Picture this, you've taken the time to declutter your wardrobe/playroom/garage, wherever.
You look around at the piles of stuff that you've decided to discard. But now what?
I hear from many people who tell me they end up with piles of discards for days, weeks, months. Sometimes the piles end up being brought back into the house because it just seems easier than having to deal with it.
Read on for my top tips to make sure the stuff you discard ends up going to the right place and don't end up all in landfill or back in your home!
Start Right
Be your future friend by putting systems in place before you start to make it easier for you at the end.
Do this by setting up different zones. You can do this with boxes, different coloured bags, or just different piles (so long as you remember which pile is which)
Have 4 sections: Rubbish, Recycle, Donate & Sell. Trust me, this will make it a lot easier once you've finished.
Get discards out of the house!
Sounds simple, but this is where a lot of people get stuck.
Firstly, take the rubbish and recycling straight out to get it out of the way.
Next, do a charity shop run for all the items you've decided to donate. If you can't get to the charity shop right away, at least put the bags in your car so the next time you pass one it's there ready to go.
If you don't have a car or struggle to lift items, many charities will pick items up for you. British Heart Foundation is just one of the many charities that offer this service.
I have a full directory of charitable organisations and selling sites available to my clients for all kinds of discards. From towels and bedding that animal rescue charities are calling out for, to 'Book Harvest' who collect unwanted academy books for universities.
Sell Sell Sell!
If you've decided to sell anything, the next thing to do is to list what it is you've decided to sell.
There are so many different options depending on what you are selling.
One tip though is to decide what is a realistic amount of stuff that you will be able to sell. think about where you will temporarily store it and think about the time it will take to list and post. Once you've reached your quota, consider donating what hasn't sold or contact a local EBayer seller who will take the items for you and sell.
Some of my favourite places to list items are:
Facebook Marketplace (great for heavy items as people are generally local and can collect)
Ebay (You can list anything on here, just bear in mind that you will pay sometimes quite a high fee)
Vestiare (for good condition designer clothes & bags)
Vintage Cash Cow (accept all kinds of jewellery, even broken jewellery and odd earrings)
Vinted (great for pre-loved clothes)
Ziffit (for books, CD's, DVD's and games)
If you don't have time to list straight away, make sure you photograph your items before you put them away to store. Photograph in good lighting and from different angles. Make sure to photograph any damage and state it clearly on the description.
Once you have the photos, it's a lot easier to find 5 minutes here and there to get the listings out there.
Did you know as part of my service, I offer the option to sell items on your behalf for a 40% fee of the net selling price.
I will keep items and list them on various online platforms, but if they do not sell after 4 weeks or so, I'll take them to a boot sale and try to sell them there. You generally get a little less at boot sales, but it is a quick way to get rid of items and make a little money!
Freecycle
Freecycle is steadily gaining pace amounts local communities. They are an entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving and getting stuff for free. It's all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills. Membership is free. And now you can also set up your own, smaller personal Friends Circle for gifting and lending of items with just your friends!
So there we have it. I hope you found some of this helpful. If you have any top tips for places to donate or sell items, please let me know. I'm always on the hunt for new places!
Here are some images of some of the items I took to a boot sale last week. The car was filled to the roof!
Love Marianne x
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