To sell or not, that is the question. If you are considering selling things, be they family valuables, collected or acquired items, here are some things to consider to determine if this is the right course of action for you.
What’s It Worth?
One of the difficult things to learn is that your items may or may not be selling in the market today. If they are selling, the proceeds are variable, depending on what you have. The market is constantly changing and what folks were buying at one point may not be what is moving in the market at the moment. Your proceeds may be a fraction of what you paid for it, what it used to be worth in the market, or they could be amazing. Just prepare yourself.
If you want to have things appraised, there are two types of value: Selling value and Replacement value. What you can sell it for can be different from what it costs to replace it. Replacement value is what you provide to your insurance company.
Consignment, Auction and Estate Sellers
- Each service / shop has their own requirements. Refer to each shop’s page for specifics. Save time by taking photos, uploading them to an online folder and sending the link to respective sellers in a BCC email for initial interest.
- Consignment – Generally 50-60% proceeds.
- Auction / Estate – Proceeds per seller minus fees.
- Generally they buy what’s in season.
- Clothing: Clean. Clothing freshly dry cleaned, still bagged from dry cleaning, or freshly laundered. Folded or hung – see shop page.
- Some take items by appointment. Some take items on specific days only.
- Some offer pick ups, which may have a fee. Some require drop offs.
- Many donate if not sold, unless you request return.
- Checks are mailed or picked up.
Online Selling
There are a multitude of places to sell your things online. Do a search specific to what you want to sell i.e. sell furniture online.
- Look for something that has verified buyers.
- Do a safe exchange in public or use third-party pick up and delivery like Dolly, Taskrabbit or trusted movers near you. If you need to ship items, movers and shipping specialists are great.
- For large payments, consider using a non-reversible digital payment system like Zelle or Venmo.
When It’s Not Sellable
Donate to charities, theaters, museums, schools, non-profits, community centers, senior homes, etc.
For appraise, buy, sell, donate and shipping resources we like or have worked with, see our Resource page!