How much would you pay for a decluttered space?

[HappyMommy2]

We have a corner of the the garage (about 4 feet X 8 feet) that is full of sell/donate stuff. I'm trying to decide if I should have a garage sale, or if I should just donate the stuff and relish the empty clutter-free space.

I decided that if I only made $50 (or even $100?) on the stuff... perhaps I should just donate it now and enjoy the freedom.

How much money would YOU need to anticipate from selling the stuff to make the effort (AND a postponed clean area) worthwhile??

Some of it it brand-new with tags clothes, a set of dishes, tons of books, an air-hockey table that was originally $65, random kitchen items and tools, etc.

If we do have a garage sale, we have neighbors and family that want to give us their junk to sell too. (and we keep the money) So that is an added factor in favor of selling.

I should add that we had a sale last May, and sold most of our big ticket items already. (cribs, strollers, high chairs, etc.)

[4evermom]

I'd only to a garage sale if I needed the money. Not worth the hassle, otherwise. Maybe some people think having them is fun??? Big ticket items can be Craigslisted if one can't bear giving them away.

[lovebug]

i said 50 o less. when i get to a point of wanting to clear out... stand clear! its its not attached its going bub-bye.

[HappyMommy2]

OP here.... I think my wording is confusing.... sorry! Your answer means that you would do ALL that effort for only $50? Perhaps I need another option ... No amount of money is worth keeping clutter around for.

Help me word it better.... trying to convince myself to donate!!!! My inner pack rat will allow things to go away if I can convince my inner frugalista that we will make money on it. Battle of wills!!

[Juvysen]

we only do a garage sale b/c there's a neighborhood "garage sale day" every september... I think the best we've ever made is $80 (everything we can donate after it gets donated). If I had to set it up myself I'd just pitch the stuff... so not worth it unless you have lots of furniture or LOADS of clothes (and then you still end up sending bags and bags of it to charity, anyway). I mean, like, on "clean sweep" they usually make at least $500, but that's a LOT of stuff they have to sell, you know?

This year, we hadn't done a sale in a couple years (missed last year and slacked on getting stuff out of the house) and so we had much more stuff for sale than usual and we only made $60 which we promptly spent on going out to eat



Anyway, I'd say, it's not worth the hassle. $60 is not a lot of money for a day's work, you know?

[lovebug]

ok i think i get what your asking.... for me to sell it all and make it worth it i would have to make 200 or more. if i think it would be less then that, i would just get rid of it. is that better and more of what you were asking?

[Sol_y_Paz]

I am in your same predicament.
We keep plugging away at craigslist with the hopes of making some money. I am hoping for around 400.00 total, this includes many items, it will probably be much less than that. Honestly it is draining, annoying, and tedious at this point. I only continue because we really could use the money, otherwise I would just donate it all and live happily ever after with this weight off my shoulders and in front on my eyes daily.
Most of our items and the big items are already gone. We have really made massive strides in decluttering our entire house, inside and outside. It took a lot of donating, a couple of garage sales, and some craigslist.

If I were you, I would host that garage sale.

[HappyMommy2]

Originally Posted by lovebug

ok i think i get what your asking.... for me to sell it all and make it worth it i would have to make 200 or more. if i think it would be less then that, i would just get rid of it. is that better and more of what you were asking?

Exactly!

[Devaskyla]

If I had or could get tables, I would have at least tried to sell all the stuff we've given to the Salvation Army. I've got another 2 bags to go already & I'm getting to really, really hate just giving all this stuff away when we don't have a huge amount of money. $50 is supper for 3-5 nights or a trip to an amusement park for my kids or swimming lessons. For us, that's a huge amount of money & totally worth the effort. But, we have no tables & no way to get any.

[HappyMommy2]

Originally Posted by Devaskyla

If I had or could get tables, I would have at least tried to sell all the stuff we've given to the Salvation Army. I've got another 2 bags to go already & I'm getting to really, really hate just giving all this stuff away when we don't have a huge amount of money. $50 is supper for 3-5 nights or a trip to an amusement park for my kids or swimming lessons. For us, that's a huge amount of money & totally worth the effort. But, we have no tables & no way to get any.

What do you mean about tables? I have been to several garage sales where people just put stuff out on blankets. And in boxes.

Also - we made an extra table by putting a sheet of plywood between two of our outside benches.

I think people might prefer not to bend over, but they will if they have to!

[Juvysen]

Yep, there's definitely lots of garage sales around here where people just hang things on their fence or put things on blankets or tarps...

