Too much stuff. Can I pay someone to deal with this?
May 2, 2022 11:28 AM
I have too much stuff. It's weighing me down and feeling a bit hoarder-esque. I have hobbies and get obsessed. Do all the research, buy the stuff. Do the thing or don't do the thing. Then I move on to the next. Some stuff if brand new, never used. Some of it is very lightly used. Is there some kind of service that can sell it for me?
Some items seem to represent some phase I was in at a specific time. They eventually became things I would do when I had more time. It's not happening. Other items I never got around to returning. A few are worth more now than when I purchased it. I go through a terrible cycle whenever I attempt to tackle this. Guilt about wasting money. Adding to the landfill. Having to clean and organize around things I don't even use. Overwhelmed with having it around and the process of getting rid of it. I've tried selling things before on craigslist and fb marketplace and would never get hits. Is there someone or some service who does this sort of thing? I got as far as making a list and adding the link to where I purchased it from.
These items include:
Board games
Yarn/needles
Fancy crepe paper
Various tarot card sets
Cricut and various accessories
Journals
Random exercise equipment
Clothing/footwear
Some furniture
Cat stuff
Kitchen stuff
I'm fine with donating anything that is used. It's the never used items that I would like to be able to get some money back on.
Some items seem to represent some phase I was in at a specific time. They eventually became things I would do when I had more time. It's not happening. Other items I never got around to returning. A few are worth more now than when I purchased it. I go through a terrible cycle whenever I attempt to tackle this. Guilt about wasting money. Adding to the landfill. Having to clean and organize around things I don't even use. Overwhelmed with having it around and the process of getting rid of it. I've tried selling things before on craigslist and fb marketplace and would never get hits. Is there someone or some service who does this sort of thing? I got as far as making a list and adding the link to where I purchased it from.
These items include:
Board games
Yarn/needles
Fancy crepe paper
Various tarot card sets
Cricut and various accessories
Journals
Random exercise equipment
Clothing/footwear
Some furniture
Cat stuff
Kitchen stuff
I'm fine with donating anything that is used. It's the never used items that I would like to be able to get some money back on.
With respect (I'm a lot like you so I totally get it), unless you're in the kind of financial situation where an extra literal buck or two per day would make a big difference to your quality of life, almost nothing of the items you listed is worth trying to sell online, except mayyyybe some furniture. Is it logistically possible to have a yard sale? That's the one way I can think of to make selling this stuff kinda sorta make sense. And at the end you'd be left with a clear sense of which items are not at all sellable and you can just give those away knowing that you made an effort.
posted by dusty potato at 11:42 AM on May 2, 2022
posted by dusty potato at 11:42 AM on May 2, 2022
When I talked with estate sale organizers in my area recently, the break-even point for hiring them was about $2000. If you expect the sale to produce less than that, you're better off just donating it. There are charities that will show up with a truck for donations.
Listing items online individually is exhausting and time-consuming. You're more likely to make progress if you can do a yard sale or sell them online in bulk, and then donate the leftovers.
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 11:45 AM on May 2, 2022
Listing items online individually is exhausting and time-consuming. You're more likely to make progress if you can do a yard sale or sell them online in bulk, and then donate the leftovers.
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 11:45 AM on May 2, 2022
I think dusty potato is right. There are companies that sell things on ebay - and you can search your city name and ebay sales to see if there are any local to you - but they tend to only want to sell items of pretty high value. The company in my area will only sell things worth at least $75 used.
I'm downsizing, and I mostly either donate things to local charities or give them away on Nextdoor. I've found it impossible to sell anything in my area. I'm not allowed to have garage sales in my complex, but I agree that is probably the best bet for you (though the last time I had one, it was dragging things outside, sitting around all day, then dragging stuff back in for maybe $40, which promptly got spent on take-out because I was too exhausted to cook - it just wasn't worth it).
It's hard to spend all that money and have nothing to show for it, but there aren't a lot of good options.
posted by FencingGal at 11:49 AM on May 2, 2022
I'm downsizing, and I mostly either donate things to local charities or give them away on Nextdoor. I've found it impossible to sell anything in my area. I'm not allowed to have garage sales in my complex, but I agree that is probably the best bet for you (though the last time I had one, it was dragging things outside, sitting around all day, then dragging stuff back in for maybe $40, which promptly got spent on take-out because I was too exhausted to cook - it just wasn't worth it).
It's hard to spend all that money and have nothing to show for it, but there aren't a lot of good options.
posted by FencingGal at 11:49 AM on May 2, 2022
If you have a local consignment shop and a way to transport anything, set up an appointment and they'll sell on commission.
