This post is from GRS staff writer April Dykman.
Ever since I cleaned out my closet, I’ve gotten more and more ruthless, editing more and adding less.
The result of deleting items from drawers and hangers is two large brown boxes taking up floor space in the closet, overflowing with castaways. The boxes have grown into mountains, and I can’t walk to the back of my closet anymore.
My intention was to sell these items, which are the nicer things that I actually like, but don’t work for one reason or another. I didn’t want to drop them off at the consignment shop because the shop keeps 60% of the profit and only accepts in-season clothing, meaning I’d have to keep some of this Stuff in my closet for almost a year. So I planned to sell it on eBay, thinking I could make some of my money back and maybe sell the out-of-season items.
Procrastination or lack of motivation?
Month after month passed, and I never got around to selling a single article of clothing. I even bought a cheap postage scale, convinced that the lack of a scale was what was holding me back from listing my Stuff.
But last week I finally realized that there are about a hundred things I’d rather be doing than messing with this pile of Stuff. I didn’t want to wash, iron, dry-clean, photograph, upload, list, weigh, package, or mail it. In fact, I’m awful at getting anything in the mail on time, which is why online shopping is my saving grace! I know many people who are eBay aficionados and could blaze through listing my Stuff in no time, but I’m not one of them. I’ve never even bought anything off eBay. I just lack the interest, and I can’t really tell you why.
Anyway, those are my excuses reasons, and so the Stuff continued to clutter my closet floor.
A new home for Stuff
Whenever I pull clothes for the discard pile, I call my mom so she can decide if there’s anything she can use. Mom is a talented seamstress who re-purposes clothing into new things. Once she took a tank top that she bought me 10 years ago for $2 and sewed it into several pairs of doll tights that sold for $5 a pair. (Mom always gets a great ROI.)
She mentioned that there was a dress and shirt she thought were too nice to cut up after all, so she gave them to a teenage mother she knew who was on her own and trying to work and finish school.
The girl liked both items, and we are the same size. You can probably guess where this is going.
I’ve decided to finally banish my Stuff from my closet, sorting through it and giving her anything I think she’d like. If there’s anything left after that, the in-season clothes will go to the resale shop and the out-of-season clothes will probably end up at Goodwill.
It’s become obvious that I’m just not going to eBay it, and it’s time to let go. Again. And that’s the thing of it. Keeping that Stuff in a box is no different than keeping it on hangers. I’m still attached to it. It still takes up space and occupies my thoughts (I can’t believe I still haven’t listed it, I really hate looking at it every day, I can’t remember what the closet floor looks like anymore…)
I felt like I needed to sell to make money back on past purchases, but I soon realized that not only do I not want to bother with it, but it doesn’t make sense for me to spend my time this way. My time would probably be better spent working on my business, especially when I consider my hourly rate. Trent at The Simple Dollar said it well when he discussed the value of time, writing “…money is not the only criterion that should be considered in a financial transaction in our lives. Time is often a major concern – and I see it overlooked time and time again.”
Maybe it’s not best financial decision. Who knows how much I could have made by selling it? But after considering the time cost, I’ve elected to be free of the clutter now. And I’m really looking forward to walking into my walk-in closet next week.
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This article is about Clothing, Giving
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@chacha1 #49 I’m so happy for you, but not everyone makes $65/hr. Heck, many of us don’t have jobs. Any dime earned is a dime earned.
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A few months ago I had a huge garage sale – we had to empty out half of the rooms and closets in our house for a renovation, and only half of our stuff made it back inside. The other half filled up our garage – and sat there for 7 months until the weather was suitable for a garage sale. We made $350 dollars – a nice bit of money, but I don’t think it was worth the space that it took up in the garage.
Since then we have turned the garage into a sort of rec room for the boys, which in turn has stopped my husband from complaining that our house is too small. Bottom line is, you can’t underestimate the value of unoccupied space. How much do you pay per month for each square foot of your home?
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If you itemize your tax return, be sure and write down everything you took to Goodwill. It may not seem like much initially, but it all adds up!
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Lynn – I love the idea of the round robin in your community. I wish people of all incomes thought as selflessly as you!
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I’ve started clearing out and getting rid of a lot of stuff. I culled my books to about half, I thought about selling or somethign but instead I collected it all in the spare room for awhile and then hauled it off. The load of stuff was equal to 8 laundry baskets, 2 grocery totes, 1 laundry bag, and 4 cardboard boxes of stuff.
