Should You Sell Your “Valuable” Items When Decluttering?

Most people who are decluttering/downsizing have a hard time getting rid of their stuff because they want to see it used, not just thrown away. Add to that the fact that sometimes our stuff has monetary value, and that can be a recipe for stopping decluttering progress in its tracks. 

While it is true, you might have things that are worth money, it can be complicated to figure out how to benefit from these valuable items. Here are a few things that might come into play:

• Not everything you think is valuable has value. How do you figure out what’s valuable and what’s not?
• You probably don’t want to leave money on the table. What is the right price for selling something yourself, selling on consignment, or selling to a professional for resale?
• Do you really have the time and expertise to match those items with a buyer? 

How to Determine Value

You might find yourself in possession of a lot of unique items. Some things might be valuable while others might not. Which rare pieces of furniture, artwork, glassware, or other collectibles are worth trying to sell and which will only add a few dollars back into your pocket? If you’re not ready to consult a professional’s advice on value, the next best place to go is Google/the internet. You can type the name of your item into a search engine such as Google and see if anyone else has recently tried to sell something similar. If you’re able to find a similar item, see what price that seller is advertising or sold for. Google also has a smartphone app (iPhone or Android) that you can use to do an image search to try to find similar items for sale right now. This is helpful if you don’t know the brand or proper name of an item.

If you’re not comfortable evaluating the monetary value of items yourself, reaching out to a professional can be the most helpful next step. Check out the Downsizing Directory vendor list to see if we have a recommendation to the right person. Or call a personal property appraiser, auction company, or estate sale company. These professionals can help you determine what’s valuable, where/how you might sell it, or even help you sell it for a fee. Folks like this have come across and tried to sell many different types of items in their careers and their expertise is invaluable for saving you time and mental energy that you could waste in this process without proper guidance.

Where to Sell Items

If you are interested in trying to sell things, consider using online resources such as Facebook Marketplace or Ebay. Or find a specialty consignment store in your area that will match your item with a buyer. If nothing else, there’s always the good old garage sale!

If you do decide to sell things, please make sure to follow safety guidelines. Don’t sell alone or invite strangers into your home.

Evaluate the Pros and Cons

You may have things that are valuable but do you have the time and expertise to be able to get that value? Thinking about how many things you own, it could be a very time-consuming process to make sure you get every penny out of every valuable thing you own. Choose wisely what gets your energy and time as a sale item.

Case Study

I used to spend a lot of time going to garage and estate sales. One day, I found a set of encyclopedia-like books called The Old West. These books were so neat-looking. They had cool brown-leather covers with a different picture on the front of each one depending on the topic. I thought reading these books would be interesting and if nothing else, they would look cool on a bookshelf. For those reasons, I bought them for $20.

After holding onto these books for several years and never reading them, I decided to see if they might be worth something. I searched the internet and found that a set could possibly be worth a few hundred dollars. I thought that was cool since I only paid $20 for them, but that was all the further my thought process went.

Then, I moved. I packed those books up and never took them out of the box again. It was always in the back of my mind that I should try to sell them, but I didn’t have the time nor did I know any rare book dealers who could help me access the right buyers. So they continued to sit in a box in a shed.

One day, I met a wild west re-enactor. Totally random, but totally awesome! We exchanged information because he had a question for me about something I was an expert in and as we were talking further, I realized he might be the perfect person to take my books off my hands and enjoy them. I let him know I had a set that I was interested in passing off to him. He was overjoyed as those books were a hot commodity in his re-enactor community. He offered to pay me, but I decided that I would rather just give them to him because it brought me joy knowing that they would be in good hands.

In my case, I didn’t have the time or expertise to reap the financial benefits of my books but there are other valuable things that I own that I DO have the time and expertise to connect to the right buyers. You will need to weigh the pros and cons in your scenario and figure out what is the right choice for you.

Happy Selling!