Best way to donate or sell these geek items quickly?

December 17, 2023 6:59 AM

My brother-in-law died early this year and when cleaning out his house, I kept anything that seemed useful or at all valuable (I tend to be a pack rat). Now I want to get rid of everything. I don't care about making money if it involves shipping or a ton of effort, but that's a nice bonus. Default is to donate everything usable and toss anything I can't find a home for.

We have a local community donation center, but they don't take lots of these things. Where do I take them?

Stuff with clear value
----------------
1. near-new PS5 with God of War - would love some kid to get this
2. 4 big boxes of English manga books in sets. I tried a local comics store but they never got back to me:
- Prince of Tennis 1-27
- Rurouni Kenshin 1-28
- Bleach 1-74
- One Piece 1-95
3. 1 long box of comics from (mostly) the year 2000+. I have not gone through them.
4. Gameboy Advance games still in the box (opened) (Nightmare In Dreamland, Golden Sun, Phantasy Star Collection, Contra Advance, Yu-Gi-Oh Worldwide Edition) + Nintendo Power #72
5. Zatoichi Criterion Box Set


Computer stuff
---------------
6. Huge tower case in a box, plus an unopened fan/power supply. A few related PC-building things.
7. Various accessories, some used and some not, such as external drives, Logitech speaker set, headphones with mixamp, etc.

What would do do with all this, assuming getting money for it is a secondary goal? Maybe eBay with local pickup specified?

posted by caviar2d2 to Shopping (18 answers total)

For the manga - any local afterschool rec programs, reading programs, or school libraries that might be interested? If you know (anyone who knows) any school teachers, they might also be interested for their classroom libraries.

near-new PS5 with God of War - would love some kid to get this

Any programs near you taking donations for kids' holiday presents?


In general, you can try posting things on Buy Nothing, Freecycle, Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, etc. If you want something more targeted, you might look into refugee aid organizations, domestic violence shelters, and so on.
posted by trig at 7:28 AM on December 17, 2023 [1 favorite]

Half Price Books will usually take 1, 2, 4, and 5. You won't get the most possible money but it's easy.

Powell's will buy books from you online, so that's an option for the Manga.

GameStop will probably take 1 and 4.
posted by rakaidan at 7:28 AM on December 17, 2023

If you have a local Books to Prisoners-type organisation, they would probably love to receive the manga (as a donation).
posted by esker at 7:34 AM on December 17, 2023 [1 favorite]

PS5 will sell in 30 seconds on facebook marketplace given that it's the holiday season,
posted by oceanjesse at 7:41 AM on December 17, 2023 [4 favorites]

I did a similar thing a couple years ago and for the more valuable things I tended to eBay things as assorted lots. There was shipping but usually for games or anime stuff I could fit it in a Priority Mail flat rate box. They sold easily and I got much better rates that way than through selling media to other chains.
posted by actionpact at 7:44 AM on December 17, 2023

Definitely the PS5 will sell, but if you want it to be a donation, I help run a program for kids experiencing homelessness (which includes situations besides literally living in the streets) and have one who wished for that. They do realize it's unlikely to happen and I don't mean to say you should forgo the easy cash, but I can provide credentials and cover shipping.
posted by teremala at 7:45 AM on December 17, 2023 [30 favorites]

FYI - when I sold books online, the company buying sent me a shipping label, I just had to box them up and drop them off. You won’t get much money, but they’ll eventually get to someone who wants them.

There are also services that sell things online for you, same trade offs as selling books to a reseller.

Location would be helpful - in Portland, OR, we have Free Geek who will take electronics and recycle or refurbish/resell, I figure they know the value of random electronics better than I do.
posted by momus_window at 8:12 AM on December 17, 2023

Since you mention that the default is to donate:

It sounds like 1 is covered by teremala :) (But if not, I can do something similar with a different place.)

A public library that takes donations will probably go for 2 and 5, and possibly 4.

