Lately, I, a maximalist, have been yearning to be a minimalist. I am not alone. They have to dust it. What to do with this First World surplus? A few months ago, I decided to deaccession an assortment of my things by whatever means feasible: selling, donating, recycling, giving them away, losing them on the subway, or reserving a spot for them on the next Mars Explorer. I gathered my unwanteds and piled them in the living room. Some will have you believe that the hardest part of parting with your belongings is choosing which items must go.
Not so; saying goodbye is easy. Finding new homes for your stuff is the challenge. In December, a Brooklyn woman offered the entire contents of her closet more than fifty pieces to her online neighborhood network, much of it gratis. A month later, lots of her clothes were still available. Turns out people prefer cheap to free. If Melania Trump can auction off the big white hat she wore when she met the Macrons plus a watercolor of her in the hat and an N.
TIP No. The first thing I tried to unload was four folk-art handbags, each constructed out of braided cigarette-pack wrappers by incarcerated Americans in the nineteen-fifties and sixties. I consulted with Stan Jennings, a retired postal worker, for guidance on selling them. Jennings has been selling goods on eBay and Etsy for clients since I asked him: Should I list the purses as a group or individually? Should I auction the purse or sell it at a fixed price? For unique, rare, or high-demand items, Jennings said, choose the formerβand hope for a bidding war.
If items are readily available, go for the latter, which allows impulsive buyers to snatch them at the click of a button. Any particular words one should use in the description? Include the provenance and a heartwarming anecdote in your description. He carried the shell in his pocket during the Battle of Austerlitz and credits it with his victory.
As to why you are getting rid of this valuable heirloom, it behooves you to explain. Received one just like it last Arbor Day? Nut allergy? Listing is free on eBay for your first two hundred and fifty items each month; the fee on sales for most categories is No offers.
