Five Quick and Easy Tips to Sell your Stuff

I just sold a crystal decanter and glasses on Varage Sale I was lucky enough through prior experience to know that the pinwheel pattern it had is the most common, and thus not taken at the consignment store in town. This is a detail that saved me time and thus money when selling it.

The photo that accompanies this blog is a chandelier I sold early on for about $30. I saw it later posted on a website for a store in town for $400. In retrospect, if I had done a bit more research, could have asked a bit more for it!

These little tidbits are things I have gathered about how to sell your items and where, so feel free to learn from me with these following tips:

1. Larger pieces of furniture are harder to sell for what they are worth. There are several reasons. Firstly, they are difficult to move, and if you sell them on your own a lot of buyers might not have the right transportation and will give up. The auction houses here in Victoria take only high end items that are in near mint condition and only take certain items, so you are left with other things you need to dispose of yourself. Storage of these items while you are selling them can be an issue. There is the deadline of a move, and wasting money on a storage locker is not ideal. And finally, there are just less people looking for these older items, There are exceptions of course, but if you have a deadline, they may not sell within your time frame.

2. Clothing is generally not worth trying to sell. Unless it is unique, like vintage coats and dresses, the amount of effort and time it takes to sell clothing is just not worth it. The right size, and the need to see and try things on makes selling online a huge risk. Often clothing has been stored poorly and not super clean, in which case it wont even be accepted by a thrift store. I am seriously considering setting up a clothing swap meet, so people who want new to them items and have items they don’t wear can avoid the whole commercial buying phase and get new items. It would also keep items from the garbage, which is very important to me. Let me know if you would be interested in something like that.

3. Things that do sell well on Varage Sale are those Christmas presents you never opened that have been sitting in your closet. If its still packaged it is desirable to others and can be re-gifted by them. Generally you can ask 50% of what it was worth, or less. rarely more than that.

4. If you have a vintage item that is unique, take the time to do research online prior to listing it. My cuckoo clock is an example of that. Initially I thought it was worth $25, but someone pointed out to me they go for up to $200. So know what the value of something is before you list it, or you could lose yourself some money. Not a huge market for german cuckoo clocks though, so it is still for sale!

5. Patience in a virtue. I listed a small fountain on Varage Sale recently. My first interested party offered me 2/3 of the asking price. I was confidant that this was an item that someone would want, so held out for my price and got it about two weeks later. Knowing when to hold out for the price and knowing when to drop is an art that is learnt over time and with a lot of practise..

Ultimately, there will be times that you sell something for a low price and wonder if you should have asked for more. But there will also be times you are surprised by what you get for an item; so it generally evens out in the end. I personally enjoy the feeling of knowing that someone will appreciate the item, and that it was kept from the garbage for another period of time.

If you want to talk more about selling, just email me or give me a call at 250-891-5969. I am happy to share my expertise in the area. Let’s talk!