I have some shelving I put up in the spare room and I move anything I want to get rid of on to that. When the shelves are full I’ll haul all the stuff away.
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I’ve always thought this- If I want this stuff gone, I want it gone. Not when I get around to it, but now.
Too bad my husband does not see things the same way. :0
the trick for me was finding places that would take my non clothing/knicknack stuff.
I finally found a thrift that takes things like fabric and other crafty stuff that really builds up in my house.
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One of my girlfriends hosts an annual “clothing exchange” party. Ladies bring clothes, handbags, shoes, jewelry etc. that are in good shape but don’t fit or they just don’t wear them anymore… also bring an hors d’oeuvre or bottle of wine. We snack and sip and shop and catch up on gossip all in one go! The ladies who are purging just focus on the social aspect and skip the shopping part. Usually everyone goes home with something nice, and the hostess delivers the leftovers to her favorite charity. It’s a big hit every year.
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Giving the items away certainly frees up your time which is way more valuable.
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Great post! What you have described is a cost-benefit analysis (comparing the cost to you to sell the clothes, including your investments of time and effort, to the benefit -money). Too often people only consider the benefit without considering the other side of the equation. If the benefits don’t outweigh the costs, it’s simply not worth it.
Not to mention that providing clothing to a person in need entails its own social/warm fuzzy benefit!
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@Kate #51, well that’s the point. For some people it’s worthwhile. For April and me it isn’t – just getting the stuff OUT has more value than the dollar we might get back by selling it. It’s completely subjective.
And $65 is “more than double” my real wage … as I wrote, my free time is worth more than twice that *to me.*
If I were not blessed with a generous cash flow I’m sure I would be selling everything but the cats!
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Last year we went through a purging of clothes & junk.
The clothes goal was to stick to a limited color palette. E.g. for me, stick to things that match with black (black shoes, belt, jacket) to avoid having to deal with the brown-matching stuff– too much stuff! I’m a man and I hate having too many shoes and accessories. For my wife it was a bit more complicated, but basically it was about sticking to stuff she likes and getting rid of the stuff she never wore, including presents that never match her style (why do people give clothes as gifts? a mystery…)
The nice stuff was taken to various thrift/consignment shops where it was promptly redeemed for cash rather than traded (we wanted *less* not more junk).
The clothes nobody wanted (depending on quality/usability/etc) were either:
a) donated at the thrift store (they have a bin for that)
b) taken to our cabin in the woods (where we can look like hobos)
c) turned into cleaning rags (e.g., destroyed jeans past the point of patching, threadbare bedspreads, etc)
[Note: Maintaining a cabin in the woods is not exactly our choice for a simple lifestyle, but it's free to keep on family land and it's a sort of backup situation that would beat homelessness if it ever came to that. We go there every now & then to relax, read books, sleep and do nothing. The cat loves it.]
Sitting in front of ebay tracking your “$5+$10 shipping” sale is a waste of time– we had classes to teach and a movie to make and bigger priorities than making 25 cents an hour.
With some other stuff we got more creative: a redundant turntable, a printer and other electronics were given to our grateful intern; a cheap netbook was sold to a traveling friend who needed a way to stay in touch with home; some broken speakers were given to someone we know who likes to fix electronics; the rest went to recycling.
We don’t earn/donate enough to justify itemization, the standard deduction works best for us; but the best savings were in the new efficiency of our wardrobe & living/workspace, plus the bonus of making a few people happy isn’t bad at all. Oh, and free cleaning rags!
PS- I almost forgot! Since we live in a university area, anything we don’t want (e.g., old tv antenna) we put on the sidewalk with a “free to a good home” sign and it’s gone in no more than 15 minutes.
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We recently downsized from a 3600 sq ft house to a 1100 sq ft house. We had to get rid of a LOT of STUFF! The Vietnam Vets were a godsend, since they came to the house and picked it all up by the truckload! And we didn’t have to be home, so we didn’t have to deal with making an appointment.
I like to use Freecycle. The only annoying thing about it is the “no shows.” It’s a PITA to put something out on the porch or in the drive and then come home and find it still there. Overall, though, it makes me really happy to think that my stuff is getting a second life and not ending up in a landfill.
Great post!
