Cutting Costs: Sell, Consign or Donate Unwanted Items
Storing unwanted items is a waste of space and money, because every item you own costs you time and effort. If you are storing items that you are unlikely to use again, why not pass them on? There are many ways to get rid of unwanted items, some of which will put money in your pocket. In fact, much of what you do not want may be of value to someone else.
Sell, Consign or Donate Unwanted Items
Passing on unwanted items can be done by selling them yourself, or through a consignment shop. You can also donate unwanted items to the Good Will or Salvation Army. When you donate items to a not-for-profit organization, get a tax-deductable donation receipt. You can also donate your unwanted items directly to those who want them through organizations like freecycle. You can join a freecycle organization in your area through freecycle.org, or you can simply place items in your yard with a sign that says “Free!” People will help themselves to what they are interested in, and unlike a yard sale, you do not have to man it.
The variety of ways to sell your unwanted items is nearly endless, beginning with the traditional yard sale. You can gather all of your unwanted items together, mark your prices, advertise and hold a yard sale. If you do not have enough items to make a good sale, you can join with friends or neighbors and collaborate. For local sales, with no set selling date, there is Craigslist. If you don’t mind shipping your items, or would benefit from a larger audience, you can sell online at a number of sites. EBay is amongst the most well known, but do not limit yourself to it. There is Bonanzle which has a good reputation amongst sellers, has low overhead, and almost no rules. Individuals can also set up accounts to sell some items through Amazon.com.
If you are an avid reader, always on the lookout for a new book, consider trading books with others online. There are several sites dedicated to book and media trading. Paperback Swap is one of the most popular sites. They have a wide selection of titles, and the only cost to you is shipping out the books you are giving away. To receive items, you select from the titles available, and request that they be sent to you. Fairness is maintained on the site through a point system based on the number of books you have to give away and have given away. Bookins is another media trading site, but here the cost to you is the books you receive, not send.
(c) Copyright text and photo Christa Dovel 2010
