I keep track of everything we donate and use the "it's deductible " website to help set the value of each item. So far this year we've donated $1,958 worth of stuff to three different charities. No single item was worth more than $30, but all those household items and clothing added up. We will save roughly $548 on our taxes.