We’ve been trying to figure out the best way to give rid of a lot of smaller
things that won’t fit in the motor home when we start to travel.
We’ve sold a few larger things on Craig’s List and E-Bay, but there are
just so many small things that I hate to just trash or give to Goodwill.
It's been too hot to even consider a garage sale, but the fact that we live in a small town and
in the country makes having a garage sale even more difficult.
I hate the thought of going through all the work to put stuff out, and either
no one comes, or no one buys anything and we have to put all the stuff back. Our garage is full of with the boat, riding mower, golf cart and yard equipment and tools. Anything not sold would have to be pushed aside and it's awfully dusty there.
I have been against renting a storage shed. I did not want to endi p leaving town with a
bunch of stuff in a storage shed. When we leave town, I want to take everything
with us…and I don’t want “everything” to be that much stuff!
I got to thinking that maybe renting a storage shed on a month to month basis
might work for garage sale items. We could start taking sale items there now and getting them of the house. I keep trying to clean but I have so much stuff that needs to be sold that it's difficult. I find myself just moving stuff around. If we rented a storage shed in town on a busier road,
maybe we could actually start selling a few things, but at least I could move some stuff out of the house. The nice thing is that what
didn’t sell could stay right there. I don’t know how many people
attend garage sales in this heat but it would be easy enough to just go out on a
Saturday and put a few signs out. We could test the waters. Of course the
cost of the storage unit would probably eat up all our profits!
I just don’t think we’d get much traffic here at the house. What do you
think about the storage shed?
Karen..around here some people do have sales from the unit. but most around here don't..because they are behind secured gates. If you are storing things in a storage building out in the open..you are setting yourself up to be broke into. That happens a lot around here. I would have a garage sale..October 1st weekend.That is the best weekend for a sale..people start buying for Christmas.Also call it an estate sale..more will come..and be prepared to offer prices 1/2 off the next day. Advertise in bigger town newspaper..they will come.
ReplyDeletegood luck..Cindy and Walker
We went thru the same thinking process when we went full time.
ReplyDeleteIn the end, it was just to much trouble to try and sell stuff. We found some folks who could really use furniture and other items and gladly gave it away to them. It felt like a win win situation to us.
The rest of the unwanted stuff went to various charities by many car loads.
We did take a storage unit for a few items that could not be parted with, like some antiques and items that were irreplaceable. The cost of the storage will undoubtedly exceed the monetary value, but that is not the point there.
We check on it once a year and now use it also as a drop off and pick up terminal for things we rotate thru the motorhome. That way we do not carry a lot of stuff around that we would like to use on a rotating basis.
Everyone does it differently, but that is what we have done about stuff-so far.
Both of the previous comments made good points. My problem right now is this stuff is getting in my way. I can't start to "stage" the the house until I get rid of some of it.
ReplyDeleteI guess if we get a storage building and it gets broken into...oh well. :)
It is a lot of trouble to sell stuff. We went through that when we left Tampa and we got real tired of it. The consignment shop is not working out well.
keep the thoughts and suggestions coming!
Karen, I know the frustration. I think we found that giving the stuff worked better. I sold my antiques and some bigger items on Craig's list but after that we just tried to find good homes for the things we felt we didn't want to give to Good Will. Good luck with whatever decision you make. I agree with having an "estate sale" vs a garage sale. It is funny how you market it makes a difference.
ReplyDeleteAll of the above comments are good. Although I would hate to pay the price of a storage building, I think in retrospect it might not have been a bad idea. I have a few boxes of "treasures" stored with family members. I feel that they might be in their way though.
ReplyDeleteChuck's comment about also using the building as a drop off, pick up place for motor home stuff seems to have some validity. We left "stuff" in our shed on our RV lot that we didn't need to take along on this trip.
Near the end of our downsizing, I was finally worn out by trying to hang on to too much stuff that seemed to have some monetary value, but that no one had purchased. In the end, it all went to an animal shelter, Goodwill, or to a friend to try and sell at their garage sale. It all seemed important at the time, but now I can't even remember what we did with everything....and I don't care anymore. If it is causing stress, eliminate the stress - give it away if you decide to not get a storage unit.
I did rent a storage unit for several months while my furniture was being sold - it didn't take long before that $85 monthly fee was causing me some grief. Glad it's all been sold.