I would be shocked if you couldn't sell the cricut and accessories on FB marketplace. They key to FB marketplace is good photos and reasonable price. A friend once gave me a tip that she'd put a vase of flowers in any listing photo, and sold the most random stuff that way - even used tires!
If you have a local Buy Nothing group, that's a great way to get rid of things you don't want and don't care about making money. You can even just be like "please take all" or "box is in front of my house for anyone to come look through and take what they want." I would try to unload boxes of similar things that way, minimal effort since you're giving it away just take a photo of the whole box. That would clear out a lot of the space, then you could focus your efforts on the pricier items. And of course, if you don't have luck selling and want to just offload it, give it away on buy nothing. It's my favorite because it's minimal effort on my part.
posted by DoubleLune at 11:49 AM on May 2, 2022
I would be shocked if you couldn't sell the cricut and accessories on FB marketplace. They key to FB marketplace is good photos and reasonable price. A friend once gave me a tip that she'd put a vase of flowers in any listing photo, and sold the most random stuff that way - even used tires!
If you have a local Buy Nothing group, that's a great way to get rid of things you don't want and don't care about making money. You can even just be like "please take all" or "box is in front of my house for anyone to come look through and take what they want." I would try to unload boxes of similar things that way, minimal effort since you're giving it away just take a photo of the whole box. That would clear out a lot of the space, then you could focus your efforts on the pricier items. And of course, if you don't have luck selling and want to just offload it, give it away on buy nothing. It's my favorite because it's minimal effort on my part.
posted by DoubleLune at 11:49 AM on May 2, 2022
Sorry, I wasn't familiar with what Cricut is and also overlooked the exercise equipment-- these are items you could potentially sell for a fractional but perhaps not insignificant portion of their original value, and I recommend zeroing in on them and giving away the rest in the lowest-effort way possible.
posted by dusty potato at 11:54 AM on May 2, 2022
posted by dusty potato at 11:54 AM on May 2, 2022
You have already gotten the value from these items, even the unused one, because they brightened your life and opened you up to new possibilities when you got them. You also learned that you have a tendency to buy a lot of things for new hobbies and then regret it. Your money isn't wasted because you got these things.
I sell items one-two at a time online starting with the most valuable / broadest appeal. It's time consuming and rapidly becomes not worth it. It's hard even to donate some things now because so many people have cleared out their homes during the pandemic. I suggest choosing what you no longer need and starting with a few priority things to get rid of. When it gets too laborious, just donate everything that's left.
Also, I try not to be a Marie Kondo stan, but she has a helpful attitude around letting go of physical things that no longer serve you. Check out her website or The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up if that first paragraph was helpful.
posted by momus_window at 12:05 PM on May 2, 2022
I sell items one-two at a time online starting with the most valuable / broadest appeal. It's time consuming and rapidly becomes not worth it. It's hard even to donate some things now because so many people have cleared out their homes during the pandemic. I suggest choosing what you no longer need and starting with a few priority things to get rid of. When it gets too laborious, just donate everything that's left.
Also, I try not to be a Marie Kondo stan, but she has a helpful attitude around letting go of physical things that no longer serve you. Check out her website or The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up if that first paragraph was helpful.
posted by momus_window at 12:05 PM on May 2, 2022
So the easiest (not necessarily easy!) way to get a bit of money back might be to have a yard sale. You can then promote it and highlight the stuff you have. You could try combining forces with a friend or neighbor to have more things and draw more folks in. If you don't have the space or set up to do this at home, see if there's a community sale you can join. Yard sales can take a lot of work! But, maybe it will help you feel better about getting rid of some things.
In the bigger picture: this is sort of like the hobby version of the sunk-cost fallacy. Since you've spent money on this stuff and not really used it, you have this idea that you should get money back from it or it was a waste. But, getting what would likely be a small amount of money can take a lot of time, and there's a cost to that as well. So, unless you're super broke and really need the cash, I would prioritize getting rid of stuff versus recouping costs. Try it with a few things of lower value and see how it feels.
The easiest way to get rid of a lot of things is to take it to some sort of charity shop. I also list things on my neighborhood Buy Nothing group. It takes a bit more time because I have to photograph things, but then I don't have to load them up; I just leave them on my porch once someone wants them.
If you have a few things that might be of high value, try selling those first, individually, and see if you get any bites. Otherwise, I think the relief of having this stuff out the door and the time you'll save is worth not getting the money.
posted by bluedaisy at 12:07 PM on May 2, 2022
In the bigger picture: this is sort of like the hobby version of the sunk-cost fallacy. Since you've spent money on this stuff and not really used it, you have this idea that you should get money back from it or it was a waste. But, getting what would likely be a small amount of money can take a lot of time, and there's a cost to that as well. So, unless you're super broke and really need the cash, I would prioritize getting rid of stuff versus recouping costs. Try it with a few things of lower value and see how it feels.
