It’s Spring! 11 Ways to Get Rid of Your Stuff!
Do you desperately need to pare your belongings in anticipation of a move … to downsize … or just because? Spring is a great time to reassess what you own and edit out things that no longer fit your current lifestyle. Here are some time-tested ways to lighten your home inventory:
Donate to charity: We’re very fortunate in North Texas – charities will pick up items from your home! One local charity, CCA, has drive-through drop off facilities (5 locations) as well as pick-up services. Visit their website at ccahelps.org for details.
Donate to friends & family: Well, maybe. If you have things someone might like, and you think the recipient is open to the idea, go ahead and try to re-home it. Do this cautiously and sparingly, to avoid hurt feelings on either side.
Hold a Garage Sale: If you have a lot of items to sell, Spring is a great time to hold a garage sale! Shoppers are ready to go out a find bargains after being stuck inside all winter! Be sure to check your local ordinances for any special rules on signage, days you can hold your sale. Check if your neighborhood holds a garage sale, or band together with some neighbors to hold a bigger event and bring in more buyers.
Moving Sale: When you advertise your sale as a moving sale, you are telling potential customers you have larger items for sale, like quality furniture, appliances, lawn care & outdoor furniture.
Estate Sale: If you are purging your home of the majority of its contents, consider holding an Estate Sale. Most Estate Sales are run by professional property liquidators and take place inside your home. They sort, organize, the contents within the home, price them, advertise the sale on estate sale listing websites, estate liquidator websites, social media and print media. The sales run several days (2, 3, 4); Many offer clean out services for an additional fee.
Consignment Shops: Resale shops are another option. The shop takes a percentage of your sale, but can often sell your items for more than you would get at a garage sale. Often, resale shops specialize in the kinds of items they sell, so spend a little time up-front checking it out. Consignment shops in our area include: Furniture Buy Consignment offers pick-up and delivery services for your furniture and accessories, with six locations serving the Metroplex. Plato’s Closet can help you sell trendy teen and young adult clothing. Clothes Mentor and Encore! Encore! are two consignment shops selling Ladies pre-owned apparel, shoes and accessories.
Online Garage Sale Sites: Facebook is a great way to get rid of unwanted items locally, using their online garage sale sites. Most have specific rules involved, like how many pictures you can post or how many items you can sell on their pages. If you’re reluctant to have strangers come to your home, Flower Mound police department has set up an area in their parking lot (with lights and cameras) to conduct online transactions. Local Facebook Marketplace groups to join: Lantana/Flower Mound/Highland Village Trading Site, with over 8,000 members; Lewisville/Flower Mound/Highland Village / Grapevine Online Garage Sale has over 17,000 members; Guy Stuff Flower Mound has nearly 10,000 members and is a great place for, well, guy stuff! There are many more … a Facebook search will turn them up.
Craigs List: Another online sales site that reaches a larger local audience than Facebook is Craigs List. Good for furniture and larger items (in our opinion), you’ll see just about everything for sale here! Cars, Jewelry, event tickets, computers, tools, etc. Our local area site is Dallas/Fort Worth, and will reach the entire Metroplex. Craigs list is easy to use, with security features built in so you don’t have to list your address or contact information online.
eBay: A great resource to sell collectibles, old toys, specialty goods … but you will need to ship the items, so make sure the price you list includes the additional expense of packing and shipping your treasure. www.ebay.com
VarageSale: It’s been described as a “kinder, gentler CraigsList. You still sell things the same way, but members of VarageSale have to be approved. The idea is that it’s less scary than the larger, anonymous classified sales sites. VarageSale is free to use (no listing fees or commissions)
Everything But the House: Specializing in online estate sales, Everything But the House will assess the value of your items, take photographs for online listings and ship products to winning bidders if needed. Specialty items, like antiques or artwork, are also handled.
Once the stuff is gone, you’ll be smiling because you’ve earned a little extra money, you’ve gained some extra space, and you feel pretty good about yourself. Who knows, it might even motivate you to organize what’s left. Your home will thank you!
