Trimming my waste: Week 19 (declutter)

Goals - Week 19:

• Declutter
• Turn unwanted stuff into money
• Get creative with how to rid myself of the stuff

I moved into my apartment over a year ago. And while it's pretty uncluttered, I have a few items taking up space because they don't fit "easy" for-sale categories. For example, a small, electric, counter-top oven/stove. It's in almost perfect condition but it's not a high-demand thing. I tried selling it on Craigslist and never got any takers. And so on.

So I've been doing a little research... looking for some creative ways to get rid of what I don't use without just donating it all.

1. SELLING

A yard sale is a pain but always an option! Craigslist and eBay used to be the obvious (and only?) options online. Now, there are plenty of others. My current favorite resource is my local Facebook "yard sale" group. You buy from/sell things to immediate neighbors and there's a ton of trust involved ("just leave the money under the mat!"). This is also the place where I got free moving boxes and, in return, offered them up to someone else.

If you prefer an app:

Gone
The goal with Gone is to make the offloading process as easy as possible. In fact, once you’ve listed what you’ve got for sale, the folks at Gone find the best possible price for your item for you, as well as providing shipping labels and getting you paid via check, PayPal, or Amazon.com Gift Card.

OfferUp
OfferUp focuses on what’s available to you locally. It’s got more of a focus on buying than selling (the site looks like store), but you can definitely offload items to OfferUp.

2. CLOTHES

I have a great local resale store (Crossroads Trading) but they're so overstocked, it's easy for them to be very picky about what they take. Online options:

Swap Style

ThredUp

Rehash Clothes

3. BOOKS

If you live near a Half Price Books, it's always worth a try. But you generally don't get much for used books. So how about swapping them out for books you DO want to read? 

PaperbackSwap

Bookmooch

I've also been in lots of apartment buildings in Chicago that have a share/swap/take area in the basement. There's always an overflowing bookshelf in the mix - great way to get unwanted books out of your home and into the hands of people who might enjoy them.

4. SWAPPING, BARTERING AND/OR GIVING IT AWAY

If you're left with no option but to give your stuff away, the obvious place to start is local charity shops and thrift stores. I also love the way Chicago alleys are used to give and get. Anything out in an alley is up for grabs and it's generally taken. Other options:

Yerdle
The premise is simple: “Post a pic of your unused stuff and swap it for what you want.” Take a nice photo of an item you no longer need and post it with a brief description. When someone requests your item, the folks at Yerdle will send you a shipping label (as long as your package is under 10 pounds). You then earn “Yerdle Bucks” that you can spend on items that you want.

Also look at:

Swap.com

BarterQuest

Freegle (UK)

ReuseIt Network

Freegan


Do you have any favorite online sale or swap resources to share?