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Totally agree with this. Unless it’s a big ticket item (like an iPod or a Wii game or something along those lines, that I would sell on Craigslist), I just donate things. I know that my trash can be someone else’s treasure – and a tax write-off for donating items doesn’t suck either.
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Hear hear. A few years ago i realized that my professional life did not required the nice suits from when i first graduated. And that they were now too large anyway. Despite the fact that they were very expensive i donated them to a local womens professional closet (for low income women getting their first ‘career’ job). I felt so good knowing that the suit that made me feel confident and secure for my first job interview would do the same for someone else.
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The guy at the Goodwill truck recognizes my car when I pull up…I never sell my stuff. I’m done with it, I got my value out of it, let someone else get value from it. (Garage sales? Ugh!) When I can find someone who appreciates hand-me-downs, I do that before I head over to Goodwill, but once we’re done, we’re done!
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I have cleaned out my closet probably 5 times per year of age. For the longest, I would give them to people who needed them more (had kids of their own who were my size). I went to consignment stores, thinking I was going to be raking in the dough, and was disappointed with how much they’d offer me. I never even thought to sell my things on eBay. I think I’ll separate my pile from the last bout with my closet: things to sell and things to give away. But I’m like you April; I think it’ll just be easier to give it away.
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@Ely — I hosted a clothing swap party this summer and it was quite enjoyable. I was more interested in getting rid of clothes than getting more, but I did get a sweater. It was really nice to be able to see my clothes being “adopted”.
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The one thing I keep in mind when getting rid of things and the “but I spent $$ on this” hits is to remember that the money is already gone. Chances of making that $$ back by selling the item are slim to none and will most likely only result in sucking away my time too. Giving it to Goodwill seems like such a nice choice when you think about how it is helping someone else that needs it.
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I recently attended a class where a very astute businessman was talking to people about his views and how he makes decisions – how he basically sees almost all decisions based on investment value (which sounds bad but really isn’t). After the class there was a question and answer period and someone asked him what his thoughts were on selling things at garage sales (I’m sure eBay would be similar) or donating. He said that in his opinion it is a better investment to donate and take a tax write-off than to spend gobs of hours preparing for a garage sale where you’ll make very little per item. I think if you are hurting for money (cash flow), you should sell and try to get what you can, Dave Ramsey style. Otherwise donate it! Hearing this from him makes it easier for me to be motivated to donate. Plus in this economy I feel good about getting it into a place that can be so helpful.
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We give to Goodwill once a month. We have a one thing in, at least one thing our rule. We clean out our bookshelves yearly and give to the library. What they don’t put on the shelves, they sell at the annual sale.
I figured out that I don’t have have the temperament to sell stuff.
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Wow, talk about timely. I’ve been agonizing about getting rid of a stack of books 50 high in my closet. Reading this, I’m thinking $25.00 to spend 2 hours dragging them over to the used book store, vs. 10 minutes dropping them off at the library. Hmmmm…not sotough a choice anymore…..
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Great idea. Giving…and then giving again is something I have been a part of for the past several years. A friend of mine began hosting a clothing exchange once a year where all of the women who attend bring what they no longer want — shoes, jewelry, clothing, coats, purses, etc. Some people bring bags of stuff, while others bring a few items. There are usually about 40 people present throughout the night which makes for a diverse set of sizes and styles. And each woman “shops” for what they would like to take. No fighting over anything. No questions about how much you brought vs. how much you take home. The remaining items get dropped off at a women’s shelter…and everyone is HAPPY!
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Awesome points! Just getting RID of stuff – even if it’s giving it away – is so much more liberating and freeing than holding onto it in a box, attic, garage, etc and having a to-do list attached to someday selling the item or otherwise getting rid of it in a complex manner. Purge! (But not to the garbage – give it away – freecycle, a nonprofit organization, your curb with a “free” sign, etc.).
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It’s funny to see computer related wording being used IRL. I’m referring to ‘deleting’, I say it too!
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Sorry, didn’t read all the posts so forgive me if this is a repeat, but a quick thought for you. When we were going through a move to downsize a couple of years ago we made a general list of items and put it on Craigslist. Our list just lumped things in general categories with approximate amounts, (i.e., 10 women’s blouses, 5 mens pants, 3 ladders, golf clubs, etc.).
In the ad we said we’d be available for certain hours on a given Sat/Sun for people to stop by and make offers. Not only did we sell virtually everything we actually got great offers on many of the items.
