Decluttering Your Home: 9 places where to sell your stuff

If you’re like me and are thinking about trying your hand at selling some of your clutterinstead of just donating it, which I’ve done for years, here are some places you can try. If you’re decluttering your home, here’s where to sell your stuff.

ebay

Still a popular choice for those collectibles or vintage items. I know a lot of people who still go to ebay first before they try any other online source.

www.ebay.com

Facebook

Besides Facebook’s specific ‘Marketplace’ to share your goods for sale, think of local buy, swap and sell Facebook pages in your area.

Also, if your item is specific, check if there is a Facebook group for that specifically, eg school uniforms, kid’s clothes, books, plus size clothing, toys etc.

A lot of parenting groups have a day designated for the week when you can share you items for sale.

www.facebook.com

Etsy

Besides being an excellent place to sell your handmade goods, Etsy is an excellent place to sell vintage items.

Linen, crockery, vintage clothing, shoes etc. “Vintage” covers a wide range so it could be antique or something retro from the early 70’s or 80’s. Keep it in mind.

www.etsy.com

Gumtree (Australia)

My husband still swears by Gumtree and has had a lot of success buying and selling. It’s free to list and people will come to your home to collect.

www.gumtree.com.au

Craigslist

Craigslist is in Australia now too. I don’t know much about it other than it is a buy/sell platform. Check for a Craigslist in your town, State or country.

www.craigslist.com.au

Freecycle

Although you won’t receive any money for your goods, you can have someone collect those big items or a whole collection. Freecycle is all around the world and you can post giveaway or wanted items.

I’ve picked up fridges, lounge suites and really odd items plus given away whole collections of any number of things, eg boy’s size 8 clothes, girl’s size 6 shoes, collection of recipe books, miscellaneous car parts or open shed (come and take what you want which resulted in my whole shed being cleared out and organised after my divorce).

www.freecycle.org

Garage/Yard Sale

Although garage sales don’t seem to be as popular as they were compared to years ago here in Australia, people do still have them.

It always seems like a big job though to hang onto all your stuff, price it, put it out, then pack away what you don’t sell. You might still find it really successful for you. Post signs around where you live or put up flyers at local shops or share on social media.

Car Boot Sales

These are still really popular all over the world. Box up your clutter and put it in the boot of the car. Take it up the the local church or whoever is holding the Car Boot Sale, open the boot (trunk) and sell your wares.

You only need to mark the box or say “fill a big for $2” etc. What you don’t sell the organisation is often keen to take it continue selling in upcoming car boot sales or they will donate it to organisations in need.

You’ll also find antique or vintage fairs if you have specific items. Also clothes swap parties are a great place to sell your old clothes, shoes and accessories and pick up some new things for yourself.

On Consignment

Some specialty stores like book sellers, antique dealers, secondhand clothes dealers etc will sell goods on your behalf. If you have a designer handbag that you’re just not using anymore.

Perhaps designer clothes or shoes or your record collection. Antique furniture or other vintage items, check your local antique dealers for their policy on selling goods on your behalf. You might not get what you wanted if you sold it yourself but it’s gone out of your home and you’ve got a bit of cash for it.

How To Declutter When Moving

Want to know how to declutter when moving? In the lead-up to moving house, there’s no better time to go through your belongings and declutter. After all, you’re about to make a fresh start in a new house, and you’re open to changing your environment.

Decluttering can seem like an overwhelming task before a move, but starting early and approaching the task methodically will help to make your move a more peaceful, organised, and enjoyable event. It will also save you time and money, as you won’t be paying a removalist to move boxes full of junk or furniture you don’t need anymore.

Tackle the job one step at a time

Start this task several weeks before your move and set aside a small amount of time each day. In each room, bring three boxes: one for things to pack, one for things to donate or sell, and one for rubbish. Online groups that allow you to give things away for free, such as Freecycle, are a wonderful resource. You get to declutter and feel good about your unwanted items getting a second lease on life.

Collectibles and toys

This is a good time to have a look at your stamp, coin, or spoon collection and really meditate on what it means to you. Is your collection on display or is it hidden from view? Do you look at it frequently, and do you feel happiness, or despair when it catches your eye?

Cardboard boxes on the floor. Some books and balls can be seen in the open boxes

If you can bring yourself to part with some of your collectibles, this is a good opportunity to demonstrate to your children what decluttering looks like and how sometimes that involves overcoming a sentimental bond in favour of practical reasoning. You could ask your children if there are any toys that they don’t play with often anymore and whether or not another child might enjoy them more.

The Kitchen

The average kitchen is rife with multiple items and is a great place to declutter. You probably don’t need four cake tins or three pastry brushes. You might also find a lot of old, crusty bakeware or small appliances that are gathering dust. Think popcorn, doughnut or pie maker machines – when did you last use them?

Clothing and Books

Research shows that we wear 20% of our clothes 80% of the time. That presents a wonderful opportunity to pare down. If you haven’t worn something for two years – chances are you won’t.

Also, consider your book collection. If you’ve read and enjoyed it, think about how much enjoyment another person can have in reading that book if you can pass it on to a friend or donate it.

The Home Office

While it’s recommended that any tax-related documents like payslips, bank statements, and receipts should be kept for seven years – many of the other documents we have we can probably live without.

Consider scanning important documents and shredding the hard copy if you feel you have an excessive amount of paperwork. These days, most bank statements, bills, and utility paperwork can be re-downloaded from the associated website if needed later on.

