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Donate or yard sale


Joshin
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I just finished cleaning out our basement storage room. We tossed everything that didn't have an immediate home back there when we bought the house four years ago. Since then, the boys have been shoving things back there they outgrew/no longer wanted. Even neat-freak me is guilty of boxing up school and scout supplies at the end of the year and just tossing it back there!

 

After sorting through everything, hauling out a ton of cardboard to recycle, and cleaning up, I have a huge pile of cr@p to get rid of. Originally I was planning to do a garage sale this spring, but now looking at all the boxes I just want them gone. I don't want to sort them again onto tables, I don't want to price everything, and I don't want to box up the leftovers later to donate anyway.

 

The idea was the garage sale money could go into our roof fund. We're saving up for a metal roof and rain cachement system, but we aren't yet in dire need of a new roof so we aren't in a huge rush. Looking at our junk, I don't think we would make much. Mainly kids clothing (That's been through at least two kids), old toys, books, and non-curriculum school and craft supplies.

 

So what does the hive think? Donate it? Yard sale as planned? Wait a month and see how I feel after the initial weariness of the purge wears off?

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Personally, I would donate. I just don't have the time or patience to do yard sales.

 

I guess it depends on what your overall objective is. Do you want the cash in hand (with the time investment and temporary clutter being acceptable to you)? Then do the yard sale. Or, do you want to get rid of the clutter as quickly and painlessly as possible? Donate.

 

:-)

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Depends. If you are willing, do the yard sale. It is nice to have a little extra cash. But that depends on how much time you have. Got the time? Then put up with it just a little longer and have the sale. If you don't have the time to set up the tables and mark all the junk, just donate.

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Depends what you have and what you feel the value is. Last time dh and I had a yard sale we made $600 but we were out there all day (9-4). Still, it was worth it to us.

 

We didn't even have big ticket items although a couple sibs brought over some of their stuff. Let me think, we had: Old tvs, old bikes, rollerblades, odds and end furniture (like old nightstands) silly plates and cups that didn't match with anything. Lol Nothing fancy at all.

 

It was worth the hassle for us.

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Unless you've got a lot of baby stuff or furniture to throw in, it doesn't sound worth it. From what you listed, I'm thinking you'll be dealing in quarters pretty much all day. Hard to say how much you can make, it depends on your stuff and your area.

 

But I'd donate. If you've already cleaned, do you want to hang onto it for another 4 months for spring?

 

I don't bother with garage sales unless I've got enought to bring in at $300-$500 or more. Otherwise I donate it. $100-$150 for all day isn't worth it.

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Thanks for the input! I've only done one yard sale before, when DH and I married and got rid of our excess from combining two households. We made a nice chunk of change then, but we were getting rid of a bunch of furniture. It also wasn't enjoyable, but we did have to cart everything to a relative's house to host the sale, which we wouldn't have to do now. My normal mode is to box and donate as soon as something is no longer useful or needed, but this room was out of my sight so it got out of control. I can't stand having a lot of stuff hanging around!

 

I want to donate. DH says we should wait and see how I feel later, but it's up to me. The stuff is boxed neatly in the storage room, so it's out of sight at least. We don't desperately need the cash from the sale, although it would be nice to pad up our roof fund a bit quicker.

 

There are a few items that may be worth a bit: nicer kids' clothing, my old sewing machine that just needs a tune-up, and some outgrown camping gear. I may just take the kids' stuff to consignment, consign some of the nicer school stuff at our homeschool bookshop, and sell the camping gear and sewing machine on craigslist. That seems less stressful than a garage sale!

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Originally I was planning to do a garage sale this spring, but now looking at all the boxes I just want them gone. I don't want to sort them again onto tables, I don't want to price everything, and I don't want to box up the leftovers later to donate anyway.

 

Donate, most definitely. Imagine how great you will feel when: (1) these things are no longer in your home! (2) you think of others who will benefit from low cost second-hand stuff; (3) You can spend about one hour dropping the whole kit and kaboodle off with no sorting, pricing, or haggling; and (4) Did I mention they will be gone and you won't have to look at them again?

 

Gee, just typing that inspired me to get rid of things in my basement! :001_smile:

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We usually yard sale first for a day with neighbors then immediately afterward, box everything directly into the truck and take to donate. Yard sales are not the most fun way to spend a day but it gets rid of some of the bigger stuff usually so we only have to make one trip to donate. We generally put most stuff out very cheap, especially clothing and it ends up being almost a donation anyway. I know, no receipts that way.

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Donate!

 

I participated in a group garage sale (parents of multiples club) for a few years, when I had tons of baby stuff to get rid of, then even that got to be too much hassle for the money I made. If you do have enough big things to make a garage sale worthwhile, see if your neighbors (or a local homeschool group) are interested in doing something together, a group sale can draw a lot more trafic than an individual one. You could also take things to a consignment shop, where you'll get less money, but they can be very picky about what they accept.

 

I donate most of my stuff to a local charity that provides housing and a bunch of other services to the homeless, including famliies. They pull out things they can use directly before the rest goes into their thrift shop, plus their clients get vouchers to spend in the thrift store too. I really like the idea of things I donate being used by someone in need when possible rather than just snapped up by bargain hunters.

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