[zoebird]

depends on a lot of things for me.

first, it is rarely, if ever, worth the effort. we had one and i was like, yeah, this is not worth it. so, i learned, and now i use an auction house if i have enough 'good' items. they haul it away, run an auction, take their percentage, and send me the rest.

craig's list turned out to be a huge hassle for me, too, so again, auction house, but if i only wanted to sell a single item, then i might list it. often, i ask friends/family first if they want to buy something, and usually that brings about what i need.

otherwise, i donate it.

i think to make a garage sale worth it, i'd need to make $250-300. but i don't even own enough stuff to make that worthwhile.

Also, in regards to clothes, you might consider a "frock swap" as a fundraiser for whatever you might want to support. very common here. women donate $10 plus X items of clothing. all clothing is donated by Y date, and then you (the organizer and some volunteers) go through it and make sure it passes the muster. then you separate it by category-- pants, skirts, shirts, etc. then everyone shows up at Z time, and you have some chat and food/bev, and everyone looks at the items. next, everythign goes a bit hay wire, because you open it up to "try on" where everyone just goes crazy and grabs what she can and races to a changing area.

but in the end, she gets to pick her top however many she donated, and go home with new clothes. it's great, really. although, it's an exchange, not really a declutter.

i'm organizing one for kids clothes--i have a lot of good 'little' stuff to give away, and a growing boy, so i'd like to be able to get good clothes for a great price (eg $10 plus giving awya the good stuff that eh can't wear).

[lookatreestar]

i love garage sale, but i hate doing them so id say sell what you can on craigslist then cut your losses

(this coming from someone who has a lot of stuff sitting around that i have been meaning to sell... haha i swear i am donating it this weekend!!)

[Oceanone]

I said $200 plus but realistically I just tend to donate things. I am not standing outside all days hawking things to the general public. My weekends are so precious and they go by in a flash. I donate almost everything, and in return I have picked up some wonderful buys from second hand shops - so I like to just keep that chain going.

[phathui5]

It depends how much you need the money. There was a time when $50 would have been enough. Now it would take a lot for me to take up a weekend day with a garage sale.

[OkiMom]

For us we can't do a garage sale (against base housing regs where we are) so to sell things I have to individually list things on a craigslist type website or load the car, take it to the flea market, sit there all morning just to load up whatever didnt' sale and take it home. Personally with two little children its not worth it unless its a big ticket item. So used clothes not worth it, used laptop worth it. I have to make at least 20-40 on the item to list it, anything I can't list for that much just gets donated. That being said, I rarely list things. Its just to much of a hassle and by the end its never really worth it (at least to me, but we don't have very many big ticket items, biggest thing we have is a microwave that needs to be gotten rid of but I wouldn't feel right selling it because someone asked me to find a new home for it so its not mine to sell).

[triana1326]

Originally Posted by Juvysen

Anyway, I'd say, it's not worth the hassle. $60 is not a lot of money for a day's work, you know?

It's a hell of a lot more than I make in a day as a SAHM!!

At least for me, with a low income earning social worker DH, any money I can bring in means a bit less pressure on him to pay the mortgage and bills. YMMV...

[Juvysen]

Originally Posted by triana1326

It's a hell of a lot more than I make in a day as a SAHM!!

At least for me, with a low income earning social worker DH, any money I can bring in means a bit less pressure on him to pay the mortgage and bills. YMMV...

That's true. (I'm a SAHM, too )

I know it's different for some families, but for us, it wouldn't be worth it to do all that extra work of setting it up and everything. For my family growing up, it was worth it when we could get any extra money, so I totally support people in that. But really, since the OP had to *ask* if it was worth it, it's probably not... you know?

[rightkindofme]

There's a HUGE kids consignment event in my area twice a year. I sold there in the spring and I'm going to sell again next spring. I'm absolutely hanging on to stuff until then. I made $270 last time and given that I'll be able to get rid of all my tiny baby gear next time I think I'll make that or better this coming time. That's worth a corner of my garage in my otherwise pretty empty space for me.

[bobandjess99]

I'd put the large big ticket items(anything you think you can get at least $25 for), like the hockey table, on craigslist, and maybe Ebay the clothes if they are brand name.
Otherwise, chuck it. People want used clothes and books for dimes. Stuff like dishes, kjnickknacks etc also ...not worth it.
Just chuck it..garage sales arent worth it....
I personally would just relish the space.
We paid $350 oop for a dumpster this summer...it was expensive as heck, but having 30 cubic feet of crap gone is SOOO worth it.
I just threw out another 20 bags or so of stuff in another purge/clean....i am happy to report that our house is now..ALMOST...a regular, messy house, as opposed to a "call hoarders!" nasty pit.