For 4, 6 and 7, a makerspace or tech co-op or vo-tech school might be interested. Where I live, the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store would take all of it. Maybe there's a community college or engineering dorm or something nearby with a free-stuff table?

I know next to nothing about 2000 comics valuation in 2023, maybe someone else can be helpful with that one :)
posted by box at 8:18 AM on December 17, 2023

Try posting all of it to your local Buy Nothing group. Almost everything I’ve posted to give away has found a home, even items that seemed niche or useless.
posted by bluloo at 8:24 AM on December 17, 2023

Just a reminder that before you sell/give away the electronics, you might want to set them up briefly in order to wipe any accounts your BIL had on them. There are a few guides on "preparing a PS5 for sale" to factory reset it.
posted by bluecore at 8:32 AM on December 17, 2023 [6 favorites]

You can mail the computer stuff to Free Geek in Portland (if there's not some place similar closer to you). The page I linked says what they take and where to send it. You can contact them with questions.
posted by aniola at 8:41 AM on December 17, 2023 [2 favorites]

I just got rid of a lot of stuff before a move. What you can do can be very dependent on your location. For instance, I found that I could give away anything on NextDoor - including stuff that was broken - but couldn't sell anything there at any price. I'm not on Facebook, so I didn't try Marketplace.

For my own peace of mind, I had to just mostly let go of the idea of money and think of giving things away as a kind of charitable donation. And when I mentally totaled what good second-hand prices would be for everything I gave away, I'd say the total value was less than $1000. It's not an insignificant amount of money by any means, but it's not like I was letting go of a fortune.

I had a bunch of my son's old Star Wars stuff though, and for that I used an eBay service where they took care of everything - researching, selling, shipping - and then cut me a check for my share. They took a big commission, but it was totally worth it for me. They also refused a few things because they wouldn't sell for enough for their share to be worth the work. Who knew Fostoria glass isn't worth much anymore? Their minimum was a $75 value - they sold the Star Wars stuff in lots. You can google "eBay consignment" for your area.

In my area, a lot of the local groups were very particular about what they would take, so I ended up giving a lot to Purple Heart because they picked up at my house and also because they accepted things that other charities didn't want - VHS tapes, for instance. I figured that if they were willing to take the less valuable stuff, they deserved to have what was more valuable.

Good luck getting through this. I think you are going to feel really free when it's over.
posted by FencingGal at 8:55 AM on December 17, 2023 [4 favorites]

If there's a local hospital you like you might try inquiring with their "child life specialists" if any of the comics or PS5 is of interest.

I know my hospital has some gaming set ups on carts that can be wheeled into hospital rooms for the kids on the pediatric wing.

Whether they are interested in the comics probably depends on space constraints.
posted by MadMadam at 11:24 AM on December 17, 2023

I guess it's a first world problem, but we end up giving to Vietnam Vets about 4 times a year. You set up the pick-up on-line and leave the boxed stuff where you said on-line and a truck comes around and picks it up and leaves you a Thank You note.

The down side in this case is that we have always given them "Clothing and Household Items" but maybe you have some of that as well (???). Also they will not enter a home.
posted by forthright at 12:30 PM on December 17, 2023

Response by poster: These are all great … I wasn’t familiar with Buy Nothing. I am in Raleigh, NC (Wake County) and am happy to do the memail thing for kids’ donations. Also good point about wiping drives! I’ll ruminate on the options and figure it out. it has definitely been a tough year … first 6-8 months were just a ton on physical , emotional, and financial labor.
posted by caviar2d2 at 3:20 PM on December 17, 2023 [2 favorites]

I would call the comics store again, that's bonkers they didn't get back to you. Did you email them?
posted by DarlingBri at 7:42 PM on December 17, 2023

Free Geek wipes donations, and this link also links to a program you can use to DIY
posted by aniola at 2:11 AM on December 18, 2023

As a parent of a manga fan, I can confirm that those boxed sets would be loved by middle/high school kids and/or their teachers/school librarians.
posted by Maarika at 12:34 PM on December 18, 2023 [1 favorite]