<p>It is definitely time to downsize. There was another similar thread on decluttering. I’m curious what favorite methods others use. Do you organize a garage / yard sale? Donate to a favorite charity? Give items to friends? Sell on Craig’s List or EBay? I’ve tried a garage sale in the past, but the time and effort were not worth the income. It was more effecient to simply donate the items to a favorite charity, and claim a tax deduction. How easy or hard is it to sell on Craig’s List? I assume CL makes sense for larger ticket items, but not for all the small items. More difficult: How do you let go of all the memories?</p>
<p>depends on what you want to sell. if I am downsizing clothing, it goes to charity. If i am downsizing other small items they go on ebay because i can ship them. If it’s something large then i would do it on craigslist.</p>
<p>you can try a garage sale but sometimes they are a hassle. my township has community yardsale day once a year at a local school or church or something where anyone can set up their junk. that’s kind of nice because you know your yard sale will have foot traffic but theres a lot of competition since its the whole town.</p>
<p>things i have bought/sold on ebay - dvds, outdoor flags, etc
things i have bought on craigs list - poker table, lego table, etc… they would have cost an arm and a leg to ship because they are so large.</p>
<p>I have never bothered with garage sales. It just does not seem worth the bother. </p>
<p>I like the charties that do pickup from the front stoop. But I also donate to local thrift shops (Humane Society and Habitat for Humanity).</p>
<p>I have give away lots of stuff on Freecycle. It is like Craiglist, but no money is exchanged. You only need a Yahoo id to use it. Sometimes I post “OFFER” ads. Other times I respond to “WANTED” ads. Giving away things with associated memories seems easier when I know that it is filling a need (sometimes a dire need) for a local family.</p>
<p>Just donated 100+ books to our local library foundation for their annual sale.</p>
<p>I have several (6 and counting) bags of clothing and linens which will be picked up by Purple Heart this week.</p>
<p>As for larger items, I have a friend who has a friend who is connected to some people in a lower income neighborhood here. Through this source I have found people who needed stuff like furniture and large appliances that we were getting rid of. I like knowing that someone can use them.</p>
<p>Garage sales are not worth the bother IMHO.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>I agree on the garage sales. People are looking for items that are dirt-cheap and it requires a fair amount of labor to get ready for one (pricing, cleaning up items, setting up tables, etc). Usually you don’t make enough to make it worth the effort unless you can manage to sell several large items.</p>
<p>I usually just take stuff to Goodwill or the Junior League thrift shop. Sometimes we give away larger items to family members or children of friends. Since son is in college, I’m holding onto to some bigger, nicer pieces, since he will (hopefully) be on his own in 4 years.</p>
<p>I’ve done garage sales. No more (and can’t do in my current neighborhood anyway).</p>
<p>Other than that, I’ve pretty much done it all.</p>
<p>Sold lots of items on craigslist - and this can be very rewarding, eg selling a nice dresser to a young couple starting out, nice baby/toddler furniture to an expectant couple.
I’ve also put some stuff on the Free Stuff section of craiglist.</p>
<p>Take to Goodwill/swap shop.</p>
<p>Give to local charity sponsoring recent immigrants.</p>
<p>Take to consignment store.</p>
<p>Give away to young family members starting out.</p>
<p>Yard Sales only seemed worth it when my kids were younger and we had toys to sell - those were the big ticket yard sales. These days our junk is not as appreciated 
However my husband loves having them so I let him once a year have his fun and it usually brings in a couple hundred. I can’t stand to deal with barterers so I usually come outside to see if DH needs anything and then scram quickly.</p>
<p>We do love freecycle though - have gotten rid of tons of stuff that way and the kids now will bring me a pile of stuff and say “freecycle this” - then again we’ve also gotten a ton of stuff from freecycling and sometimes I roll my eyes at what my husband is excitedly picking up but we’ve gotten some great things so I can’t knock it :)</p>
<p>We either give the stuff away or donate it to a good charity and take the tax deduction.</p>
<p>One needs to be careful of face to face sales - within the last couple of weeks a young man in this area was killed when he met people to purchase something he saw in a Craigslist ad. It was really a setup and the people he met robbed him and shot him. It’s such a complete waste. If you’re planning to meet someone to buy and maybe even sell, be careful about where you meet.