The easiest way to get rid of a lot of things is to take it to some sort of charity shop. I also list things on my neighborhood Buy Nothing group. It takes a bit more time because I have to photograph things, but then I don't have to load them up; I just leave them on my porch once someone wants them.
If you have a few things that might be of high value, try selling those first, individually, and see if you get any bites. Otherwise, I think the relief of having this stuff out the door and the time you'll save is worth not getting the money.
posted by bluedaisy at 12:07 PM on May 2, 2022
You can get near new value for the Cricut on FB marketplace but that's only one solution to one problem. I would hire a student or someone to come over to help you sort items and then to be responsible for sitting on your kitchen floor or whatever and listing them in the appropriate places -- Ebay, FB marketplace, Etsy for some stuff maybe but probably not.
You could pay the person minimum wage, cash in hand, and a percentage of the sales. (Like 10 - 25%.)
posted by DarlingBri at 12:08 PM on May 2, 2022
You could pay the person minimum wage, cash in hand, and a percentage of the sales. (Like 10 - 25%.)
posted by DarlingBri at 12:08 PM on May 2, 2022
An estate sale service will set up a sale for you for just the items you want to be rid of. Some will will even make a trip to Good Will for you.
After a death in the family, I talked to and got quotes from a number of estate sale/decluttering businesses. At least in that location, it turned out that there were several different business models -- some only wanted to work with high-value estates (like with valuable antiques or whatever) and make all their money on the sales side, and others were more set up for a situation like yours in which there would be some items that would be worth selling, but lots more that needs to be sorted into donation vs discard and then hauled to the donation places or the dump, as appropriate. For the second type of businesses, their estimates were structured such that we would pay for their time and expenses (like sorting, hauling, etc) and then we would get paid for anything that sold, minus their commission.
All of that to say that you might need to talk to a few estate sales and decluttering businesses to find the one that is set up well to deal with your specific situation and needs, and that gives you the best option for the costs.
posted by Dip Flash at 12:30 PM on May 2, 2022
After a death in the family, I talked to and got quotes from a number of estate sale/decluttering businesses. At least in that location, it turned out that there were several different business models -- some only wanted to work with high-value estates (like with valuable antiques or whatever) and make all their money on the sales side, and others were more set up for a situation like yours in which there would be some items that would be worth selling, but lots more that needs to be sorted into donation vs discard and then hauled to the donation places or the dump, as appropriate. For the second type of businesses, their estimates were structured such that we would pay for their time and expenses (like sorting, hauling, etc) and then we would get paid for anything that sold, minus their commission.
All of that to say that you might need to talk to a few estate sales and decluttering businesses to find the one that is set up well to deal with your specific situation and needs, and that gives you the best option for the costs.
posted by Dip Flash at 12:30 PM on May 2, 2022
I find it really unlikely that you will make money paying a student minimum wage to list most of these things, and then you still have the legwork of dealing with responses and flakes.
Another option I've used when moving is making a GDoc spreadsheet of items (or lots of say, crepe paper) and sharing it with friends on social media so they can claim what they want. At least you get some social capital out of it, for nice stuff they might buy you dinner. Because you know them, they are less likely to flake on picking stuff up.
(I have moved a ton and this involved selling off / donating large batches of stuff.)
posted by momus_window at 12:55 PM on May 2, 2022
Another option I've used when moving is making a GDoc spreadsheet of items (or lots of say, crepe paper) and sharing it with friends on social media so they can claim what they want. At least you get some social capital out of it, for nice stuff they might buy you dinner. Because you know them, they are less likely to flake on picking stuff up.
(I have moved a ton and this involved selling off / donating large batches of stuff.)
posted by momus_window at 12:55 PM on May 2, 2022
I'm pretty obsessive about hobbies and interests. But once the passion fades, I generally will give away (via Craigslist) anything that costs under $100. You'll be surprised how fast the stuff disappears if you give it away.
posted by cwarmy at 12:58 PM on May 2, 2022
posted by cwarmy at 12:58 PM on May 2, 2022
I feel you mokeydraws...
