Pretty much everybody accumulates excess stuff. It’s particularly easy when you have growing children. Sometimes you can sell it online. Sometimes, however, it makes a lot more sense to sell it in the real world. Here are some tips to help.

Commit to Clearing Out Regularly

Like many tasks, clearing out excess stuff is generally easiest when you do it little and often. If you’re really not sure whether or not you’re willing to part with something, then try putting it in storage for a while. If you’re short of storage, you could use a service like SMARTBOX Solutions, Inc.

If you’re holding onto an item because you plan to do something with it (e.g. repair it), then set yourself a firm deadline to get it done. Barring genuinely unforeseeable circumstances, if you don’t have it done by then, get rid of it.

Prepare Items for Sale

Once you’ve committed to selling an item, then do whatever you reasonably can to prepare it for sale. Often this just means taking care of little details. For example, if you’re selling used clothes, make sure that they’re washed, remove any stains, and do any minor repairs. You might be surprised just how much of a difference this can make to a buyer.

Decide How You’re Going to Sell the Items

If you’re planning on selling in the real world, you usually have three main options. These are local internet marketplaces, yard sales, and off-site sales.

Internet Marketplaces

Gumtree, Craigslist, and Facebook Marketplace are probably the three main local internet marketplaces. eBay does allow listings with local collection only but these listings are chargeable. It’s also unclear how many people actually check eBay for local listings. Many areas will also have their own local sites as well.

With these marketplaces, the listing generally does the sales work. This means that you need to put as much effort into it as if you were selling fully online. The item is, however, either collected or delivered in the real world. It does not, however, necessarily have to be collected from your home or delivered directly to the buyer’s private house. You could arrange to meet in a public place.

Yard Sales and Off-Site Sales

Yard sales and off-site sales largely operate along the same lines. The big difference is, of course, that with yard sales, people come to your property. This can be very convenient but you do need to think about the security implications. These will depend on the type of property you have and the items you’re selling.

With off-site sales (e.g. market stalls), security is mostly taken care of by the organizer. You will, however, still need to look after your own items and, if you’re using cash, your own takings. You’ll also need to take your items to (and possibly) from the site yourself. It’s therefore important to think about safe parking too.

You’ll always need to provide your own equipment for yard sales and you’ll generally need to do so for off-site sales. In principle, you can put items on the ground. It is, however, usually better to use a folding table. If you have a lot of clothes to sell then a clothes rack can be very helpful.