Best place to 'unload' stuff?

[Dover]

While I've managed to pear down my own household stuff, I have a storage room that is begging to be emptied out and then nailed shut forever! Not so much furniture as smaller household antiques and/or newer stuff. I can't be more specific right now until I finish sorting through my storage room, but having some sense of what kinds of things to sell where (what venue) would help with the sorting process.

I've been a buyer on Ebay, but never have sold and don't know how difficult it is to set up and get started. Someone suggested Craigslist for a faster, less formal type of sales on more functional newer things....like yard tools or household items. Others have told me that I shouldn't bother to sell anything that's half way nice at a yard sale because people expect to pick things up dirt cheap so save those things for ebay.
And then I suppose there are consignment and thrift shops for clothes (don't know how clothes do on ebay and craigslist). Anyway, I'd appreciate your ideas in how best to structure and think about selling stuff.

I've never 'sold' professionally or even nonprofessionally, except for a yard sale or two, so I guess I'm just looking for some seller's savvy and wisdom in how to liquidate. How would you go about it?

[Neecy]

1. let's see

If you have heavy or bulky items - small pieces of furniture or yard tools - I'd sell them on craigslist. Shipping stuff like that is a hassle and once you add shipping charges to them it can end up being not so good of a deal to the buyer.

Smaller stuff I'd sell on eBay.

[grasswire]

2. I wonder about selling everyday stuff on eBay.

It's a tossup, now that the rules on sellers are more restrictive, I think. I would probably think twice about trying to sell something fairly ordinary and worth less than $20 there as a new seller. Your time is worth money, too.

Actually, the best thing for you to do probably is to study eBay for similar items to those that you have, to see how well they sell and what prices they are getting. You can see 30 days in completed listings at any given time, as well as the current listings.

Then you'll have a better idea about using that venue. Don't forget about the fees you'll pay, and the shipping costs that will need to be factored in the buyer's mind.

[Dover]

3. Thanks Neecy and Grasswire for those good suggestions.

Some of the things I've stored are, ironically, things I purchased from ebay three or four years ago.
I was considering moving at the time so just stored them. I had a change of plans and stayed put, so no longer think I will want or have room for what I bought. And my tastes have changed some too.
But they are some nice things so I may try to resell them on ebay if I can figure out how to get set up. I may be back for some advice about that once I get to that point if you don't mind.

As for the other stuff, most of it can probably be sold on Craigslist and the rest can go to thrift stores or maybe a big yard sale.

How do clothes do on ebay? I'd think with all the thrift shops, Goodwill and Salvation Army stores around that ebay might not be the best place to sell anything but high end clothes.

Ugh...I really hate the feeling of having to deal with this STUFF!!!! But it will be cathartic to be rid of the extra baggage.

[ima_sinnic]

4. you might consider taking it all to a flea market

... if there is a fairly decent flea market near you where people sell used things (some flea markets have a "yard sale area"), this could be an alternative to ebay and a yard sale. The advantage over a yard sale is the amount of traffic, and presumably the flea market is doing the advertising. Tables are normally quite reasonable, in my experience, maybe $5-$10 each for large ones. Try to keep the stuff halfway organized, and an area or table devoted to items all the same price, say, $1 each, works well. During the day, try to find another seller who will buy whatever is left in one lot when the day is over. Also severely slash prices as the day wears on. The goal is to get rid of stuff, not make a killing (unless you have some things that are actually valuable)--though I might be a little jaded on this, after selling for several years--I take the philosophy of selling a lot of items cheaply rather than a few at a high price--those priced high can take a long time to sell.

It does pay to do research on eBay and other sites, also stroll through thrift shops to see their prices, even before selling at a flea market to find out how rare/valuable and in demand your things might be. I've been to so many yard sales where people had an overinflated opinion of the value of their things--it just seemed to me that they were simply going to end up with most of their stuff still in their possession at the end of the day, and no money.

just an idea ...

on edit: meant to say, I have seen clothing sell really well at a flea market, but it has to be reasonably priced. Also be prepared for it to be thoroughly pawed over. Forget trying to keep it neatly folded and stacked!

[Horse with no Name]

5. I have started consigning clothes

All I do is wash and hang and drop off...then pick up my check.
No hassles...I have no transaction at all with the buyers.
In the early days of Ebay I made quite a bit on kids clothes, but after listing fees and taking so much time listing, hosting pictures, dealing with measurements, questions, it really is not that profitable.
THEN you have to worry about stuff getting lost in the mail...or people saying stuff gets lost in the mail, and it truly just isn't worth the hassle for the high fees you have to pay.
As far as books...if you have a lot, I would recommend Amazon.
You can list for free and you only pay if you sell.
Good luck!

[mopinko]

6. they just upped the rent on my u-store. nothing in there is

really worth $80/mo. i need to dump, too.
if worse comes to worse, there is always freecycle.

[fight4my3sons]

7. If you do sell clothes on Ebay or wherever

I found that shipping in bags (I purchased in bulk on Ebay) was much easier than shipping in boxes. I got those puncture-proof self-sealing bags. I also have a small postage scale and weigh everything first so that you can plug in the shipping then people know up front what the shipping charges will be according to where they live. I also always get delivery confirmation so that the person can't say that it got lost or whatever. I used to sell my kids clothing when they were smaller, but I haven't done that in a few years. Now, I take everything to consignment stores and get credit or cash back.