Closing Tips

If you are still struggling, apply this simple test. With any object you’re considering packing for your move, see if you can picture where it goes in the new house – and consider whether it’s worth the effort of sorting, packing, labelling, moving, unpacking and putting away. If it doesn’t seem worthwhile, then it’s probably a good time to let it go. Apply this tip and the tips above to make your impending move a lot smoother.

Keep going when you feel like giving up

Probably one of the most hard things to do when you feel like giving up is to keep going but I swear, if you keep going you’ll achieve amazing results especially as it relates to homemaking and organising. Here’s how.

Create a plan

I love a good plan and I love writing these things down. There is scientific proof that hand writing or journaling your thoughts engages your brain and calms your body and nerves. It’s easy to see at a glance what your plan involves instead of having 100 hundred thoughts racing around your head, all needing to be done at once.

Break it down

If your plan is to declutter your whole home, break it down. Break it down room by room and then break it down even further. One shelf, one drawer, under the bed, hanging clothes, accessories etc if you were to start in your bedroom.

Write it down in your plan. This also gives you a good measure of how well you’re doing in achieving your goals and you can see how far you’ve got to go.

Set yourself a small goal

If you’ve been wanting to declutter and get your home organised, it’s so hard to make a start. If you set yourself a smaller goal instead of saying “I want my whole house decluttered”, you are more likely to see results immediately and keep going.

The first step is the hardest to make.

The smaller the goal, the easier it is to get it done and see a result. I find setting a timer for 15 to 30 minutes at a time is a great way to achieve a lot in a short amount of time.

Often our minds stop us from achieving our goals because of the time we think it’s going to take to achieve them. In reality, it doesn’t take that long, especially when your goals are broken down into smaller, more achievable tasks.

There will be setbacks

If I had a dollar for every time I said I was going to wake early and go for a walk first thing in the morning and by the time morning came around, I would be struck down with a cold overnight and not feel like going.

That’s okay. A cold only takes a week at most then you can start again. Don’t ever give up just because of a small setback.

I know what it’s like with children too. You can have all the expectations in the world to start your housework or decluttering and the kids will be sick or be temperamental on that day. Spend the time with the children. They’re small for only a short time. A few things on the floor will never replace that time you get to spend with your children.

Be grateful and remain positive

Something that I’ve noticed for many years and that is the more that I can be grateful for the small things in my life, the more good comes my way.

” Many more studies have examined possible connections between gratitude and various elements of psychological well-being. In general, more grateful people are happier, more satisfied with their lives, less materialistic, and less likely to suffer from burnout. Additionally, some studies have found that gratitude practices, like keeping a “gratitude journal” or writing a letter of gratitude, can increase people’s happiness and overall positive mood. “

Source

Just when you feel like giving up, be grateful. Show gratitude for what you do have. If you’re feeling down about the clutter in your home and you can’t find the motivation to start addressing it, express gratitude for what you can.

That could be a roof over your head, food on your table and family to love. If you continue to express gratitude daily, you will rewire your thought processes to be more positive and it will be easier to make a start and to keep going on your goals.

” When you run a marathon, you run against the distance, not against the other runners and not against the time.” What might seem like an distant goal, remember that it will take as long as it takes but by breaking it down into small manageable tasks is going to help you get over the finish line.

Keep going

Finishing the race will always give you a better result than if you didn’t make a start at all.

Top 3 decluttering tips

 

I am in no way an expert on decluttering. I guess, before kids, I never had a need to do it. Everything had a place and everything was valued and cared for. Since the kids arrived, there’s been way too much stuff coming into our home, at an alarming rate, that you just can’t keep on top of it. I’ve been trying to declutter for the last couple of years but last week, I felt like I’d finally made a great ‘dent’ in it and these are a couple things I found worked for me.

Previously, I’d declutter, say, the kid’s toys. I’d drag them all to one area, start sorting them; donate, sell, keep, throw and I’d get side tracked or disturbed and by the time I got back to it, the kids had been through them again, mixed them all up and I was back to square one.

 

1.  Only handle the clutter once

If you have been sidetracked, ‘donate’, ‘throw’ or ‘sell’ straight away those things you’ve already decluttered. For example, take those donated items to the car straight away or put the throw aways in the bin. I’ve got a box of things ready to list on ebay that are in a hidden spot so the kids can’t get to them. I’m only handling the clutter once now. My time is too precious to me to keep going back over these things anymore.

Source: oprah.com via Anne on Pinterest

2.  It’s going to be tough but persevere

Decluttering after a break up or death is always going to be very difficult. It’s going to be tough. Even going through kid’s baby toys once they’ve grown up will bring the memories flooding back and you’ll find it hard to part with some of those things. Work through the pain, tuck the memory in your heart and move on. Taking a photo of those items your parting with and getting them printed in a photo book will take up a lot less space and give you peace of mind. You will always have the memories but you won’t be surrounded by clutter. Once you’ve finished you’ll be amazed at how wonderful you really feel.

 

Ice cube trays are a perfect organising solution for jewellry

3.  Break the job up into small, manageable sections

Every time I got in the mood for decluttering, I’d get that overwhelming feeling first, then I’d not even start and then I’d look for chocolate! Thinking about decluttering your whole house is quite a daunting thought. Believe me. I’ve been doing it for the last 3 years! Breaking the jobs up into smaller, manageable sections will give you a head start and help you to deal with the clutter straight away (refer tip # 1). Instead of deciding on the main bedroom as the place you’ll start to declutter, break it up into your jewellry box or your underwear drawer. Allow about 10 minutes per job. I always used to think these jobs would take so long but honestly, they don’t. Ten minutes for small, manageable sections of decluttering and you will achieve a lot more and you’ll want to keep continuing.