I have 2000+ boardgames, am getting older, and can only think about the burden my awesome collection will be. And it's pretty fucking awesome. Arrrgh...
posted by Windopaene at 1:53 PM on May 2, 2022
I have 2000+ boardgames, am getting older, and can only think about the burden my awesome collection will be. And it's pretty fucking awesome. Arrrgh...
posted by Windopaene at 1:53 PM on May 2, 2022
I haven't used it, but in theory these guys seem to be what you're looking for: HelloSella
Also, for the donations, I find the Facebook groups Buy Nothing to be really nice, it's based in your neighborhood and people will come right over and take even small things and express gratitude, which is a pretty satisfying way to give things away.
posted by hungrytiger at 2:27 PM on May 2, 2022
Also, for the donations, I find the Facebook groups Buy Nothing to be really nice, it's based in your neighborhood and people will come right over and take even small things and express gratitude, which is a pretty satisfying way to give things away.
posted by hungrytiger at 2:27 PM on May 2, 2022
I have some cross-stitch materials I was going to use for a birthday present oh, almost 20 years ago, so I feel your frustration. Somewhat oblique to this, your first paragraph reminded me of this video about finishing projects and moving on from them once you decide you are or you aren't.
posted by rhizome at 2:30 PM on May 2, 2022
posted by rhizome at 2:30 PM on May 2, 2022
If you can afford it, I second the BuyNothing group approach. It helped me get rid of stuff and feel a little more connected to my local community in lockdown times. Crafty/hobby stuff always went really quickly!
posted by Jon Mitchell at 2:45 PM on May 2, 2022
posted by Jon Mitchell at 2:45 PM on May 2, 2022
Cricut and various accessories
Yarn and needles
Both of these should bring in okay money if you sell them each in one package (so two total). The Cricut should sell for like 90 percent of retail for the machine and include the accessories for free. Be sure to include the model number and firmware version (it shows on the screen when you start it up). The yarn and needles should be like half or less of the total retail price, and even less if it mixed materials or unlabeled. If you know it is pure wool or have the labels still, that is worth something, but if it is all acrylic/red heart stuff then prepare for a big discount.
posted by soelo at 3:03 PM on May 2, 2022
Yarn and needles
Both of these should bring in okay money if you sell them each in one package (so two total). The Cricut should sell for like 90 percent of retail for the machine and include the accessories for free. Be sure to include the model number and firmware version (it shows on the screen when you start it up). The yarn and needles should be like half or less of the total retail price, and even less if it mixed materials or unlabeled. If you know it is pure wool or have the labels still, that is worth something, but if it is all acrylic/red heart stuff then prepare for a big discount.
posted by soelo at 3:03 PM on May 2, 2022
Please give your stuff away. As a person who was going to become an origami master during the Pandemic lock-down (oh, the gorgeous papers!) I know how hard it is to offload beautiful stuff. But please make someone else happy for free with your former obsessions, whether via Buy Nothing or elsewhere.
I took a large carton of nice clothing to Goodwill last week, because I don’t have the time to photograph it all and list it on Poshmark (my original plan.) When I returned, I closed down my Poshmark account. One less complication in my life.
posted by BostonTerrier at 3:42 PM on May 2, 2022
I took a large carton of nice clothing to Goodwill last week, because I don’t have the time to photograph it all and list it on Poshmark (my original plan.) When I returned, I closed down my Poshmark account. One less complication in my life.
posted by BostonTerrier at 3:42 PM on May 2, 2022
When I wanted to sell some clothes, I found someone (a stay at home mom eager to make a little extra money) who had some experience with on-line sales. The deal was that she would get the best price she could, we would deduct all of the selling expenses (if any) and then split the profits. She did all the work, I just supplied the stuff.
So, you might want to look around in your community and see if there is someone who would be interested in such a deal. You might need to take on the photographing and storage part but they would do the listing, deal with buyers, arrange for shipping and pickup and then get the stuff from you to deliver.
posted by metahawk at 5:45 PM on May 2, 2022
So, you might want to look around in your community and see if there is someone who would be interested in such a deal. You might need to take on the photographing and storage part but they would do the listing, deal with buyers, arrange for shipping and pickup and then get the stuff from you to deliver.
posted by metahawk at 5:45 PM on May 2, 2022
Depending on what the board games are, selling them of Board Game Geek or eBay may be worth the effort. There's a sweet spot of "obscure enough that someone is going out of their way to track it down" but still popular enough that, well, someone is looking for it before hell freezes over.
posted by hoyland at 7:06 PM on May 2, 2022
posted by hoyland at 7:06 PM on May 2, 2022
Seconding what hoyland said.
Especially if you have any board games that are out of print, you can make a decent profit selling them.
posted by crunchy potato at 8:03 AM on May 3, 2022
Especially if you have any board games that are out of print, you can make a decent profit selling them.
posted by crunchy potato at 8:03 AM on May 3, 2022
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by snsranch at 11:41 AM on May 2, 2022