Take My Stuff, Please!
Resources for where to donate, appraise and sell what you're ready to let go.
Now that you’ve decluttered and decided what to keep, what do you do with the stuff to let go? You don’t want to contribute to a landfill if you don’t need to, and you don’t want to give away something that might be valuable. If you think, “It’s gotta be worth something,” get it appraised. Otherwise, you may be cluttering your home for no good reason.
Here are some resources that will make you feel better about letting go of the things that no longer serve you. If you know of other ways to repurpose, recycle, appraise, or sell items, please share them in the comments below!
Donate
Thrift Stores To drop off donations or schedule a pickup, go to www.thethriftshopper.com and see the stores in your area that support a cause. Contact the store first and ask what they take and if they pick up. Thrift stores are an excellent way to donate clothes, gently used furniture, appliances, electronics, and home goods.
Habitat for Humanity ReStore The ReStore takes all the above plus building materials. Call first to make sure what they will accept. www.habitat.org/restores
Retold Recycling for Textile Recycling Retold sends bags for you to fill with 5 lbs. of donated clean, dry textiles in any condition to divert them from the landfill: clothes, blankets, towels, dishcloths, bed linen -- even old underwear, bras, cotton face masks, and rags! Each bag comes with a postage-paid label so you can drop it off at the post office - but the catch is you pay for shipping by buying a 10-pack of bags or a subscription of 6 bags a year. Saving the earth is not cheap! www.retoldrecycling.com
Facebook Marketplace List your item as free, and buyers will contact you on Messenger. There are also Buy Nothing and similar Facebook groups to join that use the Marketplace format to offer items to their group members. www.facebook.com/marketplace
Kars for Kids You’ve probably heard the jingle. 1-877-Kars-4-Kids, donate your car today! Other groups (like veteran organizations) do the same, but this is the most visible car donation program. They take your vehicle, running or not, and you get a tax deduction. www.kars4kids.org
Trash
Kick It to the Curb: In many areas, you can leave metal on the curb, and a metal collector makes it magically disappear by the morning. You can also try this for furniture because people often go “curb shopping.”
Local Sanitation Department Call to schedule a bulky item pickup for anything that doesn’t fit in your garbage bin: broken appliances, used furniture, junk, or building materials. You may be limited to only one or two pickups a year in some areas.
1-800-GotJunk You pay for a pickup, but the advantage is that they take everything from wherever it is, so you don’t have to carry it to the curb or wait until your next garbage day for a bulky item pickup. They supposedly donate what they can and take the rest to the dump. The price is based on how much space your junk takes up in the truck, and they tell you upfront when they arrive so you can take it or leave it. It may cost more than a hauling company. Call or go online to schedule. www.1800gotjunk.com
Hauling Company They take everything to the dump for a fee: items you can’t donate, junk, and debris. They are good to call when you are clearing out a house, and they are usually cheaper than GotJunk because they are local businesses. Search online or ask for referrals.
Appraise
Value My Stuff Upload pictures of your item with any information you have, They assign an expert from their team of over 60 auction house specialists, and you receive an appraisal in 24-48 hours for less than $28. www.valuemystuff.com
Heritage Auctions This international auction house an online appraisal form for potential auction material, and offers formal written appraisals for estate planning and insurance. They also offer online value guides; you can search the archives to see how items sold in the past. (www.ha.com)
Antiques
Art
Autographs
Books
Coins and Currency
Comics, Comic Art & Animation Art
Home Entertainment & VHS
Instruments & Vintage Guitars
Jewelry
Judaica
Movie Posters & Memorabilia
Music Memorabilia & Concert Posters
Nature, Crystals, and Science
Sports Memorabilia and Rare Sneakers
Timepieces and Luxury Accessories
Video Games, Trading Card Games, Action Figures & Vintage Toys
Wine
Baseball Cards PSA Authentication & Grading Services www.psacard.com
Music (Vinyl, CDs, and cassettes) Value Your Music www.valueyourmusic.com
Sell
In Person
Garage Sales, Flea Markets, and Swap Meets Selling in person gives you a chance to haggle, especially if you’re willing to donate whatever doesn’t sell. The drawbacks are it’s very time and labor-intensive for what money you make, and you may end up donating much of it anyway or bring home whatever doesn’t sell. You may also be required to pay a booth fee or commission at a market or meet. Since many people don’t carry cash, you can set up Venmo, PayPal, or Zelle to receive payments. No fee is involved if your account is attached to a bank account and you are not a regular merchant.
List Locally For Pickup or Ship
Facebook Marketplace, Craig’s List, Offer Up These online sites list your items for local pick-up (you can also offer to ship.) If you are uncomfortable having people come to your home, you can arrange to meet elsewhere. Arrange for payment at pickup (cash, Venmo, PayPal, Zelle), and don’t fall for scams asking for something when they show interest in a listing. www.facebook.com/marketplace www.craigslist.com www.offerup.com
List Nationally & Ship Direct to Buyers
eBay If you are willing to ship items and pay selling fees, eBay is a good choice for selling collectibles. The fees vary, so make sure it’s worth your time and trouble to list and ship. You can get an idea of the value of something by watching auctions but remember: it’s what people have paid, not what it’s listed for, that counts. www.ebay.com
Discog Sell individual vinyl records, CDs, cassettes, etc. No fee to list. When you sell an item, you are charged a flat fee of 8%, with a maximum fee of $150 per item. www.discog.com
Vinyl Record Network Sell vinyl collections in lots of 10 or more. They take a 25% commission on the selling price, and you ship straight to the buyer. A vinyl grading guide is available. www.vinylrecordnetwork.com
Consignment
Estate Sales and Auctions: Go to www.estatesales.net to find estate sales and auction companies near you. They will appraise and price everything and take a percentage of the sales as a fee, which could be between 20-40% for estate sales, depending on their services, and 10-30% for auctions. Some estate sale companies will also take individual things on consignment.
Consignment Stores If you have time to wait for a sale and are willing to pay a commission, consignment works well for designer clothing and accessories, unique or like-new high-end furniture, and quality children’s clothing. Search online for stores near you, and call for what they accept and their commission.
The RealReal This online authenticated luxury consignment shop takes 15%-40% commission. They accept women's, men's, and kids' fashion, fine jewelry and watches, home décor, and art. You can schedule a pickup, drop them off, or ship them. If you want to know what you can get for your Louis Vuitton, they have a handbag estimate tool to give you an idea of pricing. www.realreal.com
Poshmark This online retailer sells clothes, jewelry, home décor, electronics — pretty much anything. Sellers pay a flat commission of $2.95 for items under $15 and a 20% commission for items over $15. Shipping is easy; they email a label prepaid and pre-addressed. All you do is package the item, print the label, and take it to USPS. www.poshmark.com
Depop This is a popular site for young fashionistas to turn their clothes into cash. Sellers list their clothes separately and ship them to buyers nationwide, and Depop emails a prepaid and pre-addressed label to print out. The seller’s fee is 10% plus a PayPal or Depop transaction fee of about 3.5%. www.depop.com
ThredUp This online thrift store sends you a “clean up kit” to clean out your closet of gently used unwanted clothing and send the bag back to them. Then they give you a payout depending on the price when the item sells. The higher the selling price, the higher percentage you get. ThredUp seems a no-brainer if you are not selling designer items, you don’t have time to manage listings and shipping, and planned to donate the clothes anyway. www.thredup.com