For many regions, this week marks a full year since COVID-19 forced businesses, schools, and community centers to shut-down, leaving most people isolated in their homes. With that, the great household decluttering of 2020 began.
For many still working and learning from home or distancing until their turn to be vaccinated arrives, longer and brighter days may be inspiring a second round of decluttering. But before you start decluttering and think about dropping all your unused or unnecessary items off for donation, you may want to consider if there is an opportunity to make some cash on your unwanted stuff.
With so many businesses shuttered in the past year and uncertainty about future finances, more people have started purchasing gently used items online rather than fork out big money for new things. According to a recent Washington Post report, top pre-owned items in demand last April included puzzles, home exercise equipment, golf training sets and Legos.
Not only are people interested in purchasing pre-owned household items, gear and clothes to save money, but there is also a growing movement to buy used items to minimize waste. Older adults may have recently realized that their grown children don’t want to be burdened with their parents’ stuff and don’t place a high value on owning fine china, collectibles or silver flatware.
So rather than let unused things sit and gather dust until they will be someone else’s problem, for those who have the time, desire and ability to re-home some of their things – it’s probably a good time to set up a virtual shop on Ebay, Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace or Etsy. A reseller like Replacements (for China) can simplify the process by buying directly, but you will likely earn less money than if you sold through your own channels.
Experts don’t recommend selling expensive jewelry or large pieces of furniture as they are unlikely to get top dollar in the current market. But gently used appliances, cookware, storage items, DVDs, CDs, vintage clothing, and toys are all well received as people look for inexpensive ways to entertain children, liven up their wardrobe or kick their cooking game up a notch.
Resale online shops for clothing, like Poshmark, Mercari or ThredUp are good sites to unload gently used condition pieces that are not being worn. You won’t get rich selling clothing, but it will feel great to have an organized, streamlined closet.
For tips and tricks to organizing your closet, follow this link to a recent Thread Up blog post by HGTV home stylist Emily Henderson.
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