How do you decide what's worth selling... and what to just donate?

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How do you decide what's worth selling... and what to just donate?

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Started 8 months ago by themusiclivez
Latest reply from Irulan
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themusiclivez
Member

I really thought that I was almost "done" decluttering. And then I stumbled upon the "Decluttering Your Fantasy Self" thread and I realized that I still have a ways to go.

How have you all been handling the "getting rid of" part of decluttering? Have you been selling items on Craigslist, ebay, or donating? Right now I am attempting to sell off some of my art supplies. (I am decluttering the part of me that believed that I was an artist who was skilled at all mediums. I have learned this is not the truth, and these items need to go).

I just feel that with hobby specific items it is harder to donate them to Goodwill. I don't even know if they want them. So I have been selling some items, but I am not going to lie - finding a good home for all of my unwanted items is becoming clutter. I am very "green" and so I try really hard to make sure I don't throw out perfectly good items. But it can be a bit stressful!

Posted 8 months ago #
Ella
Member

If I think I can sell an item, I check eBay's completed listings to find out what the same items have sold for (or not sold at all). Based on that, I decided whether it's worth the trouble of listing the item. Then, if something doesn't sell, I donate it.

But sales are so quirky sometimes. I've listed some items on eBay for a low price and they haven't moved. I've relisted as Buy It Now and doubled the price and the items sell instantly. Or I've listed things at 99 cents just for the heck of it, and a bidding war ensues.

But back to you... you're right not to throw out perfectly good items, because that would be foolish. Other people would be thrilled to have them. When in doubt about an item's salesworthiness, just donate it and don't look back. Then breathe, have a cup of tea or a glass of wine, pat yourself on the back, and move forward with life. :)

Posted 8 months ago #
Emilie
Member

Oh, I hear you! I can relate to the stress and the difficulty deciding. Mostly I Freecyle or donate to somewhere like Goodwill. I've sold some things on Craigslist, but people can be really flaky and then a simple transaction gets time consuming. I've also done Ebay, but again, it takes so much time. I want things to have "good homes" too, and it does slow my progress sometimes. But maybe if I'm not using and appreciating an item, my home isn't a "good home" for the item either.

As someone else who tries to be environmentally friendly, it feels painful to throw out perfectly good items, but it might be inevitable at times. I feel like I'm stuck in a cultural moment when most people have such an abundance of stuff that even legitimately useful things can be hard to unload on other people. I find there's usually someone on Freecycle who wants anything (like, someone took a bag of mismatched socks that I offered), but it's not a given at all.

In my area (Bay Area, California), there's a place called SCRAP and another called Center For Creative Reuse where you can donate art supplies, and then they're sold in a store to artists, teachers, etc. BUT, each of these places is like an hour drive from me, and I end up waiting to donate these things until I happen to be in the area (which isn't very often).

If you have a lot of art supplies, you might be able to have an art-specific sale that you can advertise at art supply stores, studios, etc...

Posted 8 months ago #
lottielot
Member

They sound like the perfect items to offer to a local art college or school. It seems like you just want to get rid of the stuff now, have our blessing to do so :)

Posted 8 months ago #
themusiclivez
Member

Thank you so much for all of your advice! I really appreciate it! :o) I'm going to work on getting these things out of here now!

Posted 8 months ago #
rutheverhart
Member

you know, you could probably just drop them off at your local high school. I once had a bag of leather scraps and the art department seemed appreciative.

Posted 8 months ago #
Charity
Member

I found craft supplies were incredibly popular on Freegle (like freecycle). Furniture doesn't go on there, but almost everything else does.

Posted 8 months ago #
Another Deb
Member

Schools are a great place to start! Some wonderful donor just gave my scrapbook club three big boxes of paper and tools!

I have very often found craft items at the Goodwill. Paint in small bottles, pads of paper, markers, paintbrushes, odd items with no obvious purpose... I have bought a lot! They seem very good at loading similar items into bags to sell on the wall hanging items.

Posted 8 months ago #
Mimi
Member

i decide to sell or donate with a calculation. i need about one hour per thing to put it on ebay, answer some questions, and send the thing. so i research what amount of money i can expect for the thing. if it is more than i earn per hour when i work i sell it. if not, i donate it.

Posted 8 months ago #
Nina
Member

I donate most items and only sell what I think will make at least 10$ - otherwise it's not worth the hassle to me. After all selling takes more time then just bringing things to goodwill or recycling them.
As others have said I usually check before selling if similar items have sold for that amount and if yes I try to sell it. If it doesn't sell after 2-3 tries I'll donate it.
I find that putting up good pictures of items helps a lot when you want to sell them (I can't believe the bad quality of some of the things on our local "ebay"), but of course that takes a bit of time as well.

Posted 8 months ago #
Rosa
Member

I haven't ever owned anything worth so much money that it was worth reselling. Maybe when we're older.

And for "does Goodwill even want it?" - the charity I donate to most often, ARC, we hand our stuff to an actual person and they are not shy about saying "We don't take that/we don't take those right now". So if they take it, I don't worry - they know their market.

Craft supplies especially I know the local places can sell, partly because I'm a customer there myself when I have a project. I've also had a few specific requests - a friends parents live in a small town and noticed the ladies at the rest home sometimes couldn't afford yarn, so I donated quite a bit there when I had excess. Now I only buy yarn if I have a definite immediate use for it, so I don't really have much to donate.

Posted 8 months ago #
chacha1
Member

I never bother trying to sell anything. It's mostly Goodwill, giveaways through friends-of-friends, or - in the case of a massive cleanout of art & craft supplies - donation to a school.

My sister was teaching middle-school art classes and had an ANNUAL supply budget of about $300. For five classes. Trust me, they'll take just about anything.

Posted 8 months ago #
themusiclivez
Member

Thank you, everyone! @Mimi - I really like the "cost per hour" method. I have to start using that so I don't waste so much time on smaller items!

Posted 8 months ago #
wrennerd
Member

I made sure I got added to the Purple Heart/National Children's Center phone list (they seem to use the same one) for when they are picking up items in my neighborhood. When I have something to declutter, I add it to a donations box and keep adding stuff. That way, when they call I always have something ready and I have designated place for the To Be Donated items to live until they are retrieved.

I used to want to sell things, but the To Be Sold items were draining and cluttery. When I had a spare bedroom, I used it for yard sale items, but I have so drastically decluttered at this point that I could not put on a respectably sized sale and I'm very happy about that!

(Note: spell check just changed cluttery to fluttery and decluttered to de littered. Hope this post still makes some sense after spell check is finished with it!)

Posted 8 months ago #
Irulan
Member

I like the idea of donating craft items to schools. You could also donate to after-school children's programs at your local community centers.

The only things I sell are items that will make more than $10 for the group. Once in a while I'll sell a group of CDs or books to a second-hand shop, and I've sold a few pieces of furniture at friends' garage sales. If my clothes were more expensive or designer, I'd sell them at one of the local consignment shops.

Otherwise, I donate items. The only things I throw away or recycle are items that are irreparably broken or damaged. My city has a good municipal recycling program for general items and electronics.

Posted 8 months ago #

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