Selling Clutter? Don’t Decide Until You’ve Read These 3 Things…

When you’ve decluttered and are looking to make come money back from the things you are letting go – there are a few things to consider while you decide whether to sell clutter or not. Because you may find it’s not worth it after all…

So – you’ve decluttered and feel great – the house is looking fantastic – but you turn around and there’s a mass of items that you need to get rid of in some way or another….

What do you do with the things you need to get rid of from your home?

Items that are broken and can’t be repaired can be recycled or (worst case) thrown in the tip…

But with items that are still useable and useful to others you have a couple of options: –

1. Either let the clutter go to a good home for free – OR
2. Sell your clutter and recoup some of your costs.

Letting things go can be a great option, as you can use local charity shops or give to friends and family so that people can benefit from them – and it also gets the items out of your home quickly.

However, sometimes it’s tempting to want to sell things on and make a little money from the process.

And selling things can be a fantastic option – you can make some money, get something back for what you spent on it, and can make you feel better about your stuff. BUT – it does have it’s down side as well.

There are a few things to think about before you go down this route – just to make sure you know what you are getting into….

#1 – They will be in your house – creating clutter – for a while longer

When you declutter you make mess – fact.

Your unwanted stuff has nowhere to go in your home – because you don’t want it any more.

And so it sits and waits for you to deal with it – often building up into large piles that you can easily start to resent if you don’t do something with them pretty immediately.

If you choose to let go to charity or friends/family – then you can pretty much take them straight out of the house – which is a huge bonus as you will be able to reap the rewards of your declutter sooner rather than later – but if you decide to sell these items you will have your unwanted items in your home a while longer.

It takes time to put items up for sale (create ads, take photos, measure up etc…. – and research what they may be worth), time to wait for them to sell, and time to wait for someone to pick the items up (or time to take them to the post office to deliver them).

All this adds up – and creates more hassle for you in the meantime.

Another thing that sometimes happens is that while you are trying to sell the items – some people change their mind about letting them go at all.

It starts temptation and that can be fatal to all your good efforts in decluttering to begin with.

Worst case is that they don’t sell even after you have tried – which means things can linger indefinitely.

You can get stuck in limbo because you want to wait until they sell but no-one wants them – and that can just mean clutter in your home again and you are back to square one.

To alleviate these issues a little you need to ensure you have a place in your home that you can house items waiting to be sold, and it’s somewhere out of the way so you will be less tempted to bring them back into your home again….

#2 – You may not get the value you think you will for them

We often overvalue our stuff, and as such can get very disappointed when it comes to time to sell them on.  

You need to do a bit of research into what the value may be of items before you try and get more than they are worth.

Some places that you can use to sell things will give you a value and others will let you set that value completely by yourself – so pick and choose what works best for you.

Another large consideration would be that you will possibly need to pay for posting the ad online, commission to a seller, postage/delivery costs, packaging etc… – so any profit you are thinking you may make may not be as much as you hoped as a result….

In order to alleviate this, you need to be realistic about what your items are worth and what the potential profit would be if it sold at that price.

Go online and see what similar items are selling for, and see whether it’s worth it for you as a result.

Related: 9 Places To Sell Your Stuff And Make Money From It NOW

#3 – Do you have the time and energy?

Selling stuff takes a lot of time – so you need to be realistic about whether you have that time available and whether it’s worth it.

What’s your time worth?

Do you really want to be going back and forth to the post office with everything? What if they don’t sell at all? What if people don’t show up to get the item, or don’t pay?

I think it really depends on your circumstances –

For example – If you’re a stay at home mum then you may be able to fit in selling with the childrens sleep times, and can pop to the post office on the way to the shops etc…., and it may be a great way to make a little money on the side.

BUT – if you’re working full time or have no free time at all,  then it may not be right for you, and it may not be worth your while in trying to do it at all.

There have been times in my life when I have wanted to sell some of my clutter online, but have had to be honest with myself that I just didn’t have the time at that point – and there have been other times when I’ve relished selling things and getting a few pounds back for my trouble.

Related: 7 Insider Tips For Selling Things Online – At The Best Price

It’s definitely food for thought, right?

… and only you can decide whether to sell clutter you have after reading these points, but being aware of them all gives you the information you need to make that judgement more easily.

I usually do a mix of giving things away and selling them – saving selling for one or two items that are of some value and that I don’t mind spending time selling and sorting out.

This for me is a good balance, not too overwhelming, and I can get a little bit back for the time and energy spent selling them – so it’s a win-win really!

And you?

Well, YOU need to weigh up whether you want to sell your stuff or simply pass it on to someone else.

Just make sure you’ve considered all the points above before you get started – as then you’ll be going into it all with your eyes well and truly open.

Read Next: The 7 Best Options For How to Get Rid of Stuff You’ve Decluttered