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Downsize Your Expectations When Selling Your Stuff

While buyers boast of getting great deals at estate sales, sellers can maximize prices with a little preparation

By Kerri Fivecoat-Campbell

It only took one winter in a remote 480-square-foot cabin in the Ozark Mountains for my new partner, Mike, to realize that was not the life for him.

A man shopping at a garage sale. Next Avenue, downsizing, selling your stuff
"Once you separate what is going with you, look at what you have left ... Your items are only worth what a third party is willing to pay for them."  |  Credit: Getty

On a trip to our shared hometown of Kansas City, Kansas, we decided to move back to the metro area. Although we had done a good job of living tiny in the cabin, we had a separate studio office and two large outbuildings full of stuff — much of it acquired by my late husband Dale — on our nearly 10-acre property.

Dale, who passed away five years ago, was a diesel mechanic by day and a gun collector and fisherman in his leisure time; the stuff in the buildings reflected both lives. There were also household goods and antiques I inherited from my mother.

Sell the Best, Auction the Rest

I had already sold the highest-netting items: a boat, guns, tools and heavy equipment.

In the end, my take from the auction netted a disappointing $2,300.

What to do with the rest?

In between frequent trips to the Kansas City area to look at houses and be present for inspections and document signings, we embarked on a journey of sorting and selling that took six full weeks. What I could not sell went to a local auction house.

Auction house employees came and fully loaded a 24-foot moving truck. However, the results of the auction were disappointing. A perfectly good leaf blower went for $3 and a hand-carved log bed I bought for $699 sold for $12.

In the end, my take from the auction netted a disappointing $2,300.

Separate Emotions from Stuff

Getting to the point of knowing what to sell and how to best monetize your possessions is the first step, says Matt Paxton, the host of "Legacy List," a syndicated TV show and author of "Keep the Memories, Lose the Stuff."

Paxton entered the organization business 25 years ago, while grieving the recent losses of his father, stepfather and both grandfathers. "Every item had emotions tied to it," says Paxton. "There's the emotional release and the physical release of the item."

To get to the physical release, Paxton recommends taking these steps to help with the emotional release:

  • Create a Legacy List of the most important items and document the stories behind them, either through writing, photography or video recording.
  • Share those stories with family, friends and social media. "The more you share the story, the more you are celebrating the person or that period in your own life," Paxton says. "The more you celebrate, the less likely you are to keep the item. You realize the important part was the story and memory behind the item, and it's not necessary to keep the coffee can full of nuts and bolts. Generally, people usually only keep the first five items on their Legacy List."
  • Take some time to sit with it. Once you decide what you will keep, decide what will go to other family members (if they even want it).

Deciding on Selling or Donating

"Once you separate what is going with you, look at what you have left," says Paxton. "Your items are only worth what a third party is willing to pay for them."

"Did your parents or grandparents attend Woodstock and have memorabilia from that? Those things will sell well."

Paxton says for the most part you should only expect at most about 10% of the original price when reselling most items.

Some specialty items and collections will fetch a higher return, he adds, but those items are few and far between in most households.

"Guns, fishing equipment, cards such as some Pokemon and sports cards, coins, tools and vintage clothes usually are hot sellers," says Paxton. "Did your parents or grandparents attend Woodstock and have memorabilia from that? Those things will sell well."

Jewelry Sold for Scrap

Jewelry usually sells quickly, but only for the meltdown price. "There are companies that will come to your home and give you a price for your gold and silver," says Paxton. "You will usually get a better price than the stores advertising they buy gold and silver."

People usually attend estate sales for "the closets and the garage," Paxton says. Items that don't sell well in today's market include bedroom suites, dining room furniture and other large pieces of furniture, kitchen goods and antiques.

"Just because it's an antique doesn't mean anyone else will want it," says Paxton. "The exception right now seems to be mid-century modern, which typically sells well. The general rule is if it's bigger than a bread box, it's not going to bring a lot of money."

Paxton adds that books, DVDs and CDs generally don't sell well and aren't worth investing time in seeking buyers, unless there are rare first editions in a specific collection, like those my partner, Mike owns. Otherwise, we take our unwanted books, CDs and DVDs to Half Price Books, where we recently netted over $150.

Specialty Items Sell Well

Once you inventory what you have, Paxton advises you to determine if you have specialty items — and if so, look for groups or stores specializing in those items. "People who are looking specifically for fishing items in a hobby group are likely to pay more," he says.

Paxton recalls a family that had some wine from 1975. "Who knew that vintage was worth $200,000?" he says. "That's why you go to specialty buyers for that kind of collection."

Other items should be assessed by the amount of money you think buyers might pay versus the time it will take to organize a sale. "What is your time worth? I'd say at least $25 an hour," Paxton says. People often spend 40 to 100 hours sorting and organizing things for sale, but rarely do they sell for enough to make the process worth their time. They might want to consider donating the items, especially if they have other income and can take a tax deduction.

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How to Find a Good Auctioneer

If you decide to sell the items, Paxton says he never uses a yard or garage sale. "I just don't do those," he explains. "What you net is just usually not worth the time."

He also doesn't recommend using local auction companies, as we did. "They have a limited audience and the same buyers for each auction," he says.

Paxton recommends interviewing at least two auction houses and setting up an auction that could be on site but caters to a larger audience online. "If they don't have an online platform, do not go with them," says Paxton. "The bigger the audience, the more chance you have of selling your items for higher amounts." For general auctions, Paxton says he typically goes with B & H Auction in Danville, Virginia, which averages 2 million views per week.

Auctioneer Screening Questions

Paxton says you should ask the auction company these questions:

  1. What is their experience selling the type of items you have?
  2. What does the company do to get people to show up or log onto the auction?
  3. How often do they hold auctions and how do they cater to a broad range of people?
  4. What did the items in their last few auctions sell for?
  5. Ask to speak with the last two people who sold through them.

Final Bits of Advice

Once you choose an auction company, Paxton suggests setting a date and staying away. "You need to keep your emotions out of it and if you're there it's harder to do," he says. "If you did your homework and chose the right auction company, just let them do their job. If you must, attend the last hour of the auction or log online, that's when the real action is."

Finally, Paxton says donate what you don't sell. "Don't change your mind about taking it just because it didn't sell," he advises.

If you're selling on Facebook Marketplace or anywhere online, Paxton says never to give your address and try to meet your buyers in a well populated public place. If they must come to your home, have someone else there.

Photograph of Kerri Fivecoat-Campbell
Kerri Fivecoat-Campbell is a full-time freelance writer and author living in Louisburg, Kansas, just south of Kansas City. She is the author of the best-selling book, “Living Large in Our Little House: Thriving in 480-Square Feet with Six Dogs, a Husband and One Remote,” and administers a Facebook page, Living Large in a Little Town. Read More
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