My home is filled with stuff of all kinds that I would gladly sell. Try as I might, there just appears to be NO market for the items. eBay, Craigslist, Facebook, company trading post, you can't sell some items. That just seems wrong to me.

Time for a garage sale.

Give you $3.50 for the entire lot!

I had a friend with an older microwave. Built like a tank, worked great, but well beyond being outdated. He put it out in front of his house with a "Free" sign on it. Nobody took it. He brought it into work with him where he was on the corner of a busy intersection. Again, no takers.

One day while driving around he noticed a resale shop that had a bunch of "junk" that they would put out on their sidewalk for sale. He made a price sticker that looked like theirs in the amount of $10, drove by, and quickly deposited it upon their pile.

The following day he was driving by and the microwave was gone. He thought somebody saw him put it there, had a problem with what he did, and removed his abandoned microwave from their pile. He stopped and went inside prepared to apologize and take it back home with him.

The woman told him the strangest thing happened. Somebody carried that microwave in the night before and placed it on their counter with a $10 bill in their hand. She had no idea where the microwave came from but was happy to collect the $10.

I suppose the moral of the story has something to do with proper marketing.

4MUL8R, give us a for-instance, if you don't mind. What can't you sell?

Putting your stuff out there to a large enough group of prospective buyers is most of it. In the past few years I have sold:

old ceiling fans
a cracked engine block
a totaled sedan
broken TVs
inoperative desk clocks
a bent steering wheel (but I did throw in an inoperative CD player)

AND informed the buyer the item was broken/cracked/gutted/worn out/etc... before they bought it (no scams). With all the junk I have managed to sell, I didn't think that there was anything that wouldn't be bought if offered. What are you trying to sell?

My theory is that you don't need to take something to the dump if you can take it to the Post Office.

4MUL8R,

After we married and she "officially" moved in, my wife told me the difference between a collector and hoarder is:

A collector can sell his/her stuff, a hoarder cannot.

She says I'm a hoarder of (for example):

70s/80s sports cards
Original Art (no dogs playing poker either)
Lladro figurines
Autographs (NASCAR, NHRA, and sports)
Guns and reloading equipment
First Edition Books

Examples would help. I have been shocked at the kind of crap people will buy. It is a matter of marketing your goods.

Find fair market value, dump to Goodwill, take tax write off.

quote:

Originally posted by SigJacket:
Find fair market value, dump to Goodwill, take tax write off.

It's hard to give books to Goodwill when I hear they many times don't have time to sort them and instead scrap large containers of books as scrap paper.

I wonder also if the higher standard deductions in 2018 taxes will lead more people to not bother donating.

I had this happen recently with a gas fireplace we removed.

It was a perfectly functional complete heatilator unit. They retail for about $1300 new. It was clean, I had pictures of it and almost no interest other than a few scammers.

I started at $600 and dropped $100 a week until I took it to the reuse center for a tax write off. They told me they had 3 others recently they finally scrapped as noone bought them. I couldn't believe no one snapped it up.

Fer instance, I can't sell a perfectly good used musical instrument, nor a specialty camera tripod. Or, a 1994 NASCAR jacket. Not trying to run an ad here, of course, just outlining the issue.

Some of us people can never sell something.

My son who is a business major could sell a heater in hell.

The only thing I have ever been able to sell is something I do not want to.

I sold a couple guns to some close friends that I really did not want to part with but did because they begged me as they could not find it anywhere eles at the time.

Maybe you need to act more like it is worth something to sell it?

Personally I hate selling stuff. I hate the advertising, the requisite pictures, the silly haggling. I just donate and take the tax deduction. I’m not maximizing my money of course but I am maximizing my sanity.

quote:

Originally posted by a1abdj:
I had a friend with an older microwave. Built like a tank, worked great, but well beyond being outdated. He put it out in front of his house with a "Free" sign on it. Nobody took it. He brought it into work with him where he was on the corner of a busy intersection. Again, no takers.

One day while driving around he noticed a resale shop that had a bunch of "junk" that they would put out on their sidewalk for sale. He made a price sticker that looked like theirs in the amount of $10, drove by, and quickly deposited it upon their pile.

