Face it. Our adult children do not want our stuff. And the grandkids? They don’t either. Ask them. Although one potential heir may want one or two items, most will say “No thanks.” The truth is that they already have lots of stuff of their own. Much more than we had at their ages.
So perhaps the time has come for you to downsize and dispose of the excess stuff in your home. What is excess stuff? Things like old mystery books, sweaters, lamps for a room you no longer have, sports equipment, an old leather jacket, that joke mug from the office party and…well, you know what it is. And this is especially important if you are downsizing your home.
You may think: “Oh, I love my things. They bring back good memories for me.” All the more reason for you to find a new home for them now with people who will treasure them as much as you do. You will also be sparing your heirs some of the difficulty of sorting through all your stuff and settling your estate at some distant time in the future.
Find people who will love your things
When I left Los Angeles, I sold many relatively small things, including first editions and signed books as well as my treasured collection of vintage Japanese salt and pepper shakers, on eBay. Every item had to be mailed or shipped to the buyer, so I focused on lightweight items or, in the case of books, took advantage of the U.S. Post Office discount rate for printed materials like books. (And it turned out that the salt and pepper shakers went to a woman in the next town over from where I lived so the postage wasn’t too much either!)
Some bulkier things, like French bakery storage shelves, I advertised on Craig’s List because whoever bought the items had to come pick them up.
Facebook and Next Door also have very localized online marketplaces. A tip about Next Door: The potential buyers always want to negotiate the price down. So I always set the price higher than I expect to sell it for in the end. It makes the buyer happy, thinking they “outsmarted” or “out-negotiated” me.
As we are always reminded: be careful about where you meet someone who buys something from you. Meet in public places or arrange to have people with you if they pick up an item at your home.
I also sold some clothing I knew I would have no occasion to wear in my new retirement life in the desert. Ebay brought quick sales. ThredUp and Poshmark are two other websites for reselling your good quality clothing.
Giving things is good, too
And then there is Goodwill, Assistance League and other charitable thrift stores that will welcome your donations to aid them in continuing to do their good work.
The one other way to eliminate things that you are not sure would sell nor be appreciated as a donation, is to call the junk people. I did it. The big-name national Junk disposal companies can be expensive. I ended up using a local company which promised in their ads to recycle as much as they could, not just haul things to the dump.
Keep in mind that you can do all this gradually. I spent two months disposing of things in Los Angeles. After I moved to Tucson, I continued to eliminate things by having a “donation bag” set in one corner of my office and I would put items in it that seemed superfluous in my new life. If, after two or three weeks, I didn’t miss that item, it went to the Goodwill. And so far, 5 years later, I don’t regret the things I no longer own.
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