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I use Free Stuff on Craigslist for a lot of things. It's a bit of a pain to list and photograph everything and not get any money, but I'm retired so I have time, and I hate just throwing stuff out if it's still useful.
I list the address and say it will be at the end of the driveway, first to come gets it. I delete the ad as soon as I notice it's gone. Some caveats:
1. Tell them up front you won't hold anything aside for anyone; I've had too many no-shows and one guy who got hostile (via the CL e-mail) because I put the item out early so he could pick it up and apparently someone else snatched it. It was a slightly-used cane.
2. Be aware that the first person to arrive is likely to grab everything, even if you listed the items separately. (Sometimes I throw in something I was too lazy to list and that gets taken, too.) I once specifically ASKED a guy to leave behind the other items because I'd promised them to someone. They all disappeared. I e-mailed him and he said he'd sent his buddy to pick the stuff up and had told him not to take everything and that the other items would be returned... they never were, of course. I haven't checked the local flea markets but sometimes I wonder how much of my stuff I'd find there.
3. Monitor your email- you will get people asking if the item is gone yet and the polite thing to do is reply. A few will ask the address because they're too lazy to key it in from the listing and that way they can click on your reply and use their phone's GPS.
I think there's a segment of the population that does nothing but drive around in a pickup all day looking for Free Stuff on Craigslist.
If I were giving things away for free, no way would I bother photographing, describing, and listing them; I'd just donate them to some organization or set them on the curb with a "free" sign. But that's nice of you!
"If you discover you don't like dealing with either, and you don't care about the money, then just donate it, or throw it away."
I DON'T like dealing with either, but I DO care about the money.
Ay, there's the rub!
Find a consignment auction house in your area. You'll have to pay a significant fee - usually 25% - to cover advertising, handling, and allow the auctioneer to make a little money, but it will typically bring you a better price than a garage sale and, best of all, everything is gone.
You can possibly use your donations for tax exemptions . That may net you more money than selling.
No, they don't.
Say you have an item worth legitimately $100. If you sell it you get $100, but if you donate it you get your marginal tax rate. In other words, if your tax rate is 32%, you would get a $32 reduction to your tax liability on your $100 item.
And that's only if you itemize. 65% of taxpayers don't.
but as long as I know I could earn money selling them, I feel -- being frugal -- that I should be selling them (and I don't really want to engage in the selling process), so there they sit.
Have you looked at what they would bring selling them in whatever classifieds medium you chose?
Because that might rapidly sway you one way or another.
I'm so cheap that I will go out of my way to save the most minute amount of money, so that strategy won't save me; I'd be very happy to get whatever small amount selling things brings in.
I'm so cheap that I will go out of my way to save the most minute amount of money, so that strategy won't save me; I'd be very happy to get whatever small amount selling things brings in.
Would you? Or would it cause anxiety letting them go when you know you paid more for them?
Could you not get a receipt for the donation and write it off at tax time? That might be a happy medium.
Would you? Or would it cause anxiety letting them go when you know you paid more for them?
Could you not get a receipt for the donation and write it off at tax time? That might be a happy medium.
I don't itemize; it doesn't pay for me to do so. And yes, I'd really be happy with any amount I got for stuff. Because I'm cheap, I never pay much for stuff in the first place (with a few rare exceptions).
I don't itemize; it doesn't pay for me to do so. And yes, I'd really be happy with any amount I got for stuff. Because I'm cheap, I never pay much for stuff in the first place (with a few rare exceptions).
Does your neighborhood have a yard sale? Might be the happy medium, you give it a day and sell them and what doesn't sell, you know you gotta donate.
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