The following day he was driving by and the microwave was gone. He thought somebody saw him put it there, had a problem with what he did, and removed his abandoned microwave from their pile. He stopped and went inside prepared to apologize and take it back home with him.

The woman told him the strangest thing happened. Somebody carried that microwave in the night before and placed it on their counter with a $10 bill in their hand. She had no idea where the microwave came from but was happy to collect the $10.

I suppose the moral of the story has something to do with proper marketing.

Placing a price tag on it influenced the customer's "perceived value" of the item.

quote:

Originally posted by rackrack:

quote:

Originally posted by a1abdj:
I had a friend with an older microwave. Built like a tank, worked great, but well beyond being outdated. He put it out in front of his house with a "Free" sign on it. Nobody took it. He brought it into work with him where he was on the corner of a busy intersection. Again, no takers.

One day while driving around he noticed a resale shop that had a bunch of "junk" that they would put out on their sidewalk for sale. He made a price sticker that looked like theirs in the amount of $10, drove by, and quickly deposited it upon their pile.

The following day he was driving by and the microwave was gone. He thought somebody saw him put it there, had a problem with what he did, and removed his abandoned microwave from their pile. He stopped and went inside prepared to apologize and take it back home with him.

The woman told him the strangest thing happened. Somebody carried that microwave in the night before and placed it on their counter with a $10 bill in their hand. She had no idea where the microwave came from but was happy to collect the $10.

I suppose the moral of the story has something to do with proper marketing.

Placing a price tag on it influenced the customer's "perceived value" of the item.

My in laws always put a price tag on whatever they set out on the curb and someone always "steals" it. If you mark it as free nobody wants it but as soon as some shitbag thinks they are getting a deal on something they will cart it off.

"My home is filled with stuff of all kinds that I would gladly sell." I'm in a similar situation. My "perceived value" of my own stuff, some sentimental feelings and my sense of leaving money on the table have given me a paralysis in trying to sell anything.

However, I have attended auctions and went to garage sales for many years. I have a general idea as to what a lot of things are worth...to a point. My problem is not wanting to research each and every item and then putting it out somewhere, waiting for it to get a bite and then negotiating with every potential buyer. What a pain in the ass; and not a very good use of my time (at least to me).

So, I've decided to sort through things with a clear mandate: I've used it in the last two years, it still has a use for me, it has a place to go in my home and it is undamaged, it can stay. If not, it will go in one of three ways:
Auction, Goodwill or Dump. This crap has been a millstone around my neck for too long.

My suggestion on the three items you mentioned:
1. Musical Instrument: Depends on what it is, if it's common and undamaged, you might want to donate it to a school music program.
2. Tripods. I've seen lots of them at garage sales. Like old printers and CRT televisions. You might want to market it as a "spotting scope tripod". Gun stuff sells.
3. Nascar jacket. It depends on what it is, the original cost and the quality. Some vintage clothing sells really well. I have friends that look for concert T's, high-end designer stuff, etc. at Goodwill. They buy it by the pound and sell it on ebay. It sells pretty well.

One thing my friends and I have noticed: a lot of times what sells is not what we think will sell.

I can’t give away a propane cook stove. Broiler doesn’t work but it’s fine otherwise. Would be great for someone that does certain crafts or maybe at a cabin. It’s just sitting in my shed probably full of mice by now.

quote:

Originally posted by LS1 GTO:


She says I'm a hoarder of (for example):

Lladro figurines

I've been trying to find this one for a reasonable price...

It’s probably because there’s so much cheap stuff out there.

Try a garage sale if possible. I can see the instrument going.

Other items not so much. Good luck.

Its funny though, I have lots of stuff I find value in, but my wife thinks should be tossed.

The other day I was at my parents and they are finally getting a flat screen down stairs. They have one of the big, old entertainment centers that were popular in the 90’s...it was like going to court trying to make them understand no one would want it, rather than me disassemble and trash it.

My mom bought a dolly to move the big thing and was even contacting good will as if people were going to come get this monstrosity. In there eyes it still had value. I eventually framed the situation in a way that made them understand all the extra work that would need to be done to move this thing to someone else.

They let me take it apart with a crowbar and put the flat screen on the wall.