Skip to main content

4 Reasons to sell unwanted items

Here's a question that came my way: "I plan on parting with a lot of things. But do I attempt to sell or just pass my belongings onto an op-shop? It feels overwhelming that I could be drawing out the length of the process by trying to sell."

It's a good question. Here are four reasons why selling is great - and really helps you declutter.

1. You know it goes to someone who'll use it.

There's something reassuring about an item you once loved going to a "good home". My wife sold her old money box to a mum and daughter for a small amount. It's nice to imagine the kid cheerfully saving up her pocket money in it - and makes it so much easier to part with. She'll get far enjoyment from it than we ever did.

2. Selling makes saying goodbye easier.

My once-beloved jacket had not been worn for years and was an obvious candidate to be given away. Still, to see it go was difficult. Thirty dollars made it a whole lot easier. Many other items are in the same category.

3. Selling takes away the what-ifs.

We've sold more than 280* items and so far haven't regretted any. Yet there's still doubt about some items as we go to sell them. What if I change my mind? What if we need it again later? It's interesting human psychology (for another post) but we struggle to part with things we own, even if they not very useful.

Selling helps with the doubt. Even if we one day regret selling or giving something, we can easily replace that item with the heaps of money we've made from the hundreds of sales we don't regret. It's a no-lose situation.

4. People take it away for you.

One of our first sales was a spare mattress - it had a few tears but was quite use-able. We no longer needed it and my wife would have paid for someone to remove it. Instead someone took it away and paid us for the privilege.

Here's how to do it

My wife and I have sold more than 280* items as we've downsized. I've put some of our learnings into a free ebook Less Clutter More Cash. If you're downsizing or decluttering you may find it helpful.

Yes, selling can take a little time. But if you do it well it can be a helpful, motivating and profitable way to declutter.

*Update: We're now up to 557 items.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Less Clutter More Cash - now available

Do you feel like you have too much stuff? Is your home full of things you never use? Would you like to swap them for cash? We did My wife and I have sold more than 550 items online as we downsize and we've learnt a bit along the way. I've put some of our best tips into this handy ebook. I hope you can use these tips so you too can have less clutter and more cash. Enter your email address below to receive the book for free. Less Clutter More Cash Get my new ebook for free. PS. This will subscribe to the But Wait There's Less email list, so you'll know when the new updated version of the book is available. You can unsubscribe at any time.

How to waste a year's wages

A friend recently asked me why it is that so many people (on good incomes) are struggling to save. Often the big three money areas are housing, transport and food. In one sense these are necessary items. But what we spend on them is often way more than necessary. I crunched some numbers on how much extra my wife and I could spend on these things - if for some reason we wanted to burn our money. 1. Housing Our apartment is fairly nice, but also cost-effective. I've mentioned how choosing it saves us $1,800 per year , compared to a similar one we saw. The high end of 2-bedroom apartments in our suburb is $305 per week more than our apartment. Not $305 per week. $305 per week more than ours is. I cannot get over that. Sure it's new and modern-looking, but that's a lot of money. It's an extra $15,860 per year above what we pay. 2. Transport The Australian Automobile Association lists the costs of owning and running a car. It includes many often-overlooked c...

Inheriting Clutter

This book stood out on the library shelf. Massive clutter can create anxiety at any time, let alone when it has to be dealt with during one of the toughest points of life. Author Julie Hall deals with estates for a living. Her book covers the nitty-gritty of dealing with all that stuff. It also covers caring for parents while they are here and what to do to make life easier for them, your siblings and you. Parent Logic We may wonder why parents keep so much stuff. Julie explains that our parents (having grown up in a different time) have their reasons. Often they had to 'go without' as kids and so don't want to 'go without' again. Sometimes they think items will become valuable with age.  Also there's the thought "the more I leave the kids the more they will have" . This is obviously mathematically true - but whether that's a good thing is questionable. Ironically, this admirable quality of aversion to waste often ends up causing waste. Items get s...