<a href=“http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/may/13/teen-plead-not-guilty-craigslist-killing/[/url]”>http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/may/13/teen-plead-not-guilty-craigslist-killing/</a></p>
<p>I donated to Salvation Army or Goodwill. I never have garage sales nor do I ever sell on Craiglist.
I’ve gotten rid of 9 small trucks worth of stuff and still have more to come.</p>
<p>I take my Ds’ “brand name” clothes to Plato’s Closet. (They won’t take brands like Old Navy. They want the good stuff.) Newish books go to Half Price books. When I had some nice childrens’ books, I gave them to a young elem school teacher. I put a notice on the neighborhood association e-board and sold the old practice balance beam.</p>
<p>A few notes:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>A neighboring school district has a “clothes closet” for low income students. Stylish teen clothes (that Plato’s closet won’t buy) go there.</p></li>
<li><p>Our district has started a formalware closet, where you can donate used prom and banquet dresses. Next year they’re going to add tuxedo vests, ties,etc. for guys.</p></li>
<li><p>This year our district is also starting a cap and gown closet, so that those with lower income can get one there instead of spending $$$ on a cap and gown.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>May I make a suggestion that is of the moment. There have been many devastating tornados that just took place in the south. Alabama is in dire need of items. If anyone leaves near any of these communities or cares to ship, I can tell you that everything is so appreciated. I just returned from that area and the need is great. If you want more info, you can PM me.</p>
<p>I don’t use Craig’s List or any newspaper ads simply because I don’t like the idea of having to deal with people calling and coming to the house, and having to show the stuff. For truly big ticket items like a car, it is the best way to reach a large market, but for a lot of stuff that you want to get rid of in the least amount of time and effort, having shoppers come to the house to look, pick and choose doesn’t sound very time effective to me. And I am a SAHM. I wait around enough for repair people, deliveries and other such things.</p>
<p>I would split stuff in categories of donate to Good Will or Salv Army for the tax deduction, give the stuff to a church or other rummage sale, give books or toys to areas that will take, can use them, give stuff to people who want them. If there is enough for a good garage sale, I would do it. I did 4 garage sales in 3 years and netted over $5K some years ago, but they were a lot of work. I put a lot of time, planning, effort and coordinated with others who wanted to get rid of stuff so that my yard was a mini flea market complete with a cafe with drinks and sandwiches. We make more than that at our school rummage sale each year, and again, we put a lot of work into it–I was very active in that for several years. </p>
<p>For nice stuff, you can let the word out. My sofas and basement stuff disappeared quickly after I let everyone know I wanted to sell it and for what. I had old Pottery Barn stuff and for some reason that brand name gets takers very quickly. I’ve picked up furniture for myself when I’ve heard someone is getting rid of something I want. I have my ears perked for book cases right now before I make the trip to Ikea for some. </p>
<p>I found a consignment shop that actually buys designer clothes and actually got a couple hundred for stuff in good shape that I no longer wanted. Some of my kids’ baby and toddler stuff that I intended to give to my brother for his little one and I forgot about them got prices that I would have never expected. I offered the stuff to my neighbor who directed me to the store.</p>
<p>I was planning to have a tag sale but realized how much work it would be. I’d probably make a few hundred or maybe even a thousand bucks, but in the overall scheme of things I don’t think it’s worth the time and effort and risk of having people come to your house.</p>
<p>Some neighborhoods are better for tag/garage sales than others. When the kids were little, my friends in another part of the city could sell any and all baby/toddler clothes. One time I put some out and the only person who bought some was going to use them for crafts.</p>
<p>I’ve heard that animal shelters always want used towels, but I’ve never taken anything there.</p>
<p>We recently replaced our old TV…had to pay someone $40 to take it.</p>
<p>I tried a garage sale over ten years ago. Days of work getting ready and the net profit was about $150. Donate the items to charity, get a receipt, and a tax deduction.</p>
<p>We got a dumpster. Anything that was really “good” went to Goodwill. Everything else…in the dumpster.</p>