We did have a couple of “bargin” hunters (aka cheap SOB’s) that thought it was a garage sale and tried to harangue us over prices. I felt if I was going to give it away dirt cheap I might as well give it to a chartiy so I just politely escorted them out right away. Everyone else was very friendly and made fair offers. Of course since we weren’t expecting much our perception of a “fair” offer was at a pretty reasonable level.
The best part was not hassling with ebay’s rules, pictures, mailing, etc! Anything left over we gave to charity.
Good luck!!
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I agree. There are some things I am just not motivated to take the time to sell, and clothing is definitely one of them. For the money you get back, I just don’t care. Old electronics on the other hand, I’ll take the time to list them on eBay or Craigslist.
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Wow, I could have written this myself. For years I have kept clothes that were “too nice” for Goodwill, with intentions of taking them to consignment or selling on eBay. Truth be told, I don’t like listing things on eBay. I decided, like you, that I would just take it to Goodwill for the peace of mind that comes from having less Stuff!
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I gave up on eBay a long time ago. Recently, I was debating a garage sale and had set aside larger toys for that purpose. Until my grandmother and her friend came by to visit and her friend reminded me she lived next to a very poor family with young children and if I ever had any toys to give away she’d happily take them. So later that night when the kids were in bed, I took everything I’d set aside for the garage sale to my grandmother next door. Now I just lump stuff together and call the Vietnam Veterans to come get it once a month. Some times it’s a bag, some times it’s six. Either way, it keeps me getting rid of stuff. And I figure I’m earning Karma Coins
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Thank you for this great article. I’ve not understood everyone’s “need” to make money on their used clothing if it has already served its purpose–your wearing it (or your children).
I know that I’ve been the recipient of many used clothing items and I just keep passing them on. I give away a lot of used things. It’s not “karma” to me–it’s just plain old “being nice”/generous.
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Great article. I’ve found that the best way to give stuff away is either to a recognized charity (tax rebate) or by selling stuff on Craigslist. You get a targeted, local audience that is willing to pick up or meet locally. The reason eBay and other transaction-based sites make it tough to sell low dollar items is the time commitment needed to make just a few bucks..
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I definitely agree with this post. Giving things away has also affected my attitude when shopping. I used to make excuses about how I could recoup part of my initial investment, and that made it seem like I was spending less in the first place. (Plus clearly it was stuff I didn’t really need, if I was making excuses like that.)
Now, when I look at prices, I’m honest with myself that I won’t make anything back in the future if I decide to get rid of it. I’m also honest about how painful it is to get rid of something that I didn’t use very much. (Amazing how often something just doesn’t “work out.”) It makes a big difference in what I’m willing to bring into my house.
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I will sell just about anything of value online that I no longer use. Yeah, it takes time and mental energy, but I usually clear a couple thousand dollars per year, which is more than worth it for me.
Though we also have a few huge bags of old clothing that need to be taken to the Goodwill drop off too.
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Just a thought/suggestion for people- I used to teach preschool and was always so appreciative when people would donate toys, books, and especially clothes that I could use in the dress-up area. Short-sleeve button down shirts are great painting shirts for kids and fabric scraps, buttons, etc are great for collages when kids are learning how to use glue. Old dishes were great for the kitchen area as well as empty cereal boxes, etc. I am sure any preschool would appreciate it, but especially non-profit ones or those that have a sliding scale for families with low income.
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i love to give away clothes,clothes that my kids outgrow and clothes that i really dont use not because am tired of it or because i have too many.. i just love to help people that are in my same situation or sometimes worse.. i dont even classified myself in any class position. yes it must be nice to wear brand clothing. ill rather have food on the table for my two boys. thats what makes me real happy.
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I am desperately trying to clear my life of clutter. I HATE selling stuff on eBay, or having to load it to take to Goodwill. I always box things as I go, and when I have gathered a large pile, I take it to the front porch and advertise FREE stuff on Craigslist. Why give away really nice things I could make $$$ on? One, I immediately have the stuff gone, instant space, and less time to change my mind about stuff. Two, if someone drives here, loads it all, hauls it home, and then has to deal with it, they obviously want or need it more than I do. And three, it makes me feel good to think I have released things back into the world so that someone can make use of things I am not using. People think I am crazy giving away some of the things I have given away. If I got money for this stuff, I would buy more stuff, which defeats the purpose.
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